2010 Penn State at Indiana game moved to Washington, DC

When Thanksgiving approaches, Indiana fans have typically forgotten about football (unless it's the Colts) and begun to focus on roundball. So it's no surprise that the Hoosiers would sell a late-season home game...

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Indiana will trade a home football game with Penn State next season for a $3 million pay day, athletic director Fred Glass said Tuesday. The Hoosiers have agreed to move the game, scheduled Nov. 20, to FedEx field in Landover, Md. FedEx Field is the home of the Washington Redskins, who first approached IU about making the deal.

“Obviously, it’s very positive for us financially,” Glass said. “When you rank second to the bottom in the conference in money spent per sport, you have to color outside the lines and be open to new ways to generate revenue.”

Indiana generally makes less than $1 million per home game. The Big Ten retains television rights to the game, and Indiana remains the home team.

FedEx Field is the largest facility used by a pro sports team in the United States. It seats 91,704. It will host one other college game in 2010, between Virginia Tech and Boise State. It last hosted a college game in 2004 when Virginia Tech played Southern California in the Black Coaches Association Classic.

Beaver Stadium, where Penn State plays its home games, seats 107,282 and is located about three and a half hours from FedEx Field. But Glass is hopeful that East Coast Indiana fans will also show up in large numbers. As part of the deal, Indiana has to sell 7,000 tickets. Glass doesn’t think that will be a problem.

[Clips comment: For many Penn State fans, this is like getting an eighth home game. 91,704 capacity minus 7K Indiana fans...

On a personal level we're disappointed, as we already had this one in our Google Calendar.]
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