Boise State today put another brick in the foundation of it's new baseball team.
They introduced their new coach... and it won't be long before they start construction of a new stadium.
This... As the university admits it's difficult to see the very expensive sport being a money maker.
"If you build it they will come" is the sincere hope at BSU after hiring new baseball coach Gary Van Tol.
But baseball is rarely a money maker.
More often it loses big money even at the top level.
So how will Boise State manage?
"We certainly wouldn't want it to do too far short of breaking even." says BSU President Bob Kustra, "we're going to work hard at breaking even."
Coach Van Tol adds, "Well the goal is to create as much revenue as we can to be self sustaining. And we all know it's a challenge for sports beyond football and basketball."
Neither coach nor university president are sure they'll succeed where so many other bigger schools continue to fail.
But most collegiate sports lose money. Even so, Kustra is counting on baseball bringing something extra.
"I think people miss that a lot of times that baseball is not just about baseball recruiting," says Kustra, "baseball is about spreading the Boise State brand up and down the West Coast."
And if anyone knows the value of sports exposure, it's Boise State.
There's no underestimating the value of the 2007 win in the Fiesta Bowl that put Boise State on the map.
The question is, will the exposure of college baseball, which is rarely on tv, ever be worth it's price.
Kustra has said the university would spend a million dollars a year on baseball which should begin in 2020.
Keep in mind, that's more than double the cost of the dropped wrestling program, and it ups the amount the school must pay for title nine sports.
