Here's the math.

The Big Ten Network charges $1.25 per month per basic cable subscriber household. That's $15 per year.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/wr...index.html

There are 3.5 million total households in metro Chicago.

This says there are 2,345,937 cable subscribers in Chicago

http://www.cabletv.com/il/chicago

This says there are 1.7 million households with cable, 929,000 with satellite, and 317,000 with fiber optics.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-...Ntq28.dpuf

Going by the 2.3MM figure, NIU would bring in $35.2MM annually, more than paying their way.
Going by the 1.7MM, NIU would bring in $25.5MM annually. That's close to what the payout is now.

I believe they may also be able to market the B12 to Dish and DirecTV to get it on the regional sports pack in Chicago. I don't know how much that would be worth but I'd guess a few million. I don't know what it would do to their ESPN and Fox contracts.

Of course this would assume that the B12 is interested in launching its own network like the B1G has, that the network would charge what the B1G does, and that Comcast would bite. But that's one conceivable way for NIU to pay its way into the B12.

(10-08-2013 08:50 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  Season/Individual ticket prices would skyrocket as well as required donation.

That would make up another 2-3mil in additional money....until people got tired of us getting killed.

I would be willing to pay double for my season tickets as it is, however increasing the season ticket prices will eliminate some of the "family" atmosphere at Huskie Stadium, which I would be opposed to.

That being said, if we truly want a different and dynamic revenue stream they should double season ticket prices, sell beer through the 3rd quarter, go in the hole scheduling big national teams to come to NIU, get Gameday to come to NIU, make the student ticket seem like gold by giving students vouchers for concessions during the game and hire mid-tier musical acts to perform for all student tailgate parties, stop pandering to the $30/tailgate ticket crowd and start pandering to the everyday Joe like myself.

Marketing NIU football to the entire Midwest would also be effective.

Maybe after doing these things for the next 5-10 years, we would get some interest from P5 conferences.

My 2 cents.

(10-07-2013 08:45 PM)huskiealum03 Wrote:  

(10-07-2013 08:42 PM)RedShark27 Wrote:  The alumni base is lethargic because most done care about MAC games. If NIU played a Big12 schedule there would be a HUGE increase in interest from the alums.

see: Kansas game last year. i think they're big 12.

don't get me wrong i would love to be in the big 12, i just don't see that we bring that much to the table considering the state of affairs overall speaking.

For the record, the Kansas game was still our best attended home game last year. No reason not to think swapping out Eastern Michigan, Akron, and UMass for Texas, Oklahoma, and TCU would be a boon for attendance. Not to mention more Saturday games and nationally ranked opponents on the schedule.

If NIU was presented with an opportunity to join the BIG 12 it would be a no-brainer decision.

B12 cares about adding the eventual B12 market to Dish and Comcast in Chicago, if that happens and we are winning our share of games, we're a winner as an add.

And we will win, oh yes we will.....

Dominate the MAC, win bowl games, win OOC, invest in facilities, be in the hunt for the G5 BCS spot every year, increase attendance and season ticket base. Those are the goals to continue building the program. So basically keep winning...! I think at some point though to realize those goals we will need to pay and retain a coach. A program can only handle to much turnover without an inevitable dropoff.

(10-08-2013 10:02 AM)HuskieTap22 Wrote:  Dominate the MAC, win bowl games, win OOC, invest in facilities, be in the hunt for the G5 BCS spot every year, increase attendance and season ticket base. Those are the goals to continue building the program. So basically keep winning...! I think at some point though to realize those goals we will need to pay and retain a coach. A program can only handle to much turnover without an inevitable dropoff.

I think next year could be telling, a lot of unknowns about out team. We have been blessed to have such great QB's, we shall see who steps up and carries the load. I think we all have a question mark after this year. Huskies have surprised a lot of us over the years, we just keep winning with new coaches, impressive to say the least. Next year to me for whatever reason feels like an 8 win season. I have no justification for that, just a gut.

(10-08-2013 10:13 AM)MileHighHuskie Wrote:  

(10-08-2013 10:02 AM)HuskieTap22 Wrote:  

I think next year could be telling, a lot of unknowns about out team. We have been blessed to have such great QB's, we shall see who steps up and carries the load. I think we all have a question mark after this year. Huskies have surprised a lot of us over the years, we just keep winning with new coaches, impressive to say the least. Next year to me for whatever reason feels like an 8 win season. I have no justification for that, just a gut.

It is possible we only win 8 but still contend for the MAC title which would be just fine in a rebuild year. I think we will still show well in conference but may find have a tougher go of it OOC than past seasons. QB is definitely an area of concern but there are a lot of pieces coming back in other areas.

We need to get our basketball team winning. Hopefully this is the year.

Us going to the Big 12 has everything to do with TV MONEY$$$$. Folks the big east was supposed to be college basketball mecca and it doesnt exist anymore because nobody cares about basketball until march. Mind you they even had the Atlantic time zone and had the majority of TV games!!! Fox sports can make it happen because they carry Fox News. We prob wont get 1.25 like the BTN but they wont be able to fight it because of Fox Business and Fox News which are crushing their competition. Us getting in also hurts the BTN because they wont continue to get 1.25.
The Basketball team wont hold us back as long as football wins. I cant wait for this to happen it will change everything. Just need to clean house in the administration of losers we have in DeKalb :(. We dont need to raise standards big 12 is 2.25gpa and a 820 sat or a sum score of 68. Nobody in our athletics is south of those numbers we recruit good people to NIU. We want smart guys on the field thats how you run the MAC baby. Go HUSKIES
BTW you think barry sent one of his fav guys to NIU to dick around? Frazier is already kicking @$$. Barry has lots of ties to LA where all this stuff gets decided. I wish I could bet on us going to the Big12.

(10-08-2013 10:23 AM)HuskieTap22 Wrote:  

(10-08-2013 10:13 AM)MileHighHuskie Wrote:  

(10-08-2013 10:02 AM)HuskieTap22 Wrote:  

I think next year could be telling, a lot of unknowns about out team. We have been blessed to have such great QB's, we shall see who steps up and carries the load. I think we all have a question mark after this year. Huskies have surprised a lot of us over the years, we just keep winning with new coaches, impressive to say the least. Next year to me for whatever reason feels like an 8 win season. I have no justification for that, just a gut.

It is possible we only win 8 but still contend for the MAC title which would be just fine in a rebuild year. I think we will still show well in conference but may find have a tougher go of it OOC than past seasons. QB is definitely an area of concern but there are a lot of pieces coming back in other areas.

Last year was supposed to be a rebuilding year. Lynch was unknown if he could take over for Harnish. OLINE was all new. We had no RB that had much experience. Wr's and defensive backs (and dline?) were the positives heading into the year.