By Robert J. Hansen and Analah Wallace | OBSERVER Staff Writers
After more than 70 years along the backroads of college athletics, Sacramento State is trying to fast track its way to national sports prominence.
University President Luke Wood and Athletics Director Marc Orr are ushering in a new era for Hornets athletics. They are attracting national media attention with flashy coaching hires, aggressively pursuing student-athletes from larger institutions and furiously raising money to upgrade its facilities and compensate players under recently relaxed “Name, Image and Likeness” (NIL) regulations.
Sac State football has surged in recent years, and basketball is gaining new energy with the planned remodel of the campus activity center to host hoops. There have been headline-grabbing additions of revered Sacramento Kings point guard Mike Bibby as men’s basketball coach, and legendary Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal as the team’s unpaid general manager.
Both O’Neal and Bibby have been seen hobnobbing around town promoting Hornet hoops and sports. A marketing campaign has featured Bibby and new football coach Brennan Marion on billboards and advertising, and former NFL coach John Gruden has been seen hyping the football program on social media.
The university spent nearly $40,000 on marketing and promotion for its football and basketball programs in 2024, according to university records.
Together, Wood and Orr are working to transform Sac State’s athletic identity into one that commands respect well beyond the city. And what surely is a coincidence (though for some, a pleasant one) this drive for the big time is being led by Black men — administrators and coaches.
For Orr, who took command of athletics in 2017, the push is about far more than wins and losses. He points to athletics as a vital driver of student retention, alumni engagement, donations, and local business support — with football and basketball serving as the most visible gateways to those connections. He recalls how, from the 1980s through the early 2000s, Sac State athletics carried the reputation of a commuter school and a local afterthought rather than as a point of regional pride.
Today, Orr says, that reputation is shifting. The football team has recently won several conference championships and the women’s basketball team earned a first-ever trip to the NCAA Division I tournament in 2023.
It’s no longer unusual for Orr to see Sac State gear on sale in Target or Costco, or to hear people shout “Stingers Up” as he walks by — a small but telling sign, he says, that the university’s athletic profile is finally breaking into the community consciousness.
Still, as the football team prepares to take the field Saturday, Sept. 30 at South Dakota State for its season opener, questions hover over the effort as to whether Wood and Orr are moving too fast against the backdrop of financial challenges on the academic side of the school.
The school also has hit speed bumps in gaining admissions into football’s highest classification — the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) where heavyweights like Alabama, Texas, Ohio State and a bevy of other nationally recognized schools compete.
Sac State football currently competes in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) a tier below the FBS.
The FBS is where the money is — garnering multi-billion dollar television contracts which fund facilities and staff, and drives conference realignment. TV deals provide stability and significant financial advantages to top-tier programs, ensuring their continued ability to compete at the highest level and directly influencing which schools join which conferences.
TV money led to the dissolution of the 100-year-old Pac-12 Conference when anchors USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford and six other schools left for richer leagues. Stepping up to FBS, administrators argue, is the missing piece for Sac State to fully join the national conversation.
Helping Sac State reach these lofty heights is the SAC 12, a collective of state legislators, city leaders, business executives, labor representatives, and Sacramento State alumni. Though closely aligned in its goals, the organization — a booster club of sorts — is independent of the university and operates separately from the athletic department. Formed to rally resources and visibility for Hornet athletics, the group says it has already mobilized more than $35 million in NIL commitments and positioned itself as the financial and political backbone of Sacramento State’s athletic ambitions.
Sacramento City Councilman Eric Guerra, a SAC 12 member, said the group was founded to energize the community to support the university’s athletic ambitions. “Maybe football was the impetus, but what it has led to is another swell of support to help provide an amenity for students,” said Guerra, a Sac State alum.
He recalled that past generations of Sac State students had to fight for basic facilities like a student union, since historically the CSU system focused almost exclusively on classrooms. “If our students are going to have the same level of experience (as other schools), then it’s up to the community to step up and support it in ways that matter,” Guerra said.
The roadmap to the FBS includes securing $50 million in NIL funding to cover the first decade, build a 25,000-seat football stadium and a 6,000-seat basketball arena, and guarantee at least 15,000 fans per home football game.
With Sacramento ranking as the nation’s 20th-largest media market — counting 2.4 million residents in the metro area — and student enrollment exceeding 30,000, committee leaders say the foundation is in place to bring Hornet athletics onto a national stage.
But the pathway is expensive — and contentious. Central to the plan is a new football stadium funded by a combination of athletics fees, private donors, sponsorships, and alumni gifts rather than the university’s general fund. Administrators say the investment will elevate the university’s profile, generate new revenue, and eventually redirect athletic income back into academics.
The university is currently in preliminary talks to build a long-term stadium at Cal Expo, about three miles away from campus, on ground once used for horseracing, Sac State information officer Brian Berger told The OBSERVER.
Yet for some on campus, the stadium — originally projected to be built on campus — has become a symbol of misplaced priorities.
Rebecca Gardner, a Sac State communications professor who teaches journalism law and ethics, said the issue is less about direct budget trade-offs and more about how the university communicates its decisions.
“I understand business-wise why it’s happening, but it’s not always explained very well,” Gardner said. She noted that while athletics and academics draw from different funding streams, the lack of clarity “creates an image problem” that leaves many students feeling their classroom needs are being sidelined.
To critics who question whether the money spent on athletics could syphon off funds for academics, Wood said, “it’s often difficult to communicate to people that the university has different pots of money for different areas. While the state is reducing general fund dollars to the university which impacts academic offers, dollars for athletics, cultural centers and student health are earmarked specifically for these programs and can’t be used for any other purpose.”
Wood has been tight-lipped about the potential cost of the stadium, however he said that he is following the playbook of San Diego State where he previously served as vice president, in expanding Sac State athletics. San Diego State’s 35,000-seat stadium was completed in 2022, costing roughly $310 million.
“As we transition our sights to Cal Expo we are reevaluating our costs, but Cal Expo is a faster timeline and more affordable project — they already have a grand stand, they already have parking, and extensive existing infrastructure to support sporting events,” Wood said.
“We’re not building a stadium from scratch, we’re now expanding an existing sports facility to become one of the most iconic football stadiums in the country,” Wood said. “We will kick off within the next couple of years. This is less complex than what we were planning to do on campus. The stadium has the potential to be much larger than what we can do on campus, creating more space on campus for critical needs such as housing and parking.”
The Hornets got a boost with the approval of new athletics-related fees. In May, The State Hornet, the campus newspaper, reported that students approved an increase from $195 to $276 annually starting in fall 2025, followed by another bump to $331 by fall 2027. The university said the fees will support scholarships, coaching salaries, and facilities. For students already navigating rising tuition, limited class availability, and crowded classrooms, the optics are difficult to sell.
Beyond the campus debate, Guerra argued athletic expansion carries wider benefits. He pointed to tourism as a crucial revenue source for the city, particularly as retail sales tax has declined with the rise of online shopping. “If Sac State elevates their athletics program, we have tourism coming here, we can elevate our sales tax revenue,” he said. “And that’s money for parks, for community programs.”
He also noted that construction management students often gain real-world experience by participating in major campus projects, tying the stadium plan directly to academic training.
“For a non-athletic student, it raises interest and awareness,” Guerra said. “If it’s athletics, or a shop class, or an art class that encourages kids to see higher education as a possibility, then it helps them get exposure.”
Some alumni are excited to see Sac State athletics grow.
Lee Petit-Phar attended Sac State in the early 1990s and told The OBSERVER the expansion is overdue. “I think it’s a great idea. It’s time for Sacramento to be a big city like other cities. We have the people, we just need a stadium,” he said.
He believes a new facility would not only raise the university’s profile but also strengthen the city, pointing to Sacramento’s family-oriented culture and affordable ticket prices as factors that could sustain long-term support. “It’s always the community,” Petit-Phar said. “The community kept the Kings here, and I think the community has always kept Sac State afloat.”
Cyrus Mulitalo, a three-time All-American honorable mention in football at Sac State (2006-2008) and co-chair of SAC 12, pushed back on the notion that Sacramento lacks the wealthy donor base of schools like Stanford or Cal. He argued the city holds untapped potential and a culture of rallying behind its teams. “It’s not any one specific person that we target. It’s just a collective effort. It’s like all hands on deck,” he said.
Mulitalo, now in real estate, pointed to Sacramento’s growing economy and its history of showing up when teams are competitive. “I always refer back to the Kings,” he said. “When they went … into the playoffs, you had a sold-out Golden 1 Center and another 20,000 people outside watching on a projector. If you put a competitive product on the market here, the fans will gravitate.”
He recalled the same surge of support during Sac State football’s run of three straight Big Sky Conference championships under former coach Troy Taylor. The team won in 2019, 2021 and 2022 but did not compete in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That was the first time in my life I’d seen the entire stadium completely sold out — front to back, home side and away side, with people standing around the track,” Mulitalo said. “The better Sacramento State football does, the better Sacramento does.”
For Orr, the SAC 12 committee’s blueprint aligns squarely with his top priority: “Now we’ve got to get football into an FBS conference or as an independent — that’s top priority,” he said, pointing to the millions in potential media rights, ticket sales, and donor contributions that come with competing at that level.
At the same time, Orr emphasizes that the investments in basketball, baseball, soccer, and other sports — including the move from the Big Sky to the Big West Conference — ensure the entire athletic department rises together.
Sac State is ending its 30-year affiliation with the Big Sky and joining the Big West conference in 2026-27 academic year.
The university coveted admission into the newly reformed Pac-12 (thus the booster club name of SAC 12) to join newcomers Texas State, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, San Diego State, Utah State and charter members Oregon State and Washington State, but was unsuccessful, according to published reports. The school also might be a good fit for the Mountain West Conference, but no invitation has apparently been offered.
The Big West, which does not offer football, is currently home to Hawaii, Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, CSU Northridge, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara.
Sac State applied for permission to play FBS football as an independent in 2026, but was denied by the NCAA. The school is appealing.
Wood competed in football, soccer, basketball, track and field and tennis in high school, as well as downhill skiing, and “I now actively train in boxing.”
“One of the four presidential imperatives on campus is to raise our national brand and sports is one of the most effective mechanisms to do that,” Wood said. “College enrollment has been dropping around the country and part of our increased enrollment is driven by both academics and athletics.”
Although Orr has long been working toward elevating Sac State athletics, the changing national landscape has also shaped Sacramento State’s approach. Orr, who played football at Cal, says the recent NIL court rulings and legal settlements have only sharpened the urgency to compete.
“I’ve been a proponent for name, image, and likeness for student-athletes for many years. It’s outstanding and well-deserved that student-athletes can earn income under NIL. For many years, they couldn’t earn any money above their scholarship. Now they can, and we’ve embraced that,” Orr told The OBSERVER.
Sac State is now aggressively pursuing corporate partnerships, local business support, and donor contributions to give athletes opportunities to earn beyond their scholarships. “It helps in recruitment and retention, and that’s important to us,” Orr said. “Those doors are now open, and I think that’s a good thing.”
He noted that while the NCAA has capped revenue sharing with student-athletes at $20.5 million per year, Sac State is still far from that figure. He sees a future where growth in football and basketball could push the program closer.
Marion, the football team’s first Black head coach, echoed that confidence, saying Sacramento State is fully invested in becoming a nationally known program. “As a university, we’re going to write history and work tirelessly to build something that the community will be proud of for generations to come,” he said.
OBSERVER Editor in Chief Steve Magagnini contributed to this story.