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Home > Blogs > Buckeyes Beat > Archives > 2009 > February > 09 > Entry
Could former Buckeye dollars boost UD football?
This is old news. But, to reiterate:
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith confirmed Sunday the Buckeyes’ athletic department will lose money during the fiscal year ending June 30.
Smith says revenues are down between $300,000 and $500,000 this year for the winning men’s basketball team. He did not know how much the department is expected to lose in total.
Now, what do we make of this? The Ohio State athletic department, and its football arm in particular, are seen as such massive entities that their decrease in strength will no doubt have some repercussions.
Could one of those be a boost in other college football programs around the state?
The idea came during a recent conversation with Andrew Zimbalist, a professor of economics at Smith College in Massachusetts and probably the most respected sports economist in the country. The topic was effect of a difficult economy on sports.
“As a general rule, people are more attached to professional teams,” Zimbalist said.
I think most would agree Ohio State football is considered on par with the professional teams in this state, if not on top of them, in interest and support. So, people are attached. However…
“One force causes people to save their money,” Zimbalist said. “The other force causes them to look for cheaper versions of the same category.”
So here comes college football in Ohio, from the Mid-American Conference to other divisions. Locally, that could be the University of Dayton, Central State, Wittenberg University and Wilmington College. It is, after all, still college football. It’s a tree-lined campus on a Saturday, even if the stadium doesn’t seat 100,000 people. Technically.
Based on what Zimbalist said, it could be asked: Will these schools see greater interest and attendance for football and other sports because the tough economy has folks more closely watching their sporting dollars?
Which goes first, the cable, home telephone or Buckeyes tickets and paraphernalia?
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Comments
By lane
February 10, 2009 3:00 AM | Link to this
This may be related to basketball, but Ohio stadium will still be filled at every home game. OSU basketball fans seem to be more fair weather than the football fans.By Hop
February 10, 2009 8:26 AM | Link to this
If what you’re suggesting is that more people will go to a UD game because it’s Ohio College football and they can’t afford to go to a Buckeye game, you’re off the mark. I’ve been to both, and there’s NO COMPARISON. The whole fun of going to a game is the crowd, and at Welcome Stadium, there is no crowd to speak of. Skp the Buckeyes to watch the Flyers? Ridiculous.By Bucknut
February 10, 2009 8:54 AM | Link to this
Tree lined campus going to the stadium? Long walk at UD. A few trees out behind Welcome but lots of blacktop. Ohio Stadium will be filled for home games season after season. I have been to OSU games since the 1960s and it seems like tickets are harder to get - at least more expensive. I don’t think this is going to help the UD’s, Wittenberg’s, etc. of the world. If I get tickets for an OHio State game, I will drive the 15 hours from Columbus , Nebraska, for the game, but not for UD or Wright State or even my alma mater, Capital. Kyle, I think you have been smoking out of the bong with Michael Phelps.By Pohlerbear
February 10, 2009 11:56 AM | Link to this
Ridiculous !!!By MAC
February 10, 2009 12:16 PM | Link to this
Not a chance. No one will care about UD football as long as they play the schedule they have recently in the Pioneer league. They play a bunch of teams no one in this area cares about. If the started playing local teams such as Wittenburg, Willmington, Ohio Weslyn, Otterbein, ect people could identify with them and actually care about seeing the games. The strengh of schedule may go down a little, but at least it would draw some interest from the locals.By jon
February 10, 2009 10:23 PM | Link to this
Does anybody know why UD doesn’t play Division 1 football? anything less is like kissin your sister.By bunny
February 12, 2009 5:38 AM | Link to this
Does anybody know why UD doesn’t play Division 1 football? anything less is like kissin your sister. answer—the same reason ohio state plays cup cakes..they couldn’t compete otherwise.