Asu Adds Penn St. And Nebraska To Future Schedules

[NT80]

ASU adds Penn St. and Nebraska to future schedules

Jonesboro -- Arkansas State University Director of Athletics Dr. Dean Lee announced Thursday that Penn State and Nebraska are the latest additions to the Indians' 2008 and 2009 football schedules, respectively.

ASU will travel to State College, Penn., to face the Nittany Lions on Sept. 6, 2008. Arkansas State will catch the Cornhuskers on Sept. 26, 2009, in Lincoln, Neb. The games will net the ASU athletic department a guarantee of $750,000 each.

Arkansas State has never played Penn State or Nebraska in football. The Nittany Lions will join Illinois and Minnesota as the third Big Ten school ASU has ever played. The Penn State game could draw the largest crowd to ever watch an ASU game as Beaver Stadium seats 107,000. Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, now in his 42nd season, has led the Nittany Lions to two national championships.

The 2009 meeting with Nebraska will make the Cornhuskers the 10th Big 12 opponent all-time for ASU. The game will be played at Memorial Stadium, which seats 81,067. Former NFL head coach Bill Callahan is in his fourth season as Nebraska's head coach. Less than a year after guiding the Oakland Raiders to the Super Bowl, Callahan was hired to lead one of the nation's elite college football programs.

[redallover]

That's a lot of jack. I believe that App State was only paid $400K to play at Michigan. Maybe the asking fee has gone up since the last year or two when App State scheduled its game. Ark State isn't a pushover either. Maybe a Div I school can get more money because it's a more legit opponent.

[NT80]

That's a lot of jack. I believe that App State was only paid $400K to play at Michigan. Maybe the asking fee has gone up since the last year or two when App State scheduled its game. Ark State isn't a pushover either. Maybe a Div I school can get more money because it's a more legit opponent.

With a 12th game added Big Schools want 7-8 home games for the revenue and record. But they are having trouble finding enough smaller 1-A teams to play them, thus some schedule 1-AAs and others offer larger incentives $750K-$1 mil. for a 1-A visit without a return game. I believe Troy will get $1 mil to play Nebraska. NT cancelled Miami ($450K) to book instead with LSU ($750K plus less travel costs).

[Arkstfan]

$850,000 ain't unheard of now.

This is a very good trend.

Let's say you are Kansas and draw around 40,000 a game at an average of $30 (figuring student discounts, comps, group discounts, etc). You gross around $1.2 million for a home game. If the Sun Belt/MAC/WAC schools won't come to your place for less than $700,000 you are paying over 58% of your gate just to get an opponent. Now you can always schedule an FCS school for $300,000 to $400,00 but that leaves you with 3 dates to fill.

Your choices are:

1. Go home/home with a similarly financially challenged SEC, Big East, Big 10, Pac-10, ACC school. Problem is your odds of winning on the road aren't good and you get a tough home opponent.

2. Go home/home with a Sun Belt/MAC/WAC/MWC/CUSA school or if you can find it a 2 for 1 as long as the unreturned game doesn't cost you the full $700,000+. You run a greater risk of losing on the road but have an easier home game and the road game is going to be one of the more attractive games under the smaller conference TV package so you can get an extra TV exposure (I've heard that ESPN will at times pay a visitor as if the game was under their conference contract to encourage such games).

3. Just spend the money.

Option 1 is indirectly good for us because it means that one of two schools that would have bought a win will lose on a date that used to be a rent-a-win date.

Option 2 is directly good for us because we get home games to build our crowds and get a better shot at winning.

Option 3 is good for us because we can get market rate to play a team that isn't so much more talented.

[redallover]

Great info. Houston is in the game as well. We go to Alabama this year with no return. We are doing a 1:1 with Oregon and agreed to play in Reliant Stadium. We're in the midst of a 2:1 with OK State and won the first game at home last year. Now we owe the Pokes two games in Stillwater.

I'm also an SMU fan so the Indians had a very impressive win against the Ponies. I suspect that game was set up as a 1:1, correct?

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

I saw where Nebraska is the tenth Big XII team that they will play. We've played eleven and I think that it's time that we schedule Iowa State. At least, iit could be a winnable game.

[NT80]

I saw where Nebraska is the tenth Big XII team that they will play. We've played eleven and I think that it's time that we schedule Iowa State. At least, iit could be a winnable game.

I think that may be the 10th "game" they will play against the BigXII, not 10th team.

[Arkstfan]

Great info. Houston is in the game as well. We go to Alabama this year with no return. We are doing a 1:1 with Oregon and agreed to play in Reliant Stadium. We're in the midst of a 2:1 with OK State and won the first game at home last year. Now we owe the Pokes two games in Stillwater.

I'm also an SMU fan so the Indians had a very impressive win against the Ponies. I suspect that game was set up as a 1:1, correct?

Yes SMU was home/home.

Memphis wanted to do a 3 for 1 with ASU and we told them our price for the two unreturned games. Then they offered 2 for 1 and again we told them our price and they broke off negotiations. Few weeks later they call back and we sign a 2 for 2.