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Message: [QUOTE="Zissou, post: 2166383, member: 7920"] [B][I]Does Nova have the money?[/I] Yes.[/B] Nova is in the midst of a funding campaign that has so far brought in over $620M. Nova's endowment is greater than UConn's. Overall Nova is probably in better shape financially to fund a team than UConn, and we don't use public funding to do it. Nova spends on football at the top end of FCS. [B]The top FCS football spenders:[/B] W&M $9.9M [B]JMU $8.2 Nova $6.6[/B] Fordham $6.5 Delaware $6.5 For Nova, this is before any allocation of West End Zone project (just completed new facility) expenses to football. [B]The bottom 4 spenders in the AAC are between $11 and $12M[/B] [B]MAC teams spend between $5.5 to $8.3M[/B] UConn football spending was $14.4M from this same data set. [B][I]Is Nova serious?[/I][/B] [B]Not as serious as it needs to be. [/B] Nova does not have great leadership when it comes to athletics. Nova struggles with its vision. It is slow to react, slow to adapt, and slow to make decisions. It is clumsy and plodding. Nova's slow acceptance of the invite to step up in football from the old Big East was a contributing factor to the timing of the oBE collapse. It is why we are where we are today, which is high spending (likely $7-$10M currently) without hardly any return, and worse - low interest in the FCS product. A key positive is that the football program is very good at the FCS level and we would only be a little more depth and size away from being AAC competitive. Nova did finally put together a credible plan for home games, but it is sitting on the shelf. Nova would play most of its home games in nearby Talon Energy Stadium, home of the Philadelphia Union soccer. Nova could play maybe 1 or 2 at the Linc, home of the Eagles and Temple. Nova would need to spend about $3M to $6M more per year for FBS. In return we would hope to get some revenue from TV and increased attendance. Right now Nova spends $7 to $10M per year on football and has almost no return, and has no chance at revenue. If Nova spends $10-$15M per year for FBS, over time it could hope for $5M++ in TV money, attendance revenue, and it will actually get benefits that are possible with a FBS program: alumni engagement and national exposure. Nova is #50 in the US News ranking. As Nova does not need to build a stadium, the increased costs are modest and manageable in the context of Nova's overall endowment and spending, and costs will be offset by increased revenue. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach