Connecticut not having it's own NFL team is similar to Iowa. Iowa fans root for a combination of the Bears, Vikings and Packers, much like UCONN fans root for the Giants, Pats and Jet's. Diaco sees the similarity and the potential for drawing a larger fan base. By developing a winning program, hopes to establish UCONN football in the same vein as Iowa as the de facto NFL team.
I realize that the Demographics are different, however population wise the two states are similar. Obviously Iowa has a much larger land mass. So this serves as a kind of model regarding potential.
The Iowa Hawkeyes draw around 67,000 fans per home game, ranked 23rd among major colleges:
http://www.hawkeyesports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/020714aaa.html
POPULATION
IOWA - 3,107,000
5 largest cities:
DesMoines - 207,510
Cedar Rapids 128.429
Davenport 102,429
Siox City 83,459
Iowa City 71,591
CONN -3,597,000
5 largest cities:
Bridgeport - 147,216
New Haven 130,660
Stamford 126,456
Hartford 125,017
Waterbury 109.696
UCONN has the potential to reach 60-70 K fans per game. All we have to do is win!