CSNbbs

Full Version: Atmosphere missing from this MACtion
You're currently viewing a stripped down version of our content. View the full version with proper formatting.
Attendance last night 16,649
BG's Saturday Homecoming vs Ohio U 17,641
We are slowly eroding the the fan base to be on ESPN.
8pm game on a Wednesday in November equals no atmosphere.
Amen, MACtion sucks...
Atmosphere in my basement was fantastic. Big tv. Comfortable couch. Warm blanket. Ass whooping on the screen.
Interestingly enough, I've had more comments this year from friends, acquaintances asking about weeknight #MACtion......and invariably the follow-up comment or question is along the lines of:

"What is the attendance?"

"There's no one there!"

So I guess one could make the argument that ESPN is financing MAC Athletics. The question to ask is given their financial struggles, what happens if they pull the plug?
(11-16-2017 05:14 PM)jimrunsfar Wrote: [ -> ]Interestingly enough, I've had more comments this year from friends, acquaintances asking about weeknight #MACtion......and invariably the follow-up comment or question is along the lines of:

"What is the attendance?"

"There's no one there!"

So I guess one could make the argument that ESPN is financing MAC Athletics. The question to ask is given their financial struggles, what happens if they pull the plug?

That would be interesting the fan base is disappearing.
(11-16-2017 09:02 AM)Boca Rocket Wrote: [ -> ]Attendance last night 16,649
BG's Saturday Homecoming vs Ohio U 17,641
Boca, I don't know where you got them numbers, I think they MAY have had 5,000, and that may be to many. 3/4 of the stadium was empty, we had a great turn out on our side considering the time and weather.
BG attendance has always been shaky. Add to that a 2-8 record and a chilly weeknight game and you have an empty wind tunnel in tractor town.
(11-16-2017 05:14 PM)jimrunsfar Wrote: [ -> ]Interestingly enough, I've had more comments this year from friends, acquaintances asking about weeknight #MACtion......and invariably the follow-up comment or question is along the lines of:

"What is the attendance?"

"There's no one there!"

So I guess one could make the argument that ESPN is financing MAC Athletics. The question to ask is given their financial struggles, what happens if they pull the plug?

you can't make the argument they are financing athletics. Consider the costs of scholarships, housing, equipment, travel, athletic department staff, coaches, trainers, promotions, recruiting, stadium and practice facility expenses, ESPN3 broadcast costs, etc... and the 1 million a year ESPN allocates per team is a fairly minor part of the budget. You could make that easily for the entire athletic department with the football team playing 1 extra money game a year. Instead of the every other season home game with a Nevada or Tulsa you play a South Carolina or Virginia or Nebraska type team. There's your entire ESPN paycheck. In return you get all your Saturday evening football back and maybe another high profile upset win. You could even compromise and agree to play 2 midweek November games a year for ESPN-Disney; one at home and one on the road, neither can be your primary rivalry game or senior night. Space it out among the league so all are on national tv and not ESPN3. They still get their midweek content and you can rebuild your fan base and game day traditions.
Fair enough....and I have admittedly an elementary understanding of College Athletic finances.

I think we can all agree though that it's a really bad look.....
There are some numbers that could be run to find out if this works out for each team. Doesn't seem fair for all the teams to get the same amounts. The UT-BG game on a Saturday in October is going to always draw about 25,000 fans. With that you get parking, concessions, apparel sales and more season ticket purchases. Put it on a Wednesday night in November and you get - 8,000 fans in the stands and maybe a couple thousand more that bought tickets as part of some package - but did not go. so say it is 12,000 more in ticket sales. Tickets would typically average $20/each. That is $240K. Say parking, food, and other sales gets you about another $150K. So that is $390K of incremental revenue. If you only have 2 games a year at home that you lose money on, it is unlikely you are losing revenues vs. the guaranteed $1M. However, you also lose fan support and do not grow a new fan base for the future.

I really question the advantage of "national exposure" on TV games. I think they mentioned the average national viewership of MACtion is about 250K. Not very likely many of those are recruits they are chasing after.
(11-17-2017 03:55 PM)MotoRocket Wrote: [ -> ]There are some numbers that could be run to find out if this works out for each team. Doesn't seem fair for all the teams to get the same amounts. The UT-BG game on a Saturday in October is going to always draw about 25,000 fans. With that you get parking, concessions, apparel sales and more season ticket purchases. Put it on a Wednesday night in November and you get - 8,000 fans in the stands and maybe a couple thousand more that bought tickets as part of some package - but did not go. so say it is 12,000 more in ticket sales. Tickets would typically average $20/each. That is $240K. Say parking, food, and other sales gets you about another $150K. So that is $390K of incremental revenue. If you only have 2 games a year at home that you lose money on, it is unlikely you are losing revenues vs. the guaranteed $1M. However, you also lose fan support and do not grow a new fan base for the future.

I really question the advantage of "national exposure" on TV games. I think they mentioned the average national viewership of MACtion is about 250K. Not very likely many of those are recruits they are chasing after.

And I'd like to see them quantify the gains from the exposure. If it makes recruiting easier, shouldn't the MAC be winning more games vs. the other conferences?
I'd love to hear from the players. What do they prefer. Would they rather play on Saturdays or weeknights in front of empty stadiums. Is TV really that important to them?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
When you talk about empty seats ask those same kids if they like playing in front of empty seats on Saturday in November and not on Tv

That is the reality for most schools in conference
I don't care anymore, gone are the saturday night football games (although I prefer day games) at the glass bowl without TV exposure, long before ESPN was in existence. To the MAC Commish, he and others in that office don
't care, as long there paychecks are in their bank accounts. Screw ESPN, I will gladly take in Dayton Football, Wittenburg U. (D111 school), Miami Redhawks (Oct games) games and watch them play in the afternoon. Living in Dayton area, I still try to catch one or two UT games, if they play in the afternoon, at home or at Ball State when that occurs.
Reference URL's