(07-25-2017 10:48 PM)machoman83 Wrote: .....because of these weeknight games, we get more national tv games and national exposure than some power 5 schools. It helps recruiting, the school, and the conference.
What is the basis for your first statement? Sorry, but non-NIU fans following college football would not say the Huskies have more national TV games and national exposure than a P5 school. As Huskie fans we tune in, but if you live in ACC, SEC, B1G, BigXII, or PAC-12 country, your league's cellar-dweller is shown more often than NIU. Keep in mind that a number of our games are only streamed via ESPN3 or ESPNU. Even the CBSTV games are generally not part of a cable package ala ESPN or ESPN2.
At an early point in time, that exposure was extremely helpful, but now this contract is doing more harm than good. Please explain the value for recruiting, the school or the MAC when it comes to games played in front of half-empty or worse stadiums?
IF you carefully read the posts, many on here are convinced the weeknight games (especially against lower-tier MAC foes) have significantly contributed to the decline in attendance. And then comes the domino effect with less tailgating, fewer people patronizing local businesses that NIU also counts on for support, etc. Come November, when college football interest is at its highest, the MAC is non-existent on Saturdays.
Sorry, but this contract has reached the point of diminishing returns. Almost all the P5s have developed their own conference networks and are exploring new and alternative ways (Amazon, Hulu, etc.) to deliver their content instead of relying on an ESPN deal. Now add on the fact that our deal is dictated to us, and it's clearly lesser to what the P5s are moving away from.