ALTOONA, Pa. -- When news broke last week that Penn State had not been chosen to host the PIAA football championships, it came as a surprise and disappointment to many people who feel Beaver Stadium would be the ideal location for high school kids to play such memorable games.
And when Cumberland Valley was chosen over Penn State to replace Hersheypark Stadium as the host football site, well, that raised plenty of eyebrows.
Why Cumberland Valley? And why not Penn State?
Now we know.
Some excellent reporting by Mike Boytim of the Altoona Mirror over the weekend uncovered the financial components of bids made by Penn State, Cumberland Valley and Altoona. They were all vying to host the PIAA football finals, along with Hershey, which was trying to keep the event it had hosted since 1998.
As with many things in life, you can follow the money here. Details from the Mirror's report:
* Penn State wanted the PIAA to pay $140,000 per year for the right to host the six football championship games. The breakdown was $40,000 for each game, totaling $240,000, with the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau paying $100,000 of the cost.
* Altoona's bid, to have the games played at Mansion Park Stadium, would have provided all services needed free of charge to the PIAA.
* Cumberland Valley's bid called for the PIAA to pay $2,630 per year, with an additional $8,000 to come from a local development group.
* Hershey's bid called for a revenue split dependent on several factors.
Full details of all the financials can be found in the Altoona Mirror article linked above.
The bottom line here is that Penn State wanted an enormous amount of money compared to the other bids. We're talking $140,000 per year, compared to the $2,630 figure for Cumberland Valley. And Altoona wasn't chosen, despite offering to host for free.
It obviously would be great for high school kids to get to play state championship games at the largest stadium in the state in Beaver Stadium, and it's great that Penn State showed interest in hosting the games.
But seeing the financial figures, you can't help but wonder just where on earth Penn State came up with its numbers, and if it had any reasonable expectation that the PIAA could go for such an incredibly large and, quite frankly, preposterous amount.
The PIAA also raised concerns about playing so many games on the grass turf at Beaver Stadium. And while that sounds like a legitimate issue, if the money figures were in line then you'd have to wonder if the surface would matter all that much.
If Penn State ever truly wants to host the PIAA games, it's going to have to come way, way down off that $140,000 figure in future bids.
It's not like the championship games attract enormous crowds. Cumberland Valley's Chapman Field holds more than 8,000 fans, which is a good size for those games, while drawing that many folks to 107,000-seat Beaver Stadium wouldn't exactly create a great atmosphere.
“The number of people we have been drawing the past five years, I’m not sure we could have paid the bill," PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi told the media about the Penn State bid, via the Altoona Mirror story.
"We were very honored that they considered us, and maybe that opens the door for venues like that going forward, because it was nice to be wanted, for once.”
