Justin R. Lessman

An NCAA Division I market analysis proves that SDSU’s athletic department can generate enough potential revenue to warrant a move to DI athletic competition, Athletic Director Fred Oien said.

Although the market analysis has not been officially released, Oien and other sources who have access to drafts of the report have begun disseminating results to university organizations.

The official report should be released within the next day or two.

When the official hard copy market report arrives in the mail, it will immediately be posted on the athletic department’s Web site, he said. Follow the link at http://www.sdstate.edu.

Oien said the analysis, done by Conventions, Sports & Leisure, Inc. of Minneapolis, Minn., contained little that surprised him.

“The information in the report is basically what we thought,” he said. “There are pockets of real strength for the move.”

Oien said the study, which began last spring, was an analysis of the financial responsibilities that a move to DI would create.

“The study looked at the ability to generate revenue for a move to DI,” Oien said. “It looked at what kind of an upgrade in budget dollars we would be looking at. Obviously, there is going to be more cost.”

Oien said that the market analysis differs from the feasibility report done by Carr Sports Associates, Inc. last summer.

In the mean time, he has been hosting informational meetings with various governing organizations on campus.

Last week, Oien discussed the report and academic impacts of the possible move with the Academic Senate in a town hall meeting, as well as in an open-forum with students in the Student Union.

The Students’ Association also heard from Oien.

SA President Dan Hansen said the senate put together a resolution proposing that they be in favor of the move. The resolution was passed at Monday night’s SA meeting.

Hansen said that, while Oien was not able to release specific information to the SA, he did reveal numbers indicating a high level of student interest in the proposal.

“Fred was overwhelmingly surprised by the number of students who said they were willing to pay higher student fees for the move to DI,” said Hansen.

The survey asked students if they would be willing to take a fee increase of $25, $50, or $100.

“Of course, as the amounts increased, the percentage of students in favor of the additional charge decreased, but the numbers were still substantial,” Hansen said.

Hansen said that, like the Academic Senate, when all the information is in, the SA would present its recommendation to the on-campus DI Leadership Team that will relay the information to SDSU President Peggy Miller.

President Miller has final say in the matter, Hansen said.

Student Association Senator Joe Sullivan said he got the impression from Oien that the move was “very feasible.”

Sullivan said, although early projections indicated that, with the move, the athletic department