During the current economic downturn, institutions are searching for new ways to generate revenue for its athletics departments.

Some schools are charging admission to spring football practices and others are raising ticket prices to sporting events. The University of Toledo has come up with a unique way to make money.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Doug Lesmerises writes, "When Ohio State and Toledo play each other in football at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Sept. 19, most of the fans probably will be rooting for the Buckeyes -- but they'll technically be boosters of Toledo football."

Toledo, technically the home team, controls the majority of the tickets for the matchup. Ohio State will be given 12,000 tickets for the game -- just enough for the school's students, faculty, and boosters.

Toledo on the other hand will have 58,000 tickets to distribute.

I'm not going to say Toledo doesn't have 58,000 fans who'd love to cheer on the Rockets, but having lived in Ohio, I can say almost everyone is a Buckeye fan, regardless of what school they attended.

Anyways, Toledo announced it was only selling tickets to Toledo season-ticket holders or donors to the Toledo athletics department. If you're an Ohio State fan get ready to pull out the checkbook.

It'll cost Buckeye fans, and anyone else interested in going to the game a $100 donation to Toledo's athletics department.

This is an awesome idea. Ohio State has played in Cleveland just one other time in the past 65 years. You can bet it'll be a big game, and ticket demand will be huge.
According to the newspaper, "If the Rockets sell their 58,000 tickets at an average price of $60, they will bring in nearly $3.5 million. And then, if they receive an average of $100 in donations for even 10,000 of the available tickets, that works out to another $1 million."

If I'm doing my math correctly, Toledo has the chance to generate 25 percent of the athletics department's yearly revenue with this one football game.

So far, Toledo's plan seems to be working.

"We're getting a lot of people, whether here in Toledo or in Columbus or wherever they might be, saying 'I'd like to get a ticket,' and if they need to make a donation or become a season-ticket holder, they are doing that," Toledo deputy athletic director Mike Karabin told the newspaper. "It kind of works twice for us. We'll get some donors and season-ticket holders, which is what we need."

It's a novel idea, and one that will probably catch on with other schools. Are there other creative ways school's are trying to generate revenue?