Sept 17 Denver @ Kansas City(Opposite Clemson/Louisville)
Sept 24 Washington @ NY Giants(opposite Cincy/Memphis)
Oct 1 Baltimore @ Pittsburgh(opposite Miami/Cincy)
Oct 8 Indianapolis @ Houston(opposite SMU/Houston, Washington/USC)
Oct 15 Atlanta @ New Orleans(opposite Auburn/Kentucky, UCLA/Stanford)
Oct 22 Seattle @ San Francisco(opposite Cal/UCLA)
Oct 29 Miami @ New England(opposite UNC/Pitt, WVU/TCU)
Nov 5 Cleveland @ Cincy(opposite Miss St/Missouri, Baylor/Kan St)

The 2 weeks where the games are on NFL network opposite college football-
Nov 12 Buffalo @ NY Jets(opposite Va Tech/Ga Tech)
Nov 19 Tennessee @ Jacksonville(opposite ECU/UCF)

NCAA has a chance to win the ratings war on 10/8, 10/15 & 11/5 but several Thursdays the NCAA game(s) won't draw flies for ratings and attendance won't match what they would get on Saturday.

(04-22-2015 02:21 AM)Policiious Wrote:  Sept 17 Denver @ Kansas City(Opposite Clemson/Louisville)
Sept 24 Washington @ NY Giants(opposite Cincy/Memphis)
Oct 1 Baltimore @ Pittsburgh(opposite Miami/Cincy)
Oct 8Indianapolis @ Houston(opposite SMU/Houston, Washington/USC)
Oct 15 Atlanta @ New Orleans(opposite Auburn/Kentucky, UCLA/Stanford)
Oct 22 Seattle @ San Francisco(opposite Cal/UCLA)
Oct 29 Miami @ New England(opposite UNC/Pitt, WVU/TCU)
Nov 5 Cleveland @ Cincy(opposite Miss St/Missouri, Baylor/Kan St)

The 2 weeks where the games are on NFL network opposite college football-
Nov 12 Buffalo @ NY Jets(opposite Va Tech/Ga Tech)
Nov 19 Tennessee @ Jacksonville(opposite ECU/UCF)

NCAA has a chance to win the ratings war on 10/8, 10/15 & 11/5 but several Thursdays the NCAA game(s) won't draw flies for ratings and attendance won't match what they would get on Saturday.

Ouch to those two

Did the NFL run this many Thursday night games last year? If so then the numbers last year vs ours last year on the same channels ESPN/2/U at the same approximate time should give a small window into the difference.

The hard thing though is looking at what game was a good story or a non story going into that week. Here is the data if anyone would like to pick out the AAC vs MAC weeknight numbers (because that is what we are really talking about here right?) Just please dont just pick out only our numbers because we have been one of the top 10 best (maybe even top 4) G5 TV draws over the past 3 seasons, when I started looking at the numbers.

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-...v-ratings/

The NFL now has a game every Thursday night through the season, and they are only available on the NFL network.

(04-22-2015 09:57 AM)timxlydon Wrote:  The NFL now has a game every Thursday night through the season, and they are only available on the NFL network.

Correct. Thursday night games used to start around Thanksgiving, so there were less.

Since Saturday college games seem to be going the way of the dinosaur, perhaps the major conferences could divide the week up and all of the conference's games could be on a select weeknight. The lowly MAC could keep Tuesday and/or Wednesday, with all our games being on ESPN3.com. Hey, it's all about money - for the major conferences and ESPN - so why not?

Apparently, people are just too busy to watch college sports on Saturdays so the idea for the networks is to get them as a captive audience on a weeknight after work. Kick back after a hard day at the office, have a beer or two, and watch some college football. Leave Saturdays to dragging your kids to their soccer games and tackling your wife's to-do list.

AAC Thursday night TV ratings and if an NFL game was on that night vs MAC weeknight ratings.


Thursday, September 11
0.6 1.05M 9:00 PM Houston/BYU ESPN
Steelers at Baltamore 7:25 PM



Thurs Sept 18th - No AAC FB game



Thurs Sept 25th - No AAC FB game



Thursday, October 2
0.5 744K 7:00 PM UCF/Houston ESPN
Vikings at Packers 7:25 PM



Thursday, October 9
0.9 1.34M 7:30 PM BYU/UCF ESPN
Colts at Houston 7:25 PM



Thurs Oct 18th - no AAC FB game



Thursday, October 23
0.3 395K 7:00 PM UConn/ECU ESPNU
Chargers at Broncos 7:25 PM



Thursday, October 30th - no AAC FB games



Thursday, November 6th - no AAC FB games

Best MAC weeknight game that week
Wednesday, November 5
0.4 533K 8:00 PM No. Illinois/Ball St. ESPN2



Thursday, November 13
0.5 821K 7:00 PM ECU/Cincinnati ESPN2
Bills at Dolphins 7:25 PM

Best MAC weeknight game that week
0.4 600K 8:00 PM Toledo/No. Illinois ESPN2



Thursday, November 20th - no AAC FB games

Best MAC weeknight game that week
Wednesday, November 19
0.4 556K 8:00 PM Bowling Green/Toledo ESPN2



Thursday, November 27 (Thanksgiving) - no AAC FB games

Best MAC weeknight game that week
Tuesday, November 25
0.4 564K 7:00 PM Ohio/Miami (OH) ESPN2


Thursday, December 4* special case for last year because of no AAC championship game.
0.7 1.04M 7:30 PM UCF/ECU ESPN
Cowboys at Bears 7:25 PM



So based off of last years AAC/MAC/NFL info from Thursday nights I wouldn't use this NFL scheduling against moving to the AAC at all. Actually it shows that the AAC's reputation is even better than I had previously thought of because I had only been comparing the AAC/MAC numbers without considering that the NFL was on at the same time.

Having the opportunity to have game on ESPN instead of ESPN2, on ESPN2 instead of ESPNU and ESPNU instead of ESPN3.com would automatically increase viewership.

The Thursday, October 23 game with UCONN at ECU on ESPNU still got 395K with an NFL game on at the same time. To put that in perspective the best MAC weeknight ESPNU game of the year was Tuesday, November 18 NIU at Ohio which received 278k viewers on ESPNU.

I know this is just anecdotal, but my brother in Arizona who does lots of traveling, tells me that he runs into many people who are familiar with NIU thanks to the weekday games.

(04-23-2015 08:33 AM)Huskie_Jon Wrote:  I know this is just anecdotal, but my brother in Arizona who does lots of traveling, tells me that he runs into many people who are familiar with NIU thanks to the weekday games.

Just think of how well known we'd be if ALL of our games were on weeknights!

(04-22-2015 09:57 AM)timxlydon Wrote:  The NFL now has a game every Thursday night through the season, and they are only available on the NFL network.

TNF is on CBS now from week 2-8.

(04-23-2015 11:23 AM)HuskieRak Wrote:  

(04-22-2015 09:57 AM)timxlydon Wrote:  The NFL now has a game every Thursday night through the season, and they are only available on the NFL network.

TNF is on CBS now from week 2-8.

Which means NFL ratings will go up and NCAA ratings will likely go down

(04-24-2015 01:18 AM)Policiious Wrote:  

(04-23-2015 11:23 AM)HuskieRak Wrote:  

(04-22-2015 09:57 AM)timxlydon Wrote:  The NFL now has a game every Thursday night through the season, and they are only available on the NFL network.

TNF is on CBS now from week 2-8.

Which means NFL ratings will go up and NCAA ratings will likely go down

It was like that last year too. They'll never beat NFL ratings on national TV, but most of those college games will still have great ratings

(04-24-2015 07:02 AM)HuskieRak Wrote:  

(04-24-2015 01:18 AM)Policiious Wrote:  

(04-23-2015 11:23 AM)HuskieRak Wrote:  

(04-22-2015 09:57 AM)timxlydon Wrote:  The NFL now has a game every Thursday night through the season, and they are only available on the NFL network.

TNF is on CBS now from week 2-8.

Which means NFL ratings will go up and NCAA ratings will likely go down

It was like that last year too. They'll never beat NFL ratings on national TV, but most of those college games will still have great ratings

and most still get better ratings than the MAC's Tues/Wed November games that are not up against NFL games.

(04-24-2015 08:01 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(04-24-2015 07:02 AM)HuskieRak Wrote:  

(04-24-2015 01:18 AM)Policiious Wrote:  

(04-23-2015 11:23 AM)HuskieRak Wrote:  

(04-22-2015 09:57 AM)timxlydon Wrote:  The NFL now has a game every Thursday night through the season, and they are only available on the NFL network.

TNF is on CBS now from week 2-8.

Which means NFL ratings will go up and NCAA ratings will likely go down

It was like that last year too. They'll never beat NFL ratings on national TV, but most of those college games will still have great ratings

and most still get better ratings than the MAC's Tues/Wed November games that are not up against NFL games.

#AACorBust

Quote:I know this is just anecdotal, but my brother in Arizona who does lots of traveling, tells me that he runs into many people who are familiar with NIU thanks to the weekday games.

I think a lot of that had to do with 2 years in a row being in the BCS Bowl hunt, getting the first one (especially with the controversy due to 1-loss and the flip-out online)... the Heisman finalist, etc.

Tues & Wed night games DURING that time helped out a good amount -- yes. But this past season and future seasons if there's no top-mid-major-race being involved in? Not a huge hell of a lot... but it only does good -- EXCEPT for one big thing: Lack of fans in the stands making it look too D1AA-ish.

(04-26-2015 02:34 AM)toddjnsn Wrote:  

Quote:I know this is just anecdotal, but my brother in Arizona who does lots of traveling, tells me that he runs into many people who are familiar with NIU thanks to the weekday games.

I think a lot of that had to do with 2 years in a row being in the BCS Bowl hunt, getting the first one (especially with the controversy due to 1-loss and the flip-out online)... the Heisman finalist, etc.

Tues & Wed night games DURING that time helped out a good amount -- yes. But this past season and future seasons if there's no top-mid-major-race being involved in? Not a huge hell of a lot... but it only does good -- EXCEPT for one big thing: Lack of fans in the stands making it look too D1AA-ish.

EMU is looking for the national recognition and is seeking a cult following. Time for the MAC to stand firm and make sure ESPN gives EMU their place in the spotlight. I vote for giving EMU exposure every week in November. Then. maybe, we can get a rare November Saturday game. But, I guess that even if that were to happen, NIU would schedule it at 7 p.m.

(04-27-2015 08:21 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(04-26-2015 02:34 AM)toddjnsn Wrote:  

Quote:I know this is just anecdotal, but my brother in Arizona who does lots of traveling, tells me that he runs into many people who are familiar with NIU thanks to the weekday games.

I think a lot of that had to do with 2 years in a row being in the BCS Bowl hunt, getting the first one (especially with the controversy due to 1-loss and the flip-out online)... the Heisman finalist, etc.

Tues & Wed night games DURING that time helped out a good amount -- yes. But this past season and future seasons if there's no top-mid-major-race being involved in? Not a huge hell of a lot... but it only does good -- EXCEPT for one big thing: Lack of fans in the stands making it look too D1AA-ish.

EMU is looking for the national recognition and is seeking a cult following. Time for the MAC to stand firm and make sure ESPN gives EMU their place in the spotlight. I vote for giving EMU exposure every week in November. Then. maybe, we can get a rare November Saturday game. But, I guess that even if that were to happen, NIU would schedule it at 7 p.m.

If you want NIU to not play on weekdays you have to take that up with your own administration, not the MAC. Until this year WMU had only played 3 MACtion games ever. Do you think that the MAC did that? No, that was Cubit's choice. Now that PJ Lookatme is winning games he wants the spotlight and is getting it this year. If you want out you need to tell your coach and AD.

Yeah, I think PJ is wanting some spotlight time. He'd probably conjure something up to bring in fans (which IMO, wouldn't be so amazing since there's only so much you can do).

I'd LIKE to see us (WMU) play on national TV during the week in cold weather.

(04-28-2015 11:01 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  

(04-27-2015 08:21 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(04-26-2015 02:34 AM)toddjnsn Wrote:  

Quote:I know this is just anecdotal, but my brother in Arizona who does lots of traveling, tells me that he runs into many people who are familiar with NIU thanks to the weekday games.

I think a lot of that had to do with 2 years in a row being in the BCS Bowl hunt, getting the first one (especially with the controversy due to 1-loss and the flip-out online)... the Heisman finalist, etc.

Tues & Wed night games DURING that time helped out a good amount -- yes. But this past season and future seasons if there's no top-mid-major-race being involved in? Not a huge hell of a lot... but it only does good -- EXCEPT for one big thing: Lack of fans in the stands making it look too D1AA-ish.

EMU is looking for the national recognition and is seeking a cult following. Time for the MAC to stand firm and make sure ESPN gives EMU their place in the spotlight. I vote for giving EMU exposure every week in November. Then. maybe, we can get a rare November Saturday game. But, I guess that even if that were to happen, NIU would schedule it at 7 p.m.

If you want NIU to not play on weekdays you have to take that up with your own administration, not the MAC. Until this year WMU had only played 3 MACtion games ever. Do you think that the MAC did that? No, that was Cubit's choice. Now that PJ Lookatme is winning games he wants the spotlight and is getting it this year. If you want out you need to tell your coach and AD.

LOL. Don't think the boys in Bristol give a **** what ADs and coaches say. They'll put the best MAC matchup on during the week. They own all of us.

But I love the weeknight games. Mostly because I don't live anywhere near dekalb and can't go to the games. Attendance sucks anyways, might as well get the TV exposure.

(04-28-2015 11:01 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  If you want NIU to not play on weekdays you have to take that up with your own administration, not the MAC. Until this year WMU had only played 3 MACtion games ever. Do you think that the MAC did that? No, that was Cubit's choice. Now that PJ Lookatme is winning games he wants the spotlight and is getting it this year. If you want out you need to tell your coach and AD.

I put in bold the only thing that is true. The only reason WMU is getting the weeknight games is because of PJ being media friendly which has gotten WMU a ton of out of nowhere press and ESPN is expecting WMU to have a more than decent team. Because of this the ratings will increase for the WMU games this year.

There is no chance at all of ESPN and the MAC would go along with a request from to NIU to not put our games on a Weeknight in November. NIU and Toledo get the best ratings every year. There is no way ESPN is going to just let go of that because we ask them.