Ball State University faces a questionable future as a Division-IA football team. The NCAA recently announced a minimum-average attendance requirement of 15,000 for all IA football programs. Ball State has failed to reach that mark the last two years.
The ruling has created a flurry of activity in the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics to reach the new benchmark by the end of the year.
"The NCAA requirement is 15,000 per game, so we have a need to get 75,000 people to attend football this year. We are confident we will do that," Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham said. "The first thing we have done is put in the lights, which I think will greatly enhance student attendance. Secondly is we've hired a person who's job is primarily to promote football and get groups and build interest to ensure that we do get 75,000."
On Associate Athletic Director Matt Wolfert's door, the man who was hired to bring Ball State to 15,000, there is a news clipping from the USA Today. Highlighted are the passages in the article that list Ball State as being under 15,000 in football attendance.
"Bubba has hired me to come in here and really put a concerted effort into the ticket selling process," he said. "More importantly, what we're going to get into is filling the stadium up and getting 15,000-minimum attendance off the list. My goal is that next year when they write the article in USA Today that they don't have Ball State on it."
AROUND THE MAC
According to the NCAA's Web site, Ball State averaged 12,339 in attendance over six games last season, making it among the six lowest schools in Division IA football, but Ball State wasn't alone at the bottom of the list. Out of the 117 IA schools, 11 did not meet an attendance average of 15,000 last year. Six of the universities came from the Mid-Atlantic Conference.
"The MAC would have to make a determination of whether or not they would keep their requirements to be a IA program in order to be in the MAC, that is a requirement right now in the MAC," Cunningham said. "They are going to have to determine if that will remain a factor. Or could you be a non-IA and be in the MAC? Could you be a I-AA or a I-AAA?
"The Big East, which is a BCS conference, has I-AAA members as well as I-A members, so they have a very diverse group in their league. So that's something the league could take a look at. That said, the preference would be for everyone to remain I-A, and we'd all stay I-A programs. "
The six MAC schools that finished below 15,000 - Central Michigan, Akron, Buffalo, Ball State, Eastern Michigan and Kent State - represent half of the schools that will compete in the MAC in 2005. Kent State has failed to reach 15,000 in all but one of the last 10 years.
"I don't think (the regulation) is a good idea," Kent State's Athletics Director Laing Kennedy said. "The other things they require - number of scholarships, number of home games, total money on scholarships - are all under control of the school, but there are things out of control for the school. Just for starters - the weather. Let's say you're just cruising along right at 15,000, and you have one last game, and it's raining, sleeting, or freezing rain. Not as many people will come out, and that can hurt you."
Kennedy is not the only one who is displeased with the regulation.
"The implications of teams not remaining I-A has not been well thought out by (The NCAA)," Cunnngham said. "I mean, look at all the schools the MAC plays non-conference. And if those schools aren't I-A, the impact we have on everyone we play before our conference games is tremendous. Say we're not I-A. What does that mean to Boston College, Purdue and Missouri? Take our schedule in '06 and take that times six, we impact everybody else.
"Those are the implications that I think the NCAA hasn't thought out yet, and said 'what happens if?' cause there's also a requirement that you have to play five I-A home games. Say we're the fifth game at Purdue, now they only have four non-conference games, what happens to them? It's a different criteria, but they didn't meet it. I think that kind of stuff needs to be settled before they take a whole lot of action."
The five other schools below 15,000 schedules include Syracuse, Michigan State, Florida, Penn State, Iowa, Virginia and Rutgers.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING IA
The effects of not being Division IA are not limited to the athletic department. One of President Jo Ann Gora's plans for the university is to increase the national recognition of Ball State, and she has said athletics are a good way to do it. Without a Division I-A football program, Ball State's ability to reach the national spotlight might be diminished.
"I think the NCAA regulation is definitely achievable," Gora said. "I've spoken with the athletic director, and we're looking forward to student attendance. We should have a good season, and it should be fun to watch."
Division I-AA, where Ball State would likely end up if it failed to make the requirement, contains smaller schools with lower profile programs. In fact, only 11 I-AA programs had attendance over 15,000, and chances for exposure on television, as well as scheduling high-profile opponents, is deminished
Finally, the MAC requires membership in Division I-A. While the MAC is a mid-major conference, it has produced quality football performances, including Miami's run into the top 15 last year.
GETTING TO 15,000
The lights are only the most visible part of a major effort within Ball State's athletic department to reach 15,000. One of the targets for Wolfert is the students, whose attendance, or lack there of, has been noticed.
"There's 18,000 students on this campus," he said. "To think that we could get 50 percent of them to attend at a game should not be outrageous. Let me put it this way -- we do not get 50 percent right now. If we got 50 percent for the Boston College game, that's what I'm shooting for right now. I think we should get between 8,500 and 9,000 students to attend the Boston College game."
Although Boston College might set the mood for the season, Wolfert said he feels the Western Michigan game will be a better gauge of student interest.
"The key is going to be Saturday Sept. 25, because it's going to be our first home, Saturday, night game where we test the students a little bit. If you're here, come out and watch if your in town. Thursday nights, they're here anyway, right?"
Students are not the only base Wolfert has been working on.
"We are actually working a little bit closer this year with our season-ticket holders," he said. "I want to develop that base, and what goes into that is purely thanking them. We called in every season-ticket holder this summer to say 'We got your season ticket renewal form, thank you.' It's simple, isn't it? It's simple, but these are our bread and butter people.
The athletic department's only correspondence with the ticket holders is to send out a renewal form, Wolfert said.
"Those are our best fans of all, because we didn't have to ask them a second time, we didn't have to resend them a note, we didn't have to call them and remind them," Wolfert said. "And yet we never do anything with our box of our best people. So we decided to call these people and say 'We appreciate your support. We appreciate your loyalty.'"
Although these efforts might help increase attendance, the evidence seems to support the idea that the best way to increase attendance is to have a successful season. Of the MAC schools that were below 15,000, all but Akron had sub-.500 seasons.
"I think winning is the best way to enhance attendance," Cunningham said. "The only group that has been successful in attendance and not been winning is the Cubs, and that's a unique situation. If you look at winning percentages and attendance, you will see a high correlation, so we understand that we have to improve the product on the field."
Still, if it comes down to it, Cuttingham said he feels if it comes down to the final game, people will come.
"I think that if we get to the middle of the season, and we say 'You know what? We're on the bubble here, and we need student support, we need alumni support and community support to remain I-A,' I believe the student, the staff and the community will do whatever it takes, and they will turn out. And we will have 75,000 come."
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