The Univ. of Massachusetts and the Patriots have reached a five-year deal beginning in '12 for the school's football team to play home games at Gillette Stadium when it joins the FBS, but UMass "won’t be paying rent and instead will share a portion of ticket revenues and concessions," according to Hillary Chabot of the BOSTON HERALD. UMass AD John McCutcheon said that the move to the MAC for football is "expected to decrease the school’s dependence on fees and tax dollars." The school's "great leap up in the ranks of college athletics means more football coaches and scholarships that will cost the school an additional $2.5 million annually." Much of the $2.5M "will pay for new scholarships that will jump from 63 to 85." Other funds will be used to "pay for two more coaches and upgrades to the Amherst sports facilities, as well as free rides for women athletes." While the UMass campus is about two hours from Gillette Stadium, McCutcheon noted that "more than 120,000 UMass alums live within 30 minutes of Foxboro" (BOSTON HERALD, 4/21). He said that an "expansion of the fan base and sponsor support will be needed to meet the goal of reducing the reliance on state funding within five years" (Springfield REPUBLICAN, 4/21). Meanwhile, ESPN BOSTON's Brendan Hall noted the addition of UMass gives the MAC a "foothold in 10 of the top 50 television markets in the country" (ESPNBOSTON.com, 4/20). MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said the school will "increase the value of the MAC with the conference's media rights holders" (BERKSHIRE EAGLE, 4/21).
MINUTE TO WIN IT: In Boston, Mark Blaudschun writes Patriots Owner Robert Kraft gave UMass the "biggest donation any backer could: He gave them Gillette Stadium rent-free." Kraft will not charge UMass rent, but he "wanted a share of the revenue when and if the crowds came." He knows that UMass-Boston College "would be a decent draw in Foxborough, if BC agrees to play," as would UMass-UConn. Asked if the UMass-Gillette Stadium partnership would have happened without Kraft offering it rent-free, McCutcheon said, "Probably not. That was the linchpin for everything. A world-class facility which can attract big-time nonconference opponents. There is no way we could get that done without it" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/21). In Boston, Steve Buckley writes the "only people who lose out" as a result of the Gillette Stadium deal "are the Ma and Pa Kettles from Russell, Blandford, Sunderland and other two-mule western Massachusetts towns who’d make pilgrimages to McGuirk Stadium." But those who "are hard-core fans will be bused from Amherst to Foxboro." Buckley: "The betting here is that more students will attend games in Foxboro then have watched the Minutemen at McGuirk. And the thousands of UMass alums living in Greater Boston are more likely to attend games at Gillette" (BOSTON HERALD, 4/21).
