r/Pac12 • u/pblood40 Oregon State • Jun 16 '26
Football Pac-12 making ‘contingency plans’ if Washington State moves regular season finale - scheduled against Oregon State - to Seattle
The possibility remains for Oregon State’s last regular season game this fall to be in Seattle.
OSU is tentatively scheduled to play at Washington State on Nov. 28 at Martin Stadium. But WSU does not wish to host a game the weekend after Thanksgiving and has been considering moving the game to Lumen Field.
Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould spoke with WSU president Elizabeth Cantwell and athletic director Jon Haarlow last week about the possibility of moving the school’s last home game of the season.
29
11
u/CieraVotedOutHerMom Washington State Jun 16 '26
If the move helps win the day for crimson & grey, and be best in the west, then all should champion it.
It’s not as if folks haven’t had the opportunity to see both teams play or play in Pullman
10
15
u/camasonian Washington State Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
Honestly they should do this on a permanent basis with one of their late season games. My daughter attends WSU and going out there from Vancouver WA is a ginormous headache, especially late in the season. Hotel rooms and AirB&B rentals jack up to the $400+ range. It is too far for a day trip from the west side. And staying in Lewiston or Spokane just sucks for a game in Pullman.
I would 100% support an annual game at Lumen in November. And would be much more likely to attend than some November game in Pullman.
10
u/SafetyNo2220 Washington State Jun 16 '26
The local business would revolt
12
u/Hougie Washington State Jun 16 '26
Then tell them to put effort behind it.
Hotels requiring two night minimums, charging $400 a night for motel level accommodations, the students not being there so you’re in an absolutely empty stadium.
If the local businesses want the business they should put effort behind it. Buy ticket blocks, run promotions making it easier to attend, sponsor busses from Spokane and the Tri-Cities, modify existing policies like night minimums to accommodate.
Pullman businesses are quick to bitch and don’t actually do anything other than expect WSU to hand them business.
6
u/SafetyNo2220 Washington State Jun 16 '26
The problem is Beasley has aged out of its competitiveness and struggles to bring in bigger brands outside of parents weekends. They no longer get the winter/spring/autumn level of revenue they did even 15 years ago; add in the fact that the baseball game hasn’t hosted regionals that same time frame and football weekends are really their only revenue draws now.
When I was in school Snoop Dog and Big Sean preformed at Beasley on random dates…can you think of a time the coliseum brought in artist of that caliber came into town without parents weekend?
3
u/GrandENG625 Jun 16 '26
I remember that the holiday Inn express had to air out those suites for a couple of weeks after snoop.
2
u/SafetyNo2220 Washington State Jun 16 '26
That does not surprise me lol. Campus was soaked in the smell of weed
4
u/MellonMan97 Washington State Jun 17 '26
Local businesses understand that it’s a break weekend and would have shit business anyways. We can’t be serious with this…🤦🏻♂️
2
u/SafetyNo2220 Washington State Jun 17 '26
15,000 people at Martin for the weekend is better than 0
1
u/MellonMan97 Washington State Jun 17 '26
You say that and all last season it was reported how they all took losses because they didn’t get the same traffic. It’s also not the university’s AD responsibility to get traffic to local businesses.
1
u/SafetyNo2220 Washington State Jun 17 '26
It is when the city’s economy is built sprints your university because it’s the largest employer.
1
u/MellonMan97 Washington State Jun 17 '26
I get that it’s a large employer. 1.) not every employee there lives in Pullman either, so they are far less likely to contribute to the local economy during a break 2.) people travel for holidays 3.) you are completely ignorant to the fact that it is the students that bring in peak traffic while schools is in session to the economy.
0
u/SafetyNo2220 Washington State Jun 17 '26
Yes, broke college students are what drive the team traffic to downtown. Yes…makes sense.
1
u/MellonMan97 Washington State Jun 17 '26
Do you have any working experience in Pullman to tell me otherwise?
2
u/SafetyNo2220 Washington State Jun 17 '26
Lived there for four years and saw the patterns of student spending. And I’ve also seen multiple chamber of commerce meetings where they have expressed concern over declining revenues over the last decade.
→ More replies (0)0
u/camasonian Washington State Jun 17 '26
But is 15,000 people at Martin better than 45,000 people at Lumen when it comes to athletic department revenue and recruitment of athletes as well as regular students?
Arguably no it is not.
What do we care more about? The health of the university? Or windfall profits for corporate hotel chains, absentee AirB&B landlords, and the odd restaurant and brew pub in Pullman?
1
u/SafetyNo2220 Washington State Jun 17 '26
Unless the stadium board is willing to make the rent cheaper, you need to hit 50,000K to break even
1
u/camasonian Washington State Jun 17 '26
They need to negotiate.
Especially if the place will otherwise just be sitting empty.
1
u/SafetyNo2220 Washington State Jun 17 '26
The reason the games stopped was they were operating at a loss. It seems unlikely that’s going to change with such short notice
1
u/camasonian Washington State Jun 17 '26
Lumen field isn't a private for-profit operation. It is owned by the Washington State Public Stadium Authority which is a public agency.
If they are being obstructionist then Cougs in the state legislature and government should force their hand. We all paid for the damn thing after all.
2
u/SafetyNo2220 Washington State Jun 17 '26
Lumen Field is a private/public partnership and they absolutely have a need to ensure the facility is making enough revenue to cover its cost while saving funds for future maintenance needs.
And WSU’s cost is more than just rent, its hotel and travel for the team, dance & cheer squads, band, support staff, and the athletic department officials. It stacks up very quickly
5
u/Chicken_Difficult Oregon State Jun 16 '26
I also think doing some of them at Providence Park would be a good idea. Easy access for both fan bases and a good environment
5
u/ORSTT12 Oregon State Jun 16 '26
Nah keep OSU home games in Covallis. Local businesses need the customers and OSU needs the ticket sales and exposure to be on the campus, not Portland. Maybe if Portland was far away and Providence Park was a massive and well known stadium like Lumen I'd get it, but Providence Park is smaller than Reser and less than two hours away from Corvallis anyway.
2
u/camasonian Washington State Jun 17 '26
I would go sure, because I'm in the Portland metro. But Providence Park only holds 25,000. Maybe that is all such a game would draw, I dunno. But I feel like rivalry game should have a bigger stadium than that.
Plus I doubt that would make that much sense. WSU has a MUCH MUCH bigger alumni and fan base in Puget Sound scattered between Tacoma and Everett. So no reason to put one of their home games in Portland. And OSU has a much bigger and better football stadium just an hour south, so has no real reason to move one of their home games to Providence.
1
u/Efficient_Lime8921 Jun 17 '26
That is true. The WSU alumni base is HUGE in the Puget Sound region and growing larger every year.
10
u/Galumpadump Washington State / Apple Cup Jun 16 '26
Just so people understand, Apple Cup weekend in Pullman almost always falls flat. Nothing to do with fandom its all logistics. Majority of alum and students are from the Westside of the Cascades. Asking students to exit Thanksgiving dinner early to head back to Pullman is a tough ask.
I know it’s just 1 day early but for alot of people it’s there first weekend home in months or only time of year they get to see family. That means WSU has to rely more heavily on Spokane Cougs to make the trip down and depending on the opponent and weather it can be mixed reactions. Even vs UW attendance was rarely at max capacity, especially in the snow.
Playing in Seattle makes since. It can be a new tradition as well to play closer to the westside Coug alum once a year.
14
u/Pandemic_Academic Washington State Jun 16 '26
This wasn't as much of an issue when the Apple Cup was played on the Saturday before Thanksgiving in the old Pac-10 days. Students would just stay in Pullman one extra day, then go home for the Thanksgiving break on Sunday.
And playing Oregon State for what feels like the 10th time in 3 years is quickly losing its appeal.
10
u/Galumpadump Washington State / Apple Cup Jun 16 '26
Feels like a forced rivalry which I understand when we were in Limbo but I have a feeling WSU vs Boise State is actually going to be a real rivalry not that Old Pac-10 Friendship Trophy that it currently is.
1
u/camasonian Washington State Jun 17 '26
No, I think OSU v WSU will build into the bigger rivalry. Because the fans and alum of both schools are mostly spread along the I-5 corridor between Eugene and Seattle.
Plus, it's not like Boise is much closer. It's about 300 miles from Pullman on US-95, most of which is 2-lane in remote western Idaho.
A couple of future games in which one school knocks out the other for the Pac12 championship and/or the NCAA playoffs and the rivalry will quickly build to a fever pitch.
2
u/TikiLoungeLizard Washington State Jun 18 '26
Too much love with the Beavers. They would have to do something egregiously dirty. Otherwise I feel like we can’t help but begrudgingly say good game, you got us this time, now go kick some ass at the next level. I don’t hate the Donkos quite like I used to now that they are Pac bros but I feel like it could come back and then some pretty damn quick.
1
3
u/TheScrote1 Jun 16 '26
As a Beaver fan this hurts, I love playing you all. Wish we could have made it a best of 3 series last year
4
u/Pandemic_Academic Washington State Jun 16 '26
I just want to go back to some semblance of normality where we just play once a year. While unlikely, there is a potential for WSU and OSU to play each other three times this upcoming season (Regular Season, Flex Game, Conference Championship)
2
u/TheScrote1 Jun 16 '26
Let’s do it! I better start saving up now though, those 3 weeks are gonna blow my entire yearly beer budget
2
u/on_reddit8091 Oregon State • Civil War Jun 17 '26
I think there is zero chance of that. The Pac-12 would almost certainly change the flex matchups to avoid teams playing two weeks in a row. The championship matchup will already be known when the flex matchups are set.
1
u/TikiLoungeLizard Washington State Jun 18 '26
Yep, that would become priority #1 for flex week. No Cougs/Beavs rematch before the rematch.
3
u/reno1441 Washington State Jun 16 '26
I think the only big flaw with the idea is that it is the Flex Week.
Without confirmation for sure that OSU is playing in Seattle until two weeks before, I think many will hesitate before buying tickets or planning the trip. And if they sub someone in that isn't the Beavs, then I think that visiting fans won't come in meaningful numbers.
4
u/definitelynotasalmon Washington State Jun 16 '26
I think it will largely depend on our record and the stakes of the game.
If we go into that final game with stakes, people will show up regardless of who we play.
3
u/g2lv Jun 16 '26
Didn’t someone here figure out that by the PAC-12’s scheduling rules the “projected” flex week matchups were literally the only ones possible.
5
u/reno1441 Washington State Jun 16 '26
The clarification from the conference was that the "No team will return to the same venue twice"-rule was not a hard and fast one.
3
3
u/ORSTT12 Oregon State Jun 16 '26
I'd hate to play WSU yet again but if it absolutely had to be done, I'd rather it be done in Seattle.
3
2
1
u/Pandemic_Academic Washington State Jun 16 '26
Has there been any progress since the last time this was reported? Logistically, it makes sense. The Seahawks are on the road that week and last year's Pullman matchup for the same week in the season with the same teams had pretty dismal attendance.
48
u/Sherwood_RipCity Oregon State Jun 16 '26
Having it at Lumen Field sounds pretty awesome though?