(03-20-2015 02:23 PM)Afflicted Wrote: (03-20-2015 07:12 AM)TodgeRodge Wrote: (03-20-2015 03:57 AM)Afflicted Wrote: (03-19-2015 11:45 PM)TodgeRodge Wrote: travel cost are often not a product of the distance traveled rather they are a factor of access and facilities dedicated to travel and the utilization rate of those facilities and how close the university is to those facilities
and if a program is relying on the ticket sales of the fans of the team they are playing they might as well drop down to D1-AA and they should for sure give up on the dream of ever being in a P5 conference or a candidate to be in a P5 conference member
same goes for those that say "their fans" will show up to see "their team" as soon as "their team" is playing a team "their fans" actually want to see play
looking at travel cost and the ease of travel for opposing fans is small time ever more mid major thinking at its finest
So, where's the confusion? We're G5for a reason and it's because we don't have the numbers of P5 programs. Why is it immasculating that we need to depend on visiting fans? G5 programs don't fit the P5 mold. The sooner we can get over that fact, the better off we'll be. We can't depend on fans we don't have to magically appear.
the confusion is where some thought that others were interested in actually still trying to better their program instead of tossing in the towel and hoping that if D1-A ever splits it will be 80 teams and that a team you cheer for might be one of the 80
the confusion is also where some believe that teams not in the P5 can still accomplish things like going to an access bowl regularly or perhaps getting into the playoffs or an expanded 8 team playoff instead of going ahead and giving up one season in
it will not be easy for sure, but it would be better than just tossing in with the closest 15 other teams and hoping that all the other G5 programs give up as well (highly unlikely) and make very similar stupid conference moves and affiliations and then all waiting to be left behind or if not left behind simply used as buy in home game win fodder
have some balls and lose the fat
toss in with 7 or 8 at (the most) other teams across 3 time zones and schedule 7 conference games and 5 OOC games and go out there and generate wins and bowl appearances at all cost and build on that until schedules can be improved and strengthened as winning against anything with a pulse attracts better recruits and better fan support
stop thinking that the crap around the corner that barely attracts fans to their own games will bring major fans to your games and quit trying to save a dollar or two on travel while playing losers from around the way
You're overreacting. I'm talking about something that saves universities money while also creating more fan interest, which leads to higher attendance. That's all. It makes perfect sense to me. No one is "throwing in the towel " or giving up. There are several G5 members who will be shutting down football soon because they can't generate enough revenue.
fan interest comes from good teams playing good teams not teams that are near each other playing each other without regard for winning or records
it does not HAVE TO BE the case, but it is almost always the case that in any geographic area there will be good and bad teams it can be because of over saturation, some programs simply refusing to invest on their program, lack of ability for several programs to show meaningful differentiation and thus they feed on each other and recruits just avoid those programs or any combination of the above
it is not a difficult concept that as you expand a geographic area you are more likely to find programs that have success or that are more successful more frequently than you find in a smaller geographic area
there are two proven failed concepts in what you are discussing
1. just because teams in a region get together that does not mean they will overcome the fact that some of them just have no fans or that some of them refuse to invest in their program or that their might be an over saturation of programs in the area
and for some reason in spite of all clear evidence some feel that getting together and limiting the ability to differentiate oneself from others in the area is a benefit instead of the clear negative that is has shown to be
2. the second failed concept is that bigger is better and more teams is better.....because as you add more teams you increase the chances of adding programs that have fewer fans, invest in their program less and that could become over saturation or you increase the likelihood of having too many programs in an area (state) that fee don each other and drag each other down and recruits avoid those programs and possible even the conference
and you also increase the competition for prime TV slots with the media partners and you decrease the value of each individual game because to get them all on the air some will have to be shown at the same time and compete with each other for viewers
there is a third poor concept as well
3. when you limit your geographic area you limit viewers....when you concentrate the area you are in and you limit your OOC games you limit your chances of casual fans to see you play and you limit the chance to have games in the OOC that become meaningful to the fans of teams in the other conference......because conference strength will ALWAYS come from teams in your conference beating teams in other conferences and that is true for P5 and G5 alike, but it is magnified for G5
so the way to overcome these issues is to INCREASE your geographic footprint, try and cast your lot with other programs that have similar high goals and standards and investment from fans and alumni and limit your conference to a very small group of those programs in a very large footprint (hopefully over at least 2 of not 3 time zones) and limit your conference games to 8 at the max and preferably 7 and then have your teams go out in the OOC and chop the heads off of the clustered, mega conference, morass of losers that have tossed in the towel and get as many of those games in TV as often as possible without competition from other conference-mates games and get as many teams as possible in bowl games and as you all win more you all gain fans and as you gain fans you gain resources and saving $200,000 or so a year on "travel" is meaningless and instead of needing 8,000 to 10,000 of your conference-mates and OOC opponents fans to fill YOUR stajium you can restrict them to 3,000 visitor tickets and sell your games to your fans and charge accordingly
the tighter the region the more you feed on each other and the less you offer that is different than others and the more of the same causal fans you compete for
the smaller the region the fewer causal fans you have to aim for and to attract
the larger the number of schools the more likely you are to have dead weight and to compete for exposure
the more conference games you have and the fewer OOC games you have the more you feed on yourself at the expense of your conference
it really does not get more simple than that