(01-21-2015 10:07 PM)Ken Barna Wrote: Dear Friends,
After reading comments from the Detroit Free Press and News articles about the schedule change, most people seemed to think it would benefit Michigan State to play a better opponent (Brigham Young) than Eastern because of the playoff system now in effect. However, Michigan State plays Furman University in their first game of the 2016 season. That's tougher competition? I don't know if Furman is even in the FCS? As far as I am concerned Michigan State welched, especially with no guarantee. They got exactly what they wanted, out of the agreement with us.
Ken, here is the Freep article, time stamped at 9:24 p.m. yesterday.
It seems 180 degrees from what you just posted.
EMU had a deal which wasn't lucrative and was a HUGE gamble in 2020. And left a HUGE HOLE in the 2016 budget. Zero dollars with the hope that 2020 would pay off, but with a losing team. "I don't think so..."
******** Freep quotes below************
"Eastern Michigan initiated getting out of two of the remaining four years of the contract," MSU athletic director Mark Hollis said today. "In the end, it created a great opportunity for MSU."
EMU second-year athletic director Heather Lyke told the Free Press that talks with MSU were "very amicable" and financially motivated. Under the contract, EMU visited MSU in 2012 and 2014, with MSU paying $650,000 this year, Lyke said, and slightly less than that for the previous game.
EMU was scheduled to receive no pay for 2016 – averaging out to about $400,000 per game for the three, far less than the $1 million or so that mid-major schools can charge power-conference schools for guarantee games. The tradeoff in the deal was the 2020 home game, but Lyke said that would not make up the financial difference for her department.
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The $ of this seem very clear to me:
2016 - ZERO dollars. 2020 huge gamble - EMU gets home gate. Maybe only 500, 750K if the team is coming off a bad season.
So add 0 + say 750K / 2 = 375K.
Compare with say 800K (2016) and 850K (2020) - two guesses and one sees 1M MORE in the bank GUARANTEED by playing Mo twice rather than MSU 'home and home'.
With successful football teams, CMU has and WMU will (this September) have their home and homes with MSU.
I remember the CMU game a couple years ago. It was huge in mid-Michigan. Much anticipated for months.
Toledo apparently had a home and home with OSU (a few years ago) with the 'home' game in Cleveland. I believe Toledo picked up more than 3M from that game in gate receipts... Sweet.