The above is something people just don’t think about when they process whatever emotions are generated by the WVU v. JMU game at FedEx Field, which all parties involved announced yesterday.

One of those parties is the Washington Redskins, who, of course, have a website. On a day that had to feature high, high traffic as the lockout nears an end, they decided to make the WVU-JMU game a lead story and feature it with art of the Mountaineers.

Not a deal-maker or deal-breaker, but an awfully neat accessory to the deal. And there are more …

Begin with the finances. You have to. For an optimal home game, WVU would get roughly $2 million. Figure that figure dips when a lesser opponent is in the building. Let’s say $1.8M … basically because WVU says so. FedEx Field and Russ Potts Promotions is guaranteeing $2.3 million. Can’t sneeze at $500,000.

As an additional incentive, WVU is guaranteed either $7.50 per ticket sold beyond 45,000 up to $200,000. So now it’s at least $2.3 million and perhaps $2.5 million.

“The key number for me is not really a gross number. It’s the net number,” Luck said. “The net number here, we’ll make a minimum of $500,000 from this game more than we would for playing host to a typical I-AA game.”

The Mountaineers make around $2 million for a home game. That’s for a larger or capacity crowd and the sum tends to be lower for less significant opponents, like James Madison, though WVU did draw 56,609 for a 2004 game against the Dukes. Mountaineer Field seats 60,000 and saw 57,862 for FCS Coastal Carolina’s visit last season, 57,950 for Liberty in 2009 and 60,566 for Villanova in 2008.

All three were season-openers. The JMU game is WVU’s third of the 2012 season. In addition to receiving more than a normal home date might provide, Luck said the expenses would be minimized, as well.

“What we do for a normal home football game is put the team on a bus, go to Lakeview and take the bus to the game,” Luck said. “This time we’re putting the team on a bus, taking it to Washington, D.C., checking into a hotel and taking the bus back from the game.

“The costs are marginally higher. It’s a little bit longer of a bus trip and that costs a little more money, but overall the costs are effectively the same. We don’t have the cost of operating the stadium.

“We don’t have the cost of paying the opponent. JMU is getting its guarantee from the promoter’s end.”

True, the numbers are a little different than what was first reported late last month. Then, I was told it was more than $2 million and less than what was guaranteed for the 2016 BYU game at FedEx Field, which was $2.25 million. Ultimately, it’s correct, though the numbers were juggled.

Because the 2012 and 2016 games are operated and promoted by the same people, they were able to revisit and adjust the 2016 game.

Now WVU will make $2.45 million and get a similar ticket incentive with the $200,000 cap … which is still greater than what will be made in the JMU affair.

And … and … WVU managed to keep the television rights for the Big East for both games. That will matter more in 2016 than in 2012.

Many, many pros to this deal — and we’ve only touched briefly on exposure and in depth on finances. Never mind WVU will be a presence in the metro Washington, D.C., area for a weekend with events before the game to really mark the occasion. There is also a string of seasons with games played in the same market now. It helps.

Negatives? Six home games. … That’s all I got, but I can counter it. This neutral site deal won’t be a regular occasion, but it’s something WVU and other schools will consider, something WVU and other schools have a responsibility to consider. It’s going to be hard for WVU to play seven home games every season once TCU comes into the Big East. Even in seasons when seven home dates are possible, it might not make financial sense for WVU to pay a school a ransom, which is what these mid-major and FCS schools can be expected to expect. So why not play the neutral site game and make $700,000?

Ideally, the neutral site games won’t be a FCS opponent. That wasn’t the original plan for 2012. There were much bigger names out there, but there lacked some reciprocal interest to play the game. So it was JMU, which was willing to play the game at a minimal cost. From what I gather, there was an opportunity to have one of these games this season, but the logistics didn’t work. And these weren’t JMU/FBS opponents, either. Top-shelf opportunities and one that’s … it sounds just too good to be true.

But these games make sense now. The NFL teams own the stadium. They don’t rent from a local county or commission. The stadiums are empty for all but eight or nine or 10 home games a season. So now they aggressively seek other income opportunities and it’s easy money. Once they get above 40,000 or so people, it’s all profit for the NFL. And look at the numbers JMU and WVU are tasked to meet: 42,500 and 45,000.

Just remember that concept. We’ll circle back.

There is the one prevailing negative. The six home games. There will be a void of pageantry for one autumn Saturday. That Friday will stink. People will be sad. I see it. I get it. I just don’t buy into the economic blow to the local economy. I don’t feel for the hotel industry, which is so moved by the pageantry that it sees fit to triple room prices and mandate two nights for home game weekends. They’ll survive. Restaurants will still be occupied. You’ll still wait in line at Sheetz Saturday morning. Won’t be the same, no, but there’s collateral damage and WVU won’t be stopped by that inevitability.

Plus, what if it could all be made up to you over time? WVU is going to get more involved in holding concerts at Mountaineer Field. I guarantee it. The Mountaineers are just like the Redskins, the Ravens, the Bengals and the rest of them. They have a platform that only has performances a few days a year. Why waste it? They’ll get names like Brad Paisley to begin with and go from there and they’ll make money in once-hidden areas on the dates where the gates used to be closed at the stadium. The concert industry will show up.

Why? How? What is it about WVU that distinguishes it and makes it so obvious as a concert venue? At Mountaineer Field, patrons can buy beer.