MAC commissioner talks CMU football, bowl stipend
Though it will play in perhaps the most unique bowl game this season, the Central Michigan University football team received no special treatment or extra financial support from the Mid-American Conference.
CMU Athletics is getting a $450,000 stipend from the MAC for participating in the Dec. 24 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl. Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said that figure is “fairly consistent” with the amount of money the MAC is giving the four other member schools that are headed to bowl games around the country in 2014.
“Those bowl reimbursements have grown pretty significantly in the last few years,” he said. “It’s based on the bowl. It’s predetermined.”
Steinbrecher would not disclose the details of the MAC’s agreement with the Bahamas Bowl, but said there is a host of intangible benefits the conference receives from sending a team out of the country for postseason play.
“It is going to be a cultural experience for the student-athletes,” he said. “For many, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Many major college football conferences require member schools to sell a certain number of tickets to a bowl game, as part of a stipend agreement. CMU’s stipend from the MAC does not come with a required ticket buy, Steinbrecher said.
Brad Wachler, associate athletic director said the department has not put a number on a goal for attendance at the game.
“We are going to have a lot of families down there,” Wachler said. “We are trying to target some of those that are in the Florida area. It’s not exactly easy or cheap to get to The Bahamas. We are doing the best we can.”
Steinbrecher said the MAC had “multiple” conversations with all of its member schools about “being prepared” for a potential bid to The Bahamas.
Every CMU football player received a passport in September, in anticipation of the bowl game. CMU Athletics paid for the passports earlier this year.
“We told them if you wanted the maximum flexibility on games, be prepared,” Steinbrecher said. “These discussions began last summer. We had multiple teams that were prepared.”
Dave Heeke, CMU athletic director said the value of participating in a game like The Bahamas Bowl cannot be measured.
“It’s great TV time on Christmas Eve,” Heeke said. “It’s a chance to expose our people and our product to a national audience. It’s a great investment from an athletics perspective and a university perspective.”
Heeke said he was pleased with the CMU football team’s performance this fall. Steinbrecher said both the bowl committee and the MAC did not take any of the CMU football team’s issues off the field this season into consideration when selecting them to play in the game.
“Because of how fluid things were, no one was pointed toward one particular bowl,” Steinbrecher said. “(CMU’s off-the-field issues) were not an issue.”
