Under normal circumstances, a post about West Virginia playing James Madison at a neutral site in Washington D.C. might induce more than just a few yawns.
Actually, under all circumstances it would. But, it’s 7:30 a.m. and here we are.
The Mountaineers will play the Dukes on Sept. 15, 2012 at FedEx field, a game that has been in the talks for at least some time. However, WVU is guaranteed to get $2.3 million from the match, which would net the program $500,000 more than if they played a seventh home game at Mountaineer Field as a result of no ticket purchase requirements by WVU, no game or stadium operations expenses and relatively minimal travel costs.
WVU athletic director Oliver Luck offered the following statement:
“With the ever-changing world of college football and with BIG EAST expansion, it is not a given that we will be able to schedule seven home games every year. This game gives us a chance to make significant revenue over and above a typical home game, while keeping expenses at a minimum.”
Oliver Luck is a brilliant business man!
In addition to picking up another half million, WVU gets to showcase itself in this hotbed of recruiting and demonstrate how marketable the school is in ACC country.
If WVU can deliver the DC market against a 1AA school, I wonder what the ‘Eers can do playing in- conference games at ACC venues? That is a strong statement nailed to the door of Commissioner Swofford.
@drummerhoff – “If WVU can deliver the DC market against a 1AA school”
You realize that more than 50% of that crowd is going to be JMU fans, right? A ton of JMU grads live in the DC area. If WVU put up good attendance numbers against a team like Montana while playing in DC, then I think you’d have an argument.