Washington State Football: 3 reasons why Pac-12 only football schedule hurts WSU
2. Money
Washington State is at a disadvantage in terms of finances. Compared to other college football facilities, Martin Stadium is small. Cougars fans like to think of it as intimate. The gameday atmosphere is almost unbeatable. But a facility with approximately 33,000 seats doesn’t bring in the kind of money that playing at the Rose Bowl or Husky Stadium does.
Every home game played at Martin Stadium is the university’s chance to bring in revenue. At best this year, the Cougars would be playing to a quarter of capacity. Attendance wise, each game day now brings in 75 percent less money. Further, cutting two home games (Houston and Idaho) makes the hole deeper.
By the Numbers
Last season the Cougars drew 142,733 for five home games for an average attendance of 28,547. Assuming this year’s attendance remained flat per game, Wazzu could expect 199,826 spectators to flow through the gates of Martin Stadium for their seven scheduled 2020 home games.
If Wazzu played each of their seven home games to 25 percent capacity, that’s a maximum season gate of 57,666. Subtract a pair of non-conference games, and now WSU can, at most, expect 41,190 fans to attend. That’s a loss of 158,632 tickets sold in addition to the parking, concessions, and merchandise revenue that each person spends.
According to Theo Lawson of the Spokane Spokesman-Review, Washington State University Athletics was facing a $99.3M operating deficit in 2020, before COVID-19. Football is the cash-cow of any athletic program. Assuming the average cost of attendance for a WSU football game (all-in) is $100, approximately $15M less revenue will come into the school this year. The increased shortfall puts an additional strain on the university’s finite finances.