Cowboys Stadium's 'four games at once' idea nixed by Michigan State AD

Michigan State's athletic director abandoned a plan to have Cowboys Stadium host an event in which four basketball teams would play at once. ( Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis has abandoned a plan to host an eight-team event at Cowboys Stadium that would see four games go on simultaneously.

Hollis, who initially shared the plan with SI.com's Seth Davis, said Thursday that his plan was "off," according to a report in The Detroit Free Press.

The Free Press reported that the lack of a TV deal to showcase the event — which would have kicked off the 2013-14 season on Veterans Day — ultimately was its biggest backbreaker.

ESPN, CBS and Turner networks were approached, but there were concerns about “diluting exposure and tying down four networks,” Hollis said, at a time of year in which college basketball does not typically receive high ratings.

The eight schools also had disagreements about how to split the financial take.

Hollis explained that he hoped the event would create a March Madness-like feel in November. Each of the four games would have started 15 minutes after the previous one.

"We're going to squeeze everything into a three-hour time period," Hollis told Davis. "We're talking with eight institutions right now that have a very high interest and have that weekend open, and we're going to partner with the 12 [military] bases that are around Dallas, so we can make it a celebration for the guys at Fort Hood and others."