Kansas City, Mo ? Regardless of which school claims the Border War Cup, both Kansas and Missouri will come out winners.

The Big 12 Conference rivals will meet in football for the 111th time Saturday at Columbia, Mo. But that game won’t be any more important than head-to-head meetings in four other sports as part of an all-sports competition introduced during a news conference Wednesday at Union Station.

“It helps with competition across the board,” KU athletic director Al Bohl said. “The big sports  football and basketball  get a lot of attention, but I really believe that this is going to help with all of our other sports.”

Officials at both schools hope the new competition will generate more interest when Kansas and Missouri meet in Olympic sports, such as soccer and volleyball. Those programs also will benefit financially because the schools will split hefty sponsorship fees. Midwest Ford Dealers group is locked in for the first three years as the presenting sponsor.

Missouri athletic director Mike Alden said that each school will pocket a sum in the “low six figures” each year from that sponsorship.

“No one really comes out a loser in these types of situations,” he said.

Generating new forms of revenue is critical for athletic departments due to increasing operating costs.

“It really makes a difference,” Bohl said of the sponsorship. “Each year we’re trying to figure out how to keep the dream alive for all of our student-athletes. That sponsorship means a lot to both of us.”

But it’s not the big one. The schools are in negotiations for a title sponsor, which Alden said would generate between $300,000 and $500,000 per year for each institution.

Representatives from Kansas, Missouri and ESPN Regional have been working on the series for years. They took elements from Oregon and Oregon State’s Civil War, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State’s Bedlam Series and the North Carolina-Duke series.

Saturday’s football game will be worth three points in the season standings, as will head-to-head matchups in women’s soccer, women’s tennis and men’s and women’s golf.

In sports that feature home-and-home matchups, such as men’s basketball, each meeting is worth 11/2 points. A total of 39 points are available in the regular season with seven additional points possible for postseason matchups.

The overall winner will take home the Border War Cup  a giant silver trophy  each June at the Kansas City Sports Commission Banquet.

Fans can keep track of the standings on each school’s official website  www.kuathletics.com or www.mutigers.com. Updates also will be given on gameday broadcasts on the Tiger and Jayhawk radio networks as well as on weekly coaches call-in shows.