Stephen F Austin Game Cancelled

[TomCat88]

I hope they had to payout for canceling.

Or pay for Mercyhurst's trip to Bozeman. I'm sure we're paying them to come.

Last year I felt like there was one interesting home game, and that was the playoff game against NDSU. This year might be similar, with the obvious exception of Cat-griz.

Does anyone know how much $$ SFA has to pay us? That's the only positive here is that it's free money..... and I would hope it's a lot. If they went into this contract without a hefty buyout clause, especially so close to kickoff, SHAME on us.

I'd guess nothing or not very much since this was a home and home series, it can't be easy to find teams willing to come to Bozeman in the first place without also inserting large buyout clauses into the contracts.

Our fan base is delusional. You all really believe we are getting payouts...for anything. Good grief.

Yeah, that’s pretty standard in a scheduling contract. Probably doesn’t amount to much, but we will get paid.

We had to pay to get out of the NDSU game.

In that instance, MSU had to pay because the game was the second leg of a home-and-home. This game with SFA is the first game and, assuming MSU isn't going to go to SFA now, there isn't going to be much of a buyout. If MSU is still going to SFA, then there would be one, but I doubt SFA would cancel if it had to do a large buyout.

I understand that logic, but it seems like a school could and should throw in a clause to any contract for late cancellation. Schedules might be printed, game sponsors might back out, MSU might not have been able to find a replacement game, etc. I'm not saying any of these happened in this instance, but if I'm making that arrangement, I'd want to have some assurances that I could recoup some major expenses within a reasonable time frame. IF MSU had a sponsor back out because they wanted to sponsor the SFA game, or IF schedules had been printed, or IF a replacement game couldn't be found, MSU could be out hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more. Maybe the end of May is that date, if there is one. I think this is working out as well as could be expected, but just the sheer inconvenience should warrant something.

Yeah I mentioned that (late cancellation) a couple pages ago. I don’t know how it works for sure. Just seems logical.

[wbtfg]

I hope they had to payout for canceling.

Or pay for Mercyhurst's trip to Bozeman. I'm sure we're paying them to come.

Last year I felt like there was one interesting home game, and that was the playoff game against NDSU. This year might be similar, with the obvious exception of Cat-griz.

Does anyone know how much $$ SFA has to pay us? That's the only positive here is that it's free money..... and I would hope it's a lot. If they went into this contract without a hefty buyout clause, especially so close to kickoff, SHAME on us.

I'd guess nothing or not very much since this was a home and home series, it can't be easy to find teams willing to come to Bozeman in the first place without also inserting large buyout clauses into the contracts.

Our fan base is delusional. You all really believe we are getting payouts...for anything. Good grief.

Looks like we got paid out $150k. Sooooo……yeah.

[AFCAT]

I hope they had to payout for canceling.

Or pay for Mercyhurst's trip to Bozeman. I'm sure we're paying them to come.

Last year I felt like there was one interesting home game, and that was the playoff game against NDSU. This year might be similar, with the obvious exception of Cat-griz.

Does anyone know how much $$ SFA has to pay us? That's the only positive here is that it's free money..... and I would hope it's a lot. If they went into this contract without a hefty buyout clause, especially so close to kickoff, SHAME on us.

I'd guess nothing or not very much since this was a home and home series, it can't be easy to find teams willing to come to Bozeman in the first place without also inserting large buyout clauses into the contracts.

Our fan base is delusional. You all really believe we are getting payouts...for anything. Good grief.

Looks like we got paid out $150k. Sooooo……yeah.

That's so frigin awesome. After he reads this.

[AFCAT]

[MSUBRONCO]

What are the amounts for us not subscribed

[MSU01]

What are the amounts for us not subscribed

$150K paid by SFA to MSU
$275K paid by MSU to Mercyhurst with a $200K buyout for either team

[tetoncat]

What are the amounts for us not subscribed

$150K paid by SFA to MSU
$275K paid by MSU to Mercyhurst with a $200K buyout for either team

We still lose money. Can we make that up getting a home game to replace traveling there.

[coloradocat]

What are the amounts for us not subscribed

$150K paid by SFA to MSU
$275K paid by MSU to Mercyhurst with a $200K buyout for either team

We still lose money. Can we make that up getting a home game to replace traveling there.

We already have 6 home games next season, including 2 non-conference home games, so we'll likely find another road game. Even better if we can find someone for a home and home. We don't have any non-conference games scheduled yet for 2026 or 2027 so that's definitely a possibility. It will almost definitely be an FCS opponent since we open at Oregon next year and then play SDSU the next week for Gold Rush.

[BleedingBLue]

I hope they had to payout for canceling.

Or pay for Mercyhurst's trip to Bozeman. I'm sure we're paying them to come.

Last year I felt like there was one interesting home game, and that was the playoff game against NDSU. This year might be similar, with the obvious exception of Cat-griz.

Does anyone know how much $$ SFA has to pay us? That's the only positive here is that it's free money..... and I would hope it's a lot. If they went into this contract without a hefty buyout clause, especially so close to kickoff, SHAME on us.

I'd guess nothing or not very much since this was a home and home series, it can't be easy to find teams willing to come to Bozeman in the first place without also inserting large buyout clauses into the contracts.

Our fan base is delusional. You all really believe we are getting payouts...for anything. Good grief.

Looks like we got paid out $150k. Sooooo……yeah.

Absolutely delusional!

[91catAlum]

I hope they had to payout for canceling.

Or pay for Mercyhurst's trip to Bozeman. I'm sure we're paying them to come.

Last year I felt like there was one interesting home game, and that was the playoff game against NDSU. This year might be similar, with the obvious exception of Cat-griz.

Does anyone know how much $$ SFA has to pay us? That's the only positive here is that it's free money..... and I would hope it's a lot. If they went into this contract without a hefty buyout clause, especially so close to kickoff, SHAME on us.

I'd guess nothing or not very much since this was a home and home series, it can't be easy to find teams willing to come to Bozeman in the first place without also inserting large buyout clauses into the contracts.

Our fan base is delusional. You all really believe we are getting payouts...for anything. Good grief.

Looks like we got paid out $150k. Sooooo……yeah.

He is correct when he says "our fan base is delusional" as he's a griz troll.

[RickRund]

I hope they had to payout for canceling.

Or pay for Mercyhurst's trip to Bozeman. I'm sure we're paying them to come.

Last year I felt like there was one interesting home game, and that was the playoff game against NDSU. This year might be similar, with the obvious exception of Cat-griz.

Does anyone know how much $$ SFA has to pay us? That's the only positive here is that it's free money..... and I would hope it's a lot. If they went into this contract without a hefty buyout clause, especially so close to kickoff, SHAME on us.

I'd guess nothing or not very much since this was a home and home series, it can't be easy to find teams willing to come to Bozeman in the first place without also inserting large buyout clauses into the contracts.

Our fan base is delusional. You all really believe we are getting payouts...for anything. Good grief.

Looks like we got paid out $150k. Sooooo……yeah.

He is correct when he says "our fan base is delusional" as he's a griz troll.

[coloradocat]

https://406mtsports.com/college/big-sky ... -top-story

Sounds like Leon needs to work on his negotiating skills. Paying newly-FCS Mercyhurst $275K and only getting $360K from FBS New Mexico doesn't seem right at all. I know the Mercyhurst game was scheduled late but we already had 11 games on the schedule and they only had 8. It will be (should be) nice to get a win against an FBS team but there should be more of a financial reward.

[MSU01]

https://406mtsports.com/college/big-sky ... -top-story

Sounds like Leon needs to work on his negotiating skills. Paying newly-FCS Mercyhurst $275K and only getting $360K from FBS New Mexico doesn't seem right at all. I know the Mercyhurst game was scheduled late but we already had 11 games on the schedule and they only had 8. It will be (should be) nice to get a win against an FBS team but there should be more of a financial reward.

Something tells me that Leon is smart enough to not be leaving significant amounts of money on the table when negotiating these contracts. I guess the question is what's more important - playing a team like New Mexico who you've got a very realistic chance to beat, or playing a team like Oregon that's a guaranteed loss but will generate a bigger payout? The answer is probably to do both, as MSU is doing this year and next.

[kennethnoisewater]

https://406mtsports.com/college/big-sky ... -top-story

Sounds like Leon needs to work on his negotiating skills. Paying newly-FCS Mercyhurst $275K and only getting $360K from FBS New Mexico doesn't seem right at all. I know the Mercyhurst game was scheduled late but we already had 11 games on the schedule and they only had 8. It will be (should be) nice to get a win against an FBS team but there should be more of a financial reward.

The last-minute part of it probably hurts pretty bad. Mercyhurst has the upper hand in negotiations at the 11th hour. Pretty easy for them to just say no thanks to a smaller offer, which I'm sure Leon tried. Comparing it to the payout of the UNM game, which had been scheduled for at least a year isn't really fair. I do think MSU should have already had stronger buyout language in existing contracts, which hurt them here. They've acknowledged that needs to be in place in future contracts, and it seems to me it already should have been. But with that already done, I'm thinking Leon just had to get something and get it fast, as MSU was clearly the desperate party in negotiations.

I think the reward of playing UNM is more of a resume reward than a financial reward. There's no way UNM was interested in a big payout for a game they had a good chance of losing, especially when they're not getting big crowds and paying out of gate receipts. That's a fair payout, it just looks bad compared to what MSU had to pay Mercyhurst. MSU will lose some money, but not nearly as much as they would if there was no game.

[cats2506]

https://406mtsports.com/college/big-sky ... -top-story

Sounds like Leon needs to work on his negotiating skills. Paying newly-FCS Mercyhurst $275K and only getting $360K from FBS New Mexico doesn't seem right at all. I know the Mercyhurst game was scheduled late but we already had 11 games on the schedule and they only had 8. It will be (should be) nice to get a win against an FBS team but there should be more of a financial reward.

The last-minute part of it probably hurts pretty bad. Mercyhurst has the upper hand in negotiations at the 11th hour. Pretty easy for them to just say no thanks to a smaller offer, which I'm sure Leon tried. Comparing it to the payout of the UNM game, which had been scheduled for at least a year isn't really fair. I do think MSU should have already had stronger buyout language in existing contracts, which hurt them here. They've acknowledged that needs to be in place in future contracts, and it seems to me it already should have been. But with that already done, I'm thinking Leon just had to get something and get it fast, as MSU was clearly the desperate party in negotiations.

I think the reward of playing UNM is more of a resume reward than a financial reward. There's no way UNM was interested in a big payout for a game they had a good chance of losing, especially when they're not getting big crowds and paying out of gate receipts. That's a fair payout, it just looks bad compared to what MSU had to pay Mercyhurst. MSU will lose some money, but not nearly as much as they would if there was no game.

I am betting that about half of what Mercyhurst is getting paid will be spent in travel expenses to get to Bozeman and feed and house the team.

Prices on everything are higher.

A team like UMN isn't to going to have the resources to give out a big payday and they especially don't want to pay a lot for a top FCS team.

SFA canceling late seems to be pretty much out of their control (and ours) Home and Homes don't get canceled often that late, but with them moving back to the Southland I think it was going to happen to some team somewhere, MSU just happen to be the unlucky one.

All things considered I think this has been handled as well as it could have been. I was looking forward to the SFA games but there isn't much you can do about it.

[coloradocat]

https://406mtsports.com/college/big-sky ... -top-story

Sounds like Leon needs to work on his negotiating skills. Paying newly-FCS Mercyhurst $275K and only getting $360K from FBS New Mexico doesn't seem right at all. I know the Mercyhurst game was scheduled late but we already had 11 games on the schedule and they only had 8. It will be (should be) nice to get a win against an FBS team but there should be more of a financial reward.

Something tells me that Leon is smart enough to not be leaving significant amounts of money on the table when negotiating these contracts. I guess the question is what's more important - playing a team like New Mexico who you've got a very realistic chance to beat, or playing a team like Oregon that's a guaranteed loss but will generate a bigger payout? The answer is probably to do both, as MSU is doing this year and next.

He's definitely no dummy but $275K to a team that doesn't even have close to a full schedule seems like a lot. UNM is a better test than an upper-P4 team but if that's all we're getting paid maybe it's more worthwhile to try and get a mid-level Big12 team that will pay double. Oregon State was a good play at the time. Nobody expected them to all the sudden be good when we had to play them. I think that was always considered a winnable game against a major conference until late the year before. Ultimately, I just wonder how much UNM, and the rest of the bottom 2/3 of the MWC, pays opponents.

[kennethnoisewater]

https://406mtsports.com/college/big-sky ... -top-story

Sounds like Leon needs to work on his negotiating skills. Paying newly-FCS Mercyhurst $275K and only getting $360K from FBS New Mexico doesn't seem right at all. I know the Mercyhurst game was scheduled late but we already had 11 games on the schedule and they only had 8. It will be (should be) nice to get a win against an FBS team but there should be more of a financial reward.

The last-minute part of it probably hurts pretty bad. Mercyhurst has the upper hand in negotiations at the 11th hour. Pretty easy for them to just say no thanks to a smaller offer, which I'm sure Leon tried. Comparing it to the payout of the UNM game, which had been scheduled for at least a year isn't really fair. I do think MSU should have already had stronger buyout language in existing contracts, which hurt them here. They've acknowledged that needs to be in place in future contracts, and it seems to me it already should have been. But with that already done, I'm thinking Leon just had to get something and get it fast, as MSU was clearly the desperate party in negotiations.

I think the reward of playing UNM is more of a resume reward than a financial reward. There's no way UNM was interested in a big payout for a game they had a good chance of losing, especially when they're not getting big crowds and paying out of gate receipts. That's a fair payout, it just looks bad compared to what MSU had to pay Mercyhurst. MSU will lose some money, but not nearly as much as they would if there was no game.

I am betting that about half of what Mercyhurst is getting paid will be spent in travel expenses to get to Bozeman and feed and house the team.

Prices on everything are higher.

A team like UMN isn't to going to have the resources to give out a big payday and they especially don't want to pay a lot for a top FCS team.

SFA canceling late seems to be pretty much out of their control (and ours) Home and Homes don't get canceled often that late, but with them moving back to the Southland I think it was going to happen to some team somewhere, MSU just happen to be the unlucky one.

All things considered I think this has been handled as well as it could have been. I was looking forward to the SFA games but there isn't much you can do about it.

Yeah I think you're right that a lot of it gets eaten up by travel expenses. I hope MSU was able to keep the same block of rooms that SFA had to give them to Mercyhurst. Finding one room for a game weekend this time of year is hard enough, but finding 60-plus must be almost impossible. If not, and if they had to pay full retail or find other accommodations, that could have been a bigger part of that payout.

[BleedingBLue]

I can't remember the exact number, but I seem to recall the Morehead State payout was around $200K in 2022. I really don't think $275K for a 50 - 60 point beatdown from us is outrageous.

[coloradocat]

Not really applicable to this unique situation but it brought up a thought:

I wonder how difficult it would be to restrict ourselves to not playing teams east of the Mississippi River. We'd play the MVFC, UAC, Southland, SWAC? and some of the Pioneer teams. Those conferences have some good (even great) teams as well as some bottom feeders that would definitely take a payday from us. Plus every opponent would be in/near our geographic recruiting footprint. This would mean we wouldn't have to schedule a random east coast team that nobody cares about to come to Bozeman.

I would assume Leon and company have considered something like this but I don't know why we schedule Maine and Stetson when the entire Southland and maybe SWAC could fly north for a game. Maybe those teams don't travel far because they don't have to with all the schools nearby but I know UNCU has gotten a couple Southland games on their recent schedules.

[AFCAT]

https://406mtsports.com/college/big-sky ... -top-story

Sounds like Leon needs to work on his negotiating skills. Paying newly-FCS Mercyhurst $275K and only getting $360K from FBS New Mexico doesn't seem right at all. I know the Mercyhurst game was scheduled late but we already had 11 games on the schedule and they only had 8. It will be (should be) nice to get a win against an FBS team but there should be more of a financial reward.

The last-minute part of it probably hurts pretty bad. Mercyhurst has the upper hand in negotiations at the 11th hour. Pretty easy for them to just say no thanks to a smaller offer, which I'm sure Leon tried. Comparing it to the payout of the UNM game, which had been scheduled for at least a year isn't really fair. I do think MSU should have already had stronger buyout language in existing contracts, which hurt them here. They've acknowledged that needs to be in place in future contracts, and it seems to me it already should have been. But with that already done, I'm thinking Leon just had to get something and get it fast, as MSU was clearly the desperate party in negotiations.

I think the reward of playing UNM is more of a resume reward than a financial reward. There's no way UNM was interested in a big payout for a game they had a good chance of losing, especially when they're not getting big crowds and paying out of gate receipts. That's a fair payout, it just looks bad compared to what MSU had to pay Mercyhurst. MSU will lose some money, but not nearly as much as they would if there was no game.

I am betting that about half of what Mercyhurst is getting paid will be spent in travel expenses to get to Bozeman and feed and house the team.

Prices on everything are higher.

A team like UMN isn't to going to have the resources to give out a big payday and they especially don't want to pay a lot for a top FCS team.

SFA canceling late seems to be pretty much out of their control (and ours) Home and Homes don't get canceled often that late, but with them moving back to the Southland I think it was going to happen to some team somewhere, MSU just happen to be the unlucky one.

All things considered I think this has been handled as well as it could have been. I was looking forward to the SFA games but there isn't much you can do about it.

Yeah I think you're right that a lot of it gets eaten up by travel expenses. I hope MSU was able to keep the same block of rooms that SFA had to give them to Mercyhurst. Finding one room for a game weekend this time of year is hard enough, but finding 60-plus must be almost impossible. If not, and if they had to pay full retail or find other accommodations, that could have been a bigger part of that payout.

Game with Mercyhurst is a week later than the SFA game, so no rooms were blocked out on that date. I'm sure the rooms are now, maybe for a cheaper rate since there wasn't going to be a game that day and demand would have been less. Reserve the rooms before the game change was announced, that is.