Friday, November 9, 2007
The year’s biggest game should give local businesses a large boost in sales, but thanks to KU Athletics’ decisions, that won’t be the case. The “home” football game against Missouri will be at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, devastating local restaurants, shops, and bars while padding the athletic corporation’s take. Lawrence’s most important game in years, between the undefeated Jayhawks and the one-loss Tigers, will not even be played in this state.
What is good for the University is having the game of the season here in Lawrence. Economist David Darling analyzed the impact to local businesses when the decision was made to replace the Missouri game with an early-season non-conference home game. He estimated the loss to Kansas’s economy to be $713,000. This estimate was completed well before the season began. In light of the Jayhawks’ success, it must be revised upward.
I’ve written in this space of the football team being overrated at a time when their victories were against the football equivalents of culinary and dog obedience schools. Since that time, KU has decisive wins against quality opponents, showing their undefeated record is no fluke. KU Athletics has taken something away from loyal fans and businesses and sold it in a cynical ploy for additional money.
I wouldn’t write so frequently of athletic corporation greed if it didn’t make so many greedy decisions. Of course, supporters of the decision to move the game will say there was no way of knowing this game would be so pivotal. But a rivalry game is always pivotal. Last year’s mediocre team faced MU with bowl aspirations. Even if KU were winless, the rivalry game would be a chance to save face at the expense of the most-hated opponent.
This decision is a virtually direct transfer from local businesses to the athletic department. Some support the decision, saying those businesses have profited from KU Athletics in the past and now they can pay some back. But I don’t think Lew Perkins go into Set’em Up Jack’s and say, “Nice place you got; it’d be a shame if something were to happen to it.”
Some say the decision to move the game is acceptable because it also moves next season’s contest from Columbia to Kansas City. But if trading a home-and-away match-up for two neutral site games is preferable, why doesn’t KU move all its games? Away games are the price to pay for home games, and home games are the reason to have sports teams. Unlike Texas vs. Oklahoma or Florida vs. Georgia, this game is not a traditional neutral site game, so lost revenue is not hypothetical.
Associate Athletics Director Jim Marchiony has said, “A good football program helps all other sports and the university at large,” but a Wall Street Journal article casts doubt on that assessment. While Ohio’s public education spending has been shrinking, Ohio State’s athletics budget has been booming, to the point where Ohio State now spends on each athlete three times what it spends on other undergraduates, even though their athletes graduate at a lower rate than other students.
The town profits from the school, but the school benefits from the town. How much athletic revenue would exist without a town full of KU fans? Athletics makes money from loyal fans, and then repays that loyalty by raising prices, instituting a seating points system, and moving the most important home football game of the year to another city.
The decision to move the Missouri game away from Lawrence seems, in all aspects, to have been made solely from the perspective of athletic revenue, not in consideration of what would be best for the university and the community.
Minster is a Lawrence senior in economics.
Minister: Football schedule shows greed
Easy games are just a ploy to make money.
Businesses protest Kansas-Missouri game
Owners of the Red Lyon Tavern are encouraging people to stay home ...
Extended use of Arrowhead Stadium vexes local ...
Athletics department officials say that playing Missouri at Arrowhead gives the team ...
Football schools improve basketball programs
Athletics Department hopes to follow the lead of other schools and make ...
Move to Arrowhead affects more than fans
Although the fans and players have been affected, Sports Dome has seen ...
Minster: Basketball is blocking education
Spoiled fans have forgotten the reason they came to the University. Athletics ...
Lawrence's landlord: a developer's story
Doug Compton, owner of First Management, has helped guide Lawrence's development for ...
Degrees of success: athletes after college
College athletes' payment is their degree. But what if they never get ...
Kansan's OK with living in the shadow ...
KU basketball traditions don't come close to clout and money of UT's ...
KU Athletics hosting "Where's Big Jay?" scavenger ...
The first three fans to find Big Jay will be rewarded with ...
No decision in Oread proposal
Lawrence City Commission asked for more information about The Oread’s proposed neighborhood ...
LSU football game could have helped hurricane ...
Jayhawk fans break attendance record
The Jayhawks success in their early nonconference games has caused a spike ...
Staff, faculty receive tickets on cards
Students aren’t the only KU basketball fans who have their tickets on ...
Brother of MVP helping football team go ...
Chris Howard is playing an important role in the Kansas athletics department
Leaving a lasting legacy
As Hemenway prepares to retire, he and others look back at how ...
Former Jayhawk football player sticks with Kansas ...
Jayhawk Radio Network’s David Lawrence played, coached, reported, and now analyzes KU ...
K.C. Wizards to meet, greet in Lawrence
Players from the team will take part in prize drawings and foosball, ...
Editorial: Band Day parade will be a ...
The KU Band Day Parade was canceled because of earlier network broadcasting ...
First come, first served
Sunflower Showdown goes national
Kansas has a 7-33 record in the last 40 televised games.
Showdown brings unique rivalry beyond athletes
Team rivalries go beyond universities.
Minster: NIT offers closer competition
Superstar programs don't flounce "glorified highs chool squads" in the NIT. All ...
Homecoming festivities create extra revenue
Hotels filled and bars ordered more inventory in preparation for influx of ...
Arrowhead ticket resale prices soar
The Border Showdown between Kansas and Missouri has received a lot of ...
Rivalry splits family’s loyalties
Jayhawk fans who grew up in Nebraska face some bitter friends now ...
Minster: KU athletics greedy for revenue
The KU athletics department wants to bring down Joe-College.com for not paying ...
Editorial Board: Athletic funding shouldn't fall on ...
The Women and Non-Revenue Sports fee was voted to be increased from ...
2008 nonconference schedule takes shape
The 2008 Jayhawk schedule will feature competition more inline with the success ...
Hemenway leaves his mark on Kansas Athletics
Hiring of Athletic Director Lew Perkins was key point in chancellor’s tenure
Groups join with Athletics for game day ...
KU Environs and Cans for the Community hope to collect 1,000 pounds ...
Wacker: The best is yet to come
Home, sweet home
The Big 12 Conference basketball tournaments will return to Kansas City, Mo., ...
Morning Brew: NFL lockout ruins Sundays
NFL executives fear that a lockout could happen soon.
Food, friends and drinks make tailgaiting central ...
Alumni to be given special seating for Homecoming game against Texas Tech
Get to know your game day
Learn some of the rituals associated with KU football and its long ...
TCU invited to join Big 12
The Big 12 has extended an invitation to Texas Christian University to ...
Local bars survive without students
Some bars stay vacant over breaks while others tap into loyal customer ...
Johnson: Athletes who elect a redshirt have ...
An extra year on a team can make that extra difference
Home game hype attracts bar patrons
The 9-0 start for the Kansas football team has increased business as ...
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
KUnited presidential candidate Libby Johnson and vice presidential ...
1 comment
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID