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Should I Stay Or Should I Go? North Dakota State Battles With FBS Temptations

North Dakota State continues to face the question of whether it should attempt to move into the FBS level of college football, where it could "grab more media attention, and possibly rake in huge financial rewards," or stay on the FCS level, where it has won five consecutive national championships, according to Eben Novy-Williams of BLOOMBERG NEWS. A move up in competition could cost NDSU "money and championships." NDSU AD Matt Larsen said that "he's torn" about what to do. Larsen: "Our teams can compete at that level, but we need to ask, 'Can we afford to make the jump?' A lot of programs have moved up, looking for glitz, glamour and glory, and sometimes it's not there." Novy-Williams noted NDSU's athletic budget for the coming school year is $22M, while the nation's "top programs" are in excess of $120M. Moving to FBS "wouldn't guarantee that revenue would pour in, but if NDSU established itself, it could make millions." Larsen: "To do it the right way, making the move would mean doubling the athletic budget." It also likely "would require a new stadium" to replace the 19,000-seat Fargodome. Larsen said, "I could sell out 30,000 [seats] tomorrow, but that's not enough for an FBS program. We'd likely need at least 40,000 seats." Novy-Williams noted the Univ. of Houston in '14 opened the 40,000-seat, $120M TDECU Stadium. Meanwhile, Larsen said that while he "hasn't received a formal offer" about joining an FBS conference, he said that he has "spoken with a few commissioners" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 8/24).

WELCOME TO THE BIG TIME
: In Fargo, Eric Peterson reported when NDSU opens their season Saturday against Charleston Southern, fans will see "one of the more dramatic changes ... in more than two decades" when two "newly installed high-definition video boards" debut. The $7.2M project "includes two 29 feet by 100 feet boards above each end zone." South Dakota-based Daktronics "manufactured and helped install the video boards." NDSU Assistant AD/Marketing & Fan Engagement Justin Swanson said that the school's marketing department "has been working all summer on the new system and things like crowd prompts, sponsors graphics and templates" (Fargo-Moorehead FORUM, 8/24).

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