Indiana University's recent decision to sell a 2010 home game against Penn State to the Washington Redskins and FedEx Field is a great example of what's dragging down the Big Ten.Teams in elite leagues can't take from its fans one of the best games on the schedule and give it to the highest bidder. Certainly the league office had to sign off on this deal. So conference officials are just as guilty of bringing down its own reputation.
Could you see Bobby Knight negotiating away a Hoosiers home basketball game when he coached at IU? Didn't think so.
So why would Indiana's Director of Athletics Fred Glass (left) agree to this? Seems a $3 million payday is more than the Hoosiers make for a home game.
"We're a PT boat in a conference dominated by aircraft carriers," said Glass, referring to conference big wigs Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State. "It's incumbent upon me to be creative and look for reasonable ways to close that revenue gap. I feel like this is a small step in that direction."
So what's next?
Make a deal with Michigan to play at Ford Field in Detroit? Maybe face Ohio State at Cleveland Browns Stadium? Neither scenario is much different than the deal in DC. Penn State has a large alumni base in the Virginia/DC/Baltimore area, so this is basically a home game for the Nittany Lions.
Phil and I have discussed this frequently on our podcast, and each of us agree it's time for the lower half of the Big Ten programs to step up financially. That doesn't mean selling off home games, instead committing the dollars necessary to attract top coaches and develop the facilities that will bring in top recruits.
Apparently Indiana didn't get the memo.
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1 comment:
not the first time it's been done. Northwestern had a "home" game against OSU in Cleveland in '89. i agree this sucks, but I can't imagine IU doing this unless the needed that cash. Weird thing is, if they hosted PSU at home, they usually still sell out because of all the PSU fans.
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