Shooter: If St. Thomas moves to D2, it could play its home games at Allianz Field

BleedGopher

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per Shooter:

Now there’s talk that if St. Thomas, ousted by the Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, were to move up one class, it could play home football games at Allianz Field in St. Paul. The Tommies will host rival St. John’s in an anticipated sellout Oct. 19 at the 19,400-seat Allianz, home of the Minnesota United soccer team.

Meanwhile, the Division III Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference still seems most probable for St. Thomas. Some insiders, though, feel Division I could still be in the future. St. Thomas, after recently hiring two assistant athletics directors, has stepped up its national fund-raising, visiting alumni across the country.

https://www.twincities.com/2019/07/20/charley-walters-twins-weigh-options-as-trade-deadline-nears/

Go Gophers!!
 


Shooter did a nice job there of reporting multiple rumors we all heard about 3 months ago
 

...and when the Tommies move to D1 in 2065, I hope that all of you still alive enjoy their run...
 



Entirely depends on what the boosters are willing to pay for. Entirely.

I guarantee that if they pony up the dough, the school will be onboard. The Summit League would be onboard too, no questions asked. Guarantee it.

It's put up or shut up time. Fork over the money, or keep your pie hole shut.
 

I'd prefer they don't play football on a soccer field.
 


Entirely depends on what the boosters are willing to pay for. Entirely.

I guarantee that if they pony up the dough, the school will be onboard. The Summit League would be onboard too, no questions asked. Guarantee it.

It's put up or shut up time. Fork over the money, or keep your pie hole shut.

With your last line are you talking about boosters or the school? Have big money boosters been complaining about not being d1?
 



Isn't the on campus field good enough?
 


With your last line are you talking about boosters or the school?

Boosters. The school isn't, and probably can't, afford to move to DI on its own. If the boosters want it, this is their chance to show their financial support for that decision.

If they don't, then they don't, and it's UW-River Falls instead of St John's.
 

Not enough seating if they were going to go D2. If they would try to go D1, that brings up a whole 'nother set of considerations.

If they went DI, football would be put in the Pioneer League, which is all former DIII schools that play and fund football as if it were still in DIII (the NCAA simply won't let them play in the actual DIII division).

Drake's there. Guessing that's where Augustana's football team will go too, if they keep varsity football.
 



Not enough seating if they were going to go D2. If they would try to go D1, that brings up a whole 'nother set of considerations.
It absolutely seats enough for D2, it sits twice as many as Chet Anderson up at Bemidji State, and is alot nicer than most NSIC fields. FCS I agree, but it'll work for D2

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Not enough seating if they were going to go D2. If they would try to go D1, that brings up a whole 'nother set of considerations.
O'Shaughnessy as is would be one of the best NSIC stadiums. I'm pretty sure UST already outdraws most NSIC teams.

Scholarship FCS averages over 7,000 attendance so something would need to be done for that level.

Pioneer League attendance averages about 3,000 and the leader Morehead State gets about 4,500, so O'Shaughnessy would be fine as is.

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O'Shaughnessy as is would be one of the best NSIC stadiums. I'm pretty sure UST already outdraws most NSIC teams.

Scholarship FCS averages over 7,000 attendance so something would need to be done for that level.

Pioneer League attendance averages about 3,000 and the leader Morehead State gets about 4,500, so O'Shaughnessy would be fine as is.

Do you have any sense (water cooler talk among UST alums?) how "real" the desire to move to DI is, or if it's just smoke? And if moving to DI, would they really want to give full-scholarship FCS a shot or would it more likely be Pioneer League?

Doing full scholarship FCS right is quite costly, and you don't get much out of it, relatively speaking. There are a handful that make it work well (NDSU of course, and some others). But it's not too many.
 

Do you have any sense (water cooler talk among UST alums?) how "real" the desire to move to DI is, or if it's just smoke? And if moving to DI, would they really want to give full-scholarship FCS a shot or would it more likely be Pioneer League?

Doing full scholarship FCS right is quite costly, and you don't get much out of it, relatively speaking. There are a handful that make it work well (NDSU of course, and some others). But it's not too many.
You're asking the wrong guy re: UST alum stuff. I'm a Cobber & Gopher alum. To your point, the non-football sports at the FCS D1 level might get more national exposure (e.g. basketball March Madness, baseball/softball playoffs, etc) than would football.

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Boosters. The school isn't, and probably can't, afford to move to DI on its own. If the boosters want it, this is their chance to show their financial support for that decision.

If they don't, then they don't, and it's UW-River Falls instead of St John's.
It’s UW River falls

Most st Thomas alumni don’t really follow UST sports outside of one Saturday per year.
 


Their current stadium would be fine for D2. Perhaps some additional seating but no need to move. A move to D1 would make the soccer stadium more of a possibility but I am simply waiting for the announcement St. Thomas is officially moving to the WIAC, just as I have been since day 1 of this MIAC ouster situation.
 




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