Football Trips Pay Off for Northridge

It might be small consolation, but the Cal State Northridge football team is finding that not all is lost on the road.

Northridge received $30,000 to play Division I-AA Eastern Washington in Cheney, Wash., on Sept. 7 and $15,000 to meet Division I-A Cal State Fullerton on Saturday at Santa Ana Stadium.

The Matadors (1-2) lost to Eastern Washington, 20-13, and to Fullerton, 17-10.

Northridge’s victory, a 12-10 decision over Eastern New Mexico on Sept. 14, was not a moneymaker, but at least one could say that the Matadors broke even. The trip to Eastern New Mexico was pay-back for the Greyhounds playing at North Campus Stadium last season.

Northridge’s Oct. 12 game at UC Davis and Saturday’s home game against Central Oklahoma are also reciprocative.

However, the Eastern Washington and Fullerton games were played strictly to replenish Northridge’s thinning coffers.

Because the Fullerton trip did not require air transportation and a hotel stay, it was more profitable. Northridge spent $15,405 traveling to Cheney, excluding ground transportation.

But expenses notwithstanding, the Washington and Fullerton trips turned more of a profit than an average Northridge home game. CSUN cannot pay nonconference opponents to play at North Campus Stadium because the profit is so small.

Northridge averaged 4,200 in attendance last season for five home games and made an average profit of $5,500 a game.

This season, Northridge has only three home games on its 10-game schedule. The others are Western Football Conference games against Santa Clara (Oct. 19) and Southern Utah (Nov. 2).