Will Long Beach State Ever Have Football?

A popular shirt on the campus of California State University Long Beach reads: "Long Beach State Football - Undefeated Since 1991."  The joke here, of course, is that 49er football is undefeated because it has not played any games since 1991, when the football program was cut.  But there are many students on campus who wish that those shirts could be replaced by a real 49er football shirts and a real 49er football team.

First, a history lesson.  Back in 1990, Long Beach State football was on its last legs when it brought in George Allen, former coach of the Washington Redskins, to revive the program.  A big win over UNLV gave hope to the program, as did a final record of 6-5, but all of that hope was taken away when Allen died of pneumonia on December 31, 1991.  The 49ers went 2-9 in 1991 and the program was cut following the end of the season. The 49ers have been undefeated ever since.

In 2008, however a group calling themselves Bring Back 49er Football has been campaigning to do just that - bring back 49er football.  On their site there is a very long and detailed proposal that you can download from this page.  Or you can read the greatest hits right here:

1.  Long Beach State would compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision:

• This isn't the big attention-getting Division I we see on TV.  This is the former Division II that Appalachian State, Massachusetts, and the Ivy League participate in.
• Long Beach State would be granted football-only membership to the Great West Conference.  The nearest member of the Great West is Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

2. Veterans Stadium would be the home turf:

• A short-term lease of five years or more would be required
• Currently Veteran's Stadium is used primarily by Long Beach City College, Long Beach Poly High School, and Los Alamitos High School.

3. Several women's sports would be created to meet Title IX requirements:

• Title IX requires equality between men's and women's sports.
• Suggested sports are crew, lacrosse, and field hockey.

As far as funding goes, a fee would be added to students' tuition bills and there would be various fundraising events to cover the rest of the costs.  As far as ticket prices go, the current plan has them ranging from $8 per ticket to $16 per ticket.  Students with an ID would be allowed free admission.

Problems

The central issue here is not surprising - money.  The reason Long Beach State cut football was because it needed to save money.  While a fair amount of students don't mind paying a little extra for a football team, there is still a solid majority that opposes it.  Football teams, especially successful ones, are very expensive to run.  And if 49er football became too popular to fit into Veteran's Stadium, relocation would not only be expensive, but rather difficult.  There aren't many places to build a football stadium around here, and one would have to travel to Los Angeles or Anaheim to find the next high-capacity stadium.

Pro Bowl WR DeSean Jackson
is one of many NFL athletes
who attended Long Beach Poly.

Positives

Like I said before, a fair amount of Long Beach would love to see football come back to Long Beach State.  It's also safe to say that the 49ers would be able to fare pretty well on the field, even in their first season.  Southern California is one of best places for recruiting in the nation and the Long Beach area itself has gained national recognition.  Nearby powerhouse Long Beach Poly High School has sent more players to the NFL than any other high school in the country and there is plenty of talent at nearby Los Alamitos High School and Lakewood High School as well.  Long Beach City College could also become a feeder to the program.

Prediction

Long Beach State will have a football team, just not any time in the near future.  The football tradition runs too deep in this area to be ignored and the existing plan to start a team is good.  However, there isn't enough student support yet and with the way the state budget is, this is hardly a time to be adding a Division I football program.  Give it a couple more years, and if the starts align, Long Beach State could begin the process of adding football.  For now, let's just focus on bringing the NFL back to Los Angeles.