Better East Texas: Football and finances - KLTV.com - Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |ETX News

This is a great time of year for football fans and if you are sour on the pros, college football is always a pure game, void of the pressures of big business and corporate influences – right -right? Well not really.

These first few weeks of the schedule are often times filled with lopsided victories for perineal powerhouse teams as they play vastly weaker programs. Now that is taking nothing away from the players but when Texas Tech Plays SFA or Texas A&M University plays Prairie View A&M University, it is just not much of a contest.

These games are called guarantee games and they essentially are a big win for the underdog schools regardless of the final score. Payouts for these games can be as high at $500,000 to the smaller school. The powerhouse school gets an easy win on their calendar while selling out a home game and garnering good concession revenues.

It works to everyone’s advantage but is it the right formula for the programs? The financial takeaway for the smaller school is oftentimes more money than they make on home ticket sales through an entire season, so it certainly pads the university bank account and it helps support other college sports that are upside down financially.

However, the practice of these games may be coming to an end as some conferences are moving away from them. So schools – specifically administrations – have to figure out another way to generate big money or face unpleasant cuts. It may be difficult, but schools that address this now will be around for many seasons to come.

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