The study, conducted by Carr Sports Associates, specifically looked at costs and programmatic implications for the university and the greater San Antonio community if UTSA were to consider fielding a football program. A group of alumni and community members contributed $50,000 to UTSA to finance the feasibility study, which was sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs. The report does not make a final recommendation about adding football. UTSA's athletics program recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, and, since the program was created, there has been support among a number of students, alumni and community members for UTSA to include football as part of its Division I program.

For UTSA to advance from Division I-AAA membership in the NCAA to Division I-AA and eventually to Division I-A, the study makes clear that substantial support both within the university and in the general community are required. Costs for a program would need to be covered by new private/public support and student fees, because tuition and appropriations cannot be used to support athletics. The study delineates NCAA membership requirements, gender issues related to Title IX legislation and facilities requirements for expanded athletics offerings. The study also assumes the Alamodome would be available for competition if UTSA opted to have a team.

Annual costs to support coaches, staff, administrators, travel and scholarships for football players are estimated to be between $1.5 million and $4 million for a Division I-AA team and $4 million and $8 million for a Division I-A football program. The study outlines how UTSA could field a Division I-AA football team within three years after administrative approval, with the first two years designated as prep years and the third year as a practice year. Start-up costs for the initial year, excluding facilities, would be $3 million, with incremental increases in subsequent years.

Based on the study's "expedited" timeline for implementing football and assuming resources for such a program become available, the earliest that UTSA could field a Division I-A football team would be eight years from the initiation of the program. To move the existing 16 sports, along with football, to the Division I-A level requires additional funding of between $12 million and $20 million to cover revenue requirements during the first eight years of the program.

To accommodate existing sports and recreation programs at the university, UTSA's facilities need both improvement and expansion according to the feasibility study. The study also indicates the need for building a $60 million community recreation facility, which could be used to provide practice and play areas for UTSA's current athletics program.

For UTSA to consider adding football, the study makes it clear that doing so requires careful planning and evaluation of available resources. Before taking a position, UTSA administrators plan to spend the next few months reviewing the study with representatives of the university and the local community to gauge support for expanded facilities and student willingness to pay increased fees to support a football team. The university also will use this time to evaluate potential public and private sources of new funding that may exist to support the expansion of the athletics program at UTSA.