But UConn is unlikely to ever become a big time team, Fulks adds. And the study is fortified by ambitious numbers. These estimates assumed a functioning stadium by then, so an updated report would push those predictions back two years, to 2003. While doubling the price per ticket, KPMG assumes average home attendance will increase from 11,000 to 26,000. Muncy puts the current base of season ticket holders at between 3,500 and 4,000.
Low attendance is practically preordained.
UConn's athletic department takes pride in what it depicts as its increasing ability to pull its own weight. That looks impressive. But because the athletic department's costs have increased by 95 percent during the past five years, the university's contribution has actually increased by ten fold in real dollars. UConn's spending split between the men's and women's athletics was 60-40 in 1997, the most recent numbers available for this story. I-A, the disparity is likely to grow.