Not just a Rice issue

http://espn.go.com/college-football/stor...ball-games

Interesting comments in the section where they have quotes from students. The issue at Rice isn't related to bad seats or stadiums that are too far from their dorms. Nor can it be related to having to get to the games early to get the best seats.

I like the comments about not getting a good view of the action so some folks want to stay home and watch different games on TV. I think the college football fan of the future is going to demand better instant replay on the big screen TV, maybe even videos and more frequent updates of other scores. And maybe even a little interaction between students and the scoreboard?

We're not going to have the top of the line video scoreboard, but we can do some unique things to get people more into the games. For instance, we could repost interest tweets or facebook posts on various Rice games (editing out the controversial stuff). That might get the students more excited than the Kiss Cam, Dance Cam or Oblivious Cam.

(02-18-2014 09:19 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  We're not going to have the top of the line video scoreboard, but we can do some unique things to get people more into the games. For instance, we could repost interest tweets or facebook posts on various Rice games (editing out the controversial stuff). That might get the students more excited than the Kiss Cam, Dance Cam or Oblivious Cam.

Stanford does this. They have a ticker on the scoreboard that cycles through (likely edited) tweets sent to #fearthetree

(02-18-2014 09:25 AM)Antarius Wrote:  

(02-18-2014 09:19 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  We're not going to have the top of the line video scoreboard, but we can do some unique things to get people more into the games. For instance, we could repost interest tweets or facebook posts on various Rice games (editing out the controversial stuff). That might get the students more excited than the Kiss Cam, Dance Cam or Oblivious Cam.

Stanford does this. They have a ticker on the scoreboard that cycles through (likely edited) tweets sent to #fearthetree

How is Stanford's student attendance? Are they seeing the same fall-off?

(02-18-2014 09:25 AM)Antarius Wrote:  

(02-18-2014 09:19 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  We're not going to have the top of the line video scoreboard, but we can do some unique things to get people more into the games. For instance, we could repost interest tweets or facebook posts on various Rice games (editing out the controversial stuff). That might get the students more excited than the Kiss Cam, Dance Cam or Oblivious Cam.

Stanford does this. They have a ticker on the scoreboard that cycles through (likely edited) tweets sent to #fearthetree

I don't think the football in-game Parliament threads would be good scoreboard posting material. Heck, one reason to go to the football games is so you don't have to read the in-game threads. (I distinguish from football from the baseball play-by-play posts, or the inning by inning summary posts which are actually pretty darn useful if you're not at the game - - although there's no need for summaries posted to the scoreboard in the stadium.

Maybe we can post Walt's pregame baseball previews in-between innings of the Rice baseball games? We might need a lot of extra inning games.

One thing that would really make the in-person experience better is faster games. But I know, I'm dreaming.

(02-18-2014 10:52 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  One thing that would really make the in-person experience better is faster games. But I know, I'm dreaming.

The tv-timeout is a real buzzkill when watching a game in person.

If a game is televised, it makes the choice to attend tougher for me. I usually go to support the program. I enjoy all the trappings of being there, but I always record it so I can see just what happened and hear the commentary.

(02-18-2014 10:54 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(02-18-2014 10:52 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  One thing that would really make the in-person experience better is faster games. But I know, I'm dreaming.

The tv-timeout is a real buzzkill when watching a game in person.

No kidding...the Olympic hockey games have been great with only one break halfway through to clean the ice around the cages and boards. The OT in NHL is also commercial free.

There is less television coverage to keep me away from Rice games than is it for the P5 teams. Usually, the Rice games are on an obscure channel that almost no bar has or not on television at all. I will go to the home games even for the times we are on ESPN because I already have the season ticket. I will stay home from an away game if I know beforehand it will be on ESPN or a broadcast channel. One time I wound up going to Austin because the Rice game was hidden on the Longhorn Network.

I can understand wanting to stay home from a big state university game if it is on television. I will watch Aggie games on television but I am not going all the way up to College Station to have to watch the game on the big screen because the seat is too far away from the field.

(02-18-2014 11:22 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  If a game is televised, it makes the choice to attend tougher for me. I usually go to support the program. I enjoy all the trappings of being there, but I always record it so I can see just what happened and hear the commentary.

(02-18-2014 01:20 PM)75src Wrote:  There is less television coverage to keep me away from Rice games than is it for the P5 teams. Usually, the Rice games are on an obscure channel that almost no bar has or not on television at all. I will go to the home games even for the times we are on ESPN because I already have the season ticket. I will stay home from an away game if I know beforehand it will be on ESPN or a broadcast channel. One time I wound up going to Austin because the Rice game was hidden on the Longhorn Network.

I can understand wanting to stay home from a big state university game if it is on television. I will watch Aggie games on television but I am not going all the way up to College Station to have to watch the game on the big screen because the seat is too far away from the field.

(02-18-2014 11:22 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  If a game is televised, it makes the choice to attend tougher for me. I usually go to support the program. I enjoy all the trappings of being there, but I always record it so I can see just what happened and hear the commentary.

I guess I should explain that I live in the Fort Worth area. If I lived within 50 miles of Rice I would never miss a game. But when I am thinking the 500 miles round trip drive and the overnight stay at the Marriot, the availability of TV does enter into the equation. Timing, weather, and opponent also are factors.

(02-18-2014 02:52 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(02-18-2014 01:20 PM)75src Wrote:  There is less television coverage to keep me away from Rice games than is it for the P5 teams. Usually, the Rice games are on an obscure channel that almost no bar has or not on television at all. I will go to the home games even for the times we are on ESPN because I already have the season ticket. I will stay home from an away game if I know beforehand it will be on ESPN or a broadcast channel. One time I wound up going to Austin because the Rice game was hidden on the Longhorn Network.

I can understand wanting to stay home from a big state university game if it is on television. I will watch Aggie games on television but I am not going all the way up to College Station to have to watch the game on the big screen because the seat is too far away from the field.

(02-18-2014 11:22 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  If a game is televised, it makes the choice to attend tougher for me. I usually go to support the program. I enjoy all the trappings of being there, but I always record it so I can see just what happened and hear the commentary.

I guess I should explain that I live in the Fort Worth area. If I lived within 50 miles of Rice I would never miss a game. But when I am thinking the 500 miles round trip drive and the overnight stay at the Marriot, the availability of TV does enter into the equation. Timing, weather, and opponent also are factors.

For several years, I made nearly every home game. Now, driving in from Meyerland just doesn't seem worth it a lot of times. That's not a knock against the team. It's just that even four hours is a lot more time these days, and it's just easier to turn on the radio for a few minutes to get a sense of how a game's going.

Student attendance is falling (in part) because ticket prices at many places are incredible.

My suggestions are to put in a crawl with updates from other games, perhaps even with highlites during time outs or something... and have TVs on the concourse.

Also, perhaps free/cheap (but limited to sports) wifi sponsored by ESPN or Comcast or the like

That way people can multi-task like they can at home.