Bowling Green State University Athletics
Ask The AD -- Sept. 11, 2007
September 11, 2007 | General
Sept. 11, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Each week, Bowling Green State University Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics Greg Christopher answers a few of the many questions that have been submitted to BGSUFalcons.com. Here is the latest installment ...
A note to all fans ...
Several have written questions seeking personal responses, rather than answers through the web site. I don't know the workings of our site, but the questions come to me without any return email addresses ... thus I am unable to respond to individual questions.
Q: Both the men's and women's basketball schedules were recently released. When does the basketball scheduling process begin, and how long does it usually take?
Phil in Bowling Green
A: While football scheduling often happens years in advance, basketball scheduling rarely goes beyond one year out. Many of the non-conference games come together in the spring and even into the summer. As late as a week before the schedule was released, we were working on final details of a non-conference series. As we work toward playing more home-and-home series, we'll have some games slated for the year ahead. For example, next year in men's basketball we will be on the road at Illinois State for the back end of a home-and-home. Similarly, we know that this year's BracketBuster opponent will come to Anderson in November or December of 2008 as part of that contract. Regarding the MAC schedule, the conference office sets that - taking into account both women's and men's games, plus other special events and activities hosted by schools.
Q: Has the university considered searching for a new athletic supplier for apparel and merchandise? It seems to me and several of our fans that Adidas does very little to market our brand. With the addition of UnderArmour products at the bookstore, is this a sign of things to come when the Adidas deal expires?
Mike in Louisville
A: BGSU Athletics currently has two apparel contracts - Nike for men's basketball and Adidas for the other 17 sports. Both agreements last until the spring of 2009. The terms are similar to other MAC agreements in that we receive apparel credit and discounted pricing with our team orders. I agree that the retail component of our existing situation could be stronger and it will be an important consideration with our next negotiation.
UnderArmour is relatively new to the college apparel scene, while other companies beyond the Nike/Adidas have recently signed significant MAC deals - New Balance at Central Michigan and Russell at Ohio.
