Regarding the move of one of the January home games against OhSt to Wrigley field.
The NCAA recently announced increases in the numbers of scholarship athletes permitted for all sports and the end of the option to have members not on scholarship starting with the 25-26 season. Football will be most heavily affected because of the number of players on its teams, but the change applies to all teams. Both UW hockey teams now will be allowed the option to have 26 players on scholarships.
This change is the result of all the issues raised by NILs and to shield the NCAA from any further potential liabilities associated with them. If I understand the situation correctly, the value of the scholarships can vary across players depending on a team’s financial resources. But every player must receive some level of aid from the pool of money available to be eligible to play. And it likely will create havoc for many schools that struggle maintaining adequate levels of money for their athletes across sports, forcing them to drop some (ala North Dakota women’s hockey).
Ergo, I anticipate that this will mean routine, additional increases in ticket prices along with requirements for accompanying “donations” to obtain seating. For example, I have friends who report that the requirement for a donation was attached to their last order for women’s hockey tickets. And I expect the situation is the same for sports that offer different levels of seating. I have read where this already is true for VB, and I suspect similar situations exist for football and BB.
LaBahn does not offer a meaningful option to require different levels of donations across its seating. That is a significant factor in creating its unique viewing experience for fans. So, we are stuck with a one price fits all scenario there that leaves primarily large, gifted donations from corporations and wealthy individuals to provide adequate funding. In such a scenario, moving games to sites like Wrigley afford additional opportunities to supplement team budgets as the UW and OhSt probably are looking to do. This seems likely to continue and possibly increase in frequency. And of course, the B1G will tithe its share.
As universities deal with this situation, it will be interesting to see how they manage to satisfy requirements for offering athletic opportunities for comparable numbers of men and women - not only on opportunities to play but to share in the additional financial gains in scholarships and NIL incomes. Time to sit back, possibly with a favorite beverage, and watch all of it unfold.
