Although Ball State football fans were disappointed with a lackluster showing at Iowa on Saturday, the team should benefit from the paycheck it receives for making the trip.
Ball State earned $800,000 for Saturday's loss, paid by Iowa's athletics department, according to contracts obtained through the Indiana Access to Public Records Act. It matched the record amount Ball State received for a 54-30 loss at Auburn last season.
The athletics department acquired a net profit of $550,000 for its nonconference schedule, in which the Cardinals finished 1-3. Athletics director Tom Collins said the department doesn't target a certain figure each year.
"Obviously, you're trying to get that number as high as you can, but we don't have a set number," he said.
Collins said the final figure for 2010 will be less than $550,000 because travel costs come out of the money. The team took a bus to Purdue and a chartered plane to Iowa.
A good year can also offset a bad year, he said. The football team gathered $1.665 million in 2007, which covered the $90,000 it lost in 2008.
Collins said the final amount Ball State receives each year goes into the general athletics budget and is listed as revenue along with ticket sales and Cardinal Varsity Club contributions, among other things.
There will be a slight gap between Ball State making its payment to Southeast Missouri State and receiving money it earned from the Big Ten schools. The $275,000 owed to the Redhawks is due Dec. 1, while Iowa and Purdue are required to pay Ball State by Feb. 1 and Feb. 15, respectively.
Collins said he, associate athletics director Pat Quinn and coach Stan Parrish are involved in football contract negotiations. University treasurer Randy Howard signs many contracts on Ball State's behalf.
Collins said nonconference contract negotiations regularly use existing contracts as a baseline.
"It's a little bit of a back and forth, but it's generally based on a standard," he said.
That standard has risen in recent years. Ball State's $325,000 contract with Purdue was signed in 2002, while the Iowa contract was inked in March 2009.
Other teams also finished million-dollar deals for their nonconference games. Texas A&M and Arkansas receive $5 million each year to play an annual neutral-site game in Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Ohio State has several seven-figure contracts to bring in opponents, including a 2009 matchup for $1 million with Navy and $1.4 million to play Colorado next season.
Collins said he believes the financial amounts will level out.
Quinn said he wants the payouts to plateau as well but offered a possibility that could increase figures once again.
"It only takes one school making an outrageous offer to set things off," he said.
Referencing free agency in major league baseball, Quinn said a team willing to consistently pay top dollar would raise every school's price.
The size of a school creates a disparity in its ability to negotiate contracts, Quinn said. A larger school, like Ohio State, can offer more money than a school Ball State's size.
"The size of a guarantee varies greatly on when the contract was signed, which school it is and who they are playing," he said.
Ohio State can afford its large contracts because it will make the money back in ticket and concession revenues.
There is also a difference between guarantee games and a home-and-home or two-for-one series. The Purdue and Iowa contracts did not include a return game to Muncie. This drives the cost higher. Next season, by comparison, features games with South Florida, Army and Indiana, which are all home-and-home series.
Payouts for the South Florida and Army games are $200,000 or less. Collins said these fees mostly cover travel expenses.
Quinn said contracts originate in different ways. Schools, athletic directors or coaches may have an existing relationship leading them to negotiate a shared open date. Teams may also hear about open dates at conventions or athletic-director meetings.
There is no question the contracts play an important role in Ball State's athletics department.
"$800,000 is very important to our athletic program," Parrish said. "We all know that."
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