Troy Dannen talks about future of Apple Cup amid conference realignment

One of the most frustrating things for fans amid conference realignment is the loss of traditional rivalry games. Now, new Washington Huskies athletic director Troy Dannen shared some insight into the future of the Apple Cup.

With Washington moving to the Big Ten while Washington State remains in the remnants of the Pac-12, there are serious questions about the Apple Cup and if it will continue to be played at all.

“So, I’ll start with a little bit, I’ve been here 26 hours, and I did this on a radio show,” Troy Dannen said. “It was 120 minutes when we started the radio show, I think it was 136 when ended the radio show yesterday. But, I’ve got a lot to learn.”

The Apple Cup dates back to 1900 when it was first played in Seattle. That game ended in a 5-5 tie. Washington holds a 75-33-6 record all-time against Washington State. In particular, the Huskies have dominated the game in recent seasons. Since Chris Petersen was hired in 2014, the Huskies are 7-1 against the Cougars.

“I’ll say this, what’s happened in college athletics, a lot of the history, rivalries, things that are traditions have been destroyed through the evolution of college athletics, and we’re gonna continue to evolve,” Dannen said. “My bias is I don’t want to lose the history and the traditions. I also know that I have this economic model, particularly as we move to the Big Ten, where we’re playing with people that frankly have an economic model that is, I don’t want to say far superior, but far greater than ours. We have to be really careful, and seven home games is a piece of the economic model going forward that UW has to have.”

Entering the Big Ten, a reality for Washington is that the Huskies aren’t going to get an equal revenue share with the rest of the conference. It’s still better than what the Pac-12 was offering but it’s less than their future peers will earn. On top of that, the Huskies will play nine conference games, which means that in some seasons they’ll get five conference home games and in others they’ll only have four.

According to Troy Dannen, the reality is that in the seasons when they only have four home conference games, all three non-conference games would need to be at home, adding a challenge in scheduling the Apple Cup.

“Now, does that mean it has to, I don’t know,” Dannen said. “But, long term, we have to have seven home games and the revenue generated by seven home games in order to be in a financial position to compete in the league that we’re moving to.”

Following his comments, Washington president Ana Mari Cauce added that the school is having conversations about the Apple Cup. She also pointed out that because Dannen has only been at Washington for such a short period, he’s not entirely up to speed on those conversations.

This season the Apple Cup will once again be played in Seattle to end the regular season.

Kalen DeBoer reacts to Washington hiring Troy Dannen

One of the most important relationships in an athletic department is the one between the athletic director and the head football coach. For now, it appears Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer and new AD Troy Dannen are on the same page at the start of Dannen’s tenure.

“Yeah, it’s been great. He comes in, coming from Tulane, and has a Midwest background. So we hit it off pretty good from just myself being from that part of the country. But you can tell he gets it,” DeBoer said.

“He sat in the athletic director’s chair for many years now and has a lot of experience being around high-end athletics and is a great leader. You can see that already.”