Unprecedented success came with a price for University of Richmond football in 2007.

The Spiders won a school-record 11 games, were co-champions of the Colonial Athletic Association and advanced to the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals, the furthest UR has gone.

But Richmond Athletic Director Jim Miller estimated a $50,000 loss linked to Richmond's three-game playoffs experience. UR dropped about $20,000 while serving as a first-round host. The Spiders then took road trips for quarterfinal and semifinal games.

"People have this perception that football is this big money-maker, and at the [major-college] level, it clearly is," Miller said. "At the FCS level, it clearly is not."

James Madison Athletic Director Jeff Bourne confirmed Miller's claim. Bourne said that Madison losses related to its postseason run to the Division I-AA (which became the FCS) national championship in 2004 were "six figures." He chose not to be more specific.

Damani Leech, the NCAA's director for baseball and football, said he is unaware of any movement among FCS schools to change the fiscal structure of that level's playoffs.

The NCAA sets a minimum bid to serve as a host for an FCS playoff game. Those bid minimums elevate as the playoffs progress. In 2007, the minimum bid for a first-round game was $30,000. Miller said the Spiders bid "slightly" higher than that to increase their chances of getting the game at UR Stadium.

"Fortunately, we're in a position where the university can absorb [financial] losses to get home [playoff] games," Miller said. Some playoff qualifiers over the years have not made a serious effort to secure home games because of financial considerations, he suggested.

The four seeds, the only seeds in the 16-team field, receive first-round home games if they meet the minimum bid. Richmond was not seeded. In UR's first-rounder, the Spiders beat Eastern Kentucky. The game drew 3,253 to UR Stadium on Thanksgiving weekend, and UR lost $20,000.

"We're not a unique situation," said Miller, a former member of the NCAA's Division I-AA Committee, of the financial setbacks. "I'm quite sure that's the case for all of the teams in similar situations to us.

"If you're a Delaware or Appalachian State, and put 20,000 paying people in the stands, depending on what your guarantee was, you have the potential to make a profit on home games."

The Spiders the following weekend played a quarterfinal at Wofford and won, then fell at Appalachian State in the semifinals. The NCAA pays for travel, hotels and meals for visiting teams through the playoffs.

Miller said costs accompanying the entire playoff run included housing and feeding the team and support personnel during Thanksgiving break, resources required for three additional weeks of practice, entertainment of boosters at road games, transportation of students and cheerleaders to and from road games, the purchase of tickets from the NCAA for players' family members, advertising, promotions and various other things.

JMU played playoff road games (at Lehigh, at Furman, and at William and Mary) prior to the 2004 title game in Chattanooga, Tenn., and therefore wasn't required to fulfill a bid pledge to the NCAA for a home game. Bourne said the kinds of costs incurred by UR are comparable to those that were faced by JMU. But Madison also transported its 360-member band to playoff games.

Playoff games are commonly televised. Participating teams, however, do not receive direct revenue from the broadcasts. Networks pay the NCAA a rights fee for the ability to televise several championships, according to Leech.

Miller said in addition to basic expenses connected to playoff participation, UR paid bonuses to the coaching staff, per contract stipulations. He would not reveal the amount of the bonuses. Miller did not count those bonuses in the school's estimated $50,000 loss.

Qualification and advancement in the FCS playoffs provided extensive TV exposure for Richmond, Miller noted. He added that he assumes contributions to UR rise when the football team experiences such success, though he said he could point to no direct proof.
Contact John O'Connor at (804) 649-6233 or joconnor@timesdispatch.com.