SCHawkeye2
Well-Known Member
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/65...-rivalry-finances/?source=user_shared_articleIn college football’s new era, is it better to be Iowa or Iowa State?
Iowa or ISU?
- Thread starter SCHawkeye2
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thedukeofearl
Well-Known Member
The road team has taken the two-hour bus trip home victorious in 10 of the last 12 meetings. In that span, the Hawkeyes and Cyclones have each won a 44-41 overtime thriller and a one-point game decided in the final seconds.
Odds are in the Hawkeyes favor
Damn
Odds are in the Hawkeyes favor
Damn
99topdawg
Well-Known Member
Much better to be ISUx. They are a mediocre team in a mediocre conference that somehow gets an automatic playoff bid. Even if they don't qualify, they will always have a good record. They had the most wins in school history by 2 games in the first year in the current conference. Last year, Iowa had their worst record since 2014 and was 1 shitty defensive play and a 54 yard field goal by a freshman away from beating them.
SCHawkeye2
Well-Known Member
The article from The Athletic explores the financial dynamics behind the Cy-Hawk rivalry between the University of Iowa and Iowa State University. While the annual football game is a cornerstone of state pride and tradition, the financial arrangements between the two schools are lopsided.
Key points:
- Revenue Split: Unlike many major rivalries where both teams profit significantly, Iowa State receives far less financial benefit from the series. Iowa, as a member of the Big Ten with lucrative media rights deals, earns substantially more from its home games than Iowa State does from theirs.
- Contract Terms: The schools alternate hosting duties, but each retains the revenue from its own home games. This arrangement disproportionately benefits Iowa, whose stadium (Kinnick) seats about 70,000 compared to ISU’s Jack Trice Stadium at around 61,500. Iowa also charges higher ticket prices. In 2023, Iowa’s average home football revenue was about $35 million, compared with Iowa State’s $17 million.
- Media Rights Gap: Iowa benefits from the Big Ten’s massive TV contracts, which provide schools roughly $60–70 million annually. In contrast, Iowa State’s Big 12 distribution is closer to $45 million, widening the financial gap even further when the rivalry game is played in Iowa City.
- Financial Pressure on ISU: For Iowa State, the game remains important for recruiting, fan engagement, and tradition, but financially it is less advantageous compared to scheduling other opponents.
- Potential Future Changes: The Big Ten’s continued growth in TV revenue and the evolving college football landscape (including expanded playoffs and shifting non-conference schedules) may put pressure on Iowa State to reconsider whether maintaining the rivalry is in its best financial interest.
- Cultural vs. Financial Value: Despite financial disadvantages, the rivalry holds immense cultural and political importance in Iowa. Both schools face pressure from fans and state leaders to keep the Cy-Hawk game alive.
guffus
Well-Known Member
Ok, I want to pick at these key points starting with stadium and ticket revenue. This statement suggests Iowa makes $35M from home football games. This works out to:
$35,000,000 / 70,000 ticket holders = $500 per ticket holder.
Ok, what is that based on? It can't just be based on ticket sales.
Wundershozen
Well-Known Member
Not all seats are MSRP....
Plus students get in free. They might factor in tuition costs into the cost of the seats. Do consession sales factor into these $500/seat costs?
#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
I haven't read the article yet, but ISU will become much more competitive in terms of attractability when those massive renovations around the stadium are completed. It will be a game-changer for them from a recruiting standpoint, especially if Campbell sticks around.
They will always be on the short end when comparing TV revenue, but that has been the case for years and it doesn't appear to be holding them back at all in terms of athletic department investing.
They will always be on the short end when comparing TV revenue, but that has been the case for years and it doesn't appear to be holding them back at all in terms of athletic department investing.
NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
I don't understand the point of the article. The game itself really doesn't have anything to do with it. Iowa has a better and bigger stadium, more fans, more boosters, and plays in a better conference. So yes, Iowa makes more money off football than ISU. So what?
I am not aware of any non-conference game where the teams agree to split the gate and revenue, so that seems pretty dumb to bring up.
If the suggestion is that this game benefits Iowa more than Iowa State, that is bullshit. If the series ended this year, both teams could equally attract another quality opponent to replace the other, and Iowa would still generate more revenue from the game for all the reasons stated. For the life of this series, it has far benefitted Iowa State as Iowa has been the better program and the game was a no win game for Iowa.
Dumb article.
I am not aware of any non-conference game where the teams agree to split the gate and revenue, so that seems pretty dumb to bring up.
If the suggestion is that this game benefits Iowa more than Iowa State, that is bullshit. If the series ended this year, both teams could equally attract another quality opponent to replace the other, and Iowa would still generate more revenue from the game for all the reasons stated. For the life of this series, it has far benefitted Iowa State as Iowa has been the better program and the game was a no win game for Iowa.
Dumb article.
NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
Concessions, beer, parking, luxury boxes
Fryowa
Administrator
Nice ChatGPT usage there.
Fryowa
Administrator
You must not have seen how much it costs to buy luxury seating and stadium-side parking at Kinnick (or any other major college football stadium).
My boss has a whole bunch of seats in the press box outdoor area (technically owned by our company), a 12 seat suite in the press box, a bunch in the Paca area in the north endzone for customers/friends, and 2 RV spots about 60' from the stadium walls. Those ACH payments go across my desk every year and I can tell you I could live very comfortably for about 6 years on that amount of money. And to be honest my boss is small potatoes compared to most of those folks. He's a pretty big farmer in NW by acreage, and owns a medium sized manufacturing company of about 550 employees. Then you have cardiac surgeons who own big practices, real estate magnates, owners of huge law firms, people who own medical patents and Gulfstream jets, the list goes on and on and on. My boss is a hick compared to those kind of people. Next time you're leaving a Hawkeye game pay attention to the sky south of town and watch the hordes of private jets taking off about 30 mins after the game. It's unreal.
The amount of money coming in for football games is absolutely mind-numbing. Add concessions to that and you very easily get to a $500 per seat average.
NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
And to be clear, revenue is not profit. They have a lot of employees, security, vendors, parking lot attendants, etc. that are all getting paid to make a game day happen. The profit to the athletic department, however is clearly millions if not tens of millions per home game. But yes, at a school like Iowa, 7 home games is absolutely critical to manage the budget. There is also a ton of pressure from the community to keep 7 games as those fans fill the hotels (at inflated prices), bars and restaurants for the weekend.
Fryowa
Administrator
I agree that the numbers look outrageous because they're so high. But like @NorthKCHawk mentioned, look at what they have to pay for out of the revenue.
Sioux Falls had a 2- day music festival this summer and I got to talk to one of the promoters in a VIP thing we were at as guests of a vendor. This was a festival with 20+ bands, but I he said the booking fee for Kid Rock as a headliner is north of a million dollars and Nickelback is $800k per show. When I saw the army of people they have and the crazy number of semis all full of sound/pyro/camera/stage gear they haul it actually seemed a little low to me. I can't imagine what a more current/popular act would be.
I dunno about $35 million in revenue. It seems high to me, unless you're counting TV money. Somewhat irrelevant to me as a business owner.
But I think the net is only around $1 million from ticket/concessions/etc.
I saw this in the last few years. It could be $3 million. I don't remember the exact amount. But somewhere around there.
That number was disclosed either by the athletic department or sussed out fairly well by the media. Goes back to that rain game that ended at 2:30 AM. I remember seeing it as part of the detail as to how much that visiting team was getting paid and that they'd forfeit it all if they didn't finish the game.
I remember going back to find that article later when I thought about the idea of Jerry Jones or Kroenke subcontracting a college team out. Fairly easy to get numbers on the cost of a program and it's on-the-books revenue. Somewhere in all that, I saw their net for game day. And outside of TV, it's a scant handful of millions. If more than 1 or 2.
That being said, I'm sorry, this game is not going to turn the fortunes of Iowa State when they win. Iowa State is certainly doing better under consistency in coaching (funny how that works out). They've beaten Iowa somewhat more regularly. And I would say they've done so without the flukish luck of having Seneca Wallace type stars aligning. They've done it with better teams and better football.
Of course they benefit from being in a decidedly pathetic conference. As did Iowa benefit from being in the Big 10 West. But making the case that ISU is somehow going to wind up with some level of lasting superiority over Iowa is like saying in 2004 the Marlins were a more valuable commodity than the Yankees by having won the 2003 World Series. Maybe not quite that extreme, but along those lines.
I'm seeing this kind of nonsense by ISU fans all over TikTok. "When ISU wins, it will prove that ISU is now 'bigger' than Iowa." No. You're just proving what we said all along. That this is your Super Bowl and that Iowa has always had more to lose than ISU.
Also, we don't have to wear monochrome because we hate our school colors. I mean. It's telling.
But I think the net is only around $1 million from ticket/concessions/etc.
I saw this in the last few years. It could be $3 million. I don't remember the exact amount. But somewhere around there.
That number was disclosed either by the athletic department or sussed out fairly well by the media. Goes back to that rain game that ended at 2:30 AM. I remember seeing it as part of the detail as to how much that visiting team was getting paid and that they'd forfeit it all if they didn't finish the game.
I remember going back to find that article later when I thought about the idea of Jerry Jones or Kroenke subcontracting a college team out. Fairly easy to get numbers on the cost of a program and it's on-the-books revenue. Somewhere in all that, I saw their net for game day. And outside of TV, it's a scant handful of millions. If more than 1 or 2.
That being said, I'm sorry, this game is not going to turn the fortunes of Iowa State when they win. Iowa State is certainly doing better under consistency in coaching (funny how that works out). They've beaten Iowa somewhat more regularly. And I would say they've done so without the flukish luck of having Seneca Wallace type stars aligning. They've done it with better teams and better football.
Of course they benefit from being in a decidedly pathetic conference. As did Iowa benefit from being in the Big 10 West. But making the case that ISU is somehow going to wind up with some level of lasting superiority over Iowa is like saying in 2004 the Marlins were a more valuable commodity than the Yankees by having won the 2003 World Series. Maybe not quite that extreme, but along those lines.
I'm seeing this kind of nonsense by ISU fans all over TikTok. "When ISU wins, it will prove that ISU is now 'bigger' than Iowa." No. You're just proving what we said all along. That this is your Super Bowl and that Iowa has always had more to lose than ISU.
Also, we don't have to wear monochrome because we hate our school colors. I mean. It's telling.
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
Good grief!
