MAC 'maneuvered' CMU into Detroit bowl game
Mid-American Conference Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher addresses media members July 29, 2015 at MAC Media Day at Ford Field (Photo courtesy of Mid-American Conference).
When it was announced Sunday that the Central Michigan football team would travel a short distance to Detroit to face Minnesota in the 2015 Quick Lane Bowl, many CMU fans were happy.
The Quick Lane Bowl committee desired to have the Chippewas to come to Ford Field for their last game of the season, and with the help of the Mid-American Conference, CMU's fans got their wish.
Athletics Director Dave Heeke said CMU was "in the conversation" to be sent by the MAC to Boca Raton, San Diego and Idaho as late as early Sunday afternoon.
“When we can play a bowl game in our backyard and allow an opportunity for our student body to see that and be a part of it, that’s pretty powerful,” Heeke said. “It’s not about the economics. That’s about program development. I look at it as a real positive.”
Schools from mid-major conferences, like the MAC, typically play in the place of Power Five schools when bigger conferences do not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill the committed bowl game spots.
"Detroit reached out to us and made it known that if they had their druthers, they very much wanted Central Michigan," said MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher. "The challenge of that is all our primary bowl spots needed to be filled first. It took quite a bit of maneuvering and discussion with ESPN. We had to work with them and essentially get them to pass on CMU (in other bowls) so that Central could be placed into Detroit."
This season, the MAC served as a backup to several ESPN owned and operated bowls. To Steinbrecher, a bowl in CMU's backyard made the most sense.
"We are committed to do what is best for the bowl system and college football," he said. "We were looking at several possible scenarios. As we worked through all of those, it started making some sense to put CMU into Detroit. The Chips were the closest, geographically."
CMU will receive a $250,000 stipend from the MAC for playing in this year's Quick Lane Bowl – nearly half of what it got to travel to the Bahamas Bowl last season.
"Because this bowl does not include a plane flight, the reimbursement is less than the other bowls," Steinbrecher said. "The expectation and belief is for that team to be able to sell more of their tickets so they can monetize and grow what their reimbursement actually is."
Heeke does not expect CMU to make much of a profit off a bowl game closer to home.
“This isn’t a windfall, by any means,” Heeke said. “It still has expenses. (This year) it’ll be a very manageable bowl experience from an expense side."
CMU is allotted 3,500 tickets for the game, the proceeds of which it keeps. All other ticket sales will be split 50/50 with the bowl. The Athletics Department is selling its tickets for $89 to the public. Student tickets are $20 for the first 500 customers, starting Wednesday at noon through Ticket Central.
"That's fairly significant," Steinbrecher said. "That's money in their pocket."
