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Weak non-conference slate may not excite YSU fans, but it does pay bills
YSU’s weak non-conference slate may not excite fans, but it does pay bills
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
If you think Youngstown State’s weak non-conference football schedule doesn’t make much sense, Penguins athletic director Ron Strollo has news for you: It makes a lot of cents.
YSU nets about $200,000 for each home football game through a combination of ticket sales, loge sales, corporate sponsorships (whose advertisements get more exposure), concessions, merchandise and parking.
That money not only helps balance the athletic budget but provides money-making opportunities for sports like baseball (which sells merchandise and works with concessions), track and field (concessions), softball (50/50) and swimming (programs sales).
If YSU gives up one of its home games — say, to play a home-and-home series with an Ohio Valley Conference school — it also must pay about $100,000 in travel expenses, Strollo said.
“For us, a $300,000 swing in a year is not something I can sell to our president or our finance guys,” Strollo said. “Not when we’re laying people off on campus.”
On Saturday, the Penguins will play non-scholarship Butler at Stambaugh Stadium, the second of three straight games against lower-level FCS opponents. YSU beat Duquesne last weekend and will play Saint Francis on Sept. 20. Those two teams play in the Northeast Conference, which has a 40-scholarship limit. The FCS allows a maximum of 63 scholarships.
YSU’s schedule differs from most of the schools in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Eight of the other nine schools are playing at least one full-scholarship FCS team, while the ninth, Western Illinois, is playing two Big Ten schools. Indiana State and Northern Iowa also play two FBS teams.
“We are going to be a little different than some of our counterparts,” Strollo said. “We don’t have the same budget as some of the other schools in our league and some of the schools that are similar to us, budget-wise, don’t make as much on home games as we do. So we can’t afford to give up home games.”
That’s true even when attendance is weak, Strollo said. Last weekend’s home opener had an announced attendance of more than 10,000 (i.e. tickets distributed) but drew significantly less, in part because it rained for several hours before kickoff. YSU may face a similar problem this weekend due to its weak opponent. But while beating a high-profile opponent on the road helps sell more tickets for future games, it wouldn’t be enough to cover the cost of giving up a home game, Strollo said.
YSU’s 2012 win over Pitt, for instance, helped the Penguins draw a big crowd for a game against UNI, but it only brought in an extra $30,000-$35,000, Strollo said.
“It’s not like that can drive momentum to where we’re making $200,000 or $300,000,” he said.
One of the big arguments against YSU’s non-conference schedule is that it hurt the Penguins’ chances of making the playoffs the last three years. Strollo agreed that beating a team like Eastern Illinois (which Southern Illinois did last weekend) can help, but he said a defeat — even a close one — hurts.
“I’ve been in that room and those guys are fighting for their own conferences,” Strollo said. “I don’t care if it’s three points or 28 points, if they beat you, to those guys, a loss is a loss. So at the end of the day, you’ve really got to be careful.”
Strollo also said playoff games don’t generate the same revenue as regular-season home games, since most of the ticket revenue goes to the NCAA.
YSU coach Eric Wolford is heavily involved in scheduling FBS opponents but has almost no input in the rest of the non-conference schedule. (“I’m just given a contract and I sign it,” he joked.)
He said he would be in favor of playing another money game, even if it’s against a Mid-American Conference team like Akron or Kent.
“Eric’s not afraid to play anyone,” Strollo said. “He would love to play those games, but we can’t do that and pay the bills. And you can make the argument that you should play two of those BCS schools, but I don’t see that working out for a lot of people if you want to make the playoffs.”