Mercyhurst University making the transition to Division Ⅰ

 

Mercyhurst University making the transition to Division Ⅰ

Mercyhurst University makes a shocking announcement to transition to Division Ⅰ athletics

By Ryan Mosher

ERIE, Pa. (April 14, 2024) — Mercyhurst University announced on April 4 that they will be leaving the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) on July 1, the start of the new academic year, to make the transition to Division Ⅰ, playing in the Northeast Conference (NEC).

Mercyhurst are not complete strangers to the top level of collegiate athletics. The Lakers men’s and women’s ice hockey programs have played at the Division Ⅰ level since the 1999-2000 season. The men’s team has made the NCAA tournament three times, while the women have made 14 appearances, even making the Frozen Four on four separate occasions.

Dr. Robert Zullo spoke on the matter. Zullo has worked in sports marketing for the University of North Carolina and Virginia Tech athletic departments, as well as in athletic administration at the University of Georgia.

“They have been successful and competitive in Division Ⅰ level hockey, but that is just one sport. Now you are moving up for men’s and women’s basketball, football, all of the sports. You are recruiting a different type of student athlete who could get a potential full ride from other schools,” Zullo said.

One of the biggest reasons why Mercyhurst made the jump was to boost their enrollment and finances. Mercyhurst has only 2,801 total students, with 2,446 of them being undergraduates. In the introductory press conference on April 4, 2024, Mercyhurst University President Kathleen A. Getz said “We considered an array of perspectives in the ever-changing field of higher education, including effects on enrollment, retention, student-life, university finances, alumni engagement and local economic development.”

In 2019, Mercyhurst implemented a plan around the William Vorsheck Jr. Athletic Complex, where they renovated every on-campus competition facility, including four new locker rooms and a new turf field with lights.

“They have made renovations in recent years that will really help with enrollment and help with recruitment, so they feel like they are strong in that area,” Zullo said.

Mercyhurst will have an edge on schools in the surrounding area when it comes to their athletic facilities and they must use this advantage when marketing to students, donors and sponsors.

“I think the approach they will take from a marketing standpoint is they will tout themselves as the only Division Ⅰ option in Erie, and a lot of times we overlook how big Erie is relative to places like Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo. Erie is still a substantial community in terms of size, so that is the approach I think they are going to say is there is still Gannon and that is Division Ⅱ, but now we are Division Ⅰ,” Zullo said.

The Erie population is over 94,000 and 11.6% are of the ages 18-24, the age of the common college student. Mercyhurst will need to dominate that area to help build their enrollment.

While finances are most likely one of the biggest reasons that Mercyhurst is transitioning, it will also be one of their biggest challenges at the next level.  

“Where they are going to have some challenges with finances is instead of their opponents being in a proximity of an easy bus trip, you are going to start to see more overnight trips and that will increase hotel expenditures across all of the teams. You might have to have some flights as well to play in places like Chicago. It is much easier to get to Erie down to IUP than it is to get from Erie over to a metropolitan area,” Zullo said.

Zullo believes that Mercyhurst will be facing an uphill battle in more than just athletics.

“It also is going to have some increases in finances with respect to scholarships, so they need to account for that. Not just for the initial year, but every year there after to make sure they are giving the coaches the resources they need to recruit people who can compete at that level,” Zullo said.

Mercyhurst will most likely struggle to recruit outside of Erie and the surrounding area because their competition will now have a larger pool of resources to use, especially with Name, Image and Likeness.

“If you are a student athlete and Pittsburgh University is recruiting you and Mercyhurst is recruiting you, then Pitt is going to win. Even if Duquesne University and Mercyhurst are recruiting you, Duquesne is in the city with more resources, and they are going to win,” Zullo said.

Mercyhurst will also not have the media attention that even mid-major school receive.

“You can tell that player that they are going to be on ESPN+, you are not going to be on ESPN2. ESPNU, ESPN Classic or ESPN. But my question would be what is the difference between playing on ESPN+ and a school’s livestream on their website? I do not think the revenue that they are going to make on ESPN+ is going to be so substantial,” Zullo said.

Mercyhurst was founded in 1926 by the Sisters of Mercy of the Erie Catholic Diocese. They also just got promoted to a university from a college in 2012. This shows that they are a relatively new school and do not have the history of high salary programs that their competition does.

This limits the size and quality of their pool of donors.

“You have other schools that have MBA programs, medical schools, law schools and engineering schools. They are graduating people with higher salaries, and they have been doing it for a longer period of time. Mercyhurst will essentially be playing catch up and that is going to be very challenging,” Zullo said.

Although the donors may not give as much as those at larger schools, they are still imperative to the growth of Mercyhurst as a university and their athletic program.

“Sometimes it can be donor influenced… at the end of the day, the donors are still the ones writing the checks for the chemistry building, the new dorms and the student union, so sometimes you have to work and go with them,” Zullo said.