December 3, 201114 yr NKU will enter NCAA D1 athletics in 2012. I'm happy for my man Ethan Faulkner from Elliott County. He'll get to experience D1 basketball for season. The official announcement is coming soon...
December 3, 201114 yr Author They gonna be independent? No, they are joining a conference and I think it's a great fit for them.
December 3, 201114 yr No, they are joining a conference and I think it's a great fit for them. Any hints on which conference?
December 3, 201114 yr Most likely the Atlantic Sun. That is who the rumor has been and they are losing Belmont next year.
December 3, 201114 yr As an alum I'm glad they're moving to D1 but if it's the ASun it doesn't do a whole lot for me.
December 3, 201114 yr Sorry, but Northern has had awful timing with going to D-1......need some serious marketing help.....
December 3, 201114 yr Sorry, but Northern has had awful timing with going to D-1......need some serious marketing help..... I agree with you. I guess to be fair I haven't lived anywhere where a school suddenly went D1 so I can't compare where they were at the time of the decision but NKU has a lot of work in front of them. Will they be on TV? Will there be a NKU radio network? Who do they expect to be their core fans? How many do they need for basketball to make it worth the expense?
December 3, 201114 yr In talking to someone "in the biz" I can tell you NKU's biggest challenge is going to be getting corporate sponsorship. Where is that coming from considering you have the Reds/Bengals/X/UC in town? NKU's demographics are the lowest of the local D1 schools when it comes to what companies look for as a return on their sponsorship investment. Fidelity seems logical until you consider that NKU grads are the lowest in terms of income, home value, and affluence of the local teams. I say that , again, as a proud alum of NKU. Has NKU thought this through?
December 3, 201114 yr I agree with you. I guess to be fair I haven't lived anywhere where a school suddenly went D1 so I can't compare where they were at the time of the decision but NKU has a lot of work in front of them. Will they be on TV? Will there be a NKU radio network? Who do they expect to be their core fans? How many do they need for basketball to make it worth the expense? Just my opinion but: 1) I assume that one of the NK Cable stations will pick them up 2) This is a possibility with some of the local stations banding together to carry games 3) The fan base will grow some just by them moving to D1
December 3, 201114 yr This just sounds like a losing proposition to me. NKU's expenses are going to go way up to meet D1 requirements to be in a conference and I don't see the attendance going up to match expenses. If we assume ASun there is no team in that conference that will outdraw the NKU/Bellarmine game.
December 3, 201114 yr Based on what I read, it was either the A Sun or the Summit. I take the A Sun if those are my two choices. No doubt the Horizon or Ohio Valley are better options but NKU couldn't get into either of those. Timing wise, I believe this may be a big push by Dr. Votruba to make it happen before he is officially retired.
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