The Univ. of Maryland Thursday announced it will be playing two home football games at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore in the future, and the games are expected to “net the Terrapins roughly $2 million more per contest than if the games were played at Byrd Stadium,” according to Steve Yanda of the WASHINGTON POST. UM will play West Virginia Univ. in ‘13 and Virginia Tech in ’14, and the school is expected to earn $3.5M “in net revenue for each game.” UM Deputy AD Randy Eaton said that a game at Byrd Stadium “‘of similar magnitude’ typically yields roughly $1.5 million.” M&T Bank Stadium seats 71,008 people, while Byrd Stadium “has a listed seating capacity of 54,000.” Yanda noted since both games are home games for UM, the school “did not need any sort of permission from either opponent” to move the games. UM AD Kevin Anderson began “discussions about the possibility of moving two home games … roughly six months ago.” He said that the school has been “approached about the possibility of playing other home games away from Byrd Stadium,” but he did not give specifics about potential arrangements (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 6/23).
