UCF joins the Sunbelt for Soccer

[CajunVic]

We won’t do this. Why continue the discussions? Dream in a place that does not take up everybody else’s time. And we are not dropping basketball. Only the truest of dunces would make that recommendation.

[Turbine]

I don't understand why you people don't realize that Dr. Maggard has been and is working on this. Sheesh.

I think this exercise could be useful inn gaging by the responses whether this soccer endeavor would generate any crossover support or if would bring in an entirely new fanbase.

Currently the responses are tracking exactly where I would expect for established fans of other sports.

[ManAboutTown]

I think this exercise could be useful inn gaging by the responses whether this soccer endeavor would generate any crossover support or if would bring in an entirely new fanbase.

Currently the responses are tracking exactly where I would expect for established fans of other sports.

Every sport at this school has its own fanbase. Which is unique; and counterproductive.

[ZoomZoom]

Every sport at this school has its own fanbase. Which is unique; and counterproductive.

Very true. By chance, I went look at my RCAF account yesterday. Still under 2k members.

If there was ever an argument to give graduates a free year of base RCAF, this is it.

[ManAboutTown]

Very true. By chance, I went look at my RCAF account yesterday. Still under 2k members.

If there was ever an argument to give graduates a free year of base RCAF, this is it.

Agree 100%, complete with their own social or dinner or gala. Make the perks worth staying.

5k members should be a given with the size of our community. Less than 2k is flat out failure by the organization. I’ll be asking Lisa Capone about this in an offseason episode, if we can work out the details.

[WestUCajun]

You better hurry!. Lisa has accepted a position of Vice Chancellor of Advancements (equivalent to John Blohm's Position) at University of Missouri - St. Louis and will be leaving UL at the end of July.

[ManAboutTown]

You better hurry!. Lisa has accepted a position of Vice Chancellor of Advancements (equivalent to John Blohm's Position) at University of Missouri - St. Louis and will be leaving UL at the end of July.

We spoke to her a couple weeks ago. Had no idea.

Great for her. Bad for UL.

[cjr3888]

Anyone saying to drop basketball is either a fool or just joking. There are other priorities within the athletic department that are much higher than adding any new sports. I've been hearing for years that soccer is the fastest growing sport in the US. There's a reason no D1 programs are in Louisiana right now, it's not big enough to invest in a program financially. People bring up the high school soccer in Louisiana. Here's the number of men's programs currently in the LHSAA.

Soccer: 170
Football: 302
Basketball: 341
Baseball: 383

Plus, each year the LHSAA admits a few new members which many do not have soccer programs but have the other sports. Now, I'm saying this as someone who is working with a group to build up soccer in our local area. However, now is just not the time to add another sport that will drain the budget.

[CajunVic]

We are not doing this. We can't afford it. We can't afford what we are excelling at. Some people will just never listen when they have an agenda, no matter how impractical and unlikely that agenda may be.

cjr, thanks for providing facts and not just fluff.

[LouisianaB]

Anyone saying to drop basketball is either a fool or just joking. There are other priorities within the athletic department that are much higher than adding any new sports. I've been hearing for years that soccer is the fastest growing sport in the US. There's a reason no D1 programs are in Louisiana right now, it's not big enough to invest in a program financially. People bring up the high school soccer in Louisiana. Here's the number of men's programs currently in the LHSAA.

Soccer: 170
Football: 302
Basketball: 341
Baseball: 383

Plus, each year the LHSAA admits a few new members which many do not have soccer programs but have the other sports. Now, I'm saying this as someone who is working with a group to build up soccer in our local area. However, now is just not the time to add another sport that will drain the budget.

The reason there’s not more Mens college soccer programs is Title IX. Plain and simple. It’s all about numbers

[ManAboutTown]

The reason there’s not more Mens college soccer programs is Title IX. Plain and simple. It’s all about numbers

Exactly correct

[LouisianaB]

Anyone saying to drop basketball is either a fool or just joking. There are other priorities within the athletic department that are much higher than adding any new sports. I've been hearing for years that soccer is the fastest growing sport in the US. There's a reason no D1 programs are in Louisiana right now, it's not big enough to invest in a program financially. People bring up the high school soccer in Louisiana. Here's the number of men's programs currently in the LHSAA.

Soccer: 170
Football: 302
Basketball: 341
Baseball: 383

Plus, each year the LHSAA admits a few new members which many do not have soccer programs but have the other sports. Now, I'm saying this as someone who is working with a group to build up soccer in our local area. However, now is just not the time to add another sport that will drain the budget.

With regards to the high school numbers, I think it comes down to demographics of the schools. Domestically, the sport is predominantly white. Northside doesn’t field soccer teams.

Does that make it bad or racist? I personally don’t think so. I think you’ll find proportionate numbers in other states

[CajunVic]

The reason there’s not more Mens college soccer programs is Title IX. Plain and simple. It’s all about numbers

It's definitely about numbers, but I suspect it is more about $$$ than IX.

[ManAboutTown]

With regards to the high school numbers, I think it comes down to demographics of the schools. Domestically, the sport is predominantly white. Northside doesn’t field soccer teams.

Does that make it bad or racist? I personally don’t think so. I think you’ll find proportionate numbers in other states

Exactly correct.

And the other part is, the sport alone doesn’t tell the entire story. If you’re looking to expand your brand as a business, you cultivate new markets. You also want to make relationships with institutions that will raise your profile. You also want to compete in a top tier league with a chance to win a Natty.

This opportunity checks all of those boxes. Look at where SB started..

[CajunT]

With regards to the high school numbers, I think it comes down to demographics of the schools. Domestically, the sport is predominantly white. Northside doesn’t field soccer teams.

Does that make it bad or racist? I personally don’t think so. I think you’ll find proportionate numbers in other states

Your point concerning demographics makes sense when trying to project if soccer can be successful and a revenue sport at UL, which is extremely unlikely. From the arguments being used here, using a model like FAU is questionable at best. Why, because the demographics in population show South Florida has a much larger Latino population than the state of Louisiana. The interest in the game is culturally significantly different than South Louisiana and that certainly helps when building a new program.

Building a winning culture is entirely different than finding revenue sources to pay for scholarships, and other internal cost associated with a college sports program. The claim that it can be a revenue neutral, or even add revenue to the athletic program is speculative at best and not a fact-based argument. Why, because there is not s single revenue neutral sport currently in UL Athletic program. In fact, the last two years have seen significant reduction in budgets across the board, and transfers from the UL Foundation to be paid back by RCAF and other sources.

While there seems to be a love for the sport, especially in the younger demographics in this board, the suggestions that dropping basketball would be a path in financing a soccer program, are comical at best and idiotic. Regardless of the current status of the Ragin' Cajun program, college basketball still brings in the second highest amount of viewership and television revenue in college sports after football. If someone can show me what kind of television revenue college soccer is generating today, and if it's greater than baseball or softball, I might be willing to listen.