A sellout crowd at Scheumann Stadium is expected Friday night when the Ball State University football team takes on Navy in a 7 p.m. game televised nationally on ESPN.
Two miles away at Muncie Central High School, the Bearcats will take on conference rival Marion High School in both teams' North Central Conference opener with their own 7 p.m. kickoff.
The Friday night football game for the Cardinals clashes with Muncie Central and three other area high schools hosting games that night, and Central athletics director Tom Jarvis is "not very happy" about it.
"I don't think [Ball State Athletic director] Tom Collins understands that Indiana is only one of two states that cannot use state money for [high school] athletics - it has to be self-supporting," Jarvis said. "The only way you can use tax dollars for athletics in the state of Indiana is to help offset transportation or to help pay for coaches' salaries. So everything else - uniforms, equipment, supplies - has to be generated through revenue, gate sales and that's it. That's why Friday nights are so sacred [to Indiana high schools]."
Jarvis said he expects his athletic program to lose $8,000 to $9,000 in general revenue, gate ticket sales and concessions from the crowd that will choose to go see the Cardinals instead.
"High schools are struggling financially, and football is one of the most expensive sports," Jarvis said. "That's not going to be made up - you cannot make that up."
Though Muncie Central head football coach John Hochstetler also expects to see less fans in the stands, he said he never considered moving his game to make up for the financial losses.
"Those things are so far out of our control that you don't ever form too much of an opinion on decisions that a university has to make compared to the high schools," Hochstetler said.
"I never really considered wanting to move our game necessarily because of what that does to our schedule, so I don't have a problem with [Ball State] doing what they have to do to reach that spotlight. I'd say our crowd will probably be affected, but for the most part it's usually a derivative of how we're playing anyway."
Delta High School, who is ranked No. 5 in the 4A state AP polls, also plays host on Friday night to visiting Greenfield-Central High School.
Eagles head coach Grant Zgunda, a 1990 Ball State graduate, thinks the national television opportunity for the Cardinal football program is too good of an offer to pass up.
"As a Ball State graduate, I think its awesome that BSU has a chance to be on ESPN," Zgunda said. "I think the exposure the team will get will be great for recruiting and great for the program."
Zgunda did say that he thought his own crowd would be weaker than usual this Friday, but Ball State finds itself in a rare situation.
"I think if it were something that was every week, then I don't think it's best for everybody involved, but since it's not, I think it's great," he said.
Other than Muncie Central, Delta and Jay County High School, which is located about 25 miles northeast of Scheumann Stadium, Muncie Southside is the only other area school hosting a game Friday night.
The Rebels play host to Class 3A No. 9 Yorktown High School in a matchup of two undefeated Delaware County foes.
Southside head coach Mike Paul shares Zgunda's excitement for Ball State's game against the Midshipmen.
"I think if I'm in Ball State's situation, I would do exactly what they're doing," Paul said. "They cannot turn down the opportunity to be on national television, and I haven't heard from one coach saying this is terrible they're doing this. It's great for the program and for recruiting."
Unlike his crosstown rival Hochstetler, Paul said he wanted his game against the Tigers to be switched to Saturday.
"I don't see anyway you can hold it against [Ball State] - not one bit," Paul said. "Recruiting is the name of the game in college, and that's a big deal to be on national television."
Jarvis said Ball State offered Scheumann Stadium on Saturday for the Muncie Central, Southside and Delta games to switch dates. The $7,500 price tag, however, was "too much," he said.
"What [Ball State doesn't] understand is, again, you don't get concession money, and if bad weather happens to come in on Saturday and you have to postpone the game for Monday, you can't play the next Friday because you have to wait five days in Indiana high school athletics to play a football game," Jarvis said. "So they have nothing to lose, but we have everything to lose."
Zgunda and Paul both also acknowledged that Ball State had offered the field to their schools this Saturday.
No matter what the situation, Jarvis is unhappy with the steep price tag on Scheumann Stadium.
"It could've been a lot cheaper, it could've been a win-win situation for everybody in the community," Jarvis said. "But I think instead that Tom Collins has done something that I think is just sacred to Indiana high school sports."
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