Spokane7
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April 16, 2009 in City
Apple Cup may call Seattle home
Deal in works to move rivalry game from school stadiums to Qwest Field
WSU fans raise their voices during second-overtime play of the 2008 Apple Cup game at Martin Stadium in Pullman.
(Full-size photo)
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.
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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cougzag on April 16 at 8:13 a.m.
I understand that the school is having budget and financial troubles in this tough economy. Heck, many of us are having financial troubles. However, the great thing about the Apple Cup is that it is played on the college campus. The Cougs already have a game in Seattle each year that generates good revenue. Good luck in getting any team of quality to ever come to Pullman outside of the Pac-10. I thought that was why they are trying to have the 6th game in Seattle every year already and not on campus.
I am a season ticket holder for Cougar Football and have been for a while. I renew each year as I like my seats for the Apple Cup (even in years that the game is in Seattle so that I can have those seats the following year). I am sure I won’t be able to get as good of seats in Seahawk stadium for the same price I pay for my seats in Martin Stadium for that game. Shame on Jim Sterk and the Athletic Department for talking about moving the game out of Pullman. If he does, he and everyone in department who supports that move should be fired. I know I most likely won’t renew my season tickets if the game is moved to Seattle. The Apple Cup should not be about the money but about the rivalry and taking it away from the campus diminishes that meaning.
rhhcmb on April 16 at 12:00 p.m.
Take the Applecup out of Pullman and you will loose more than money! As a season ticket holder for the past 34 years and Coug all my life I can tell you from experience the team wins when playing in front of their student body and at home is where you find them. We found that out when Sam finally canceled the “homes” games that were played in Spokane. All of a sudden the playing field was leveled and we started winning games in a big way and going to bowl games. You move the Applecup permanently to Seattle and you might get big money for a while, but you will watch our win loss record decline, next home tickets sales fall off, donations to the stadium and the entire program will decline, soon you might find us in the next conference down. Ask any institution of higher learning what happens to their entire school when they move out of competition in division 1-A sports. Ask any player where he wants to play and play his best, its not Notre Dame or at USC, its where the biggest student crowd is and thats at home. If WSU wants to save money why don’t they consider consolidating everything back to Pullman i.e. extension campuses and football. Looks like our AD is only concerened about the present and is willing to damage the entire future of our football program if he’s voting for this move. It will set our program back over thirty years. My last TPS number was near the top, I will keep that, and my great memories of Cougar Football but you can sell my tickets to one of those Westsiders that our AD is always trying to please. Wonder how much money they spend in Pullman, seeing how most do not attend Home games anyway. Ron Hoover
nclegrant on April 16 at 2:26 p.m.
No doubt about it this is a great opportunity for the the athletic dept. to make some money for their program but at what cost. I have been a season ticket holder for many years and look forward every year to the Apple Cup. Sitting thru last season was painful but the Apple Cup made it all worth it. No matter how bad things have been during the season the Apple Cup can change all that. The students deserve to have their team in their stadium every other year. They are the ones paying the rising tuition cost. Driving over to Seattle every year across the snowy pass is not an option for most. The people of Pullman that depend on the football games for financial support are going to be big losers, also. Brining back a pre-season game is not going to bring in the revenue that the Apple Cup brings. Move the Apple Cup to Qwest field every year and you can keep my season tickets. Where is the loyalty to the fans, students and supporters that have been there for the Cougs year in and year out. I love the the Cougs and the Apple Cup so please don’t move the Apple Cup.
duvallpd on April 16 at 5:03 p.m.
I guess asking fans and alumni what they think about this ridiculous idea is out of the question. I have yet to hear someone outside of the WSU administration in favor of moving the Apple Cup to Seattle. All I am hearing and reading about is the money both schools will get. What about the pride in having a home game in a renovated stadium, one the season ticket holders look forward to pay extra money to see. Even the Husky fans are questioning this idea. People like to return to their alma matters and see their team perform especially a rival game like the Apple Cup. Qwest field is great venue for the Seahawks/Sounders, but lets leave it to them. I live in the Seattle area and look forward heading east to Pullman every other year for the cup as well do a lot of other cougs over here. I just think it is a little unfair for people to sit in their offices and dream up these ideas before asking the fans, whom pay for the tickets how they feel about it.
kcowan51 on April 16 at 5:34 p.m.
I would hope to shout “NO APPLE CUP IN PULLMAN, NO WAY!!!
Why would you want to change tradition? Can’t we keep some things the same? For God sake, people!
LET’S KEEP THIS ONE IN PULLMAN, COUGS!!!
bpetri on April 16 at 7:32 p.m.
A neutral location, what’s neutral about Qwest field! Huskies can take a bus to the statium to watch, us cougs have to drive 6 hours across a frozen pass to get there. Apple Cup is a tradition and to move it away from the schools takes away from the pride of hosting it. Students, Alumni and season ticket holds wait the whole season to see the most passionate game of the year, where it’s far more than just a victory at stake out on the field. The cougs are the one’s playing for it, ask the players what they prefer, to play before their fellow students, friends and family in their hometown and their home stadium, or a foreign place across the state just so the school can make a quick penny. Take Apple Cup away from Pullman and you take revenue from the businesses, but you take the pride and tradition that makes the game so special whether its the huskies or the cougars hosting. You take away this game, and you take away the heart of the Apple Cup, the money won’t make up for what’s lost.
Coug2 on April 18 at 12:44 a.m.
John Blanchette’s column, “Greenbacks hijack Joe Coug” was to the point, but I feel compelled to add my two-cents worth too. As a WSU Presidents Associate, a longtime season ticket-holder and the spouse of WSU alumnus and retired faculty member, I am extremely disappointed to think that this institution that has engendered so much affection and loyalty from its ‘Coug Family’ (not to mention enviable levels of Coug financial giving) could turn its back on its fans at home. I graduated from a commuter campus, and it wasn’t until I came to the Palouse that I realized firsthand what it meant to belong on a residential campus. That sense of place contributes to powerful emotional ties that make college life so memorable and alumni so generous. Call me Pollyanna, but I was starting to believe that my husband’s Alma Mater had a heart and that college football is about more than big bucks. Maybe the Athletics Dept will share so that those of us who might otherwise huddle around flat-screens in Pullman can have expense-paid Apple Cup trips to Seattle as part of our season ticket packages. An alternative is that those dollars that we’ve contributed to athletics and stadium improvements might better be shunted to academics anyway, where corporate sponsors seldom tread and ethics seem more pertinent.