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Michigan State president says primetime game against Michigan strains schools and fans
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Next Saturday, Michigan State and Michigan will kick off its 110th meeting during prime time at 7:30 p.m. on ABC, which is something that does not sit well for administrators at both schools.
Administrators at both universities have long fought against playing this game under the lights. And on Saturday, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon went onto George Perles Michigan State’s pregame to discuss her concerns.
“We’re trying very much to coordinate messages on both sides of this, recognizing that there’s just going to be a lot of travel up and down between here to Ann Arbor from people who probably will not go to the game,” Simon said on the show. “And I think that’s the biggest issue that you face in these kinds of games. …
“So we’re working a lot of angles to try and make this the most positive experience possible. But you have to worry about it. You have to worry about it. I think the SEC tradition is playing at night, it’s not our tradition.”
Simon went onto say that presidents and athletic directors have no more say in what times games will be played under the B1G’s new contract.
“The Big Ten requirement is that we play five games in two years at night. But when this was put in place, I guess I heard it that there were lots of people who wanted to play at night,” Simon said. “Penn State is a good example of a team that likes playing at night. And a team, I’ll pick Indiana, was another institution that wasn’t opposed to playing at night. They had a great opening with Ohio State, it was one of the first times that their stadium was full for an opening like that. So there are places that thought – Minnesota is another place that thought you get the big, national exposure for your program. It’s a coast-to-coast broadcast.
“And I think Iowa is one who thought we had a little more choice about all of this. But I have been informed that the contract does not do that. The presidents don’t sign the contract.”
Simon also went onto say that since this game will be played at night, it will affect fans travel plans.
“All of a sudden, you need a hotel room,” Simon said. “Or all of a sudden, you need some other kinds of things. I think it’s also been hard for our fans from Detroit and Grand Rapids, who take the hour, hour-and-a-half drive to get here for a game. It’s very tough.”