The broader picture

There's an interesting item in this notebook regarding the possibility of Georgia playing Army in a home-and-home series for football. It was picked up on 960-AM's 'The Morning Show' and led to a more general discussion about scheduling, including some hypothetical scenarios of Georgia taking on Army in Yankee Stadium in New York City.

I emailed a comment in talking about how the university as a whole could benefit from that type of exposure, and they were good enough to read it on the air. I do, however, want to clarify my position as it was suggested by a few folks that 'it wasn't good for North Campus to schedule football games.'

I wasn't intending to imply that North Campus was scheduling football games, but rather to suggest that the Athletic Association was recognizing its clout in serving as not only a revenue generator, but also as a significant fundraising mechanism. There's little doubt that a Georgia football game in New York City (or, say, Los Angeles to take on Southern California or UCLA) would be a major event for the thousands of UGA alumni living in that city.

I can only assume that such an event would be a significant marketing tool to reach those alumni, and that those various fundraisers would use an SEC football game in New York City to reach out to alumni and prospective donors in the same way the Peabody Awards are already used by the same development offices.

For the Athletic Association, it's logical to think that a game against Army in Yankee Stadium would generate national media buzz, be close to a certain victory on a high-profile stage and would offer Georgia fans the opportunity to travel to New York City. Those seem to be compelling reasons to schedule a game in New York City against any opponent, and, likewise, it's perfectly logical to assume that the various fundraising arms of UGA would capitalize on the opportunity by promoting the university's work, connecting with alumni and donors and, yes, soliciting gifts from various individuals and organizations.