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CIS Corner: Is UBC considering cutting football? What could that mean for the university game?

Andrew Bucholtz

On the whole, it seems to be a pretty good time for CIS football. The Canadian university game is coming off two straight Vanier Cups that drew viewers in impressive numbers (660,000 on average in 2011, a CIS-record 910,000 in 2012), and although the Vanier Cup-Grey Cup partnership that helped boost those numbers has been dissolved (and won't be coming back any time soon), CIS football is still doing reasonably well thanks to a national deal with Sportsnet and regional deals with several providers. The CFL-CIS relationship has had rocky moments, but remains important to both organizations, and 44 of the 60 players (73.3 per cent) chosen in the 2013 CFL draft were from CIS schools, the highest number since 1987 and the highest percentage since 2009.

Moreover, coverage of the sport seems to be expanding, with television efforts like Krown Countdown U gaining wider distribution and other media outlets giving CIS football more and higher-profile coverage than they have in the past, and the university football ranks have even expanded this year with the return of the Carleton Ravens. Thus, it's more than a little surprising to read that the University of British Columbia may be contemplating cutting football a few years down the road. Here's The Province columnist Tony Gallagher's take on what may be going on:

In nearly 50 years of involvement in varying ways with UBC Athletics, it is safe to say the alumni of the many varsity programs have never been in such a state of outrage as they are right now.

The reason for their concern is a new program being brought about by Dr. Louise Cowin, the vice-president of student services, through Ashley Howard, who is the new managing director of UBC Athletics, whereby a significant number of varsity sports are set to be downgraded to club level status on campus.

And while everything is still rumour these days, with the university’s plans being held very close to their vests, those rumoured to be on the hit list include football and hockey. ...

"We are in a four-stage process review here and people are reacting strongly when we are only in stage one,” said Howard, who did not deny anything when it was suggested hockey and football were being considered in what she called “sports targeting.” But she added that to do so would be jumping ahead of the process, which will include her advisory team.

“We’re talking about a new competitive model, whereby we will determine which sports will thrive better under a club model and which ones will continue at an improved level. I’ve been through this before. It’s hard on some during the process, I understand that, but things will be more positive when it’s completed.”

Gallagher also presents quotes from university board of governors member and prominent supporter of the athletic department Doug Mitchell and long-time athletics booster David Nelson, and he mentions that the earliest possible cuts would seem likely to come in 2015-16. There isn't a lot of explicit detail here, but that's understandable given the early stage this process appears to be at. However, it's still a very notable report, and one that deserves some national attention considering its implications for CIS football.

Of course, significant, multiple-year athletic department reviews that suggest cutting sports are nothing new in CIS; I covered one at Queen's from 2007-2009 (and parts of it are still being carried out), and around that time, nine of the 17 Ontario University Athletics schools were carrying out some form of athletic review. However, while athletic reviews tend to make every team on a campus somewhat edgy, it's extremely rare for them to pose a legitimate threat to football.

While running a football program costs much more than any other university sport, football also tends to be the most popular CIS sport in terms of spectator and media interest, which is why we don't see many schools talking about axing it. York University and the University of Toronto have maintained their programs through incredible losing streaks, and the University of Waterloo kept their program going through a drug scandal, a self-imposed year-long suspension and an eventual return to CIS play. By contrast, UBC would seem to be in much better shape than any of those programs; yes, the Thunderbirds are just 3-3 this season, and yes, they went 2-6 last year, but they made it all the way to the Canada West championship in 2011 (before their season was annulled after the fact thanks to an eligibility error). This is a program that can contend for conference and national titles under the right circumstance, and a program that has the potential to bring more national publicity to the university than any other sport, so it's very odd to see suggestions that it may be cut.

However, knowledgeable people have suggested this isn't out of the realm of plausibility given the UBC administration's current approach. Here are some highlights from a Twitter discussion on the subject I had Thursday with several current and former staffers from The Ubyssey (the school student paper), all of whom are plugged in to UBC athletics:

It's important to remember that this won't necessarily go anywhere. The review is still in a very early stage, and there's bound to be plenty of alumni and booster outrage at the idea of cutting football. If that outrage is strong enough, this won't happen. However, it's notable that a relatively strong athletics school like UBC is even contemplating cutting football at a time when CIS football seems to be on the rise. The Thunderbirds axing football wouldn't be disastrous to CIS on its own, but if UBC wants out, other schools might as well. Of course, this could be just an isolated decision based on the philosophy of the UBC athletics department, but it also could be an indication that perhaps the rise of CIS football isn't as substantial as it seems.