Cal football's season opener against Hawaii on Aug. 27 in Australia "carries significant financial benefits for an athletic department struggling to balance its budget," according to Jon Wilner of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. Playing in Sydney’s ANZ Stadium late this month "will generate" approximately $1M more for the school "than a typical home game against a lower-level opponent." That is enough profit to "cover the annual equipment, supplies and uniform costs for all of Cal’s men’s or women’s Olympic sports." A home football game against a Sacramento State, Portland State or UC-Davis "generates a negligible profit." Ticket revenue is "usually in the high six figures, but it’s largely offset by game-day operating expenses and the whopping guarantee required by the opponent." Playing in Sydney, the school is "guaranteed a seven-figure profit from the experience, even when all expenses are factored into the calculation." Those expenses "include travel and the cost of cancelling the home game that had been scheduled before the Hawaii game materialized" (MERCURYNEWS.com, 7/29).
GOLDEN TICKET: In S.F., Connor Letourneau noted Cal's men's basketball team Nov. 21 "will play in Sacramento for the first time in nearly 70 years" at the new Golden 1 Center. The matchup against San Diego State "will mark the first college basketball game" at the $534M venue, and it will also be Cal's "first game in the state capital" since Nov. 25, 1947 (S.F. CHRONICLE, 7/30). In San Diego, Mark Zeigler noted Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who played for Cal in the '80s, was the "genesis" of the idea. Johnson "called his alma mater about playing the first college basketball game" at Golden 1. Cal began "searching for a suitable opponent and eventually settled on SDSU" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 7/30).
