Date: September 17th, 2016

Time: 1:30 PM

Opponent: Western Carolina (1-1, 0-0 SoCon)

Place: Bristol Motor Speedway

Television: None

Webcast: SoCon Digital Network (Free)

Radio online: 640WXSM.com (Free)

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Going to be an extremely tough game. Still not gonna pick against them. Bucs 34, Cats 27 in 3OT

I'm going with the Bucs too; for their 2nd upset of the season.

Triple-J may make the difference again.

Go Bucs !!

For those who keep up with this level of football more than I do, how good is Western Carolina? I saw that they got beat by a FBS team and blew out Gardner Webb. Are they in the top half of the Southern Conference teams we will see this year?

(09-12-2016 09:46 PM)etsubuc Wrote:  For those who keep up with this level of football more than I do, how good is Western Carolina? I saw that they got beat by a FBS team and blew out Gardner Webb. Are they in the top half of the Southern Conference teams we will see this year?

Coach gives a pretty good assessment: http://www.etsubucs.com/football/

One wag (it wasn't me) suggested that the best thing ETSU could do for this game is to *give* the tickets away. Build a fan base.
I'm not sure I totally agree with that, but a $5 ticket price would have essentially the same effect. But with tickets "just $25" (i.e. ~double the regular price), ETSU seems to have chosen the opposite strategy by scaring people away with that entry fee. And that's even with Steve ("It's ALL about the money") Smith [Food City] "sponsoring" the game. What the he** does "sponsoring" mean in this context? Getting naming and advertising rights? If that's all it means, which appears to be the case, then that's a pretty bastardized meaning of the word "sponsoring", imo.

Yes, again imo, this seems to be another case of extortion, although a bit less so since some people will buy into the 'cachet' of the setting. "Extortion" is actually too strong a word for this situation, but "exploitation" is not.

And yes, spare me - I know it "costs" more to play the game there, etc. (It *would* be nice to know how much the Speedway gets out of this.) It just seems to me that it would be a win/win situation (long term) if a much larger crowd were enticed to attend with a very reasonable ticket price.

Another wag has suggested that Guinness Book of World Records be contacted and this game submitted as "largest decrease in fan attendance from one week to the next".

Aw heck, don't mind me. Just keep off my lawn!

Rumor I heard is that Bristol set the prices for this game based on how many they thought would come. They also get the majority of the take for this game, something like 70-80%. I was told ETSU would've done pretty much what you suggested at $5/ticket but weren't allowed to.

If the other rumors are true, that BMS is donating the field turf (estimated value $750,000) and the dressing room lockers to ETSU, then we should be saying, "Thank you very much, Bristol Motor Speedway, for your generous support of ETSU Football. And, please, operate this event in whatever method you deem suitable."

I think everyone is grateful to BMS for donating the field if that is indeed the case.

That doesn't mean that we have to agree with the ticket prices, which are absolutely crazy! I do believe that a $5-10 ticket price, as well as not limiting the number of free student tickets (every student is paying for this program and should get the chance to come when there is $150k seats) would have created a better atmosphere and I ultimately think that BMS would have made more money that way than to have less people at $25/ticket. But I am not pretending to be a business person- I certainly am not.

We want to be a big boy program, but we want everything for free. Doesn't work that way. Blame BMS, not ETSU. They set the prices.

Also 25 dollars is not double the regular price. Maybe back in 03, but not now. Tickets at KT are 20-25 bucks a game.

(09-13-2016 07:12 AM)Flippmb Wrote:  If the other rumors are true, that BMS is donating the field turf (estimated value $750,000) and the dressing room lockers to ETSU, then we should be saying, "Thank you very much, Bristol Motor Speedway, for your generous support of ETSU Football. And, please, operate this event in whatever method you deem suitable."

Yupppp

A general admission ticket to the Bristol game is $25.00 ($15.00 for students and anyone under 18). A silver or bronze ticket to a regular ETSU home game is $25.00 for all ages. I don't see how anyone can correctly say the BMS prices are crazy.

Perhaps you can make the argument that cheaper tickets mean more people and, ultimately, greater benefit to the ETSU Football program, but the onus to choose that route should be on ETSU, certainly not BMS. ETSU could have subsidized or paid in full for student tickets. And, if BMS is donating the turf, ETSU could even have subsidized a reduced price for the rest of the tickets that will be sold, and still have come out way, way ahead monetarily.

And perhaps you can make the argument that cheaper tickets would have ultimately made more money for Bristol Motor Speedway. But, until convinced otherwise, my default position will be that the marketing experts at BMS know how to best maximize profits during events at their facility.

100 extra free tickets were provided to students today and were gone in 5 minutes.

Western is a 29 1/2 point favorite

I think I'd take the Bucs with 29 points.

I've seen both WCU and GWU. Take the Bucs to cover the points.

I understand that Colossus has been taken down. Does anyone know if it'll be back up for the game?

(09-15-2016 12:19 PM)WingedWarrior Wrote:  I understand that Colossus has been taken down. Does anyone know if it'll be back up for the game?

No it is still up; just looked at the camera. The 2 screens on the side are gone but since no one will be sitting there it wont matter.

(09-15-2016 12:38 PM)brock20 Wrote:  

(09-15-2016 12:19 PM)WingedWarrior Wrote:  I understand that Colossus has been taken down. Does anyone know if it'll be back up for the game?

No it is still up; just looked at the camera. The 2 screens on the side are gone but since no one will be sitting there it wont matter.

Good, thanks!

http://www.southernpigskin.com/socon/bat...ristol-ii/