NYU Athletics announced on Tuesday that it has completely overhauled their budget, reorganizing under the slogan “If we build it, they will come.” The budget, which is redirecting most of the money appropriated for faculty salaries and scholarships, now sits at a whopping $200 million per year. The department’s hope is that if they build the largest stadium in New York City to house an NYU football team, then top-class athletes will gravitate to the East Village to play.

This plan is much more than a play on the landmark film “Field of Dreams.” By the year 2031, NYU hopes to have a fully functional $15 million stadium that will house their Division I football team, stocked with all the best college players. NYU Athletics Director Christopher Bledsoe addressed some of the rising concerns that many students have with the new plan, which is being dubbed by students NYU 2031 2.0.

“We know that $200 million is a lot of money,” Bledsoe said. “But think about it this way — if we all turned a blind eye to the NYU budget for a week we might not have known where that $200 million went anyway. At least now we can put it to good use.”

Student protesters have already started lining up outside the Coles Sports Center, set to be torn down in the next six months. On site, CAS senior Martin Williams explained the outrage.

“Listen, we’re not sure if tearing down Coles is even necessary,” Williams said. “Coles has stairs. Coles has bleachers. Coles has those little rope barriers they put in banks and stuff. Last time I checked, no one is falling through the floors of the hardwood basketball court.”

Tisch sophomore Ella Tully was one of the students there in protest of adding another sport altogether.

“We don’t need a new $15 million football stadium,” Tully said. “Or a football team. That’s just another sport I’m going to have to pretend to understand so that I can day drink and hang out with my friends.”

Even with the vehement protest, the athletics department remains steadfast in their belief that building a stadium and creating a varsity football team is paramount.

“The hockey team won the national championship this year and we don’t even recognize them as a real sport,” Bledsoe said. “Think of what we could do with a multi-million dollar football program in the heart of New York City.”

NYU President John Sexton declined to comment about the allocation of funds, but did show some excitement for the addition of another sport here at NYU.

“It’s quite obvious that in 30 years, the only governing bodies that will be left in the world are NYU and NCAA football,” Sexton said. “We figured we might as well just edge out the NCAA and create our own football empire to make things easier for everyone. At least then non-sports fans don’t have to remember two acronyms.”

The budget change will go up for vote on April 15. Until then, NYU students must patiently wait to see if the Violet football program is destined to come to fruition and give competition to southern powerhouses like the University of Alabama and the rest of their football-loving, tailgating neighbors.

A version of this article appeared in the Wednesday, April 1 print edition. Email Fabric Wagner at [email protected].