Money game: UGA-Florida Atlantic pays off for both sides
Florida Atlantic is assured of setting one Sanford Stadium record Saturday night: The Owls will pocket the largest paycheck of any visiting team in Georgia football history.
Georgia will pay Florida Atlantic $1 million for making the trip to Athens — a reflection of the rising cost of scheduling presumed easy victories against FBS nonconference opponents that don’t require a return engagement on their campus.
UGA scheduled the game and agreed to the seven-figure payout after canceling a two-year, home-and-home series with Louisville to accommodate last season’s opener against Boise State in the Georgia Dome.
“We were fortunate [FAU] was available to play on this date,” Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said this week. “But to make the date work, there was an expectation we had to pay a million dollars. That has kind of become the going rate.”
He isn’t complaining. Even after the record payout, UGA will clear about $1.7 million from the game, according to figures in the school’s athletics budget.
The game, which gives Georgia seven rather than the formerly customary six home games this season, is budgeted to bring in about $2.7 million in ticket revenue, $160,000 in concessions profits and $7,500 from novelty sales. After the FAU payout and about $200,000 in other game expenses, the rest flows to the bottom line.
Even for a UGA athletics department that expects to generate $92 million in revenue this fiscal year, the night’s windfall will be significant. It is more than enough, for example, to cover the annual budgets of the soccer ($667,000) and softball ($790,000) programs.
Georgia will have only six home football games next season, when it plays at Clemson in a tradeoff for a 2014 game in Athens. “We’ll have to be creative in the budget next year to make up that difference,” McGarity said.
FAU won’t sympathize.
To help balance its budget, the school is playing road games against highly ranked SEC opponents on back-to-back Saturdays — this one against No. 7 Georgia and next week against No. 1 Alabama, which will pay the Owls another $1 million.
Payouts have increased because of a supply-demand imbalance: fewer mid-major FBS teams looking to play for pay than big-budget teams willing to pay for play. Two seasons ago, Georgia got Louisiana Lafayette to play in Athens for $875,000. But this season’s opener against Buffalo required a $975,000 payout, UGA’s highest until this week.
(Georgia doesn’t pay SEC schools or Georgia Tech for playing in Athens because those games are reciprocated when the Bulldogs go on the road. Also, FCS opponents — such as Georgia Southern, which plays at UGA on Nov. 17 — command much smaller payouts than the likes of Florida Atlantic. Georgia Southern will get $475,000 for the game in Athens.)
Economics may explain why the paycheck games are scheduled, but the scoreboard and the attendance usually reflect the arguments against them.
Florida Atlantic, a Sun Belt Conference team that went 1-11 last season, is a 43-point underdog to Georgia. And although such games occasionally backfire on the home team (see: Appalachian State over Michigan in 2007 and Louisiana Monroe over Arkansas last week), they usually produce unsavory results (see: Oklahoma State 84, Savannah State 0 two weeks ago) and diminished crowds.
“I don’t think it’s good for college football, but I understand the reality of why schools have to play those games budgetarily,” FAU coach Carl Pelini told the Associated Press.
Georgia has sold out 92,746-seat Sanford Stadium for Saturday, selling the last few hundred tickets early this week in the aftermath of the victory at Missouri. It won’t be a surprise, though, if a noticeable number of students and season-ticket holders are no-shows.
McGarity’s scheduling philosophy, which he brought with him when he returned to Georgia in 2010 after 18 years at Florida, generally is to have seven home games, only occasionally dipping to six in order to play a marquee opponent on a neutral field or in a home-and-home series. With eight SEC opponents and Georgia Tech on the schedule each season, McGarity believes that playing the other three games at home against lower-level opponents — two from an FBS mid-major league and one from the FCS level — best positions Georgia to make a run for the SEC Championship game.
It is uncertain if that philosophy will stand in the coming era of a four-team national playoff, where strength of schedule will be a factor in selecting the field. Georgia’s next opening on a schedule is in 2015, and McGarity is awaiting clarity on playoff criteria before filling it.
Money games are nothing new to Florida Atlantic, which has played — and lost to — Florida, Michigan State, Auburn, Texas, Nebraska and South Carolina in the past few seasons.
Pelini wants FAU to find value beyond dollars in the trip to Athens.
“I want our players to share my vision, and I want my administration and school administration to share my vision,” he told reporters in Boca Raton, Fla. “To go up and play a team that is perennially a top-20 team and see not just [what’s] on the football field but the organization itself [and] how their players act on the field, how their players prepare, how they execute and how their athletic staff administration as a whole conducts the game-day experience — all those things are positive for a school like FAU [to see] because that’s what my vision for this program ultimately would be.”
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199 comments Add your comment
Chuck
September 14th, 2012
12:07 pm
This is exactly why college football is a joke, and every one of you cousin-marrying jackwagons who trek to watch games like this are perpetuating the problem.
Football–real football–is played on Sundays. The garbage disguised as competitive football being delivered by the NCAA is criminal.
TampaDawg
September 14th, 2012
12:08 pm
All the nay sayers should take a look at http://www.fbsschedules.com.
Every legit team in the SEC have 3 “cupcakes” scheduled. Including UGA, UF, UT, AL, LSU, ARK.
Quit the complaining and support your team jokers, no matter who it is.
TampaDawg
September 14th, 2012
12:09 pm
Oh and South Carolina
Otto
September 14th, 2012
12:13 pm
I have run across a few offers for free tickets to this game both e-mail and facebook postings. Season ticket holders will not completely give up their season tickets due to the length of time to work their way up to good seats. I know a few fans that learned that in the 90s.
The previous model of 1 big OOC game outside of GT was great. The Cupcake model did work at UF but they are also media darlings who also played FSU not GT. UGA does not have those advantages. Luckily the SEC is on top of the CFB world.
BTW I have not accepted any tickets for the game. UF/UT is looking more interesting than fighting traffic, paying for parking, and then getting home at 1AM or later for FAU.
Otto
September 14th, 2012
12:19 pm
LSU, Bama, and UT all face 1 OOC game from a BCS Conf. UF is lucky to have FSU built in. Yes UGA has GT built in but they rarely have the respect that FSU does. Yes LSU is only Washington but last year they played 2 BCS conf champs.
Even Arky had Tx A&M before they joined the SEC. I just ask for 1 OOC game with a respected BCS Conf program outside of GT.
Concerned
September 14th, 2012
12:26 pm
Funny Sunny Cloisters……….Alabama is a backwards state evidenced by no real culture throught the state. Football is king as is atletics. Take Mercedes out of Vance, and Tuscaloosa and Birmingham have little to support a decent wage. The state has to strive for college football as there is nothing eles except car racing. The people of that state are still living in the 50s and 70s for the most part. Throw in Northport and you have the old south plus some. Saban is there because of the money period. I know a bunch of the people there and have friends on the staff. Money talks, and yes what else do Alabama people have. So there is much to say about an idol, an obsession, and an addiction. RTR, but at what cost to the state.
I still say Georgia is a better balanced university, as well state, and not many players play at Alabama other than players who are black from other southern states. Athletes from other better balanced regions will not go to Alabama for first an education, second for an area which is far from in tune with progressive walks. Take Cumming, Georgia in the 70s, and this is Tuscaloosa and the state.
Enough said, go play your game of feeling big, wonderful, and like you really have something going on. At the end of the decade you may win one or two more NC, but the state, the fans, and the students will still be thinking football instead of a quality of life.
This is serious stuff in Alabama as many are not happy with their state nor over the top attraction to college football. Make no mistake having a coach like Mark Richt is more desirable than a task master like Nick Saban. At the end of the day, do you see ESPN employing an ex Bama players? Do you see one in high public office, and yes even lobg term in the NFL.
Too shallow to not see through. Times are changing, and Alabama people who are in the know understand this.
Show me more than a flag or throphy, and then respect may follow. Town next to Tuscaloosa is called Cottondale, and need I saw more.
WDE
September 14th, 2012
12:29 pm
@Alphare some of those teams that didn’t end in the top 25 didn’t because the played and lost to UGA..just want to pour a little reality in there…LOL…
GTBob
September 14th, 2012
12:31 pm
Its a shame that what is best for the fans is not hardly even a concern in college football anymore. With only 12 games a year, nobody should be wasting time with 2-3 practice games.
1 Million Smackeroo's
September 14th, 2012
12:31 pm
…for this obscene waste of 4 hours of College Football is a joke. I think what is happening on that in regards to payouts is some of those schools are blackmailing the bigger schools and saying we want a piece of the pie to gain notoriety. It wouldn’t surprise me that on the backs of these payouts more Sunbelt Teams don’t whip up on some folks in the coming years. Think about this if they don’t play cupcake teams then it reverts back to Strength of Schedule….so pay’em to play but don’t be surprised when they whip ya because of the money you pumped’em
Kingsx7
September 14th, 2012
12:33 pm
Sunny Cloisters SUCKS Just like his LOGIC . !!!!!!!!!!
WDE
September 14th, 2012
12:33 pm
@Concerned good post, well thought out and written. I’m no Bama fan , but folks of insight and intelligence have been making this point since the Bear got to Bama and while true then and true now nothing has really changed.
K CONWAY
September 14th, 2012
12:49 pm
How about Savannah State for homecoming?
Contractor
September 14th, 2012
1:42 pm
“The game, which gives Georgia seven rather than the formerly customary six home games this season…” I’d rather have the six home games instead of adding this crappy matchup. This game will only slow Georgia down. It is no surprise that Georgia has issues getting up for games and having to overcome the vanilla and lackadaisical play calling of Mike Bobo, so adding a game like this is not what this team needs, nor is it a game that will get them ready for the SEC slate coming up. I understand you can’t just schedule a Top 20 team at the drop of a hat, because of logistics etc, but this game will only hurt Georgia and they could have easily found another D-1 program to come in and fill this slot and give more competition.
FaithfulDawg86
September 14th, 2012
1:53 pm
LA Bulldawg: You’re a moron. EVERY major conference has been courting ND forever… And quit using all caps. If you don’t how to use a keyboard, stay off the computer.
Under The Bleachers
September 14th, 2012
3:19 pm
UGA should be congratulated. The SEC schedule is commanded by the SEC office, while the Outer Conference schedule is dictated by the AD/Head Coach and Administration. Why congratulate UGA? Well anyone with two good eyes and/or good ears can see and hear that this years schedule is for UGA is a cakewalk into the SECCG and a BCS bowl with above average play.
We congratulate UGA for winning in Missouri whom many thought would be the toughest test outside of their games in Columbia, SC and in Jacksonville, Fl. We congratulate UGA for scheduling soft outer conference teams that allow players to develop through extended playing time for 2nd and 3rd teamers while getting reps for your front line players. We congratulate UGA for scheduling these soft teams to allow players to heal and to develop plays in real game situations.
We finally congratulate UGA for their scheduling in 2012 to allow Mark Richt to get 10 to 12 wins again and to get the UGA fanbase off the ” FireMarkRicht” website and band wagon. This all preceding the fact that in 2013 the schedule turns against UGA while losing a good group of defensive starters in early exit to the NFL and other drafted players to witnesss the road games in the SEC West, The improved Florida Gators, The improved Tennessee Volunteers, The improved Missouri Tigers, and the Clemson Tigers on the road.
Congratulations and enjoy this soft soft schedule year.
haters can't pinpoint this argument on one school, although they stupidly try
September 14th, 2012
3:32 pm
ALL schools do it….Thanks Tim for pointing out some of the schools that also have paid FAU to play them.
And that’s just FAU. There’s a cupcake for every big time school on their program.
Under The Bleachers
September 14th, 2012
3:33 pm
Concerned
September 14th, 2012
12:26 pm
Funny Sunny Cloisters……….Alabama is a backwards state evidenced by no real culture throught the state. Football is king as is atletics. Take Mercedes out of Vance, and Tuscaloosa and Birmingham have little to support a decent wage. The state has to strive for college football as there is nothing eles except car racing. The people of that state are still living in the 50s and 70s for the most part. Throw in Northport and you have the old south plus some. Saban is there because of the money period. I know a bunch of the people there and have friends on the staff. Money talks, and yes what else do Alabama people have. So there is much to say about an idol, an obsession, and an addiction. RTR, but at what cost to the state.
I still say Georgia is a better balanced university, as well state, and not many players play at Alabama other than players who are black from other southern states. Athletes from other better balanced regions will not go to Alabama for first an education, second for an area which is far from in tune with progressive walks. Take Cumming, Georgia in the 70s, and this is Tuscaloosa and the state.
Enough said, go play your game of feeling big, wonderful, and like you really have something going on. At the end of the decade you may win one or two more NC, but the state, the fans, and the students will still be thinking football instead of a quality of life.
This is serious stuff in Alabama as many are not happy with their state nor over the top attraction to college football. Make no mistake having a coach like Mark Richt is more desirable than a task master like Nick Saban. At the end of the day, do you see ESPN employing an ex Bama players? Do you see one in high public office, and yes even lobg term in the NFL.
Too shallow to not see through. Times are changing, and Alabama people
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Concerned, you are brain dead if you think ANYONE in college football would Mark Richt and his outlaws coaching a football team over Nick Saban. That is just too funny and also ignorant at the same time.
You speak so poorly of Alabama, and yet I guess you never run to Atlanta and watch all the scum and crime on the street, the drug dealings, and corruption that IS Atlanta’s trademark. I guess all those jobs lost in Atlanta are just minor inconviences. I guess all those issues that plague Atlanta Traffic are minor as well.
Look, every state has issues, every city has issues, but to think the 5th highest Trailer poplulation lives in Georgia does not mean anything, but it is reflective of the way of life.
By the way, Florida, California, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia….
http://www.census.gov/apsd/www/statbrief/sb94_10.pdf
I dropped my fried twinkie
September 14th, 2012
3:36 pm
hahaha yes it does payoff at the EXPENSE to the fans.
Paying to go to this game is just stupid but who said UGa fans were smart.
I am so sick of these crappy over priced games. Until fans say no and stop paying for this crap it will continue.
I didn’t even consider going to the PC game last week.
Next
September 14th, 2012
3:42 pm
Yes, there are cupcakes on EVERY schools schedules, but those people in glass houses with their hate towards other schools don’t believe in facts.
This means every one of you on a Bulldog blog that are not Bulldog fans.
What a waste of time and energy spent on stalking other schools sites to spew venom at others. You’re PITIFUL.
Go Dawgs!
September 14th, 2012
3:45 pm
How true Next
go home children
September 14th, 2012
3:50 pm
Don’t bother with the long monologue posts….they’re instantly ignored after the first insult.
If constructive, they would be read….but they’re not constructive.
I dropped my fried twinkie
September 14th, 2012
3:51 pm
Next…..and changing your Posting handle more than you underwear is Pitiful too.
kingdaddy
September 14th, 2012
3:57 pm
Twink
please don’t make asinine statements about not going to the game last weekend. Was that really the reason you decided not to go to the game? I hope you let me leave it at that. Find another argument my friend…
JACK THOMPSON
September 14th, 2012
3:58 pm
presbyterian college, my ole school got plenty of cash and 2 basketball games out of teck last week! the money built them a complete weight room!!
loving my school
September 14th, 2012
3:59 pm
The few anti-bulldog posters in here definitely come across as jackasses.
They were probably born that way. Anger management is in their future.
kingdaddy
September 14th, 2012
4:00 pm
Where are all our Missouri bloggers???
Next
September 14th, 2012
4:01 pm
twinkie dick admitted he’s pitiful
I dropped my fried twinkie
September 14th, 2012
4:01 pm
Does any SEC not CHEAT in some way in some sport?
Byron De’Vinner, the 7-on-7 summer league football coach in Nashville who said Tuesday that he witnessed a booster give Mississippi State freshman defensive back Will Redmond money, told ESPN on Wednesday the same booster told him he provided benefits to “five or six” Mississippi State athletes.
kingdaddy
September 14th, 2012
4:03 pm
Jack T.
That is awesome, bro. I hope that is excatly what they do with all that money. Congratulations…
kingdaddy
September 14th, 2012
4:05 pm
Does any ACC school not cheat in some way in some sport? LOL…
Next
September 14th, 2012
4:07 pm
Their schools aren’t loved enough to have their own site?
Nah, they got a site, but they go on others because they’re pitiful.
kingdaddy
September 14th, 2012
4:08 pm
Twink
You get too hot bush-hogging today??? Drink an ice cold 55, you’ll feel better…
I dropped my fried twinkie
September 14th, 2012
4:08 pm
KingDaddy but I could have gone. I didn’t even see the reason to waste the time.
If it was UVa last weekend I would have mustered up and gone.
King how the hell are LSU player now ineligible? Haha what grades just showed-up last week?
Sounds fishy don’t it?
Do you think it will get better with the PLAYOFF and larger conferences to keep schools from cheating to get a competitive advantage? Thank God the NCAA is requiring harder courses in high school and a higher GPA to play college sports in the future.
kingdaddy
September 14th, 2012
4:10 pm
I never thought I ‘d say it, but Jimmy Carter is starting to look pretty good, lol…
Moving on up
September 14th, 2012
4:11 pm
laughing all the way to the top, while others wallow and swallow.
kingdaddy
September 14th, 2012
4:13 pm
Did the suspended LSU player play this year???
kingdaddy
September 14th, 2012
4:17 pm
Twink
it’s just me, but I would not have been able to go. Someone would have gotten hurt. Still working on my anger managment. Couple of rude idiots, and I would have been in the Athens Hilton (pokey)…
I dropped my fried twinkie
September 14th, 2012
4:22 pm
No KING I don’t think they played yet but I sounded like Les just filed the appeal to allow them to play. I mean he had to know either in the spring of the end of the Summer classes these guys were in trouble. So, why wait until now to appeal?
kingdaddy
September 14th, 2012
4:33 pm
I’m not saying he wouldn’t, but why would Coach Miles need to cheat with the depth he has. Why take a chance when you’re loaded with talent???
kingdaddy
September 14th, 2012
4:35 pm
I’ll be back. Hope they get some new articles…
Jerry Seinfeld
September 14th, 2012
5:11 pm
I would prefer that Georgia have played Louisville last season instead of Boise State, and then we could play the Cardinals instead of the Owls. I like playing the first game of the season against a team like FAU, but not the third game. I would like to play a good team out of conference like Clemson or a Big 10 school. That way, Georgia has a challenge and the game is interesting, but it’s not a game we will almost certainly lose (like Boise last year).
Jerry Seinfeld
September 14th, 2012
5:13 pm
LSU is loaded, especially on defense. There’s no reason for them to cheat over anything.
Michael Dyer
September 14th, 2012
5:21 pm
@Under The Bleachers
If you want to write a book, then you should first learn proper grammar.
Michael Dyer
September 14th, 2012
5:23 pm
@Under The Bleachers
Excuse me. I see that you were merely responding to Concerned’s poorly written rant.
Jerry Seinfeld
September 14th, 2012
5:24 pm
I see the benefit of playing a team like this though. Any players who are banged up can rest and it gives coaches a chance to get their second-string players valuable experience. Georgia’s second string defensive players appear to have a lot of talent and could certainly use playing time. As I said earlier, though, I would prefer to have kept Louisville on the schedule or play an over-average team.
hun
September 14th, 2012
6:41 pm
Once again, the dollar trumps common sense, sportsmanship, and athletic decency. I am sure if someone looks hard enough, they can find a good high school team that needs a new field, stadium,etc. They should be happy to play UGA or any of the other big schools – after all, its about money above everything, right?
I have been a college football fan for 50 yrs now and this kind of thing is becoming even more prevelant. I am also a huge SEC and Dawgs fan. This type of scheduling however, does not even pass the sniff test if you get beyond paydays for small schools and run up scores for big schools . Somebody ought to be ashamed but I ain’t holding my breathe on that happening.
hun
September 14th, 2012
6:43 pm
And the same people who will accept this nonsense will be the ones also talking about lost values, the death of the work ethic, and the Good Ol Days. Highly selective values.
FAU to meet No. 7 Georgia, then No. 1 Alabama – Online Athens | Living in athens
September 14th, 2012
7:23 pm
[...] football notebook: Road for FAU "money games" leads to AthensSavannah Morning News Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)all 222 news [...]
Go Blue
September 14th, 2012
8:06 pm
Scheduling better OOC teams would sure help fill some of those seats. I know if UM was in Athens, my butt would be in one of them lol. When they showed the upper levels of the stadium during the Buffalo game, I was SHOCKED. From about the 30 yard line all the way around the end zone was completely empty. I bet the attendance for that game could not have been more than around 70k. Fill those seats by bringing in better teams and the money situation works itself out.
Dawg Bite
September 14th, 2012
8:20 pm
Concerned, now tell us how you really feel about Alabama! You must have been jilted by someone from that state, but I can tell you that I have lived over there, and am married to someone from Alabama, and they are humans beings just as good as are the people from Georgia, and I am a native Georgian. You apparently have an “axe to grind”, but I personally find you comments very offensive! JMHO