UW Football
Air Force-UW at Seahawks Stadium in '05

By Bob Condotta
Seattle Times staff reporter

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive

Bob Walsh couldn't get Army and Navy to bring their game to Seattle and figures he never will.

But Walsh, the local sports promoter known for helping bring events like the Final Four and the Goodwill Games to Seattle, isn't easily dissuaded.

So if he couldn't get Army and Navy, he thought, why not try Air Force?

That's what led Walsh, seven months ago, to call officials at the Air Force Academy and see if they would be interested in playing a football game in Seattle.

Air Force officials were intrigued, and suggested their Sept. 3, 2005 game against Washington.

"They were the ones who brought up (moving their game against UW to Seattle)," Walsh said, adding he initially was interested in any Air Force game.

Yesterday, the plan was completed when Walsh and officials from Air Force and UW announced that the Huskies and Falcons will play that day at Seahawks Stadium.

The contest will officially remain a home game for Air Force, which means the Falcons will likely make more money than they would have if the game had been played as originally scheduled in Colorado Springs. The official financial arrangements involved in moving the game, however, are still being finalized, organizers said.

Air Force's stadium seats 52,000 compared to the 67,000 listed capacity for Seahawks Stadium.

But Mike Saks, the senior associate athletic director for Air Force, said the school didn't move the game strictly for financial purposes, though he acknowledged that was a factor. Saks also cited the number of active and retired military in the area as one draw, as well as the chance to expose Air Force to the Northwest.

"Our fans will look at this like a bowl game," Saks said.

Walsh envisions the football game being the centerpiece of a three-day event celebrating the Air Force, though other activities have yet to be determined.

Moving the game was a no-brainer for UW, which avoids having to travel to Air Force, a dicey venue for a football team in the best of times, let alone the uncertain state the Huskies might still be in come the 2005 opener.

"It'll just be like having a home game," said UW coach Keith Gilbertson.

UW will get at least 35,000 tickets for the game for season-ticket holders with the possibility of more, Walsh said. UW season-ticket holders will have the opportunity to buy tickets on the away game ticket-application form. Those forms will be mailed to season-ticket holders in the spring of 2005.

The game, which will be the first UW will play in Seattle at a non-campus site since 1906, is likely a one-time deal for the Huskies, Walsh said. UW wants to keep its home games at Husky Stadium and doesn't appear to have any other road games that appear moveable any time soon. Walsh said he wasn't working with UW on any other projects.

Gilbertson said he thought his players would be excited about competing at Seahawks Stadium, however.

"I know a lot of our guys come to games here," he said.

Since it is Air Force's home game, television rights fall under the agreement the Mountain West Conference has with ESPN and ABC. Saks said he is almost certain that ESPN will televise the game.

Game time won't be determined for some time as it will be based on whether the Mariners have a home game that day and on television.

The game will also conflict with the 2005 Emerald City Kickoff Classic for local high-school teams. That will likely be Friday, Sept. 2, 2005, instead.

UW is 2-5 all-time against Air Force, including a 45-25 loss in the 1998 Oahu Bowl — which turned out to be Jim Lambright's last game as Huskies coach — and a 31-21 defeat at Husky Stadium in 1999, Rick Neuheisel's first home game as coach.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company