A trip to Sunny Florida on the first day of Autumn is enticing for many Northeasterners. Stetson's proximity to Orlando, 40 miles, should make it an attractive trip for Harvard fans. While Harvard hosts Stetson to open the 2024 season, there is no return trip to DeLand, Florida on either school's future schedules.
Harvard's non-conference schedule is limited in geographic scope, like much of the Ivy League. The Crimson has ventured south of Washington D.C. just three times since 1947. Harvard has also played west of Pennsylvania three times since 1949. Although the Ivy League's de-emphasis on athletics may cause this, this is outrageous in this era of college football.
If any fanbase can afford cross-country trips, it is Harvard's for obvious reasons. A trip to Florida could be a rewarding experience for the Crimson's wealthy fanbase. Additionally, a trip to Stetson gives Harvard a rare opportunity to play in front of Florida recruits. Florida is a well-known football talent hotspot. The Crimson can gain an advantage over their Ivy League counterparts by making a rare trip to play in front of Sunshine State recruits.
The Crimson should follow Princeton's lead and schedule multiple enthralling intersectional series. Princeton opened the season at Stetson in 2022. In 2023, they visited San Diego, and this year, they will visit Mercer in Macon, Georgia. Princeton is creating exciting experiences for its fans and players while increasing its national brand. Additionally, Brown and Dartmouth traveled to Florida when they played at Jacksonville before their program shut down in 2020.
Harvard's lack of a return trip to Stetson is even more baffling, considering the Crimson played at San Diego twice since 2013, most recently in 2019. The argument that Stetson does not have enough seats to accommodate visiting Crimson fans is egregious since Spec Martin Stadium, Stetson's home, has the same capacity as San Diego's Toreros Stadium.
Harvard could use a visit to Spec Martin Stadium to sell more season tickets. A relic of a bygone era of the college football landscape, Harvard Stadium is too cavernous for Harvard with its 30,000 seats. The Crimson athletic department could create travel packages to Orlando to lure more season ticket holders. Before the COVID-19 pandemic postponed Fordham's 2020 game with Hawaii, the Rams sold a four-day travel experience to the Aloha State to make it feel like a bowl game. A game at Spec Martin gives Harvard an experience they lack with the Ivy League's absence from the FCS Playoffs. Tourism is central to the college football experience. The Ivy League misses out on that experience by confining its non-conference schedule to the Northeast.
There is still time for Harvard to reconsider and schedule a visit to the venerable Spec Martin Stadium, home of the fictitious South Central Lousiana State Mud Dogs. However, the approaching start of 2025 makes any agreement unlikely. Harvard is simply depriving its fans and stunting its recruiting growth by not traveling to the Sunshine State in 2025.
