Sluggish Seat License Sales Could Delay UNCC Football Program

UNCC May Delay Start Of Football Program Due To Seat License Sales

The Univ. of North Carolina-Charlotte's (UNCC) "already scaled-back plan to launch a football program is increasingly looking like it will be delayed," according to Andrew Dunn of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. UNCC's board of trustees will make a final decision during the fall on "whether to proceed with a plan to begin play in 2013, or to push the project back one year or more." The decision will "hinge upon the number of seat licenses sold -- currently behind schedule -- and the diminishing likelihood of a successful fundraising drive." UNCC will be "stepping up its seat license sales drive" in the interim, as AD Judy Rose said that the school will "run newspaper, radio and billboard advertisements throughout the summer." The school also will "recruit a team of 175 volunteers to sell 10 seat licenses each." They will be "supervised by a group of 'team captains' who are responsible for 20 seat license sales." Dunn notes UNCC also has "begun offering a payment plan that allows buyers to pay $52.63 monthly until the license is fully paid" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/30). In Charlotte, Tom Sorensen noted the 5,600 people who have pledged to buy football seat licenses were "asked to pay only a quarter of what they owed," but only 1,693 have done so. Rose: "Our timing is not great on this. But it doesn't mean we can't overcome it." Sorensen wrote he has been a "proponent since the football quest" began. Sorensen: "But I am less optimistic than I have ever been" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/30).

PAY TO PLAY: In a front-page piece for the N.Y. TIMES, Jere Longman noted as athletic costs "rise at a rate that the NCAA warns cannot be sustained, and as states continue to reduce spending on higher education, many athletic departments are seeking income beyond ticket sales, booster donations and television revenue to help stem the flow of red ink." But students "seem less inclined to pick up the tab, especially at universities that do not field major-college football teams." Students at three California universities recently "voted down fee increases to help pay for athletics," and the U.S. Student Association indicated that students "seem to be growing more reluctant to pay additional fees for everything from athletics to health care to transportation." The NCAA said that it did not keep data on such fees, though newspaper surveys have indicated that "more than half of Division I universities rely on student athletic fees, which can range from $30 a year to more than $1,000." Fee increases "must be put to a vote at some universities," while at others, school officials "consult students." Longman noted universities where students recently voted down athletic fee increases "seem to have a couple of things in common: They are primarily commuter colleges, where students may be less invested in sports; and they either do not compete in major football conferences or do not have football, which is the largest revenue sport" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/30).