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BCS Powers Scheduling ‘Cupcakes’ Has Economic Impact
Published by MoonDog on March 2, 2009
Many programs among college football’s BCS powers have often been chastised for scheduling weak non-conference opponents.
Most BCS conference football programs have scheduled opponents years in advance, but those advanced dates more commonly include games against other BCS conference schools.
Aside from a set number of conference games, BCS programs generally don’t complete advance schedules until two or three games against weaker non-BCS programs have been negotiated.
In the wake of the nation’s economic downturn, many colleges and universities are having to reduce or outright eliminate athletic programs.
While virtually every athletic program around the nation saw sharp budget increases over the past decade, many are looking at decreases this year and in the foreseeable future.
As a result of the decline in revenues, some schools could eliminate less-visible sports. In an effort to avoid that possibility, many of the nation’s smaller Division 1 schools are reaching out to the BCS powers for an opportunity to schedule a game.
Last month, Idaho State interim athletics director Jeff Tingey announced the Bengals will take on BCS power Oklahoma in Norman on September 12 this coming season.
After originally declining the opportunity to play the Sooners, the economic realities forced Tingey to rethink his decision. Based on the Bengals $700,000 shortfall in this year’s athletic budget, Tingey reluctantly agreed to the game.
Idaho State will get $500,000 to play Oklahoma and Tingey says “that goes a long way.”
“I didn’t want to do it because you always worry about injuries in a game like that,” Tingey says. “But the players look at it in a different light. They’re really excited about playing in Norman.”
Just how much has the nation’s economic woes effected collegiate athletic programs? Ohio State, one of the most financially stable institutions in America, announced a $1.2 million athletics budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year.
The Buckeyes are often among those teams frequently criticized for scheduling weak non-conference opponents, but those dollars paid to smaller Division 1 programs help keep them solvent.
James Madison University athletics director Jeff Bourne says the school received $150,000 for playing Duke last season, which doubled the amount they received for visiting North Carolina in 2007.
Bourne has turned down offers to play some of the BCS powers, like Virginia Tech, which tried to schedule a game with JMU in 2012. Apparently the Hokies didn’t offer enough money because Bourne said it would take “a lot more than a half-million” to play Virginia Tech.
Appalachian State got $400,000 from Michigan in 2007, and ASU associate athletic director Jay Sutton told the Baltimore Sun that the Mountaineers received $550,000 from LSU last season.
The BCS powers often need the smaller Division 1 schools to round out their home schedules, which for most BCS member teams is at least six games and as many as seven.
But those home games against smaller programs which used to cost a few hundred thousand are now going to cost substantially more. Non-BCS programs can now demand a higher payout from BCS member schools, helping to balance budgets or even generating small revenues.
The reasoning behind more BCS programs undergoing stadium renovations – most notably the addition of club seats and luxury suits – is, in part, an effort to generate more revenue to operate and offer larger payouts to non-BCS programs for scheduling purposes.
Ultimately the economy will correct itself, but in the interim, non-BCS programs and their BCS member brethren will share a unique, mutual need for each other.
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Tagged with: Appalachian State, BCS, Division 1, Economic Downturn, Idaho State, James Madison University, Jeff Bourne, Jeff Tingey, Michigan, MoonDog, Non-BCS Programs, Non-Conference Opponents, Ohio State, Scheduling
