BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
Realizing that additional full cost-of-attendance costs were right around the corner, Chris Massaro knew he needed to bolster his financial coffers.
Best way to do it? A $1.5 million check from the University of Alabama.
"We scheduled Alabama as an additional guarantee game in anticipation of the expenses this year to give us another year to buffer ourselves not knowing what all the autonomy legislation might bring for us," the Middle Tennessee State athletic director said. "The revenue generation for Group of 5 conferences is a critical piece for us."
Middle Tennessee State will travel to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Sept. 12 for a game against the SEC powerhouse. Taking big paychecks to play big-name schools like Alabama has always been part of the proposition for smaller schools, but rising costs make it even more necessary.
The Power 5 conferences -- ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12 -- passed a cost-of-attendance measure over the weekend that could give student-athletes an average of $3,500, according to CBS Sports, to cover the true cost of attendance. The measure it intended to help student-athletes pay for miscellaneous costs that come with being a full-time student.
The cost of attendance mandate could cost athletic departments upwards of $1 million annually. It will go into effect Aug. 1.
UAB determined, via its CarrSports report, that its student-athletes would be paid $5,422 per year to cover the full cost-of-attendance and unlimited meals, which was another recent measure passed. The rising costs were cited as one of the reasons it decided to discontinue its football program and reallocate its money elsewhere.
MTSU, a member of Conference USA, isn't affected by the Power 5's measure, but is still expected to offer cost of attendance to student-athletes. Smaller conferences like C-USA, the Sun Belt and Mid-American Conference have all vowed to offer the mandate in order to remain competitive options for top student-athletes. Schools in these conferences don't benefit from major television rights deals like the SEC or Big Ten, forcing them to find alternative revenue sources.
Big payout games are the easiest way for smaller schools to jump-start their bank accounts. Schools like Alabama do it in hopes of getting a few easy wins to soften an arduous conference schedule.
There are, of course, other benefits for smaller schools to play Alabama. Massaro guarantees his school good publicity and television time when playing the SEC school. It's also an easy road trip for Blue Raiders fans over to Tuscaloosa.
"I've had more fans excited coming up to me (about Alabama) than any other games that we've done in awhile," he said. "We are also going to Illinois, and we will get much more publicity and interest from our fans over the Alabama game because there is more regional identification. It goes beyond the guaranteed dollar; we are going to get a great deal from our Alabama game."
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Best way to do it? A $1.5 million check from the University of Alabama.
"We scheduled Alabama as an additional guarantee game in anticipation of the expenses this year to give us another year to buffer ourselves not knowing what all the autonomy legislation might bring for us," the Middle Tennessee State athletic director said. "The revenue generation for Group of 5 conferences is a critical piece for us."
Middle Tennessee State will travel to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Sept. 12 for a game against the SEC powerhouse. Taking big paychecks to play big-name schools like Alabama has always been part of the proposition for smaller schools, but rising costs make it even more necessary.
The Power 5 conferences -- ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12 -- passed a cost-of-attendance measure over the weekend that could give student-athletes an average of $3,500, according to CBS Sports, to cover the true cost of attendance. The measure it intended to help student-athletes pay for miscellaneous costs that come with being a full-time student.
The cost of attendance mandate could cost athletic departments upwards of $1 million annually. It will go into effect Aug. 1.
UAB determined, via its CarrSports report, that its student-athletes would be paid $5,422 per year to cover the full cost-of-attendance and unlimited meals, which was another recent measure passed. The rising costs were cited as one of the reasons it decided to discontinue its football program and reallocate its money elsewhere.
MTSU, a member of Conference USA, isn't affected by the Power 5's measure, but is still expected to offer cost of attendance to student-athletes. Smaller conferences like C-USA, the Sun Belt and Mid-American Conference have all vowed to offer the mandate in order to remain competitive options for top student-athletes. Schools in these conferences don't benefit from major television rights deals like the SEC or Big Ten, forcing them to find alternative revenue sources.
Big payout games are the easiest way for smaller schools to jump-start their bank accounts. Schools like Alabama do it in hopes of getting a few easy wins to soften an arduous conference schedule.
There are, of course, other benefits for smaller schools to play Alabama. Massaro guarantees his school good publicity and television time when playing the SEC school. It's also an easy road trip for Blue Raiders fans over to Tuscaloosa.
"I've had more fans excited coming up to me (about Alabama) than any other games that we've done in awhile," he said. "We are also going to Illinois, and we will get much more publicity and interest from our fans over the Alabama game because there is more regional identification. It goes beyond the guaranteed dollar; we are going to get a great deal from our Alabama game."
Continue reading...
