USF only gets $500K/game, and it’s only paid out after the 3rd game. USF has to cover 12K tickets at RayJay. Still, it’s cheaper for USF to play road games than lose money at RayJay. They don’t even see a dime of concessions until it breaks $2M (never does).
For reference, Alabama is paying $1.7M+/game to its other G5 opponents, and regularly pays $1M/game for FCS teams. As Alabama’s AD put it, “It’s a bargain.” Again, USF makes more money playing on the road for $500K/game, than at home.
It’s better than USF’s Florida deal.
Florida is only paying $350K/game, and USF doesn’t play the first game in Tampa. Florida pays $800K-$1.2M for FCS teams (paid $800K to lose to Georgia Southern in '13), and a little more for G5s. Although Florida’s attendance has been down since '13.
Also, Florida’s buyout from USF is barely $2M, far less than what UCFAA, Inc. (UCF’s athletic association is 100% private, 0% taxpayer dollars) makes on average in a single home game – about $21M of UCF’s $42M non-TV/non-athletic-fee revenue comes from its 7 home games (athletic fees are around $20M). So it could be no trips to Tampa, as Florida can easily double the revenue lost in the buyout by dropping them for a home FCS team.
Even back in the Big East, Florida taxpayers used to make up for the nearly $20M shortfall after even athletic fees ($15M), that USF had. It’s become worse since, to the point USF has been raiding their donations for their Academic Foundation to pay for their >>$20M shortfall with the end of the Big East (much like UConn’s issue), as the Florida taxpayers won’t foot any extra money beyond what they already do.
Hence why USF is really in a pickle, and 2-for-1s will be ‘cheaper away’ than at home, for some time – at least without an OCS. UCF was in the same boat in the Citrus Bowl, run by Florida grads, until it made the mistake of expecting UCF to pay for stadium upgrades in 2003 … which is why UCFAA, Inc. was formed.
USF is in the same ‘suction’ with RayJay that UCF was with the Citrus Bowl. There’s a reason UCF has never played in the Citrus Bowl since '06 (sans the '16 Cure Bowl), and UCF entertains offers of JAX or ATL as neutral sites against P5s, where the proceeds would be based on ticket sales.
SIDE NOTE: UCFAA, Inc., with its private basketball and football arenas, are a thorn-in-the-side of the city of Orlando that subsidizes the Orlando Arena and Citrus Bowl. UCFAA, Inc. under-bids both of them for their arena and stadiums, consistently.
UCF almost signed Miami to a 2-for-2 (2-2-0) last year, but Citrus Sports interceded mid-negotiations and offered Miami all of the UCF proceeds in a 2-0-2 (2 at Citrus), and then 2-1-1 (1 at Citrus), which would have cost UCF $3-6M, depending on whether 1-2 games were at the Citrus Bowl.
Although Florida never officially offered, that was the negotiations via the Citrus Bowl that Mullen was referring to. It literally screwed UCF over, as bad as USF … 2-0-1, with UCF losing money at the Citrus Bowl for the alleged ‘home’ (neutral field) game. I heard UCF countered with JAX, like Georgia, with ‘ticket sales driven.’
UCF outnumbered LSU 2-to-1 at the Fiesta Bowl (even though LSU was almost twice as close), Auburn 60% to 40% at the Peach Bowl (even though Auburn was 4x closer), and UCF traveled better to the Fiesta in '13 better than the entire Big East invites … combined. I was talking to a Fiesta Bowl rep pre-game, and he said UCF is not just desired at the G5, but more than most P5s.
I.e., specifically stated the Fiesta Bowl wanted UCF because it knew UCF would travel better than any G5, most of the P5s, including most of the SECs, or even Michigan for that matter, to Arizona, as everyone knew UCF wasn’t going back to the Peach. He also said Florida wouldn’t accept UCF outselling them for tickets, hence why Florida went to the Peach, instead of the Fiesta – even though LSU and Michigan had never played each other, and Florida and Michigan had played too much.
Hence why no one will play UCF on a neutral field right now … unless all the money goes to them, even if UCF outsells. UCF’s pre-sales on bowls is unreal as well, better than the P5s it’s played each time.
