Yanks will back college bowl game at Stadium
The Yankees will commit more than $16 million over four years to host a college football bowl game between the Big East and Big 12, a person familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday.
The contract for the non-BCS event begins in 2010 and will be announced this morning at the Stadium. Yankees co-owner Hal Steinbrenner, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and officials from both conferences are expected to attend.
Details of the deal, the person said, include the Yankees receiving revenue for selling naming rights to a corporate sponsor. That money, along with potential TV rights, anticipated additional corporate sponsorship and concessions could easily surpass the baseball team's expenditure for the event.
Each conference will receive an estimated $2 million. The Big East will send its fourth-place team, the Big 12 its seventh. The game will seek NCAA certification - considered a formality - next spring, with the first game to be played on or before New Year's Day.
The game at Yankee Stadium was first proposed by the Big East. And the Yankees, searching for non-baseball revenue, were eager to be involved. The Yankees had previously announced the hosting of some regular-season games, beginning with Notre Dame-Army next season.
The Big East first contacted the Big Ten, which declined to be involved in a start-up bowl. The same occurred with the SEC and the Pac-10 was ruled out because of its West Coast demographic. The Big 12, the person said, was "extremely interested."
A Big East team such as Rutgers would earn a big payday from the Yankee Stadium game, considering the money saved on local travel. Last December, Rutgers reportedly lost more than $184,000 (despite a $1.2-million guarantee) because of expenses for non-football personnel when it traveled to Birmingham, Ala., for the PapaJohns.com Bowl.
The Big East expects the arrangement with the Yankees to be long-term and believes the Big 12 will consider sending higher-placed teams if the game grows in stature.
