In a recent commentary, James Cartwright offered some "significant advantages" to moving the University of Hawaii at Manoa football team from the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) to the NCAA’s lower classification of Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) ("UH football joining FCS would be win-win for all," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Dec. 26).
While the advantages Cartwright listed were well presented and thought-provoking, there are fiscal, logistical and philosophical considerations that must also be heavily weighed.
A recently completed report by the UH Shidler College of Business concluded that the economic impact of the UH at Manoa athletics department "goes well beyond its budget of $35 million. In total, in fiscal year 2013-14, total direct Hawaii spending on labor and good and services was estimated to be over $66 million. The $66 million of Hawaii spending generated $128 million of Hawaii business sales … and $36.9 million of income for Hawaii workers. In addition, the $66 million of spending added $7 million to the state’s tax collections. Finally, the total spending created over 860 jobs in Hawaii."
Beyond the financials, there is the state’s prestige and national image to consider. Currently, 41 of the 50 states (including Hawaii) have at least one university that sponsors an FBS football program. Those states which have only an FCS team (seven), or no Division I college football program at all (two), include: Alaska, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Vermont.
The question all stakeholders in the state of Hawaii need to ask themselves is: "Do we want to be among the 41 states sponsoring FBS football or among the nine that do not?"
If being among the nine non-FBS states is not a deterrent, then it’s important to also consider the following:
» Assuming that non-FBS schools would agree to play football games in Hawaii despite significant travel costs, future UH football schedules would include teams from the Big Sky, Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, or possibly from the six Division II independents.
Assuming UH would be accepted for membership by the Big Sky Conference (FCS), our conference opponents would now include: Cal Poly, Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana, North Dakota, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State, Southern Utah, UC Davis, and Weber State.
These are all fine institutions, but this lineup of FCS conference foes, as opposed to those in the FBS Mountain West Conference, would most certainly lead to decreases in ticket revenue, sponsorships, donations, apparel and footwear contracts, television and radio rights fees, merchandising revenue, and other sources of income.
Meanwhile, costs related to operating the program would remain relatively the same, including Aloha Stadium operational costs, travel subsidies for visiting teams, and all UH team-related expenses. There would be some savings through reduced scholarships and coaching personnel, but those savings would be a wash due to decreased revenues.
If UH is unable to garner membership in one of the western FCS or Division II conferences, and independent status is pursued instead, a future football schedule might resemble the following: Azusa Pacific, Humboldt State, Fort Lewis, New Mexico Highlands, Eastern Washington, Chadron State, Alderson-Broaddus and Limestone.
However, assembling a football schedule even resembling this would be problematic, since these schools would be highly unlikely to be available during their conference seasons. Additionally and more important, there would be little or no national television exposure for the University of Hawaii, such as we receive currently through the Mountain West TV agreement.
In the end, remaining FBS or moving down to FCS are both going to require additional subsidies and an elevated financial commit- ment. Given that, Hawaii must ask itself: Do we want to be one of the 41 FBS states or one of the nine non-FBS states?
