Questions linger after title game decision

Issues still linger a day removed from the Shoals National Championship Committee earning the right to host the NCAA Division II National Championship football game over Pittsburg State.

One issue is the financial arrangements provided in the Request for Proposal (RFP) provided by both the SNCC and Pitt State.

While the NCAA would not release particular financial details of the bids, there were glaring differences between the guaranteed money provided in both packages.

That difference adds up to $101,000, not counting advertising and stadium usage.

According to Pitt State Assistant Athletic Director of Marketing, Pittsburg State offered the NCAA $131,000 in guaranteed money — based on revenue strictly from ticket sales.

In addition, the Pitt State bid included that all additional ticket sales over $131,000 would also be distributed to the NCAA. The Crawford County Convention and Visitors Bureau would also have provided $25,000 in advertising and the university would have charged no money for stadium usage.

Kroenke said that stadium usage averages between $10,000 and $12,000 inclduing maintenance for a game.

However, Mitch Dobbins, chairman of marketing for the SNCC, said the SNCC proposal called for a 50/50 split of revenue with a $30,000 guarantee to the NCAA.

“The NCAA was really pushing for a 75/25 split, and we were not willing to do that,” Dobbins said. “It is a huge financial undertaking and we have virtually not made any money over the few years.

“We were not willing to move forward because of that with an increase in percentage.”

He added that changing the percentage would “take away from the student-athlete” and “all the things we do to build on the student-athlete experience.”

In addition, during conference calls between the NCAA and the SNCC before the award was announced, updating Braly Stadium was another concern of the NCAA.

Currently, Braly Stadium has neither a video board nor artificial turf, whereas Carnie Smith Stadium has both.

But Dobbins said improvements to Braly Stadium have been discussed over the last several years, but it was difficult financially.

“Updating Braly Stadium is not new,” Dobbins said. “We have been discussing making improvements for some years now. This year, we’re cautiously optimistic that we will have artificial turf for the 2010 season.”

In addition, during the bid process, no member of the NCAA Football Committee made a site visit to Pittsburg State.

Kevin Beisman, chairman of the Division II Football Committee and director of athletics at Minnesota State-Mankato said that was because the NCAA has a policy forbidding committee members from making site visits.

“I know that they have to be consistent across the board with all of their championships, and this was a policy that was enacted even before the latest financial difficulties,” Beisman said. “But seeing things first-hand does provide a different perspective. However, the thoroughness of the bids and the information that we received was substantial.”

When it came down to it, Beisman said it was a case of “the proven over the potential.”

“I think that established local infrastructure and it being a turn-key operation sort of won out over what we thought would be an exciting opportunity to move it to a different venue,” Beisman said.

Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140. Follow Morning Sun at twitter.com/mssports.