Gillette Stadium gets in on the college football action
A common trend in college football is to schedule neutral site games to generate income and to expand each school’s exposure. Notre Dame is scheduled to play at Cowboys Stadium and Yankee Stadium in the coming seasons. FedEx Field, home of the Washington Redskins, will host Virginia Tech v. Boise State and Indiana v. Penn State in 2010. It now looks like the football championship subdivision wants to cash in on the action.
UMass and UNH have just penned a contract to play their heated rivalry game at Robert Kraft’s Gillette Stadium. The two year deal will feature this clash of the New England titans on October 23, 2010 and on a later date in 2011. According to the deal, ticket prices will range anywhere from $15 to $30 per seat. A slight increase from UNH’s Cowell Stadium’s $8 to $19 ticket prices.
The question remains, is there a strong enough fan base to fill the 68,750 capacity stadium? It’s no secret UNH’s Sean McDonnell is excited about coaching in an NFL stadium, but from a player’s perspective, there is nothing worse than playing in an empty stadium. UNH has a hard enough time filling it’s 8,000 seat stadium on Saturdays. It’s great to see this rivalry make it to the big stage. Let’s hope there is a positive turnout.
