ODU athletic director Wood Selig says he’s bid nearly twice the NCAA-required minimum to secure a home playoff game for the Monarchs in two weeks – if they get past third-seeded Georgia Southern this weekend.
Should they win, the Monarchs will play the winner of the Appalachian State-Maine game in the third round. And because those teams like ODU are unseeded, the NCAA call basically will come down to where it can cash in the most.
"The other thing is how do they draw, what kind of atmosphere does their stadium provide, is it TV ready, some of those decisions might enter into it," Selig said. "If it’s Appalachian State, I think we’ll have our hands full; to me that’s a toss-up. If it’s Maine, knowing our numbers and knowing their numbers and the other variables, I feel pretty good going head-to-head against Maine for a home game.
"Appalachian State is always in the top one, two or three in attendance, they draw very well. I just don’t know if they submitted an outrageous number for their third-round game. Third-round was a $40,000 minimum and we submitted about $77,000, so we did nearly twice what the minimum required. Now, I don’t know if Appalachian State, they might have bid three or four times what the minimum required. I just have no way of knowing what they bid.”
Home or away, Selig said playoff games cost Division I-AA teams – ok, if you must, FCS teams – money. The NCAA pays travel costs and a daily stipend for 130 people, including the mandated 60 players.
“Virtually at no point in the year do we travel with just 130,” Selig said, “and then you get to the end-of-the-year, celebratory-type trip where you’re having success and it’s hard to throttle back your regular-season roster and trim back to get down to the 130.
“It’ll be a money-loser for us. In dollars and cents it’s a money-loser, but in brand equity, brand value, that’s where you make your money, on heightened awareness, maybe improved recruiting success, some intangibles that many schools would gladly trade the loss of dollars for the improved stature.”
Selig said even last Saturday’s home game with Norfolk State will factor out as a “modest loss” because the NCAA takes practically the entire gate. And also because ODU decided to give each player and coach the NCAA maximum-allowable six “complementary” tickets -- which weren’t actually comps because the school had to buy them.
“At the end of the revenue-to-expenses, the home team takes 10 percent,” Selig said. “Say if it was a $150,000 net, we’re looking at $15,000, which will hopefully cover the modest expenses we picked up hosting the game.”
COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or entire classes of people. Read the full rules here.
- Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment