Apple Cup To Qwest Deal Dies

A deal to move the Apple Cup to Qwest Field, which seemed so close a week ago, is dead, killed not by fan outrage, but by a lack of seats. “It became evident an understanding on ways to maintain the neutral-site atmosphere in regards to ticket allotment could not be reached,” Washington State athletic director Jim Sterk said in a release Friday that announced WSU was ending discussions to move the game, “therefore, our student-athletes and Cougar fans would not be best served without this key component.” According to sources in the WSU athletic department, the original agreement gave WSU and the University of Washington each 31,000 seats in Qwest Field every year. But in the past week, UW expressed its desire for about another 7,000 additional seats, the sources said, in an attempt to mollify season ticket holders/ Vince Grippi , SR. More here .

Question: Now that the $2M-per-year deal is dead, does anyone know where WSU is going to come up with more than $1M to hold off deep athletic department budget cuts?