Football program not expected to return
Matthew Keyser, Jeseny Escobar, Tim Petersen wrote this article for Cal State Fullerton’s Daily Titan. It is available for republication or reference. If you think their work is important, you can support it here.
Bringing back the Titans football program would be a bigger financial commitment from the university than it can afford. Jim Donovan, Cal State Fullerton’s athletics director, said that the estimated cost of bringing back the football program would cost the university at least $10 million to $12 million a year.
“I’m saying what it costs to have a football program, plus four corresponding women's programs so that we would meet Title IX gender equity, after ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, donations and everything probably would still be around $10 to $12 million a year,” Donovan said.
If CSUF wanted to bring back football, the university would have the best chance of generating revenue at a Division I Football Subdivision Bowl level, Donovan said.
“As you step down to either the Football Championship Subdivision or down to Division II, it becomes less appealing for people to make donations and buy tickets and come out,” Donovan said. “Especially in Southern California because you get USC and UCLA playing at the highest level.”
Donovan suggested that one way to generate revenue would involve an increase in student fees. In 2007, the University of Texas at San Antonio raised its student fees in order to fund a Division I football team. Similarly, UC San Diego also raised its student fees in 2016 to help cover the costs of a non-football Division I athletic program.
But Donovan said he feels that CSUF students are already paying enough in fees and would not agree to additional increases just to have a football team.
“It would take about $125 a semester for every student for us to start football back up, about $250 per student a year,” Donovan said. “So, not going to hold my breath there.”
The intercollegiate sports programs at CSUF already face inadequate funding. In 2020, the athletics department was forced to make adjustments to match their approximately $1.05 million loss in revenue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Student Success Initiative was passed in spring 2014, and it “presents an exciting opportunity to enrich Cal State Fullerton students' experiences and enhance their success.” The initiative allowed the student body fee, which increased the athletic budget.
The Associated Student Body Fee for spring 2022 was $83.87 for all CSUF students. According to the Student Fee Advisory Committee, the purpose of the fee is to “provide for student governance, shared governance of the university, programming of student activities, funding of campus organizations and athletics, and operation of the student union, recreation center, and children’s center.”
The Athletic Department's budget has increased from $8.5 to $19.2 million between 2010 and 2019. In 1991, the football program had an annual budget of about $1.3 million. By bringing back the football team, and a women’s sport because of Title IX, there would be an increase in the ASI fee to help fund these additional programs.
Alyssa Jerome, a third-year psychology major, said she is not fond of the idea of having her tuition increased to bring back the football program.
“Tuition price is already high for students. I don’t think it would benefit the school to raise tuition to bring back a program that didn’t bring in revenue,” Jerome said.
Although students have started petitions and social media pages in the past to bring back CSUF’s football team, the administration has not taken any action to reinstate the program.
Taylor Bavencoff, a second-year business major, said that a football program would interest students.
“I think having a football team would be a great addition to the school. Since we’re a commuter school, it’d give students opportunities to know more people on campus,” Bavencoff said.
For the 2020-21 academic year, there were 42,051 students at CSUF — 36,975 undergraduates and 5,076 graduate students.
Sam Hasson, a fourth-year communications major, said that having a football team would be a great addition to CSUF.
“I think having a football team would allow students to participate in tailgates and it would give us the full college experience, and I think most students would definitely participate in it,” Hasson said.
However, there are some students who don't share the same enthusiasm for bringing back football.
Nataly Ashkarian, a freshman civil engineering major, said she probably would not participate in any football games.
“I don’t go to any sports games now, and I most likely wouldn’t go to any football games,” Ashkarian said.
Even if CSUF considered resurrecting the football program, the university would have a long and complicated road in bringing it back.
“It would be just as complex a decision to bring it back in 2022 as it was a complex decision to disband the program in 1992,” Rinella said.