Cashing in from Potato Bowl
The 2011 Utah State football season ended much as the season began — with a heartbreaking defeat in the closing minutes. For many of those involved with USU, however, the 2011 season was defined more by what happened than what didn’t.
USU may have lost the bowl game but it still left as a big-time winner in some other respects.
For quite some time now, college bowl games have been at the center of many heated debates. For naysayers, it seems there’s an endless list of things wrong with bowl games: There are too many of them, people don’t really care about them, the break between the end of the season and the bowl game is too long, BCS games are the only ones that matter — the list goes on.
For universities that participate in bowl games there is evidence to the contrary — bowls can be fun events for fans and students, and they bring revenue and exposure vital to a program’s success.
This is true for Utah State after this most recent appearance in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. USU Athletic Director Scott Barnes said not only will the bowl appearance positively affect the football program, but it will also help the athletic department and the university in general.
“We view ourselves as the front porch to the university,” Barnes said. “We’re not the most important, but we’re the most visible. Having that success is an opportunity to introduce people to our university as a whole, through the athletic door.”
There are many contributing factors as to why bowl games are important and bring many advantages to a university. One of the many factors, of course, is the revenue generated from the bowl, Barnes said.
After all expenses, USU pulled in a little more than $100,000 from the Potato Bowl. Barnes said the university might not have taken that revenue home, but the athletic department got creative and reduced some of the traditional expenses.
“Instead of chartering a flight, we took buses and had a great turnout from our fans. To come away with a net gain, it was absolutely a good step,” Barnes said. “I’m happy with it, definitely.”
USU President Stan Albrecht said the athletic department administration should be praised for the part it played in making any money at all from the bowl.
“There is a widely held perception that participation in a post-season bowl game generates huge revenues for the school and team invited to play,” Albrecht said. “This is true only for a handful of the high-end BCS bowls. Most others struggle to break even. The fact that we came out of the Potato Bowl with modest positive revenue is a tribute to our athletic administrators.”
The revenue from the Potato Bowl doesn’t go exclusively to the football program. It is spread out among the entire athletic department.
“The actual proceeds are going into our general operations to help take care of all our sports,” Barnes said. “If we have success in football, that helps all of us.”
Besides the money, head football coach Gary Andersen, Barnes, and Albrecht all pointed out that there will be — and already have been — other positive effects from the bowl appearance that could potentially have a much greater long-term impact than the $100,000.
The increased ability to recruit higher prospects is one of those effects, and it will allow the Aggies to compete consistently at the top level, Andersen said. The exposure from the game itself has already brought some positive consequences on the recruiting front, he added.
“I believe that it was a very big impact initially when we got into homes,” he said. “It shows people that we are playing games that are meaningful late in the season, we are competing for championships, and we are playing in bowl games.”
Not only has the exposure generated a positive impact for those recruits being courted by USU, but it’s allowed the university to reach prospective players who might not have been interested in past years.
“We’re having conversations with recruits that we haven’t had conversations with before,” Barnes said. “We’re competing at a higher level with those prospective student-athletes.”
Bowl games, though, aren’t just for the coaches, players and administrators, they’re also great opportunities for the fans and students, Albrecht said.
“The payoff for participating in bowls comes in other ways,” Albrecht said. “It is a great experience for our fans, as was reflected in the number who traveled to Boise and participated in all of the pre-game and game activities. The fun associated with all of the hoopla surrounding a bowl appearance is also great for our students.”
Bowl games are beneficial in the immediate effect they have on athletics and the university, and they have enormous long-term potential, too, for both athletics and the university, Albrecht said.
“The real revenue potential comes from sources other than the game itself,” Albrecht said. “This includes increased ticket sales — something that extends into future seasons as we build a more successful program with regular bowl appearances — and increased gift opportunities that are created with our alumni and fan base.”
Barnes agreed with Albrecht’s statements and said, “There’s a lot out there about the value of highly successful athletic programs and what those can do for a university in terms of raising enrollment — not just the number but the quality — and creating more fundraising opportunities for the university as a whole.”
Andersen said, “It is a big step in the right direction for us. You walk in, and that Utah State logo is something that people are used to seeing.”
– eliason.wright3@aggiemail.usu.edu