The California Polytechnic football team will be coming to Madison for more than a win when squaring off against the Badgers Saturday.
The UW Athletic Department is paying the school a $500,000 guarantee to bring the Sub-Division I-AA team from the West Coast to Wisconsin.
According to Eric Burdick, assistant director for media relations at Cal Poly, UW-Madison pulled out from playing Virginia Tech in 2005, leaving them with a bye week this season between the Fresno State and Michigan games. With this week open in their schedule, Cal Poly made the agreement to play UW-Madison at the end of the season.
If you're Cal Poly and you're going to come here '¦ you're forgoing the opportunity to host a home game yourself where you can make money,"" said Justin Doherty, UW-Madison assistant athletic director for communications.
According to Cal Poly officials, San Diego State paid Cal Poly $250,000 to play a non-conference game against them earlier this season. Doherty said UW-Madison received guarantee money for their Sept. 13 non-conference game against Fresno State.
""It's a situation where a team needs to schedule a game and another school agrees to come and play for a guaranteed amount of money,"" Doherty said. ""This is an extremely common thing, both here and around the country. This isn't an aberration.""
Cal Poly officials estimate the cost of the trip for its players will total $100,000, however, UW-Madison will be paying the school five times as much.
Cal Poly Athletic Director Alison Cone said in addition to paying for the trip, portions will fund a new communication system, new helmets and shoulder pads, as well as locker room renovations.
""Financially, our stadium isn't as big as [UW-Madison's] so we benefit more by traveling,"" Cone said.
UW-Madison officials said they hope to make about $2.2 million from ticket sales for the game, which would more than recoup the money spent on procuring Cal Poly. The money for the guarantee comes from previous ticket sales - no money is taken from students' tuition. Doherty said guarantee prices are negotiated between teams and depend on the size of the school and its location.
""Obviously Wisconsin has a bigger profit margin than we do so they can pay more [to other teams],"" Burdick said.
After being given 3,000 student tickets for Saturday, Cal Poly has only been able to sell a few hundred and returned a number of them to UW-Madison, according to Doherty.
""There will be 30 fans on our charter bus,"" Burdick said. ""As for how many people in the state of Wisconsin are going come and see us play, I don't know. I would expect a couple hundred but not much more than that.""
Cone said although Cal Poly has never played a BCS team before, the anticipation and excitement for the game Saturday is still present among members.
""I think our players are really excited to come and play the game,"" Cone said. ""If you look on paper, our chances aren't very good but our players are up for the challenge.""
For the Badgers, the stakes are as high as any other game during the season.
""It's the final game of the season, the chance to win another game,"" Doherty said. ""It's senior night and it's another chance to see the team play. I don't think it has any less importance.""
Calls made to UW Athletic Director Barry Alvarez were not returned.
