 By the 2018 season, average attendance at home games had increased from 4,000 to 15,000.The improved performance protected the football program in early 2018 when budget cuts eliminated four other sports, amid ongoing controversy within the campus community as to whether the program, successful or no, was worth funding.Creighton's performance at Eastern, regarded as one of, if not the "toughest place to win in Division I football", attracted attention from other programs.