5thAvenueVik
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Pigskin Pete:
New PSU AD Looks
Beyond Big Sky
By Fred Delkin
New Portland State Athletic Director Torre Chisholm sees an upgrade in the Viking football future. Currently, PSU is NCAA Division I in 14 varsity sports (6 men's, 8 women's), but the lone profit center, football, is competing in a Big Sky group formerly classified IAA (now Football championship Subdivision). Chisholm says he is very aware that Portland is by far the largest population base among Big Sky members and should aspire to greater grid glory. "First, however, we need to win the Big Sky title, then move up."
The Viking football program has languished over the past decade, failing to qualify for national playoffs that were first earned by the coaching regimes of Mouse Davis and Pokey Allen. Now Mouse is back, assisting that big league hire, Jerry Glanville. This impressive coaching tandem, working with a weak talent base recruited by their predecessors, got off to a 0-2 start this season, before opening Big Sky play with two straight wins. The Glanville/Davis tutoring seems to be taking hold, and playoff qualification may be possible this season.
PSU athletic marketing has also vastly improved, with football season ticket sales almost triple those of 2006. Chisholm brings marketing credentials to his new post. He increased athletic fund raising 200% and sponsorships 150% while serving at University of California, Irvine before moving north. A graduate of University of California, Santa Barbara, Chisholm served his alma mater in a sports marketing/promotion role before moving to UC Irvine.
Marketing Budget Doubled
The PSU administration has given Chisholm twice the budget he inherited. He and his associates have added 18 new corporate sponsors for football promotion. "Our goal for this season is to average 12,000 fans per home game," Chisholm states, "and we want to create an exciting, event atmosphere at our games." We've seen some of this already, along with a greater influx of student fans.
Winning, Chisholm admits, is the bottom line for putting fans in the stands. The Vikings now have the coaching credentials to build a winner, and may even dominate the Big Sky in 2007. Then, what's next? Chisholm foresees a move up to the Western Athletic Conference in the Viking future. The WAC now numbers nine members (Hawaii, Boise State, Fresno St , San Jose State, Nevada, Idaho, Utah St., New Mexico St., Louisiana Tech). The last three are in small markets. Conference administrators are well aware of the value of population centers to generate television revenue. Boise State showed the way to national dollars in 2006, going undefeated and edging traditional power Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, while WAC members went 3-1 in bowl games (Hawaii over Arizona St., San Jose St. over New Mexico, Nevada narrowly losing to Miami, FL).
Hoop Dreams Also Loom
Basketball is far less fiscally demanding than football and PSU came very close to taking the Big Sky cage title in 2007 and qualifying for the NCAA Big Dance. However, Chisholm admits to PSU's financial hardship in playing at Stott Center. A trip to UCLA is on the Viking hoop sked this season, and wouldn't it be wonderful to meet that calibre of competition before thousands of witnesses in the Rose Garden or Memorial Coliseum? The PSU basketball program came close in 2007 to winning the Big Sky title and a bid to the NCAA Big Dance.
Yours truly chaired a 1987 committee that formulated a plan to take PSU from Division II to Division I. It was grudgingly accepted by students and faculty, but eventually PSU administration failed to support athletic ambition. An athletic director with proven marketing credentials, Jim Sterk, sensed apathy in school leadership after coming on board the Viking ship in 1995, and moved up to an opportunity at Washington State. Sterk was well aware of the financial potential of the Portland market after filling a financial void at Tulane by energizing the New Orleans community.
Now Chisholm and friends can create collegiate athletic success worthy of this community. Just look what lil ol' University of Portland has done on the national stage with women's soccer. We welcome Torre and family (wife Christi and son Tucker) to a city that has too often acted minor league and needs an awakening to the sports potential of the state's largest university.
© 2007 Oregon Magazine
WAC Forum Responses: http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=254610
New PSU AD Looks
Beyond Big Sky
By Fred Delkin
New Portland State Athletic Director Torre Chisholm sees an upgrade in the Viking football future. Currently, PSU is NCAA Division I in 14 varsity sports (6 men's, 8 women's), but the lone profit center, football, is competing in a Big Sky group formerly classified IAA (now Football championship Subdivision). Chisholm says he is very aware that Portland is by far the largest population base among Big Sky members and should aspire to greater grid glory. "First, however, we need to win the Big Sky title, then move up."
The Viking football program has languished over the past decade, failing to qualify for national playoffs that were first earned by the coaching regimes of Mouse Davis and Pokey Allen. Now Mouse is back, assisting that big league hire, Jerry Glanville. This impressive coaching tandem, working with a weak talent base recruited by their predecessors, got off to a 0-2 start this season, before opening Big Sky play with two straight wins. The Glanville/Davis tutoring seems to be taking hold, and playoff qualification may be possible this season.
PSU athletic marketing has also vastly improved, with football season ticket sales almost triple those of 2006. Chisholm brings marketing credentials to his new post. He increased athletic fund raising 200% and sponsorships 150% while serving at University of California, Irvine before moving north. A graduate of University of California, Santa Barbara, Chisholm served his alma mater in a sports marketing/promotion role before moving to UC Irvine.
Marketing Budget Doubled
The PSU administration has given Chisholm twice the budget he inherited. He and his associates have added 18 new corporate sponsors for football promotion. "Our goal for this season is to average 12,000 fans per home game," Chisholm states, "and we want to create an exciting, event atmosphere at our games." We've seen some of this already, along with a greater influx of student fans.
Winning, Chisholm admits, is the bottom line for putting fans in the stands. The Vikings now have the coaching credentials to build a winner, and may even dominate the Big Sky in 2007. Then, what's next? Chisholm foresees a move up to the Western Athletic Conference in the Viking future. The WAC now numbers nine members (Hawaii, Boise State, Fresno St , San Jose State, Nevada, Idaho, Utah St., New Mexico St., Louisiana Tech). The last three are in small markets. Conference administrators are well aware of the value of population centers to generate television revenue. Boise State showed the way to national dollars in 2006, going undefeated and edging traditional power Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, while WAC members went 3-1 in bowl games (Hawaii over Arizona St., San Jose St. over New Mexico, Nevada narrowly losing to Miami, FL).
Hoop Dreams Also Loom
Basketball is far less fiscally demanding than football and PSU came very close to taking the Big Sky cage title in 2007 and qualifying for the NCAA Big Dance. However, Chisholm admits to PSU's financial hardship in playing at Stott Center. A trip to UCLA is on the Viking hoop sked this season, and wouldn't it be wonderful to meet that calibre of competition before thousands of witnesses in the Rose Garden or Memorial Coliseum? The PSU basketball program came close in 2007 to winning the Big Sky title and a bid to the NCAA Big Dance.
Yours truly chaired a 1987 committee that formulated a plan to take PSU from Division II to Division I. It was grudgingly accepted by students and faculty, but eventually PSU administration failed to support athletic ambition. An athletic director with proven marketing credentials, Jim Sterk, sensed apathy in school leadership after coming on board the Viking ship in 1995, and moved up to an opportunity at Washington State. Sterk was well aware of the financial potential of the Portland market after filling a financial void at Tulane by energizing the New Orleans community.
Now Chisholm and friends can create collegiate athletic success worthy of this community. Just look what lil ol' University of Portland has done on the national stage with women's soccer. We welcome Torre and family (wife Christi and son Tucker) to a city that has too often acted minor league and needs an awakening to the sports potential of the state's largest university.
© 2007 Oregon Magazine
WAC Forum Responses: http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=254610
