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Faltering Pirates dumped from 2004 BCA game
Bonesville.net Staff Report East Carolina will not be playing at Virginia
Tech in the Black Coaches Association game in Blacksburg, Va., next season,
according to Hokies athletics director Jim Weaver.
“The BCA has decided to go in a different direction,” Weaver confirmed.
In an effort to help offset the loss of the financial boon that would
have been associated with the game, Virginia Tech has moved a game at LSU
next season to 2007 so that it might add a seventh home game, possibly
against Western Carolina.
The Hokies had budgeted revenue of about $800,000 for the ECU game on
ESPN. Virginia Tech’s revenue stream must pay an exit fee to the Big East
and an entry fee to the ACC next year.
Weaver said ECU had given up the home end of a home and home series with
Virginia Tech to play the BCA game in Blacksburg. The Pirates stood to
realize about $750,000 from the trip, according to Weaver. Former ECU AD
Mike Hamrick had said revenue would be around $1 million for ECU.
A report in the Roanoke (Va.) Times indicated organizers of the BCA game
had soured on ECU (0-6) because of the Pirates’ lack of competitiveness this
season.
ECU will not schedule another game in place of the trip to Virginia Tech
because it was an exempt game — one permitted by the NCAA in addition to the
11 regular-season games allowed for the 2004 regular season.
An ESPN spokesman said the network and BCA officials are still
considering teams for next year’s game.
02.23.07 11:29 AM
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