Football has to carry the day at the college level. It is the primary revenue driver for athletic departments across the country. At Fresno State, it is the one and only.
Ticket sales. Donations. TV revenue.
When the Bulldogs are winning, all three rise, spinning off that patch of green 100 yards long and 53 1/3 yards wide.
Fresno State Athletic Director Jim Bartko said it when he was hired in November 2014 and has repeated it again and again: “It’s our only sport that has any chance to make money. There’s no other sport that has a chance, so we need to maximize that.