Ole Miss just had a game cancelled so they have an open (home) date next year......
I hope we are done talking about boycotting the Apple Cup
- Thread starter COCoug
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We have a much better chance of beating uw in a neutral site than beating any of the teams that you listed AT their place.
In the above scenario we get both the money and a decent shot at a victory and a pleasant game-day experience for the fanbase and alumni. That's all I have to say about that.
1.9 million for a loss for a complete away game? Most definitely likely COUGS got more than that for a win in a neutral game (this season) with a decent shot at the same at home next season. TaihtsatWell you should since you're the one throwing dollar amounts around. Scroll down to the table showing WKU got $1.9 million from Bama. I guess we know you'll be sleeping in your wife's basement if you get divorced.
Alabama vs. Western Kentucky payout details: How much money did Hilltoppers make for 2024 football game? | Sporting News
Alabama paid Western Kentucky a decent chunk of change to come to Bryant-Denny Stadium to open the 2024 college football season.www.sportingnews.com
With regards to the 57,000 attendance- as a fan base we control that.
Lumen Field only holds 68,740, so we are 11,000 short of a sell-out, which happens in Martin Stadium frequently. Next year will sell out.
Second- which Power 4 team would you rather beat than Washington? We aren't going to win the National Championship, and most bowls are crap, so this is why we even play the sport.
Third- years ago a WSU administrator was quoted as saying the most important factor in lobbying the state legislature for funding was for WSU to win the Apple Cup. We need this to compete with UW for high school kids to come to Pullman as students, for our athletic programs to stay relevant, and for our state support. None of that happens with a win over Rutgers or Indiana, or a loss to Tennessee or Penn State.
Lumen Field only holds 68,740, so we are 11,000 short of a sell-out, which happens in Martin Stadium frequently. Next year will sell out.
Second- which Power 4 team would you rather beat than Washington? We aren't going to win the National Championship, and most bowls are crap, so this is why we even play the sport.
Third- years ago a WSU administrator was quoted as saying the most important factor in lobbying the state legislature for funding was for WSU to win the Apple Cup. We need this to compete with UW for high school kids to come to Pullman as students, for our athletic programs to stay relevant, and for our state support. None of that happens with a win over Rutgers or Indiana, or a loss to Tennessee or Penn State.
Losing to the only "strong" team on your schedule doesn't help you. You're better off being undefeated and untested, than already showing you're not good enough to beat the 5th-8th place team in the B1G.
We'll be a "safe" matchup in that respect soon enough I believe.
I generally think winning Saturday has clouded everyone's perspectives on this game. Unless UW completely melts down athletically and turns into Rutgers, we're gonna win this game less often than we historically have going forward. I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts on this game after a string of non-competitive losses. Our new reality is going undefeated is the #1 goal every season. SOS with 1 or more losses is useless.
My thoughts on the revenue we'd miss out on if we stopped the AC,,,,,,meh. If that $3mill or whatever it is, proves catastrophic, why are we even bothering to have a football team?
I would think, if the contract was that beneficial for us, they would've disclosed the details to the faithful by now? To ease concerns?
Well there goes the theory that we are going to be some juggernaut against the MWC teams. Not sure where anyone got that idea, Boise States been recruiting on our level for years.
I would be SO down with that. The Grove is on my to do list before death.
Not sure the alcoholic beverage industry can withstand WSU and Ol’ Miss in the same zip code.
We've historically won 30% of Apple Cups. UW is not going to be anything more than a 5th place team in the B!G, and that will be considered a good year. This notion that they're going to rise up and become a superpower is ridiculous. They'll always out recruit us, but they'll also have the same merry-go-round roster management problems that all programs face. If you're a B!G caliber recruit, why go to UW and face more travel, fewer fans, less NIL, and not be centered in the heart of the B!G conference? It's not like the Pacific NW is overflowing with talent. UW is going to have to recruit hard, and that's coaching dependent. Cal just won at Auburn. Memphis just beat Florida State. Boise State had Oregon dead to rights. A well run program in the G5 will be able to compete with the bottom 60% of the super conference programs.
If we maintain a program on par with Boise State and Fresno State, we can beat UW 30% of the time.
If we maintain a program on par with Boise State and Fresno State, we can beat UW 30% of the time.
Patrol, I agree 100%, and for the reasons you noted. Actually, looking down the road several years, I can see UW's position deteriorating further and us being able to maybe bump the 30% up a bit. They gave up a lot of inherent advantages when they jumped, and with a delusional fan base that will demand that the coach be fired every 3-4 years as they stumble along (barely making it to low level bowl games and getting boat raced by the good teams in B1G), I don't foresee their path forward getting any easier.
I'd rather not play the Apple Cup, but it does generate money and a lot of interest in the school and program, unlike any other game, so it probably makes sense to continue for a while. The problem I see in the future is the talent gap between to the two teams will widen more than it has. Yes, the UW has always had a talent advantage, however being in the same conference allowed us to beat out some MWC teams and AAC teams for recruits, that will no longer be the case. IN 5 years, the UW will be receiving 50 Million + from the Big 10, the Cougs will be lucky to receive 10-15 million a year with their new contract. It will take some serious "Billy Ball" and coaching to even stay in the game in a few years. WSU's record in the Apple Cup isn't great, but we have managed to keep the game close and interesting, most of the time, but there have been blow outs. If the game is less competitive will people care?
I would think he left because he wants to play, and possibly he was low of the depth chart?
Anyone speculate on the reason why he de-committed?
Recruits aren’t on the depth chart. Browsing the post that was shared looks like he wants to stay closer to home.
If we're just spitballing on that question- Texas, Georgia, tOSU, Alabama, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Missouri, Miami, Oregon, Penn State.
Those are the AP top 10.
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We would need one of these types of games every season to come close to the revenue generated from Apple Cup. I don't see any way possible for us to line up annual scheduling agreements for $2M/game with top-15 programs.
Of course these are all just assumptions and projections at this current time...but going off your link of western Kentucky getting $1.9 mil as a starting point along with the projections of this past apple cup netting $4 mil...I think it's safe to assume the Apple cup generated at least half that projected amount.
If that be the case then we came out on top with more money, a victroy and more national press. Taihtsat
While that's partially true, what your saying seems to forget, not account for, etc, that WSU has beaten 5th thru 8th place teams in Big 10, Big 12, in beating Wisconsin twice, UW 2 out of last 4 times that played them, and Texas Tech.
That's WSU beating 5 Quality P4 teams 5 times out of the last 9 times that played Quality P4 teams.
If WSU, OSU had remained the P2, WSU's rate of beating Quality P4 teams would have went down to 0,1,2 times out of 9,10 times.
If WSU had joined the MWC with BOTTOM feeders, WSU's rate of beating Quality P4 teams would have dropped down to 1,2 times out of 9,10.
When the PAC 6 becomes the PAC 8 of BSU, SDSU, Fresno St, CSU, Memphis Tulane, WSU, OSU, WSU's rate of beating Quality P4 teams like Winsconsin, UW, Texas Tech, etc, will probably be 3,4 times out of 9, 10 games.
It's not going to be 0 wins against Quality P4, like you seem to be saying, suggesting.
Somethings that ya all are overlooking.
1. The recruit says he is decommiting to stay close to home. If it wasnt for that, if WSU was close to home, the recruit might probably have still committed to WSU AND stayed committed to WSU, and would have permanently chosen WSU over Fresno St.
2. Fresno St is a real good program that recruits well.
3. While point 2 above is true. Point 1 above, AND that WSU is a slightly better program, recruiter, Trump's point 2 above.
4. Fresno St's recruits, while good, are usually not as good, not better then WSU recruits, as long as WSU has a decent, ok, semi good, etc, HC, recruiter, etc. If WSU has a Paul Wulf type coach, WSU's recruits are worse then Fresno St, and will get out recruited by Fresno St. Dickert is decent, ok, semi good to good, semi great HC, that recruits at least equal to, an or out recruits Fresno St. If the recruit hadn't wanted to stay close to home, then he would have played for Dickert, WSU over Fresno St.
Come on dgibb....Neither do you. Your assertion is that we drop the Apple Cup in favor of annual games with Notre Dame, LSU, Alabama, and Ohio State. I mean, sure, but we'd be lucky to get one of these games every 10 years.
My assertion was stated above. I'll copy and paste for you:
First, WSU has to have enough confidence and pride to NOT be the former husband living the wife's basement after the divorce because rent is high.
Second, if the financial situation is so dire, play body bag games. Get a real payday from Tennessee, tOSU, Alabama, or whoever. They pay way more than $1 million, and you know that.
And, as you are fully aware, it's not that hard to get body bag games. Off the top of my head, we played at tOSU in 2002 and at ND in 2003. We played at Wisconsin in 2007. We played at Michigan in 1993. We played at Tennessee in 1994. We played at Nebraska in 1995.
The reason the body bag games stopped is because Leach said no more.
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Not only is there the Boise example from when WSU was P5, but the fundamental issue is that when WSU is at the same level as schools like Fresno State, there is little reason for a kid to leave most parts of California to to go WSU over schools like Fresno State or SDSU.
WSU got nearly all of its recruits because it was the only P5 offer or was competing against another offer from one or two bottom-tier P5 schools. WSU would still win 99% of those battles when it was the only P5 offer. That's gone now. And yes, I'm accounting in the former 99% figure for this kid actually being from the Fresno area, not a couple hours away.
Yeah, think I pretty much said all that.
Seems to be lost on you that you are also making assumptions. Taihtsat
We lost all of those games. We just beat uw. You don't think that game last Saturday was worth more than one million?
No shit. Is the point winning or money? Continuing to play uw is a half measure as mentioned above. If the point is to win, then schedule cupcakes. If the point is money, schedule the body bags.
Well, we're not scheduled to play uw at a neutral site in Seattle ever again.
We make generate more revenue playing the Apple Cup than we would any other game by a wide margin. Body bag games are just that. We get a check for the agreed upon amount. Apple Cup games earn heavy residuals from Coug attendance (hope and away), merchandise sales, tailgating revenue, etc.
How much total revenue is a home apple cup game worth to WSU and Whitman County?
I don't understand this bickering. We just beat the bastards. We have a 4 game home and home agreement. We need that home game next year, because it will be a stretch to find 3 more home games against any FCS teams, let alone Power 4. The MW ain't gonna oblige, and our future league mates have filled schedules already. So we may be looking at 4 home games (who I don't know but they will suck), and away games at Stanford, Cal and Ole Miss. And still needing one more.
Let's see the numbers then.
I frankly don't care about what a Apple Cup means to "Whitman County." The City of Pullman doesn't even bother putting some cops on duty after games for traffic control.
WSU should release the numbers. I'm sure the CAF and Collective see spikes during Apple Cup week.
People also still think Rolo was a good coach loyal. Emotion is the enemy of reason.
I will admit I hated this game until last week. That’s coming from someone who’s been to like 13 of the last 15 ACs. I still don’t think it should be called the AC anymore but I digress. We need this game on the calendar. You’ve got to take the emotions out of it. And it was damn fun to win it.
My only complaint is that I've spent the last 3 days searching for some mutt so I can give them shit. No luck. Of course I'm sure they all tucked their mutt shirts and hats away. I have seen a few Cougs though. Ran into this one Hispanic guy at Winco in a WSU shirt. I had mine on and gave him the "Go Cougs" and pointed to his shirt. The guy had no clue what I was talking about.
57,000+ in attendance. Assume an average price of $150, which in reality is probably low, since the cheap seats were $95. That's $8.5M in ticket sales alone.
Advertising and media money probably more than paid for the facility use and staffing. I doubt we got a piece of concessions, the Seahawks probably kept that. Probably got a piece of merchandise sales though.
I wouldn't be too surprised if we cleared that $4M number.
