By Rick Sarro
Photos By Steve Franz / LSU
The McNeese Cowboys play every game to win. There are games, though, they play to win and to earn a hefty paycheck. These are commonly known in college football as “guaranteed money games,” and McNeese has played 12 such payout dates since 2000. The 13th such game over the last 15 seasons will take place when the Cowboys take on 14th-ranked LSU in Baton Rouge. McNeese’s first ever match-up against the state’s FBS power and flagship school was back in 2010, when the Cowboys put an early scare in the Tigers, only to lose 32-10 at Tiger Stadium.
A second LSU game was supposed to take place in 2017, according to athletic director Bruce Hemphill. But that changed during a meeting with LSU over a year ago in Baton Rouge. Hemphill, a former LSU football player from Sulphur High, was pleased when LSU was able to reschedule the game for the 2015 season opener.
The guaranteed contract and payout was negotiated under former A.D. Tommy McClelland, and remained set at a cool half million dollars. “It (the money payout) always varies with the school and when the contract was signed,” Hemphill said.
“In this case, being two years ago, we were able to sign for $500,000. It’s always a flat rate, especially when you play an FBS power conference school (teams in the S.E.C., PAC 12, Big 12, A.C.C. and the Big 10). They always pay more money. But there are no complimentary tickets. It’s always a flat negotiated rate, and not percentages of gate, because they don’t have to [do that].”
That means McNeese has to buy tickets for the band and players and tickets to resell to local Cowboy fans.
Out of that $500,000 comes travel expenses (head coach Matt Viator has agreed to bus the players over on game day), meals and various smaller items. This means the net will be high — possibly $475,000, as estimated by Hemphill.
That compares to last year’s road game at Nebraska, which paid significantly less at $415,000, minus fares for a huge airline, hotel costs, meals and other related travel costs.
McNeese did garner an immense amount of national media attention and coverage due to its near upset of the then 19th-ranked Cornhuskers. That’s P.R. that’s hard to quantify and impossible to pay for. The Cowboys were all over ESPN, CBS and Fox Sports college football coverage that Saturday, as a little FCS David almost toppled a Power Five Goliath.
To be honest, most of these FCS versus FBS match-ups don’t end well for the smaller schools. There have been more than a few upsets though, including Appalachian State’s historic upset of the Wolverines at Michigan in 2010. James Madison beat No. 13 Virginia Tech in 2013 and Eastern Washington upset No. 25 Oregon State the same year.
The McNeese States of college football have to seek out and schedule these so-called mismatches because the smaller schools have significantly smaller budgets and they simply need the money to help make ends meet.
Besides the economic benefits, the FCS teams love these games because they put the program and the players on a national stage; motivate the team to play at a higher level; help in recruiting and excite the fan base.
But there has been increased chatter and moves among the Power 5 conferences to stop scheduling FCS opponents entirely, or to reduce these non-conference, gimme home games in future schedules.
In fact, the Big Ten has done just that, as conference commissioner Jim Delaney did some serious saber rattling and convinced his league to end all FCS games. The Big Ten is the only major Power 5 conference to go that far, but there’s no guarantee others won’t follow.
Hemphill breathed a sigh of relief when that move stopped with the Big Ten … for now anyway.
“The great thing about the Big 12 and SEC is that they are much easier to get to and most of them are still looking for FCS games to open up the season. So I think that will continue. In fact, the only time I hear of [Power 5 leagues not playing FCS] is from you guys in the media,” said Hemphill.
The next big Power 5 conference matchup under contract for McNeese is a trip to Stillwater, Okla., to face the other Cowboys from Oklahoma State in 2019.
McNeese does have a long awaited rematch with U.L.-Lafayette, an FBS school from the Sun Belt Conference, but not a Power 5 school, to open the season in 2016 at Cajun Field. This level of game will reap the Cowboys a nice pay check depending on the gate, but nowhere near a Power 5 contract, of course.
“No, they are not a Power 5. But the opportunity to play a rival that has such a long history with McNeese and being just an hour away — it was too good of an opportunity to pass on,” said Hemphill.
A rematch with the Ragin’ Cajuns (McNeese last played UL-L in 2007, and scored a 38-17 romp) will far exceed the LSU game in fans’ excitement and hype because of the intense rivalry-rich history that dates back to 1951. Proximity, bragging rights and the sheer dislike among the two fan bases make this game like the Hatfields and McCoys.
Hemphill says he’ll soon begin work on securing guaranteed money games for 2017 and ’18 and on rounding out the non-conference dates for 2019. “What makes it a bit easier is that the Southland Conference has gone to a nine-game conference schedule. So for 2017 and ’18, all that we are looking for is two non-conference games. 2019 is a year we can play 12 total games, so we will be looking for three non-conference games.”
Power 5 leagues like to start a season with a smaller FCS or FBS mid-major like a U.L.-Lafayette or Western Kentucky to work out the kinks and further evaluate players. The problem of power rankings and strength of schedule comes home to roost later in the season under the new College Football Playoff format.
There are only four playoff spots among the five Power conferences, and someone like a Notre Dame or Boise State may be in the mix as well. It may take an undefeated record or a one-loss mark to get into the play-offs, so a win over a smaller FCS program can be the difference in making the final four.
The pressure to play non-conference games against other Power 5 schools or fringe FBS leagues like Conference USA, MAC or the Western Athletic Conference, will get more intense depending on how the four-team playoff picture plays out.
For now, McNeese should be able to find takers among the Power 5. But that means going on the road as a huge underdog. During a normal 11-game schedule, the Cowboys must work hard to lock in five home games to keep the fans happy and the local turnstiles churning at Cowboy Stadium. The football turnout makes up a high percentage of the total athletic budget.
In an ongoing quest to attract and keep fans in the home seats longer, McNeese has made a $200,000 investment in a new, advanced video replay board. It’s the same size as the 10-year-old screen it replaced, but with a much crisper, high-definition picture.
The athletic finances are still tighter than a violin string. Hemphill explained the $200,000 for the video board upgrade was set aside and budgeted over the past few years. A complete replacement of the entire scoreboard is still needed, but would have cost the program $1.5 million, according to Hemphill.
An individual donor offered nearly $25,000 for improvements to the stadium lighting in the form of newer, brighter bulbs that will enhance the stadium experience.
Hemphill has been at the forefront and consistent in his message that McNeese football is in a dogfight for the “fans’ and consumers’ entertainment dollar.” Those disposable dollars are stretched with a variety of options for fans to spend on. That’s why the product on the field has to be good — and coupled with a competitive schedule that will offer fans a good entertainment value.
A lot of eyes have been on McNeese’s annual season ticket sales. Despite a revolving door among the athletic department’s marketing and sales staff, the drive for season tickets has seen increases.
“Last year was the first year in three years that we were able to surpass the year before in season ticket sales,” said Hemphill. “This year, we have an excellent opportunity, with two weeks before our first home game, to surpass last year,” noted Hemphill, who says the Cowboys are closing in on 4,000 season tickets sold.
LSU has proven not to be the golden egg in so far as an automatic sell-out for Cowboy fans. McNeese had trouble selling the full number of allotted tickets to the LSU game, which had more than a few in the athletic department doing a double take.
“It was a bit of a surprise” Hemphill admitted. He cited numerous reasons for the limited ticket sales. The 2010 game at LSU was the first ever, so fans were amped to be in Baton Rouge to see a bit of history. Tickets are “much more plentiful now than in 2010.” And then there is always the TV factor, as the Sept. 5 game with the Tigers will be televised on the SEC’s alternate cable channel, and can be seen locally via the SuddenLink cable system.
Since the 2000 season, when McNeese first played a Power 5 opponent in the University of Miami, the Cowboys are 0-9 against those upper-tier teams. But they did play Texas A&M close to the very end, losing 38-24 at Kyle Field in 2001. They had a similar close call at North Carolina, losing by only seven to the Tarheels back in 2008.
During that 15-year stretch, McNeese pocketed some tidy dollars against FBS mid-major programs, going a respectable 3-3 in those games. The Pokes scored wins over U.L.-Lafayette, South Florida and Middle Tennessee State.
All road games.
All guaranteed money games.
It’s all a fact of life for economic survival in today’s FCS college game.
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