April 24, 2009 in News, Sports

Apple Cup to Qwest deal dies

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PULLMAN - 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.

The University of Washington has sold some 38,000 season tickets for this fall already and expects to come close to last year’s 43,500, according to athletics department spokesman Richard Kilwien. The school has sold as many as 56,200 season tickets in a single season since 1995.

“A big part of what we believe is important to us,” Kilwien said Friday before WSU’s announcement, “is to try to work out a system that would make our season ticket holders whole. We want to be able to accommodate everybody that’s a season ticket holder at Washington.

“That’s our ultimate goal. Obviously, to be able to increase our bottom line with a substantial financial guarantee but to also to service our fans in the best way possible.”

WSU’s goal of a neutral site and UW’s desire to accommodate its fan base ultimately couldn’t be reconciled.

“I was not going to continue following a path that was not in the best interest of WSU Athletics, the university and our fans,” Sterk said in the release. “What made this possible agreement attractive were the additional number of tickets available to our fans, the financial gain seen by the athletic department, and the tremendous exposure created by playing a game of this magnitude at one of the premier sporting venues in the country.

“However, the final details could not be ironed out.”

The deal called for WSU, UW and First & Goal, which runs 67,000 seat Qwest Field, to stage the Apple Cup in the Seattle facility each year. In exchange for the six-year deal, each school was to receive more than $10 million above what the game would have generated in the same time period.

When the news broke nine days ago that the schools were in the process of putting this deal together, both WSU and Washington message boards exploded with outrage over the possibility of moving the rivalry game from home sites. In the past few days, however, as more details emerged, the financial considerations began to take center stage.

This week Sterk talked about the possibility of losing sports, employees and other cutbacks and brought up the specter of WSU’s Pac-10 membership being in jeopardy. Washington State’s $30 million athletic budget is about $14 million less than the conference’s next lowest, Oregon State.

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Nine comments on this story so far. Add yours!

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  kevin99 on April 24 at 12:08 p.m.

  Nice Job Dawgs. I wonder how many season tickets UT and Oklahoma sell combinded? For some reason there never seems to be a problem with a 50/50 split for the Red River Game. Time to step up Cougs and donate to the Athletic Foudation. What a great day, the Husky Stadium bill dies and we do not loose the AC, since we all know how much Udump loves to come to Pullman in Nov.

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  TALKJOC on April 24 at 12:24 p.m.

  Coug fans, we'll see if you even come close to getting 37,000 in Martin Stadium for the Apple Cup, of which at least 5,000 will be from the West side of the state. Plus, no $$$ to fix Martin Stadium.
  What an easy out for Jim Sterk. Now let's see what budget cuts do to the athletic department before you start whoopin' and hollaring'..

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  hsky69 on April 24 at 12:59 p.m.

  Hmm. So Kevin99 why is it that the Red River Shootout (now Rivalry) is leaving the Cotton Bowl for the new Cowboys stadium starting 2010? And both schools have recently been looking into playing home games at their own stadiums again if there are no problems?

  Of course the Dawgs will object to playing in a venue that doesn't even cover their season ticket holders let alone alumni and the casual Husky fan.

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  hsky69 on April 24 at 1:37 p.m.

  And from the language in Cougfan.com (several articles over the past few days) and radio and TV it appears that playing the Apple Cup in Qwest was spearheaded by WSU although I haven't heard definitively. Anybody know? If this is the case it seems to me WSU made an offer, UW countered and an impasse was on the table thereby ending discussions.

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  VanCoug on April 24 at 3:42 p.m.

  Sterk blew it. Would have been a great way to get some $ for Martin Stadium. Let's face it - times are tough and I'm not reaching into my pocket book to fund a stadium. Got a family to feed. So they wanted 7,000 more tickets??? Big deal.

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