Football's Uphill Battle At George Mason

[DFW HOYA]

How does an athletic director try to avert an aspiring football program at a state supported university outside Washington D.C.?

By claiming it will cost $86 million to build a stadium, among other things.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/40476/george-masons-football-follies-the-nova-university-is-a-basketball/

[bluehenbillk]

George Mason is just missing the boat. Amazing that someone at that school doesn't knock on the AD's door & says look just on the pther side of the state at ODU, if they can do it, why can't we??

[JMUDuke2002]

Well, I really don't think it is as simple as look at what ODU did. Both are in competely different situations. First, ODU is the only game in town in Tidewater. The area is filled with ODU graduates. Mason sits in commuter hell. Mason, regardless of what they try and claim, is still viewed as a commuter school. It sits in a metro area dominated by Va Tech, UVA, Maryland, Georgetown, GW etc... Hell, they can't even sellout the Patriot Center for basketball. Plus, Nova is filled with alumni of other universities. And here is the big one, Mason has waited too long. VA state politics right now are not favorable for this type of expenditure. VCU got hammered by the gov for raising tuition. I can't see Mason trying to raise student fees to fund a stadium and everything else needed in this current economic environment. ODU started before the crash. I can see it at Mason in 10 to 20 years, but not in 5 to 10.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

By FAR the best line in the article:


“O’Connor came in with a football budget that counted 85 players, all on full, out-of-state scholarships,” McGeehan says. “In D1-AA football, you can have up to 60 scholarships, not 85, and the players are definitely not going to be all out of state. Then he budgeted a 40,000-seat stadium, when the average attendance for football in the CAA [Mason’s NCAA conference] was 11,000. He ran up the numbers to say football’s too expensive. Meanwhile, Mason makes a licensing deal with [a soft drink company], and every dime from that goes in the basketball budget. That sure makes basketball look good!

“The bottom line,” McGeehan continues, “is you can make it look like a program makes money or loses money. It’s all up to who keeps the books. Basketball people kept the books.”

What makes their accounting especially ridiculous is that they already have a 5,000 seat stadium, George Mason stadium, right on campus that hosts soccer and lacrosse (and the club football team). Either they can double the capacity of that stadium for a fraction of the cost that they claim, or they can build a new multi-purpose stadium elsewhere that seats, say, 15,000 and benefits all three sports.

I can't stand administrators that throw around funny figures to support their decisions. From Long Beach to Hofstra to Boston University, it's all about lies, damned lies and the lies spewed to make football look three times as costly as it really is.

[Side Judge]

GMU grad here (MBA) and also obviously a huge FCS fan (daHenz) - football ain't gonna happen in Fairfax. All expansion plans for the main campus are related to academics and student life, and they're pretty much out of room. Money's the other obvious huge issue, whether you're talking $86 million or a more reasonable estimate of around $25 million (along the lines of the stadium upgrade costs at ODU and Richmond). ODU got in under the wire and with a lot more fan/community/political support - the stadium and program is a nice boost to a pretty run-down area there (and please, don't take that as a potshot against ODU - they've done a great job building up their school and the surrounding area).

[JMUDuke2002]

By FAR the best line in the article:



What makes their accounting especially ridiculous is that they already have a 5,000 seat stadium, George Mason stadium, right on campus that hosts soccer and lacrosse (and the club football team). Either they can double the capacity of that stadium for a fraction of the cost that they claim, or they can build a new multi-purpose stadium elsewhere that seats, say, 15,000 and benefits all three sports.

I can't stand administrators that throw around funny figures to support their decisions. From Long Beach to Hofstra to Boston University, it's all about lies, damned lies and the lies spewed to make football look three times as costly as it really is.

But, it's not just the stadium money that has to be spent. Its scholarship costs of adding more women's sports to comply with Title IX plus funding the additional football scholarships.

I know people are hammering the AD, but it is his job. He knows more about it than any fan looking from the outside. It is financially difficult and politically unfeasible at this point. But, I could be wrong. With all the conference realignment going on, Mason may do it just to make sure they aren't left behind by JMU and ODU.

[glsjunior]

They are probably in the same situation that GSU was in in the 90's. It took a change at President to make football happen. Trust me if the President of the university wants it to happen it will, screw the AD.

[DFW HOYA]

GMU grad here (MBA) and also obviously a huge FCS fan (daHenz) - football ain't gonna happen in Fairfax. All expansion plans for the main campus are related to academics and student life, and they're pretty much out of room.

Out of room? The Fairfax campus is over six times the footprint of Georgetown University, and you're out of room? Well, what about the Manassas or PW campuses?

Then again, you could always play here...

GMU Stadium
http://www.gomason.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=25200&ATCLID=205054683

[Lehigh Football Nation]

George Mason U @GeorgeMasonU
Romney giving away football's at his rally...quietly promising a team if elected. #gmu

Interesting.

[DSUrocks07]

By FAR the best line in the article:



What makes their accounting especially ridiculous is that they already have a 5,000 seat stadium, George Mason stadium, right on campus that hosts soccer and lacrosse (and the club football team). Either they can double the capacity of that stadium for a fraction of the cost that they claim, or they can build a new multi-purpose stadium elsewhere that seats, say, 15,000 and benefits all three sports.

I can't stand administrators that throw around funny figures to support their decisions. From Long Beach to Hofstra to Boston University, it's all about lies, damned lies and the lies spewed to make football look three times as costly as it really is.

I would hazard a guess that half of it is the delusions of grandeur that BECAUSE they are in the CAA (or will be as a full member of the conference already), that they would need an extravagant stadium on par with what JMU is building.