How Texas Tech football budgets Independence Bowl trip using $1.056 million from Big 12

It's been 37 years since a Texas Tech football team first played in the Independence Bowl and 25 years since the last group of Red Raiders ended their season there. Some things haven't changed, though.

Being down the list in the pecking order of marquee bowls, the game — or more specifically, the people putting it on — try to make up for it by making the visitors to Shreveport, Louisiana, feel as welcome as possible.

"The hospitality group provided by the bowl has been tremendous," Texas Tech deputy athletics director Jonathan Botros said. "The city of Shreveport really supports this event well."

Botros was part of a Tech contingent that made a site visit last week shortly after the Independence Bowl selection committee matched the Red Raiders against California. The two 6-6 teams will kick off at 8:15 p.m. Saturday in the game's 47th edition.

The Red Raiders and Golden Bears are scheduled to travel to Shreveport on Wednesday. Both teams will get a chance to practice at Independence Stadium before the game.

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Texas Tech football budget, Big 12 allowance for Independence Bowl

Botros, the Texas Tech athletics department's chief financial officer, said he is estimating operating expenses for the trip at about $1.35 million. All but about $300,000 of that will be covered by the Big 12.

Bowl payouts for Big 12 teams are collected by the conference, which then issues the teams a member participation subsidy and travel subsidy based on one-way air mileage. The travel allowance is either $900 per one-way air mile or $450 per one-way air mile.

The Big 12 allocation for Tech going to the Independence Bowl is $844,132 as the member subsidy and $212,400 for 472 miles at $450 per mile. That comes to $1,056,532 and is the higher of two formulas the Big 12 offers on that tier of bowl, the other being $450,204 plus $900 per one-way air mile.

For subsidy and mileage purposes, Big 12 teams chosen for Independence, Armed Forces or First Responder bowls are allocated the same amount. Big 12 teams chosen for the College Football Playoff receive a member subsidy of $2.53 million or $2.14 million depending on which of the two mileage formulas they use, and Big 12 teams in other New Year's Six bowls receive a subsidy of $2.25 million or $1.86 million depending on the mileage formula applied.

The subsidy for Big 12 teams in the Alamo, Pop-Tarts, Texas, Liberty and Guaranteed Rate bowls is $1.41 million or $1.01 million, plus mileage.

In an interview last December with the Avalanche-Journal, Botros said he typically budgets a couple of hundred thousand dollars more than the Big 12 allowance for bowl trips "to make sure that it's a positive experience for our student-athletes."

The university's fall-semester commencement is Friday and Saturday, so Tech did a special commencement on Tuesday for Red Raiders players, student managers and student coaches who are graduating.

Tech's travel party this week, Botros said, will be about 294, the total of players, full-time coaches and staff, student workers and guests.

Tech also will travel the full Goin' Band from Raiderland, more than 400 strong.

"The bowl indicated it was the largest group they can recall," Botros said. "They will perform on a number of occasions during the week, including a 'Battle of the Bands' event Friday, the national anthem, as home team, pregame ceremonies and at halftime."

Texas Tech football off-field events before game in Shreveport, Louisiana

Aside from practicing on Thursday, the two teams have a Fellowship of Christian Athletes breakfast, visits and tours at Barksdale Air Force Base and a visit to the Holy Angels facility in Shreveport.

"Our team will benefit from great experiences such as touring Barksdale Air Force Base & visiting the Holy Angels residential facility," Botros said.

Holy Angels is an independent nonprofit organization that, according to its description, is "dedicated to providing love, support, and empowerment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

"We create opportunities, allowing the highest level of independence possible for those we serve. Players of both teams will spend time with the residents of Holy Angels and participate in different activities."

The Independence Bowl allotted Tech 6,744 tickets to see through its athletics ticket office. Tech had sold about 3,200 as of the end of the business day Monday, Tech senior associate athletics director Robert Giovannetti said. Some fans also prefer to go through the Independence Bowl itself or other outlets to see if they find seat locations more to their liking.

A number of fan events are scheduled beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Shreveport's East Bank District: a parade, a battle of the bands, a fireworks show and a Taylor Swift tribute band concert. The Coca-Cola Fan Fest begins at noon Saturday in the silver lot on the north side of Independence Stadium.

INDEPENDENCE BOWL

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Shreveport, Louisiana

Note: An asterisk (*) denotes events open to the public.

Wednesday

Big Game welcome party presented by Mike and Judy McCarthy, 6 p.m., Riverview Hall. Kids welcome party, 6 p.m., Sci-Port Discovery Center.

Thursday

*Fellowship of Christian Athletes breakfast, 7:30 a.m. Riverview Hall. (Tickets $10, available at RadianceTechnologiesIndependenceBowl.com/fan-events/.) Barksdale Air Force Base team visits and tours, time to be determined. Holy Angels facilities visit, Cal from 2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m., Texas Tech from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Friday

*Mardi Gras Preview Parade, 6:30 p.m., Louisiana Boardwalk Outlets and East Bank District. *Battle of the Marching Bands, 7:15 p.m., East Bank District Plaza. *Fireworks show, 7:45 p.m., Hurricane Alley in the East Bank District. *Taylor Swift tribute band concert, 8 p.m., Hurricane Alley in the East Bank District.

Saturday

*Coca-Cola Fan Fest, noon, Independence Stadium silver lot, north side of stadium. *Independence Bowl, 8:15 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: texas-tech-football-independence-bowl-trip-a-look-at-red-raiders-budget