If Weber State University's football program receives "overwhelming support" from the students and fans next season, the program will be on solid ground and may even try to upgrade from its present NCAA Division I-AA level to Division I-A, the same level as BYU, Utah and Utah State.
If the Wildcats get anything less than "overwhelming support," the football program will be cut severely or could be dropped completely.A strategic planning committee at Weber State has outlined three scenarios for the school's financially troubled football program.
The program has required an annual subsidy of $800,000 and was targeted for elimination last fall. The program got a reprieve after a flurry of booster support but continued to be studied, along with 170 other programs, by the strategic planning committee, which released draft recommendations Wednesday.
The committee said football's future should hinge on the level of support it can generate. Last season, the team averaged 4,800 fans at 17,500-seat Wildcat Stadium.
The committee said that with overwhelming support - attendance by 14,000 fans and gate receipts of $350,000 - the program could be upgraded.
"If we can get ticket sales of $350,000 and donations as well, then football will continue. And we ought to consider the possibility of going I-A," Weber State president Paul Thompson said.
Weber is in the Big Sky Conference, which plays at the I-AA level.
"Football at the I-AA level has some risks, so we're looking at our options," Thompson said.
After some recent realignments of conferences, "the Big West is in trouble and it's possible they might look to the Big Sky to recruit some schools," he said.
The planning committee said that if the program draws substantial but not overwhelming support, with ticket sales at least $220,000 but less than $350,000, it should be dramatically reduced. Those reductions include dropping the number of scholarships from the present 63 by more than half (20 to 30 scholarships) and reducing the coaching staff to three members.
If the program draws less-than-substantial support the program would be eliminated completely.