Northern Illinois is headed to the Orange Bowl and the school wants to make sure any student who can go to Miami this January will have the opportunity to while incurring as little cost as possible.
NIU’s associate athletic director Donna Turner said Monday that the school will offer one free ticket to any student who heads to the game against Florida State.
“We consider athletics to be an important part of the university for (the students),” Turner said. “If it gives them a good feeling about themselves, Northern Illinois and our athletic programs, that’s an investment that’s well worth it. When you talk about the big picture, that’s more important than whatever the cost is in the short term.”
NIU has provided free tickets to students for bowl games and MAC championship games for the past few years. Of course, students will still have to pay for travel and room expenses, but this will at least help a little. NIU will likely lose money on the game since the school was “provided” winkwinknudgenudge 17,500 tickets for the game.
(Hat tip: ESPN Chicago)
