University of Phoenix Online to Create Athletics Department

Search for Mascot, Sponsorship Begins

Phoenix, AZ – University of Phoenix Online President Dr. William Pepicello announced yesterday the creation of an athletics department to oversee the school’s incipient sports program which will begin play in the 2009-2010 school year.

“The University of Phoenix has always been at the forefront of online education, but we haven’t always felt we were providing the complete college experience for our students,” Pepicello said. “We looked at student surveys and our own annual self-assessment and said, ‘Campus-based universities have sports teams, why can’t we?’”

The university has not announced the sports teams it will field, but according to several members of the Board of Directors, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the school is considering Internet poker, fantasy football, World of Warcraft and solitaire as its initial offerings. New teams will be added as funding becomes available.

The University of Phoenix plans to offer scholarship money for each of its teams. “To be the best, we have to attract the best,” Pepicello said.

It is assumed that the University of Phoenix plans to form a confederation of online schools and create a new sports league. No official announcements have been made, but press conferences are planned today at DeVry University, Kaplan University and Argosy University. Strayer University has a press conference scheduled for next week. According to university officials who were part of the process, the University of Phoenix was the motivating factor for the possible league. “We had the idea and didn’t really have to convince anybody,” said one University of Phoenix board member. “Once we floated the idea, everyone was kind of dumbfounded that someone hadn’t thought of this earlier.”

The University of Phoenix plans to hire an athletics director and coaches for each sport by the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year in August. A university-wide contest will be held to choose a mascot.

Reaction to the announcement was mixed. “I hope it doesn’t detract from their studies,” said Susan Johnson, the Director of the Office of Learning Assessment. “I’ve heard horror stories of some of these poker guys watching a lecture on one computer and playing cards on another. Nobody wins in that situation. I hope the university is prepared to handle big-time athletics.”

Jeremy Stevenson, a Master’s of Business Administration student, was less ambivalent about the new department. “I dominate my fantasy football league every year. I can’t believe I might be able to get a scholarship for that. Awesome.”

“I don’t know, man,” said Eric Lester, a communications major at the University of Arizona. “That’s great for them and all, but those aren’t even sports. Hell, I’m pretty good at making guacamole. Where’s my scholarship and letter jacket?”

Miles Brand, the president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association did not return phone calls. The organization’s spokesperson did release a statement saying that the NCAA supports the University of Phoenix’s mission to provide for its students but does not foresee NCAA sponsorship of Internet sports in the near future.

The potential Internet-based sports conference has some people calling it the Cyber League, but that does not sit well with Dr. Pepicello. “I would hesitate to call it that because it alienates campus-based schools. We hope to be as inclusive as possible, and if a campus-based school such as Ohio State or Texas would like to sponsor a Warcraft team, we would be happy to have them join.”

The university seems to be targeting Internet poker as its premier sport due to its relative prestige and the significant prize money available at tournaments. Between $500,000 and $750,000 is being budgeted for the coach’s salary, according to one board member, which should land the school a superstar coach. With over 250,000 students nationwide to draw from, the University of Phoenix could become an instant power in Internet poker, according to professional poker player Daniel Negreanu. “If they invest enough in the sport, then I’m sure we’ll see some Phoenix players making deep runs in tournaments,” Negreanu said.

Asked what his dream for the new program would be, Pepicello said, “Well, I guess I would love to turn on the TV someday and see one of our athletes winning the World Series of Poker, wearing a University of Phoenix sweatshirt for the whole world to see. That would be something.”