When will Matt Larsen contact someone from the FBS about NDSU moving up?

[56BISON73]

I think it's a Catch-22.

On one hand, I see and feel SDbison's frustration. From what has been shared publicly about a potential move and/or new stadium, NDSU leadership doesn't appear to have done much due diligence. e.g. saying "We can't, we don't have enough money" is much different than saying "We have contracted with xx consultant who has conducted an investigation and informed us that FBS/new stadium is not financially feasible at this point in time" and then giving numbers on said alternatives. Like SDbison said, for it to work you have to show people your vision and how you can make it happen. This aspect of things has been particularly frustrating for myself as well as most fans who feel NDSU should be working towards FBS.

On the other hand, publicly stating that you're making a push to leave FCS before you have the means and resources to do so would be unwise. Obviously NDSU would alienate peer universities, the ass-backwards ND legislature, current conferences, hell everything down to future scheduling gets more complicated. Obviously there's public reporting and records requests, but who knows what all goes on behind closed doors. Maybe they have run the numbers and it just doesn't work out. Maybe they have contacted MAC/MW and were told that there's no chance in hell.

I have had my frustrations but when it comes down to it, I trust the leadership at NDSU.

I agree with the bottom paragraph. The top one not so much. Why? Because the only people Ive ever heard bitch about it are on this board. For some reason the the fan base I know from TM, tailgating, fund raising evets etc etc doesnt require lip service and its never brought up in conversation. So it really isnt a hot button issue with the majority.
Plus I dont understand what all of this frustration is about. Why the worry? I dont get it.

But if you really want your questions answered a well placed email to Matt will get you all the answers you require.

OR you can go back to his quote that """we have no plans to move to the FBS in the near future and were are very happy where we are at playing for championships ."""

I dont know why people keep forgetting that??????? Or does he need to have an email sent out automatically every week so people will finally believe it?

[Christopher Moen]

"Not one person on this message board is stopping any of stuff you complain about. It called lack of size in so many areas."

This is an attack???????????

If the truth hurts his agenda of being a constant complainer, then yes, I attacked him. Basing on his predictable retorts, he has the mind of a twelve year old when debating. I don't know if that is due to him having some type of mental disorder or consuming too much brain-affecting chemicals. Then again, maybe both.

It's also obvious he (and a few others here) didn't read one of the most recent issues of Bison Illustrated where Matt Larsen addresses some of the issues we go over in a cyclical pattern about every six months. That article can be read online here: http://www.bisonillustrated.com/jump-to-the-fbs/

[NDSU92]

If the truth hurts his agenda of being a constant complainer, they yes, I attacked him. Basing on his predictable retorts, he has the mind of a twelve year old when debating. I don't know if that is due to him having some type of mental disorder or consuming too much brain-affecting chemicals. Then again, maybe both.

It's also obvious he (and a few others here) didn't read one of the most recent issues of Bison Illustrated where Matt Larsen addresses some of the issues we go over in a cyclical pattern about every six months. That article can be read online here: http://www.bisonillustrated.com/jump-to-the-fbs/

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see where Matt Larsen addresses anything about financials. He says the MAC and MW aren't looking for more members right now. That isn't news to anyone, that's public knowledge. Bison Illustrated writing an (awesome) investigative article about two of the 11 teams to jump in the last 5 years is not the same as the athletic dept. doing a complete and thorough study about what it would take (which I would have to believe has been done already)

Reference PL's post above, ML has always said that moving up won't work out financially. Recently, he stated that moving up would be an option if it made sense financially. Now when asked to comment on an article about financials, he is saying that it's about conference invites. Obviously money is the issue, but why change your tune on it when pressed about financials?

Honestly, I don't care. I love FCS. FBS would be awesome, if a conference invite came along. In my experiences, most FBS crowd people don't want a blind jump to FBS, they would like to see a study weighing the pros and cons. If the pros outweigh the cons, they would like to see NDSU start to make moves to position itself to court a conference. Maybe this is already underway behind the scenes.

[NDSU92]

I agree with the bottom paragraph. The top one not so much. Why? Because the only people Ive ever heard bitch about it are on this board. For some reason the the fan base I know from TM, tailgating, fund raising evets etc etc doesnt require lip service and its never brought up in conversation. So it really isnt a hot button issue with the majority.
Plus I dont understand what all of this frustration is about. Why the worry? I dont get it.

But if you really want your questions answered a well placed email to Matt will get you all the answers you require.

OR you can go back to his quote that """we have no plans to move to the FBS in the near future and were are very happy where we are at playing for championships ."""

I dont know why people keep forgetting that??????? Or does he need to have an email sent out automatically every week so people will finally believe it?

Apparently, according to CM's article below, it's one of the top 4 questions asked to Bison Illustrated. i don't know which side has support, but remember the group you're polling. See my post below responding to CM, I just want a definitive response. There's three quotes from you two on this page that are all different responses to the same FBS question. Why?

[DM05]

Don't see it with current leadership (where are the public references, examples, plans, vision, etc.). It is their job, not mine. Also, I don't live in ND so the impact I have is limited. This is a message board, not a project planning website. So where are all your detailed actions to get something done? Are you in the running for NDSU President, NDSU AD, Fargo Mayor, ND State Legislature? Your expectations at a message board are laughable. Most of what is posted here is opinion. You, 56BISON and Chrissy boy need to get over yourselves.

I have no detailed plans to get something done, because as I see it the university cannot afford it at this time and I agree with leadership that we are in the right place for our size and location. I am admittedly much, MUCH less excited about the MAC/MWC than some people, but I could get behind expanding the stadium capacity.

If its laughable that my expectations are for people that bitch about something for dozens of posts to eventually transition into providing realistic options for their issues....I guess laugh away.

[DM05]

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see where Matt Larsen addresses anything about financials. He says the MAC and MW aren't looking for more members right now. That isn't news to anyone, that's public knowledge. Bison Illustrated writing an (awesome) investigative article about two of the 11 teams to jump in the last 5 years is not the same as the athletic dept. doing a complete and thorough study about what it would take (which I would have to believe has been done already)

Reference PL's post above, ML has always said that moving up won't work out financially. Recently, he stated that moving up would be an option if it made sense financially. Now when asked to comment on an article about financials, he is saying that it's about conference invites. Obviously money is the issue, but why change your tune on it when pressed about financials?

Honestly, I don't care. I love FCS. FBS would be awesome, if a conference invite came along. In my experiences, most FBS crowd people don't want a blind jump to FBS, they would like to see a study weighing the pros and cons. If the pros outweigh the cons, they would like to see NDSU start to make moves to position itself to court a conference. Maybe this is already underway behind the scenes.

So the two most viable G5 conferences for us, which each still present geographic challenges, aren't looking. Until they start looking, all we can do is make our product better.

Finances and an invite: it's not about one or the other, it's about both. And right now we have neither.

For those that want an FBS study done: what is stopping you from getting a group together, contacting the athletic department, and putting a proposal together to fund that study? I have no clue how many fans actually support the move, and the AD may not either, so why should they fund a study that potentially few people are behind and that based on previous work they already believe is something that isn't viable. Simply to get a more accurate estimate to appease fans? The pro-FBS group seems to want everything done for them, but on the athletic departments dollar.

Every damn bit of this conversation comes down to money that we currently don't have.

[BisoninNWMN]

I tried to do a little part by sending Matt an email on Friday about a new stadium and if anything is in the planning stage. I suggested the athletic department start a fund were TMers and us fans could contribute and when the time comes there would be money available to help finance any new venue. Some big donor would have to step up to help with the cost. Make a pitch to Microsoft that is in town? One of the oil companies in western ND? Oil prices will rise again. Go to the city and partner with them on a new bigger venue? Are bonds totally out of the question?

I think the athletic department would be surprised that Bisonation would/could really step up and make a big contribution to any new venue project. It might take a few years but get a fund started. IMO, something like this could have been started years ago. I would have donated money specifically for a new stadium. Just think of the money that could have been raised if they could have started something like this a decade ago.

How many season tickets holder could we have? I bet, if there was a bigger stadium, the Bison could easily have 20K season ticket holders or even more. That is a lot of money being lost.

Geez, start a fund for us to contribute to. Even if it is decade out, think of the money we could raise!

[scottietohottie]

I tried to do a little part by sending Matt an email on Friday about a new stadium and if anything is in the planning stage. I suggested the athletic department start a fund were TMers and us fans could contribute and when the time comes there would be money available to help finance any new venue. Some big donor would have to step up to help with the cost. Make a pitch to Microsoft that is in town? One of the oil companies in western ND? Oil prices will rise again. Go to the city and partner with them on a new bigger venue? Are bonds totally out of the question?

I think the athletic department would be surprised that Bisonation would/could really step up and make a big contribution to any new venue project. It might take a few years but get a fund started. IMO, something like this could have been started years ago. I would have donated money specifically for a new stadium. Just think of the money that could have been raised if they could have started something like this a decade ago.

How many season tickets holder could we have? I bet, if there was a bigger stadium, the Bison could easily have 20K season ticket holders or even more. That is a lot of money being lost.

Geez, start a fund for us to contribute to. Even if it is decade out, think of the money we could raise!

Hopefully some young NDSU fans would see the opportunity for tickets and step up and donate. Any grad from the past 6 years has not had a chance to buy season tickets. I would sure hope a couple of those grads have stayed in the general area.

[td577]

Make a pitch to Microsoft that is in town? One of the oil companies in western ND? Go to the city and partner with them on a new bigger venue? Are bonds totally out of the question?

How many season tickets holder could we have? I bet, if there was a bigger stadium, the Bison could easily have 20K season ticket holders or even more.

Microsoft is reorganizing its labor force as it is laying off thousands.

The oil business probably has always known this, but we all just learned over the last couple of years it is extremely volatile.

I am guessing the Fargodome serves the city very well and a larger facility probably doesn't do anything more for them.

While Fargo's current debt load is considered healthy, it is still near $700M without even talking about adding the diversion yet.

I completely agree with you a larger stadium right now could serve a much larger audience. I think the leaner years tend to even everything out though. Attendance is cyclic and not 100% tied to wins and losses. Sure NDSU draws much better when we are winning, but we haven't always drawn as well when the program has been successful. There could very well come a point of some dominance fatigue. Moving up could also cause a situation where we are not so successful and cause demand to drop. The bottom line is you always want a product where demand surpasses supply and there is no way of knowing what the exact number is where it is still profitable over the long haul. We know the current situation is profitable without increasing usage of resources.

There are a lot of dynamics involved and any decision is very difficult to make. I like the idea of moving up and hope leadership has developed a plan if that option seems to be the most viable for long term institution health. I also don't want to see NDSU moving up simply for the sake of moving up and ending up like a couple of other programs looking to move back down or having to reach out to taxpayers for a larger handout. NDSU is completely self sustaining, but where it is at right now is a really nice position relative to just about every other institution in the country.

As far as separate money just for a larger stadium or moving up, anyone could start a fund for such a purpose. I don't know all the legal ramifications to such an endeavor, but it can be done. You could have the Bisonville Fund for the enhancement of football infrastructure. It could be independently managed with rules about its specific use.

[DM05]

I tried to do a little part by sending Matt an email on Friday about a new stadium and if anything is in the planning stage. I suggested the athletic department start a fund were TMers and us fans could contribute and when the time comes there would be money available to help finance any new venue. Some big donor would have to step up to help with the cost. Make a pitch to Microsoft that is in town? One of the oil companies in western ND? Oil prices will rise again. Go to the city and partner with them on a new bigger venue? Are bonds totally out of the question?

I think the athletic department would be surprised that Bisonation would/could really step up and make a big contribution to any new venue project. It might take a few years but get a fund started. IMO, something like this could have been started years ago. I would have donated money specifically for a new stadium. Just think of the money that could have been raised if they could have started something like this a decade ago.

How many season tickets holder could we have? I bet, if there was a bigger stadium, the Bison could easily have 20K season ticket holders or even more. That is a lot of money being lost.

Geez, start a fund for us to contribute to. Even if it is decade out, think of the money we could raise!

This is a great idea; even tie some sort of incentive toward total donations such as priority points for season tickets. Would really show how much support there actually is. Could work; a problem would be if it is tied to a very specific use, once it gets started the athletic department is pretty much stuck with making it happen at some point no matter what. Say they can raise 5 million/year and find four huge donors to throw in $25 million each (which would likely be on the optimistic side of things); at that point, NDSU has to deliver a $150 million stadium if that money could/should be spent elsewhere on more pressing needs.

What if in 10 years we are drawing 15,000/game with no waiting list for season tickets? On the other hand, what if in 10 years we have demand to fill 40,000 capacity?