Iowa pays small schools big money to play here

The University of Iowa's cost of doing football business with Arkansas State today comes with a record $900,000 price tag.

Like most major college football programs, Iowa must offer guaranteed payments to schools hailing from non-marquee conferences to play Iowa at home.

This year, Iowa will pay $1.3 million on a pair of guarantees to Arkansas State and Northern Iowa. Iowa still makes a significant amount of money by playing these schools - about $5.5 million in gate and concessions for two games, according to 2007 figures - before guaranteed payouts.

The rising cost of these guarantees, however, has school officials concerned and almost resigned when it comes to scheduling opponents from so-called minor leagues. Those opponents are happy to accept the large check to help their athletic departments, even if they usually take a beating on the football field.

“It isn't changing, and the reason it's not changing is that we have to be concerned about our budget,” said Iowa Associate Athletics Director Mark Abbott, who handles football contracts. “We really need to have a schedule that includes seven home games.

“We're typically looking for two games that we can ... get a guarantee for someone to come in here to play that we do not necessarily have to give a game back.”

Iowa's athletics department budget relies heavily on football, which directly generated more than $38 million - and perhaps another $30 million indirectly - in fiscal 2007, according to UI figures obtained by The Gazette via the Freedom of Information Act.

Beginning in 2006, the NCAA allowed schools to schedule a 12th regular-season game, mostly to increase revenue for athletics departments. That change sent Iowa scrambling for extra opponents and brought with it higher payouts.

Each football team in the 11-school Big Ten is designated one open date with no game, and Iowa's was today. To add the 12th game, Iowa officials chose to fill this home date, rather than extending the season past Thanksgiving.

“We had to find a game that fit into our schedule during the season, and we were lucky to find Arkansas State having an opening and being willing to play,” Abbott said. “It cost us more than we've been paying, but we got the game, and it's here.”

From 2006 through 2010, Iowa's payouts total $5.25 million.

Abbott and Big Ten Assistant Commissioner Scott Chipman confirm that the Big Ten and its member schools have discussed adding a ninth or 10th league game, in part because of non-conference scheduling headaches, including payouts.

“For obvious reasons, (college football) went to 12 games ... but it doesn't appear that anybody really thought ahead about how it's going to impact scheduling,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “So as a result of that, you're probably paying more than you were 15 years ago to bring opponents in to play in your stadium.

“There is a big issue about round-robins or going to nine, and I think that makes the waters even more cloudy, if you will. It's a thought and maybe something to consider,” he said.

The concept hasn't drifted beyond the discussion phase, but it could gain traction, especially if payouts continue to rise.

“That's on the table because it certainly could happen at some point,” Abbott said, but “I don't see that's going to happen in the short run.”