http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news...ws/1492142
May 04, 2008 (The Dominion Post - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- -- WVU claimed a BCS bowl victory last January, but that win came with a price -- just over $1 million.
The Big East awarded WVU $2,425,600 for its Fiesta Bowl expense allowance to Glendale, Ariz., and for being the conference's BCS bowl representative.
In total, the university spent $3,495,872.59, resulting in a loss of $1,070,272.59.
The deficit from a bowl trip is a rarity for WVU, Deputy Director of Athletics Mike Parsons said.
Since joining the Big East Conference in 1991, this was the first time the university's bowl trip cost more than what the conference awarded it financially, Parsons said.
"It came out to what we thought it would be," he added. "It goes back to an unusual situation given the distance involved for our fans to travel [to Glendale], the cost of sending the band and not selling all our tickets."
The Fiesta Bowl had a payout of $17 million, but the Big East Conference collects revenue from all the bowls its schools attend, and then it cashes out money appropriately to all eight members.
WVU's Fiesta payout was the highest among the five Big East bowl participants last season. The amounts are determined by the caliber of the bowl and physical travel distance.
Additionally, each school is guaranteed at least $2 million after the season through the Big East's bowl revenue sharing plan.
While WVU didn't receive a huge payout, Parsons said, in years the Mountaineers don't make a bowl game, the school still receives money.
Such a system allows for schools to more accurately plan their annual budgets, regardless of success on the field, he said. It's a practice shared by all the other major college conferences.
"We're pretty much in line with the other BCS bowl conferences," said Nick Carparelli, Big East Associate Commissioner of football. "Our payouts are very much in line."
Some benefits
The Big East Conference is expected to send out the paychecks to its schools by the end of May. WVU will also receive $2.8 million from the conference's revenue sharing plan -- $2 million from the amount guaranteed to all the schools, and roughly $800,000 for television appearances, the highest pay among the conference's eight members.
If you add that $2.8 million to the $2,425,600 WVU received for the bowl game, WVU still made money this bowl season, officials said.
Although the school would have liked to fared better financially from the Fiesta Bowl trip, university officials say the impact of participating and winning such a highcaliber bowl will be felt for years to come.
"The win overcame any deficit that occurred, and it will benefit us tremendously in future years," said WVU Director of Athletics Ed Pastilong. "Our season tickets sales are outstanding, and that is the result of the bowl game."
Of the university's 9,519 absorbed tickets, 8,174 went unsold and unused, Parsons said. The university paid for all 9,519 tickets -- however, 1,345 of those were used as guest tickets for the coaches and players. For example, the head coach is eligible to receive 20 tickets, and each player up to eight, and the university is responsible for paying for them.
At a price of $135 per seat, WVU had to absorb $1,285,065 in unsold tickets.
But the 8,174 unsold and unused tickets, totaling $1,103,490, is what Parsons points to as a big reason for the overall loss.
"Rarely have we had to absorb unsold tickets," Parsons said. "If it was an easier place for our fans to get to, we would have sold more tickets."
Why it lost money
What variables created the unusual situation where WVU spent more than it received?
The distance from Morgantown to Glendale, Parsons said. And many fans had prematurely made travel arrangements to the BCS Championship game in New Orleans.
Because of those two factors, WVU sold only 7,981 of its 17,500 allotted tickets.
Additionally, WVU had to fly the band for the first time in several years. Typically the band drives to bowl games with its equipment, as it has to Jacksonville, Fla., for Gator Bowls, and to Atlanta and New Orleans for Sugar Bowls.
At this year's Fiesta Bowl, WVU had to purchase adequate space for its band members and equipment. The travel expenses to send the band and cheerleaders on two planes was $565,152.29, more than $200,000 above what it cost to send the team and coaches to the bowl.
The football team took one larger and one smaller plane, while some players flew to and from their homes. The band flew on two larger planes.
"We have to pay for every seat the band uses," Parsons said. "Not just for the tuba player, but we have to have one for tuba as well."
Good eating
While in Phoenix, the Mountaineers certainly ate well, though the restaurants weren't always of their choice.
"You're assigned to a hotel. You don't get to bargain what hotel you go to," Parsons said. "They tell what hotel you are in. Could you go to another restaurant? Can you imagine what it's like to take 150 people, with the buses, and wait for the check?
"Pretty much you are locked into doing things at that hotel."
Bowls assign teams to specific locations, and WVU was put up in the Scottsdale Plaza Resort. The meals ($773,723.08 total for everyone representing WVU on the trip) often times took place in the team hotel. The most expensive meal was New Year's Day team dinner of $15,848.05 for 132 people, or a little more than $120 per plate.
"There's no doubt it was costly," Parsons said.
The dinner, which included just players and coaches, was the traditional spread the WVU football team ate before every game last season. It took place at the team hotel, as New Year's Day also fell the night before WVU's 48-28 win over Oklahoma.
"It worked," Parsons said.
The magical meal included lasagna, carved roast beef, chicken cordon bleu and mashed potatoes, among other things. "I am sure there's more to it," Parsons said. "It's a heavy meal, and the trainers made sure to have it."
Other costs
Bowl fees also encompass things many people may not think about. After practices, players have free time to go about the city, usually by way of an assigned bus. But what if players miss the bus, are stuck downtown, and need to get back because curfew time is approaching?
Well, the NCAA allows universities to give each player $20 per day for incidental costs, such as taxi cab fees.
Also, not every player boards the team plane to and from Morgantown. WVU picks up the cost for those players to fly commercially from their homes to the bowl site and back home for the remainder of winter break.
"Let's say Pat White goes home [to Daphne, Ala.] for Christmas," Parsons said. "Well, there's no use in him coming back to [Morgantown] to fly to Phoenix. Pat White can go from [Daphne] to Phoenix and back commercially. We obviously pay that commercial fee."
In years when the Mountaineers were in the Gator Bowl, many players who lived in the Florida and Mississippi area rode home with their families and then drove back to Morgantown before the spring semester.
"If they decide to drive home, we're not paying the family's mileage, but they can pocket [the commercial airfare]," Parsons said.
Every person the university sent to Arizona was on the job. While university workers are allowed to bring immediate family with them, those expenses, from travel to lodging to meals, are paid through donations, and not by the state.
One donor, who chooses to remain anonymous, specifically gives to cover university families attending bowl games, Parsons said.
"We generally take people who have assigned duties. We don't just do it to give them a free trip to Phoenix," Parsons said. "For the most part, everyone has some responsibility once there."
The post-season costs roll in before WVU even leaves Morgantown. The football team continues to practice in town well into winter break, when the dormitories are closed.
In this case, WVU must put those players up in a hotel, and this year they stayed at the Friends Inn.
A success in the end
Although Parsons admits WVU hoped to bring in more money, he says the overall Fiesta Bowl experience was a success.
"When you factor in the win and experience of winning, and the opportunity to play in a BCS bowl on highly watched TV broadcast, the end result is a very positive experience for the program," Parsons said.
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A Fiesta loss: Big bowl win doesn't mean big $$$
