[Vision2020] Apple Cup May Call Seattle Home

[Tom Hansen]

This is going to upset a whole bunch of local loyal Cougs.

Courtesy of today's (April 16, 2009) Spokesman Review.

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Apple Cup may call Seattle home
Deal in works to move rivalry game from school stadiums to Qwest Field

PULLMAN – Washington State University and the University of Washington are 
near an agreement to move the Apple Cup rivalry football game to Qwest 
Field in Seattle, The Spokesman-Review learned Wednesday.

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WSU fans raise their voices during second-overtime play of the 2008 Apple 
Cup game at Martin Stadium in Pullman. 

http://tinyurl.com/AppleCupCrowd
  
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The agreement, which is expected to be finalized soon, would mean the 
yearly game between the schools would move off campus venues – Martin 
Stadium in Pullman and Husky Stadium in Seattle – and be played in the 
Seattle Seahawks’ home each season beginning in 2010.

“Nothing is signed, and there are no agreements,” Pullman Mayor Glenn 
Johnson said, “but they are talking and there are some negotiations going 
on.”

A source with knowledge of the agreement among WSU, UW and First & Goal 
Inc., which operates Qwest Field, confirmed some details of the pending 
contract but asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of 
the discussions.

“It’s going to happen,” the source said.

Bill Stevens, WSU sports information director, would not comment on the 
negotiations other than to say the school has been talking with First & 
Goal since the first of the year about continuing its annual game at the 
facility. 

WSU has played one home game each season at Qwest since 2002. The 
agreement between Qwest and WSU expires after the Sept. 12 game with 
Hawaii.

“It would be premature to discuss specific games,” Stevens said. WSU 
athletic director Jim Sterk, through Stevens, also declined comment.

The major impetus behind the talks, according to the source, is financial, 
with each school in line to be guaranteed about $2 million a year from the 
Qwest agreement. Because of a revenue-sharing agreement now in place, each 
school clears about $240,000 when the game is in Pullman and nearly 
$800,000 when it is held at Husky Stadium.

The proposal has been vetted by committees at both schools. The response 
has been that “it would be fiscally irresponsible” to turn down the 
financial windfall, the source said.

Tuition increases proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire would add around $1 
million in scholarship costs to the WSU athletic department budget. And 
though most athletic funding is self-generated, proposed university budget 
cuts could mean as much as $400,000 more would be cut from the 
department’s budget of nearly $30 million.

“If it’s $2 million a year, especially with this kind of competitive 
athletic conference and especially when you’re dealing with the finances 
we have in the state, that would make a significant difference,” said 
Johnson, who is also a WSU communications professor.

Apple Cup week is a financial boon for Pullman’s hotels and restaurants, 
but the hit would be mitigated by the return of the early-season Seattle 
game. 

“I am concerned about” Pullman losing the Apple Cup “because that is a 
huge revenue boost for this entire region,” Johnson said. “When Sterk was 
talking to me (about a possible change), he said they would move back … 
that other game, which is usually at the first of the football season.

“If (Sterk) did bring back the other game, that is already over in 
Seattle, at least he would still be delivering the five games (a year) 
that he promised the chamber (of commerce) years ago, or promised the 
businesses.”

When the Cougars hosted the Apple Cup in 1950 and 1952 and from 1956 to 
1980, they did so in Spokane. The game returned to Pullman in 1982 
following a stadium expansion in the late 1970s. 

Since then, the game has usually played before a sellout crowd, though two 
of the last three have not. The game has drawn as many as 74,549 fans at 
Husky Stadium. Qwest Field holds 67,000.

Under the terms of the proposed agreement, Qwest Field would be considered 
a neutral site, with a designated home team each year but the seating 
split between the schools, according to the source.

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Elements of the deal 

WSU and UW would be guaranteed about $2 million annually beginning in 2010.

Qwest Field would be considered a neutral site, with a designated home 
team each year.

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Seeya at the Wingding, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
Join us at The First Annual Intolerista Wingding, April 17th, featuring 
Roy Zimmerman and Jeanne McHale.  For details go to . . .

http://www.MoscowCares.com/Wingding

Seeya
there.

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