Fresno State loses football date with Pac-12 team, but there is some good news for Bulldogs
The Pac-12 announced on Friday that it will play only conference games this football season, a move that cost Fresno State a shot at a winnable Power Five matchup at Colorado and a $600,000 payday for that game.
Financially, it could be worse. A lot worse. But in securing a charter flight, hotel rooms and food for that September trip, Fresno State included contract language that gave them an out in the event the game was canceled for any reason so they are not on the hook for those expenses.
An athletic department official joked that they won’t have to book any weddings in Colorado to fill the rooms they had reserved for their traveling party, rooms they will not be occupying.
The Bulldogs’ athletics department spent $872,940 on football travel last season, an average of $145,490 for six road games at USC, New Mexico State, Air Force, Hawaii, San Diego State and San Jose State.
The Pac-12 followed the Big Ten in announcing it would only play conference games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and also is limiting its men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball teams to conference games. It also is delaying the start of mandatory athletics activities until a series of health and safety indicators turn in a more positive direction – several schools across the nation have suspended voluntary workouts due to positive coronavirus tests, after bringing student-athletes back to campus.
The NCAA Division I Council last month approved a six-week practice plan leading into a potential 2020 college football season, with eight hours per week of mandatory workouts starting on Monday for teams that are scheduled to open on Labor Day weekend and bumping that up on July 24 to 20 hours per week.
Texas A&M date still on
The Bulldogs also in 2020 have a $1.3 million guarantee game at Texas A&M, a member of the Southeastern Conference. The SEC has yet to announce what its football season might look like.
Fresno State is paying Idaho State $350,000 and New Mexico State $250,000 to play non-conference games at Bulldog Stadium – and could be playing in a venue limited to 25% or 50% capacity with less revenue coming in from parking and concessions sales, impacting its ability to cover the cost of those guarantees.
All told, Fresno State, which struggles to support its 21 sports programs, could be looking at another budget hit of more than $1 million with the loss of the guarantee games against Power Five opponents, even if its travel costs go down due to COVID-19 cancellations.
That is a healthy chunk of revenue that does not come from university support – in 2019, institutional support accounted for $20.9 million of the department’s $49.8 million.
This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 6:16 PM.