National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

September 22, 1997

Exposure, revenue potential lured institutions from I-AA to I-A

Just as institutions move from Division II to Division I, so also do they move from Division I-AA to I-A.

The reasons appear to be the same as for institutions going from Division II to Division I: exposure, revenue opportunities, prestige.

"We determined that as a I-AA school in a metropolitan area, unless we consistently played in the I-AA championship, we could never develop the fan base, booster base, we needed to grow," said Steve Sloan, athletics director at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. "We also could never get the game guarantees we needed."

By reclassifying to Division I-A, Central Florida has been able to schedule games with well-known opponents for minimum revenue guarantees, he said. In the first three games of the 1997 season, Central Florida has played for a total guarantee of $1 million, which Sloan said easily covered the increased costs of scholarships and staff.

Central Florida has made an unusually swift competitive transition to I-A football and even led the perennially powerful University of Nebraska, Lincoln, at half time of a September 13 game in Lincoln. Central Florida ultimately lost, but only by two touchdowns.

"The phones haven't stopped ringing," Sloan said the following Monday. "People want tickets. It's a new experience for Central Florida athletics."

The University of Alabama at Birmingham also was looking for exposure and revenue when it decided to seek reclassification to Division I-A, said B. Gene Bartow, athletics director. "It's more expensive to be in I-A, but the chance to create more revenue is out there," he said.

The school was aided by the city of Birmingham, which wanted a tenant for its 80,000-seat stadium located just two miles from the UAB campus.

"The city wanted us to bring I-A teams here and we will, being a member of Conference USA," Bartow said.

The school expects that its 1998 football schedule -- featuring the University of Kansas, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and the University of Cincinnati -- will produce the football attendance the university is seeking.

"We're not there where we want to be yet, but we're not in Conference USA until 1999," Bartow said. "And in '98, with Kansas, Virginia Tech and Cincinnati coming, we'll get a truer test of interest."

Bartow said the school had three reasons for reclassifying:

  • A groundswell of students, alumni and friends of the university who thought I-A football would create more interest among people in the surrounding area.

  • The opportunity to create more media attention from football, Alabama's most popular sport.

  • The opportunity to bring in enough revenue not only to support football but to help with the institution's 17 other sports.

    Sloan said a university committee studied whether Central Florida should make the move. It determined that additional expenses would be offset by increasing home attendance, booster interest, and print and electronic media exposure.

    "So far it has been a good move for us," he said.

    In the past five years, eight schools have reclassified from Division I-AA to Division I-A.

    -- By Sally Huggins