Could Investing in UNH Football Help Fund the Rest of USNH?
James Oatis
He/Him
Staff Writer
9/15/25
The world of post-pandemic higher education has been a wild one. A massive part of that has been the shake up for college athletic departments across America, as the O’Bannon v. NCAA and NCAA v. Alston Supreme Court cases created a massive ripple effect, including conference realignment, the birth of NIL, and universities being able to make more off their athletic departments than ever. Amid budget cuts and underfunding, could investing in the University of New Hampshire’s athletics department help fund USNH?
The idea of investing in college athletics as a way to fund education is being tested right now with Chicago State University attempting to start a Football Championship Series (FCS) program this year. A small college on the south side of Chicago, Chicago State has been trying to keep itself afloat for many years amid budget problems. Chicago State President, Zaldwaynaka Scott, believes the donor-funded football program “will not only attract more male students to higher education, but also enhance our campus.” For USNH, the hard work of establishing an FCS program is already done, as the University of New Hampshire has the Wildcats.
The FCS, a lower level of Division 1 college football, has a history of small schools beating goliath programs and eventually being promoted to the more profitable Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). In recent years, with increased investment from their schools, former FCS programs such as Liberty and Appalachian State have seen much success, with the most recent addition to the FBS being former UNH conference opponent Delaware. It raises the question if investing in scholarships, NIL, and renovations to Wildcat Stadium could be worthwhile for USNH’s future.
Another benefit universities see when investing in athletics is the large number of out-of-state students who pay significantly more in tuition, such as The University of Alabama with 57.7% of students coming from other states. Despite all these benefits, there are very real concerns with funding football. Some programs’ move to FBS, such as UMass, have not gone well for the university, as they have not been good enough to make a bowl game once in the FBS. The northeast also has seen a decline in interest for local football teams. Many people would rather watch programs like Ohio State or Alabama with future stars on TV than attend a Boston College or Holy Cross football game. The biggest drawback to investing in football is the risk of diluting the main purpose of education USNH strives for. Examples such as at UNC and Akron can show how football can blind universities of the main goal of education in pursuit of the windfalls of college football.