While Cal Poly would ultimately reduce the disparity in distance needed to be ventured by participants in the California Interscholastic Federation State Football Championship Bowl Games, its centrality could also play against the games being awarded to Alex G. Spanos Stadium, said Wednesday Jonni Biaggini, executive director of the San Luis Obispo County Visitors and Conference Bureau.
As reported in Wednesday’s Mustang Daily, Spanos Stadium is one of five frontrunners to host the games.
The CIF, Biaggini said, told her San Luis Obispo is “still in the running, however, one of the things that’s kind of in (its) favor but not is (its) location, because (the CIF) would have to transport all 10 teams to (the Central Coast) as opposed to if it were located in southern or northern California — then (the CIF) would probably only have to transport five teams because the others would be in that area.”
In a perfect world, neutrality would seem to be paramount, but the CIF does have budgetary priorities. On average last year, there was more than a 300-mile difference in distance needed to be traveled to the championships between the three closer schools and their more removed counterparts.
At the Division I level, for instance, De La Salle of Concord had to travel roughly 385 miles to the Home Depot Center in Carson, while its opponent, Centennial of Corona, needed to travel about 55.
Ultimately, however, the overall, combined mileage shared by the schools would prove to be about equal were Cal Poly to be awarded the site, if not slightly more costly.
Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times predicted in a March 15 blog that Bakersfield would be awarded the site because it would “hold down transportation costs.”
Biaggini said three games at Spanos Stadium would cost around $30,000, and five roughly $50,000, “maybe a little bit more.”
Such figures would coincide with comments made Tuesday by CIF director of communications Emmy Zack, who said the L.A. Memorial Coliseum and the Home Depot Center were likely out of the running due to being “substantially more prohibitive in cost,” at around $200,000, than the other sites, with which Cal Poly was “more in the ballpark with everyone else” at less than $100,000.