LETTER: Football would require fans

n Football is an issue that has been debated for years during my time here at Boston University ("The seats are there for you to fill, people," Feb. 22, p. 16). Many students bemoan the lack of a football team and claim the lack of one is the reason for student apathy when it comes to school spirit. One issue people seem to neglect is BU would play in a D1-AA conference.

For fun, let's take a look at schools that are in similar situations as BU. These schools - University of New Hampshire, University of Maine and Northeastern University - are in the same hockey conference as BU, considered to be primarily hockey schools (maybe not NU) but also provide football.

Looking at ticket demand: UNH and UM both charge more for hockey tickets than they do football tickets ($16 vs. $21/24) and comparable at NU ($12 vs. $10). Attendance is not exactly spectacular at NU or UM (5,136 and 3,256 season averages for 2006, respectively) and decent at UNH (8,141 season average). None of the schools sell out their seats at football games, while UNH and UM routinely sellout (and often oversell) their hockey games.

Assuming attendance is even as good as it is at these schools, we might get as many people to come out for a football game as we get out for a hockey game. Maybe. That would also depend on whether or not our team is competitive. Even if it's competitive in our conference, people likely won't attend because we wouldn't be competitive at the national level (look at our basketball teams the past few seasons).

The reason football at Boston College, Notre Dame, University of Southern California, University of Texas at Austin, etc. are successful is because they can compete at a national level. Stadiums are large and can often seat 60,000. Some even break the 100,000 barrier.

ESPN, Sports Illustrated and other sports publications idolize D-1A college football. University of Massachusetts-Amherst, D1-AA finalist for the championship, couldn't fill its smallish 17,000 stadium and averaged 11,000 fans a game -- 65 percent capacity for a team that went to the title game.

If everyone is serious about making sports a bigger deal at BU, let's try and support the teams we already have. But somehow I don't see that happening. Because let's face it, who wants to root for a team that likely has no chance at the national title? NCAA sports are not known for their parity, as elite talent will always go to elite schools, and unfortunately, BU is not one of those schools (unless you're talking about hockey). There's not a lot that can be done to change perceptions of schools (especially in sports). It definitely cannot happen overnight, and BU will have to catch some major recruiting breaks for things to really swing in its favor.

Can it happen? Yes. Is it likely? No. Even our competitive teams don't get attendance (i.e. women's lacrosse/soccer/tennis).

Chris Kim

CAS '06, SPH '08