Disappointing
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Lot of things in this article just don't make sense and I'm not approaching this from a "I love baseball so let's find reasons to hate this decision". It just doesn't make sense.
1. They are dropping sports because facilities are in bad shape. So why don't they hire people to do maintenance to keep them in better shape? Why don't they actually plan ahead to set some money aside or raise money to rebuild / build new facilities? It's not like these things truly sneak up on you.
2. Their estimate is that it will cost $10 million to build a new boathouse yet they drop the sports because that's too high of a cost. Yet when the mayor steps in with half of that (plus another guy) then they are good to go......looks a little fishy to me.
3. How does a river get named "River of the Year"??? What are the qualifications and who actually checks out the contenders???
4. They go from being able to use tents being fine until a storm destroys them to having need a $10 million dollar facility.
5. They are spending $5 million dollars on a sport that will bring in how much a year? Will they ever generate $5 million in gate / concession money in our lifetime?
Just doesn't make sense and sounds like a poorly run school.
Don't know enough about their situation to make a real informed comment on the situation as a whole....but the $$$$ being spent on a boathouse seems just completely out of line.
Let's face it, the finances of college sports in general are a mystery. How do you justify baseball scholarships at schools that don't draw 100 fans to home games? (Temple isn't the only school in that boat.)
Temple's football program has probably lost millions of dollars on the Income Statement. But there's no denying that sports is a big part of the culture for many universities, and a big part of fundraising. I think of schools like Ganzaga, Butler, VCU and FGC in men's basketball. Those programs are good for business, because they attract prospective students, giving and fans. Every school has to assess the costs and benefits of sports for themselves. Temple (a public university) appears to be making quite a few mistakes while trying to figure this out.
Temple has a winning legacy in crew. The City of Philadelphia has a strong history in crew. One of the most world famous crew regattas is held in Philadelphia. Temple baseball has been a losing proposition for a couple of decades. The river is somewhat near the university. The baseball field is twenty miles outside the city. The field they were going to use for conference play was across another river in another state.
The reality is a lot of money is being spent on football to bring the program up to national status. This is ignoring the team was kicked out of the Big East for lack of competitiveness and lack of a stadium. They've returned to the Big East now that it's not a significant football conference and went 2-10. They're paying a ridiculous amount of rent to play in front of 20,000 people in the Eagles stadium. When they play Penn State the other 45,000 seats are filled with PSU fans. I have no idea what conference they're in in 2014.
Perhaps there is a higher percentage of wealthy and vocal former crew members who give to the University. By keeping the program, it may help their endowment. Just thinking out loud and speculating about something I know nothing about.