Faculty Senate discusses FBS football, athletic department contributions

From walking through campus to talking with alumni, University of Idaho Athletic Director Rob Spear is used to hearing opinions about the decision to keep the football team in the FBS.

“It’s caused kind of a divisive situation with some of our fan base,” Spear said, speaking at Faculty Senate Tuesday. “Some think we should be back in the Big Sky some think that we should stay FBS for political reasons.”

Like the Vandal fan base, the decision to continue in the FBS was on the minds of many UI Faculty Senate members.

Spear said having the football team compete in the FBS is a financial gain to the athletic department and brings a level of status to UI as an institution. In addition, he said student-athletes enjoy playing games against high-profile teams.

Cody Earl, a Faculty Senate member from the Student Bar Association, said he thinks a losing football team year after year is embarrassing to the university and actually diminishes the status of UI. He said UI’s football team losing to more established programs for large sums of money has a negative effect on how fans view the team.

Liz Brandt, senator and faculty member from the College of Law, said an unsuccessful football team takes a toll on the university and its image in Idaho and across the country. She said UI should not be a university that has to pride itself on playing football in the FBS.

“I think it’s really costly to us, in ways we can’t even put our finger on,” she said.

For Spear, the revenue raised by playing money games is critical for the department and helps fund athletic scholarships.

With UI tuition increasing each year and relatively level revenue from student fees, Spear said the athletic department has had to shoulder the higher cost of athletic scholarships.

He said playing “money games” allows the department to raise money for the increase in tuition and fees while still providing the same number of scholarships. As a FBS team, Spear said UI receives twice as much revenue for a money game than if it were in the Big Sky.

“It’s a necessity, I don’t know what else to do when you look at the increase in tuition and fees,” he said.

Spear said a move to the Big Sky would also require the football team to cut 22 scholarships, and the athletic department would have to eliminate two other sports programs.

Spear said there is a misconception that the athletic program is a burden on UI and is a financial weight to the university budget.

Each year, he said the athletic department receives $6.8 million in revenue from student fees, state funds and university funds, but generates $7 million in student tuition and fees for UI. He said $7 million is the sum of all tuition and fees from all 350 student-athletes at UI.

Brandt said it is unfair for the athletic department to count money raised by walk-on student-athletes. She said it is presumptuous for the department to assume a walk-on athlete came to UI solely for athletics.

“You are counting students in the tuition base who would come here anyway,” she said

James Foster, senator and faculty member from the College of Science, agreed with Brandt and said it seemed unfair for the athletic department to claim all of the money generated by scholarship and non-scholarship athletes.

“I find that highly suspicious, and to count 100 percent of their tuition as a credit to the athletic program seems — I like you as a person — but it seems dishonest,” Foster said.

Foster pointed out many student-athletes qualify for academic scholarships, which could be a further incentive in attending UI, besides the appeal of playing on an athletic team.

In response, Spear said many walk-on athletes chose to attend UI because of the strong programs in their respective sports. He said the department does not definitively know why student-athletes attend UI, but argued the opportunity to compete at a college level is a major draw for many passionate students, with or without a scholarship.

Foster said there are other expenses associated with the athletic department, such as facility maintenance, coaching salaries and heating bills that were not provided to the senate.

“This accounting of expenses is entirely inadequate,” he said.

Spear said he only provided an account of what the athletic department receives from UI and what the department returns to the university. He said he did not provide a complete list of revenue and expenses, but would be happy to share that information with Faculty Senate at a later date.

Ryan Tarinelli can be reached at arg-news@uidaho.edu