By Bob Hertzel, Times West Virginian of Fairmont, W.Va.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — During his first four and a half years as West Virginia’s athletic director, Shane Lyons found himself getting one question asked repeatedly, however he couldn’t answer it.
“What’s the economic impact of WVU athletics to the state? What’s the impact it has on Monongalia County?” they would ask.
Lyons admits he didn’t have specific answers, that the best he could do was offer “guesstimates.”
So, in the summer of 2016 WVU commissioned the company of Tripp Umbach, a group that has completed more than 200 economic impact studies over the past 25 years for major research universities across the country. …