As I mentioned last in this blog, Utah is below the national average in citizens per FBS programs, but above the national average in total per-capita college football programs. The time may soon be right for Utah Valley University (UVU) to begin playing football. The Orem-based, relatively new University has been denied the request to add football twice by the Regents. Perhaps the reason is cost.
Where are the Wolverines going to play football? It's not like you can walk over to Wal-Mart and purchase a football stadium. It's not like they could partner with a minor league team that wants to play on Sunday like the baseball team did. If UVU wants a football team, there will need to be a creative way to deal with the cost.
Before we get more into cost, there is a matter of stadium location. That should be easy. West of the arena formerly known as the McKay Events Center there is a parking lot. West of that is a vacant field. The one north of the parking lot entrance. Perfect location. Plenty of parking. There are soccer fields there now, but the stadium can be built wide enough for soccer, lacrosse and rugby.
Now to deal with the cost. At the high end, but similar to what UVU could build is Aggie Stadium at the University of California-Davis. Aggie Stadium was completed just three seasons ago, holds a little over 10,000 and cost around 30 million to build. It was built to be easily expandable to a little over 30,000 should the Aggie program decide to move up to the FBS. (Smart move, as Cal-Davis seems to be the leading contender to replace Boise State in the WAC.) Now comes the part of raising 30,000,000. This figure represents a high number, as this was a government project in California.
A lower-cost, more moderate model for what could happen at UVU is Eastern Washington's Woodward field. But that has been a work in progress as long as I have been a work in progress. This would not be as cheap for UVU as it was for EWU. There is not a natural berm to build the grandstands upon. Due to the proximity of UVU to Utah lake, digging down is probably not an option as the water table is relatively high in that area. And the cost is in 1967 dollars. It could be significantly higher if adjusted for inflation.
30,000,000 is not an easy sum of money to raise. It is about 100 dollars per Utah County resident. Utah County has a young population; this would become a significant tax burden if put solely on the backs of the taxpayers. And it is not like there are many UVU alumni are looking for a funeral memorial right now. UVU was founded in 1941 and only became a 4-year college in 1993. UVU alumni are only beginning to rise above middle management, and will soon be sending kids on missions. Not exactly the best time in life to beg alumni for large donations. The Wolverines are about a generation away from really benefiting from generous alumni. Relative to a brother institution like Weber State, UVU is still in the "Car Wash" stage of fund raising.
In addition to the stadium costs, there is the cost of scholarships and equipment. The scholarship money has to be a perpetual fund, and not run out. This means a fund large enough where only the interest is spent, not the principle. It could take a substantial commitment as high as 50 million to get football going at the Valley. Of course, UVU could take the same route that Boise State and Wyoming have and raise student fees. That is never a popular decision.
One may say that UVU could play at LaVell Edwards Stadium, (BYU) but this could not be a permanent nor a long-term solution. The stadium is too large (64,000) for an FCS program, and the Wolverines and the Great West Conference will have to schedule around the Cougars. This would include not playing a home game on the first Saturday in October. Another potential temporary stadium, in spite of being a few miles north, is Rio Tinto Stadium. But again, you would have to schedule around the main tenant; Real Salt Lake. And finally, there is the option of playing at the baseball park, if you do not mind the mud at one end of the field. (In this link, you are looking at what would be the south end-zone). In this case, the football field would need to be oriented with the north end-zone toward right field and the south end-zone toward the 3rd-base dugout. Other, probably poor options, would be a local high school, or the junior high that UVU's track and field team uses.
It would be up to business concerns in Utah Valley to pony up for a much of the cost, as Brent Brown did for the baseball stadium. It's a tough call in this economy, but when the economy improves, there may be some Orem business person looking to help Provo's little sister escape her big shadow. Then will be the time to strike. So, people of Orem, if you want football at UVU, pass around the hat and let's get this stadium built.
It is a different story in Saint George. Currently, Dixie State College of Utah is beginning their fourth year as a provisional Division II program. Meaning the audition is almost complete. Becoming an FCS program is probably not in the cards in the next year or two. But if an opening in the Big Sky conference were to come available in the next three to five years, the Raging Red may jump at the opportunity. With four fellow Pacific West Conference members in Hawaii, this move could represent a cost-savings venture for the athletic department. Imagine trading two trips to Hawaii for every program every season for one trip to Portland. Yeah, that will save a few Benjamins.
This could also become the opening for Southern Utah University to join the Big Sky Conference. DSCU and SUU could be travel partners. Both have a similar student body size, but DSCU is in the larger city and closer to the airport. There would not need to be a major investment in new facilities in Saint George, they are already pretty good.
DSCU is a more attractive program for the Big Sky Conference than SUU as Saint George is now larger than Flagstaff, Pocatello, Bozeman, Cheney, or Missoula. And Washington County, Utah is catching up to Weber County, Utah at a very fast rate. (The Ogden metro is Weber, Davis and Morgan counties, the St. George metro is only Washington County.) Saint George has been the fastest growing city in the United States. Stay tuned for this one, by 2015, DSCU could join the Big Sky Conference and eventually represent the third largest city in the conference; behind Portland and Sacramento. (Right now, it could be the fourth largest) There are more differences than city size, however. When DSCU visited Ogden in 2008 to play Weber State, the game was a joke. At a competitive level, DSCU has a long, long way to go. They would experience a struggle similar to Northern Colorado's trouble.
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