The absence of the Washington State band from the Apple Cup has turned into one of the week’s loudest arguments, with both sides trading blame over who really kept the Cougar Marching Band out of Husky Stadium.
Washington State fans have said Washington forced the issue by placing visiting bands high in the stadium, while Husky supporters have pushed back and argued the decision came from WSU, often pointing to money. The whole thing landed with extra irony on Friday, when word came out that Washington would also be cutting back its own band travel on the road.
For more than 100 years, the Apple Cup has been framed as a community celebration, and the bands have long been part of that identity. The source notes that going back at least to the 1960s, both bands performed at halftime and sometimes even together, no matter where the game was played. UW says it is now following Big Ten rules on band placement, but the debate has only grown louder around a rivalry that is 126 years old.
Seattle Times reporter Sofia Schwarzwalder said the Husky Marching Band will be at fewer away games this season, traveling only to the Oregon game in November. UW Athletics said the usual three road trips has been cut to one because of “overall travel and cost.” The university also said the price of moving the band, especially by plane, has climbed sharply in recent years.
WSU athletic director Jon Haarlow said the decision was made with the students’ experience in mind. “That was a decision that us and the band had come to for simply the experience that our students were going to have when they were over there,” Haarlow said.
He added that he understood the logistical changes around tickets and conference realignment, but said the challenges of getting the band down and back up into the stadium would not have created the experience WSU wanted. “And so that was the decision that we made,” he said.
Betsy Cantwell, the WSU president, also backed that view. “I do agree with it (the decision),” she said.
Cantwell said college athletics is at the center of broader changes in higher education, and pointed to UW’s move into a new conference with different rules than the Pac-12. She said those rules affect how visiting teams and bands are handled, and added that the placement of the band and whether the students would have the best possible experience were major factors.
Not everyone bought that explanation. FOX 13 sports director Aaron Levine said Husky Stadium has been putting opposing bands in higher sections since 2024, making this the first time WSU has dealt with the new setup. He said the issue comes down to money on both sides and called it “a microcosm of what has taken over college sports and ultimately what might kill this rivalry: Business over tradition.”
On Seattle radio, Dave “Softy” Mahler was even more direct. “There is a BS narrative going around that Washington denied the Cougar marching band entry into Husky Stadium on Sunday.
Complete fabrication,” he said. Mahler said the Apple Cup contract requires the home team to provide 400 complimentary tickets and 2,000 tickets for purchase, and that the visiting school can decide how to use them, including for a marching band.
He also said Washington’s band director reached out to WSU’s band director to help with travel costs, including possible hotel deals, and got no response. “The choice to not bring the band to Seattle for the game Sunday was made by WSU.
And nobody else.”
UW athletic director Pat Chun said Washington wanted the band there. “We definitely wanted the Washington State band here.
We're disappointed they're not coming. That was a decision made by Washington State.
Our band will take advantage of it and they'll take the stage themselves.”
Kim Grinolds of Dawgman.com also said the issue was financial, not seating. “It wasn't about the tickets or the seating.
It was strictly a financial decision by WSU. Also, Pat Chun will get the blame for anything and everything that goes wrong at WSU.
Fumble the opening kickoff? Chun's fault.
You could write a check to support the band.”
Brett Blankenship, a WSU regent, offered a different memory of how this sort of thing used to work. “It wasn't long ago, a certain band had a bus fail on way to Apple Cup.
The host Cougar Band filled in, played the rival's music, and in the spirit of the moment, saved the atmosphere of college athletics. A gracious host does those things.
Not so in Montlake. Sad.”
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