For ISU, it’s NFL atmosphere and profit

Saturday's football game in Kansas City was an offer Iowa State simply couldn't afford to turn down - literally.

Play Big 12 Conference rival Kansas State at Arrowhead Stadium this year and next, allow the players a feel for what it's like to dress and play in an NFL stadium, give your fans a fun road trip ... and turn at least an $800,000 profit.

“We didn't have to research it very hard,” said associate athletics director for communications Steve Malchow. “The financial aspect was the icing on the cake.”

The athletics department will be earn a guaranteed $1.8 million - $850,000 this year and $950,000 the next - for the series. That total could grow higher with good ticket sales, though Malchow said ISU is unlikely to reach that threshold this year. About 11,000 tickets were sold by the school, he said.

A football game in Ames generates roughly $1 million.

ISU would get nothing for its trip to Manhattan, Kan., in 2010. Financially, the arrangement makes great business sense.

“It's very lucrative for us,” Malchow said.

Competitively, it's a wash. The downside is not having a home game at Jack Trice Stadium.

“It's going to be great playing in Kansas City, but I love playing at Jack Trice. I'm not going to lie to you,” said quarterback Austen Arnaud.

The flip side of that is when the teams play at Arrowhead again in 2010, it'll be K-State losing a home date.

Iowa State has seven home games and only four true road games next season.

“I like the fact that we are not traveling to Manhattan,” said Coach Paul Rhoads, who inherited the series from predecessor Gene Chizik. “There's give and take.”

Ames is losing about $2 million spent at hotels, restaurants, retailers, coffee shops and liquor stores during a typical game weekend. That said, it's hard to fault ISU.

“We understand the opportunity for the football program and athletics to participate in that,” said Ames Convention and Visitor Bureau Director Julie Weeks. “This is great exposure for Iowa State playing down there and that's always a good thing.”

ISU's three home games this season had drawn an average of 50,484 fans.