100 Million Dollar Dream

By Brian Betz

When football came to an end at Santa Clara on Feb. 3, 1993, emotions ran high, to put it mildly.

Mike Fisher, the likely starting quarterback on the 1993 Bronco squad that never was, can still remember how he felt when he heard the news. "Disbelief, pissed off, disappointed, betrayed, are those enough?" Fisher said.

Jim McPherson, who was an inside linebacker on the last Santa Clara squad and is the current Denver Broncos quarterbacks coach, is more succinct. "It was a shocker," he remembers.

This sort of passion is common among those who lament the end of football at Santa Clara. A group of alumni even has a foundation dedicated to bringing the sport back to the campus. But a close look at the decision reveals it was more about finances than emotion. It could cost more than $80 million to bring football back to the university, not including the cost of a stadium, a locker room or even incidentals like helmets, pads and footballs. In tough economic times, that's a lot of money, with no guarantee of football ever generating a profit.

Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College, concluded that all Division I-A andI- AA athletic programs and most Division I-A programs lose money in his book "Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism and Conflict in Big-Time Sports."

The official word of football's discontinuation arrived in a four-page letter written by President Paul Locatelli, S.J., who detailed reasons for the decision.

A key aspect was the advent of the "split divisional" rule, which would have required Santa Clara football to move up to the more competitive Division I level. It's no secret that it costs more money to compete on that stage.

The poor economy of the early 1990s also influenced the decision. Continuing football, it was argued, would diminish the funding for areas such as building maintenance, technological equipment and faculty and staff raises. The university was already reducing its operating expenses as a result of the economic downturn

"Those cuts were shared by different degrees across the university ranging by 2 percent in some departments and 9 percent in others," said Jim Briggs current executive assistant to the president who was at Santa Clara when football was eliminated. "And the athletic department, given the size of its budget, needed to participate in that."

Alumni were quick to respond to the decision. For the past 10 years, the Let Them Play Foundation has worked to restore the intercollegiate football program at Santa Clara. One of its board members, Rick Medeiros, summed up their efforts.

"No one on our side is saying let's take away opportunities or resources or anything from anybody," said Medeiros. "What we're saying is let's bring football back and do a darn good job of doing everything we can for every other program."

After five years without football, Locatelli was asked if the reasons for its dismissal were still valid. Due to the issue's complexity, he invited advocates from both sides to discuss the matter in September of 1998. The next year, the university issued a press release outlining the costs of bringing back football.

"According to recently prepared estimates, annual net operating costs for an NCAA football program at the university at the Division IAA level would cost $2.28 million a year," the August 26, 1999, press release states. And due to NCAA equity requirements mandated by Title IX, "a similar amount would have to be made available to fund additional women's programs."

The $5 million annual cost would require an endowment of approximately $100 million, it continues This nine-figure estimate is the necessary endowment because the school only receives a 5 percent return on any endowment. Or, more simply, five cents for every dollar endowed.

There press release also states there would be a minimum one-time expense of $1.92 million for the necessary equipment and facility upgrades.

"I didn't know it at the time, but now that I'm in the business world, I understand the decision," remarked Fischer, who left Santa Clara when the program was eliminated and went on to star at Cal Poly. He is now an electrical engineer for Kennedy/Jenks Consultants. "I guess I didn't want to learn it at the time because I guess I thought SCU was better. I was bitter at them for making a business decision at a school that I thought was more than that."

Nevertheless, Fischer still resents the decade old decision.

"Every time I hear the words Santa Clara I curse the name Paul Locatelli," Fischer said.

Other issues could make football even more expensive. One problem would be finding a location for the team to practice and play games. Buckshaw Field would take a beating with two soccer teams and a football team playing there throughout the fall months and locker rooms would need to accommodate a squad of 75-100 players, plus space for coaches.

"I think the more time goes by, the more the decision looks like it was a good decision because of the costs that it would take to bring it back," Briggs said.

Paul Griffin, Associate Athletic Director at Georgia Tech offers a more personal perspective on the high cost of football. Griffin was the lead consultant for the University of South Florida, a school that added Division IAA football program in 1997.

Since South Florida's 9-2 finish last season, which included contests against high-profile opponents Oklahoma and Arkansas, they have moved up to Division IA to compete in Conference USA next season. However, such success is rarely guaranteed.

"It's a risky business at best," Griffin said.

The reality is that most schools could never match the financial success that South Florida had before its football team ever took the field.

According to Griffin, they raised $5 million before taking the first step, secured a $1 million student fee supplement, sold nearly 20,000 season tickets for the first season, had zero stadium costs, and had a plentiful range of opponents to compete against.

Consider what a football team brings to a university. It could restore the missing link between today and many of the alumni who played here in the past, just as it's done for local rival St. Mary's.

"There are a great number of people who identify our program with the 1930s and 40s," said St. Mary's Assistant Director Athletics Andy McDowell. "It's probably not as big as an identifier for younger students. When freshmen come in here, I don't think they understand the level our program competed at back then, but take a survey of people age 50 or older and ask them what they identify Saint Mary's with and the majority will say an outstanding football program."

As a fellow member of the West Coast Conference (WCC), which doesn't sponsor football, how are they able to participate in Division IAA?

"Any of the institutions can play other sports, they just need to play as independents," said McDowell.

Since St.Mary's made the move up to Division IAA in 1993, they've competed against fellow Division IAA schools the likes of Northern Arizona, Montana State, Sacramento State, and Cal Poly, just to name a few.

The rebirth of football at Santa Clara would likely rekindle the "Little Big Game", which annually pitted Santa Clara against the Gaels. Alumni still talk about that year-end game and the rivalry it built against Santa Clara, according to McDowell.

But for now, it seems this entire issue of starting football is a moot point. According to the university's 1999 press release, even if someone were to donate $100 million, it is highly unlikely the school would put it toward creating a football program.

"My sense is if all the needs of the university were addressed, plus someone wanted to give $45 million, then it would be an issue of should we have a team," said Jim Briggs. "But until we get to that point, our priorities are clear and those priorities do not include football."

As of October of 2002, the school began its $350 million capital campaign to fund additional student scholarships, improve technology and facilities, increase the number of full-time professors, and build both a new library and a new business school.

As it stands, until the sport becomes a priority no such campaigns will go toward football, and Feb. 2, 1993, will remain the last day Santa Clara had a team.