Why the University of Wisconsin should have a baseball program

[brewdude15]

The following is a blog post from a friend of mine who is on my high school baseball team:

 

"An article posted in the Badger Herald (Madison's school newspaper) back in 2007 explained that the reason Madison doesn't have an NCAA Baseball team is because of the poor turnout they had back in the '80s. Another reason would be because the school would be forced to add another women's sport.

 

I, personally, play varsity baseball for Fond du Lac High School. My top three schools are UW-Milwaukee, UW-Oshkosh, and UW-Madison. Why is Madison #3? No baseball. Wisconsin football is always very well supported. Between the merchandise, tickets, etc. it's one of the best programs in the country. Wisconsin basketball has also had a great turnout at the Kohl Center, and is one of the best programs in the country. Wisconsin is already a great school for academics, and the athletic program is booming. Brewers games are being sold out left and right. The Timber Rattlers are a part of the Brewers' minor-league system. Wisconsin, believe it or not, is becoming a great baseball state, and would receive plenty of support.

 

As for the addition of another women's sport, how about Gymnastics? Chellsie Memmel, an Olympian, is from West Allis. There are plenty of great gymnasts around the state, and it's not like the best gymnastics schools have huge turnouts at the events. Georgia, the best gymnastics school in the nation, only had around 200 fans per meet before their dynasty began in the early 1980's. Sure, now they average about 10,000 an event, but they've also won 5 straight National Championships.

 

The bottom line is: It wouldn't be a bad idea to start the baseball program back up at Madison. It's a shame that I personally cannot attend the great school because I want to pursue a career in baseball. I'm sure plenty others feel the same way."

 

 

 

I think he has an excellent point, and he's thinking about sending this to the UW Athletic Dept.

 

What do you guys think?

[bjkrautk]

I think he has an excellent point, and he's thinking about sending this to the UW Athletic Dept.

 

What do you guys think?

The arguments are mostly valid, but this is a place where the UW athletics department has dug in their (high) heels. They would rather continue to offer Golf, Cross Country, Rowing, Swimming, Tennis, Track, and Wrestling - all using existing facilities - than renovate a baseball facility to try a sport that has repeatedly failed to draw sustainable attendance numbers in the Madison area (prior to the Madison Mallards in the NWL -- which I assume is still doing well). The Badgers are actually in a relatively strong position as an athletic department, as their football, mens basketball, womens basketball, and mens hockey teams all manage to bring in revenue at/above a break-even level (I don't know enough about Womens hockey to know if they do likewise). They would rather spend their remaining allocation of funds on a larger number of 'cheap' sports than on another really expensive program (due to all the travel requirements).

 

It's not as easy as saying - here, just add 2 new sports (assuming the # of scholarships and total funds allocated balance between gymnastics and baseball) - they would need to pare down to operate within budget constraints.

 

Personally, while I don't like the justification for not having Baseball at UW, it's a legitimate argument.

[Diskono]

Where would they play? Breese Stevens is pretty much soccer-only now, and Warner Park is pretty far from campus. I'd imagine they would need a new stadium.

[temke]

i think this is a tired topic. most everyone would like to see the UW have baseball, but is not an economically smart decision for the athletic department.

[owbc]

Honestly, I think the Mallards would outdraw a potential UW baseball team, especially if the stadium is on campus (no alcohol sales). The duck blind is a big part of the high attendance numbers at Mallards games. There are also a large number of Madison-area Brewers fans who drive to Milwaukee for games. It's not that people don't like baseball here, but there are already a number of entertainment options and it's hard to believe that the Badgers could put a competitive team on the field even if they did start up the program again.

 

The only way it comes back is with a huge outside donation and even then it might not happen. A new hockey practice facility/arena is of higher priority.

[temke]

The only way it comes back is with a huge outside donation and even then it might not happen.

and if that is the case it will be gone in a couple years if there is no plan to sustain the program. everyone wants bud selig or someone to give money to start the team, but what happens what that money runs dry??

[blatzlight]

also, for every dollar spent on baseball you must match that dollar with a woman's sport.

[jwill535]

Baseball is a money pit and a dying sport in college. People fail to remember that people really didnt care about baseball when it was here the first time, why would they care now.

[bani1717]

The reason some of those "smaller" sports are still around is because they have national championships in the past and, therefore, lots of private donors. I am pretty sure the rowing teams function primarily from donations.

 

Personally, rather than having to worry about adding a women's sport, I'd like to see them take away men's soccer and add a baseball team. As I just looked at the roster there are currently 29 guys listed. Some of those will get cut and Idk what the scholarship numbers are, but as far as number of athletes it would essentially be an even trade that would satisfy Title IX, I would think.

[samwise]

This will never happen. Period. There was an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education about this, it is summarized here in another article.

 

"According to the Chronicle story, the NCAA reported that median loss for an upper-division college baseball program was approximately $700,000. And while approximately half of the major college baseball programs are based in cold weather cities, the NCAA still starts the season on February 1 with every team forced to play 56 games within three months. A team from a cold weather climate begins its season on the road, then typically returns home to play in front of less than a thousand fans. Only ten percent of college baseball programs draw more than 2,000 fans a game, and approximately half of the college baseball season overlaps with college basketball.

 

Worse yet, teams are allowed only 11.7 baseball scholarships to disburse across a 30 (and soon to be 27) man roster. The Chronicle story stated that some schools make do with less. And the colleges still contend with major league player drafts. The major league clubs draft students not only out of high school and community colleges; they also draft college juniors and seniors."

 

As for your friends letter, the people at Madison will not shed a tear about his decision not to attend. (Was he accepted?) Especially if his choice of college is decided by if a school has a baseball team or not.

[colbyjack]

Baseball is a money pit and a dying sport in college.

 

Far from it. College baseball is alive and well, with attendance figures continuing to climb the past several years, reaching all-times highs which is continuing a trend that MLB and minior league baseball is also experiencing.

 

The problem of course is that people don't care about college baseball around here, which includes the Big Ten in general. It's possible to have a well-run program in the area, as Michigan is clearly well-funded, but for the most part the sport is thriving from the ACC to the SEC to the Big 12 and the Pac 10.

 

I was pursuing a story on the whole UW program a few years ago. I had contacts (thanks to some of the people here), read quite a few stories in the Madison papers on the topic and even talked to a few people close to the players on the field. The university will often blame Title IX as the reason for the end of the program, but it really comes down to money. As already noted, there wasn't interest in the program back then, and there has been no indication that the interest will increase when they come back. It's nice that there is a small legion of loyal followers that thinks its a shame the university doesn't have a team, but how many of us are willing (or more importantly, able) to step forward and donate a significant amount of money to get the program back on its feet? I've always wondered why Bud Selig doesn't have more of a vested interest in this as an alum. Herb Kohl too. It's going to take those kind of parties, those with a lot of money and a lot of influence, to have the program return, and I just don't see it happening anytime soon.

 

(The reason I didn't continue my story was because quite a few people have already written stories about this, and they all have come to the same conclusion.)

[brewdude15]

This will never happen. Period. There was an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education about this, it is summarized here in another article.

 

"According to the Chronicle story, the NCAA reported that median loss for an upper-division college baseball program was approximately $700,000. And while approximately half of the major college baseball programs are based in cold weather cities, the NCAA still starts the season on February 1 with every team forced to play 56 games within three months. A team from a cold weather climate begins its season on the road, then typically returns home to play in front of less than a thousand fans. Only ten percent of college baseball programs draw more than 2,000 fans a game, and approximately half of the college baseball season overlaps with college basketball.

 

Worse yet, teams are allowed only 11.7 baseball scholarships to disburse across a 30 (and soon to be 27) man roster. The Chronicle story stated that some schools make do with less. And the colleges still contend with major league player drafts. The major league clubs draft students not only out of high school and community colleges; they also draft college juniors and seniors."

 

As for your friends letter, the people at Madison will not shed a tear about his decision not to attend. (Was he accepted?) Especially if his choice of college is decided by if a school has a baseball team or not.

He hasn't chosen yet. He's down to those 3 schools. Also, if Minnesota has a team, I think Wisconsin could handle playing baseball in the late winter/early spring. As for the scholorships, once again, if other teams can work with it, then so should the Badgers.

[Baldkin]

Minnesota has a team and a dome to play in. You can't really compare the two.

 

I've constantly heard the "UW should have a baseball team" argument, without anyone ever saying where they'd play or how they'd pay for it beyond a "Big initial donation and hope it catches on."

 

Come up with a decent plan and maybe people would listen.

[Invader3K]

I guess I don't get why there seems to be this mini-fervor for UW-Madison to bring back it's baseball team. Yeah, it would be "nice" for them to have it...but beyond the logistical and financial issues already pointed out, I just wonder if there would really be much demand as far as people actually attending these games. You already have the Mallards in Madison that seem to draw well, and if people want to see pro baseball, it's not like Milwaukee is that big of a drive from Madison. UW-Milwaukee seems to do all right with their baseball team, so I think that is sort of filling any void left by Madison not having a team.

[temke]

The reason some of those "smaller" sports are still around is because they have national championships in the past and, therefore, lots of private donors. I am pretty sure the rowing teams function primarily from donations.

the entire athletic department functions from basically 2 revenue sources...ticket sales and donations. i have a badger fund book around here somewhere that breaks down the operating costs and where funds come from...i wish i knew where it was.

 

EDIT: found this list of endowments for the athletic department for last year. interesting...

 

http://uwbadgers.com/badger_fund/endowed_8909.pdf

 

EDIT AGAIN: found the charts i was looking for online

 

http://uwbadgers.com/badg...fit_information_5023.pdf