I watched while channel surfing tonite the game switching often between MAC East opponents and all the legal eagles and talking heads speculating why the white house staff is likely squirming tonite from Mueller's investigation... and the FAKE indictments and FAKE plea bargain....and the FAKE President's tweeting addiction...

Back to MAC: Did you note how small the Ohio week nite crowd looked on TV?
It had the feel of a HS game atmosphere...NIU is not alone....maybe most all of their students were all out trick or treating....

BTW: I never before witnessed three successive 15 yard penalties on one play assessed one player who was ejected.

I thought Ohio was known for having excellent attendance. So much for that.

No one can go to weeknight games, let alone Halloween night which means most people are out with their kids.

(10-31-2017 11:08 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  No one can go to weeknight games, let alone Halloween night which means most people are out with their kids.

Funny, I was watching the Astros and Dodgers and it was packed at Chavez Ravine. Maybe they don't trick or treat in California

(10-31-2017 11:21 PM)VegasHuskie Wrote:  

(10-31-2017 11:08 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  No one can go to weeknight games, let alone Halloween night which means most people are out with their kids.

Funny, I was watching the Astros and Dodgers and it was packed at Chavez Ravine. Maybe they don't trick or treat in California

Are you comparing game 6 of the World Series to MACtion?

(10-31-2017 11:22 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  

(10-31-2017 11:21 PM)VegasHuskie Wrote:  

(10-31-2017 11:08 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  No one can go to weeknight games, let alone Halloween night which means most people are out with their kids.

Funny, I was watching the Astros and Dodgers and it was packed at Chavez Ravine. Maybe they don't trick or treat in California

Are you comparing game 6 of the World Series to MACtion?

jesus christ hahahahahaha

(10-31-2017 11:22 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  

(10-31-2017 11:21 PM)VegasHuskie Wrote:  

(10-31-2017 11:08 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  No one can go to weeknight games, let alone Halloween night which means most people are out with their kids.

Funny, I was watching the Astros and Dodgers and it was packed at Chavez Ravine. Maybe they don't trick or treat in California

Are you comparing game 6 of the World Series to MACtion?

I am replying to your comment that "no one can go to weeknight games". If you want to say, "no one is interested in going to a MAC football game on a weeknight", fine. I take umbrage when Huskie fans make these blanket statements that it is impossible to attend games during the mid-week.

(10-31-2017 11:29 PM)VegasHuskie Wrote:  

(10-31-2017 11:22 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  

(10-31-2017 11:21 PM)VegasHuskie Wrote:  

(10-31-2017 11:08 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  No one can go to weeknight games, let alone Halloween night which means most people are out with their kids.

Funny, I was watching the Astros and Dodgers and it was packed at Chavez Ravine. Maybe they don't trick or treat in California

Are you comparing game 6 of the World Series to MACtion?

I am replying to your comment that "no one can go to weeknight games". If you want to say, "no one is interested in going to a MAC football game on a weeknight", fine. I take umbrage when Huskie fans make these blanket statements that it is impossible to attend games during the mid-week.

man this is doing too much. don't intentionally be difficult. we all know what he was saying.

Halloween has always been a huge deal at Ohio U. Mega parties downtown Oxford that at times get out of hand.

Oops, make that Athens

(10-31-2017 11:30 PM)7 Wrote:  

(10-31-2017 11:29 PM)VegasHuskie Wrote:  

(10-31-2017 11:22 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  

(10-31-2017 11:21 PM)VegasHuskie Wrote:  

(10-31-2017 11:08 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  No one can go to weeknight games, let alone Halloween night which means most people are out with their kids.

Funny, I was watching the Astros and Dodgers and it was packed at Chavez Ravine. Maybe they don't trick or treat in California

Are you comparing game 6 of the World Series to MACtion?

I am replying to your comment that "no one can go to weeknight games". If you want to say, "no one is interested in going to a MAC football game on a weeknight", fine. I take umbrage when Huskie fans make these blanket statements that it is impossible to attend games during the mid-week.

man this is doing too much. don't intentionally be difficult. we all know what he was saying.

Have you been reading through these threads, Seven? We had a guy state that Huskie stadium is filled with invalids on Saturdays and they can't make it on weekday nights because it is too cold.

There is excuse after excuse about how it is "impossible" to attend weeknight games at Huskie stadium. It's ridiculous and masks what the true issue is; Huskie fans would prefer to watch games on TV. As I have stated in other threads, there is nothing wrong with that. It doesn't diminish the loyalty of any Huskie fan.

MACtion sucks and it killed the fanbase.

I’m confused, I saw some of the game and thought the crowd there looked good. They reported 18,000 in attendance too. I would have loved to see 18k versus EMU

Miami-Ohio is their rivalry so it better be good.

I don't know what your point is Vegas. Are you trying to scold people into attending MACtion games? Do you really think that's going to work? Are there Huskie fans who are willing to make arrangements to attend all the MACtion games? Sure, they're called the 2k in attendance last Thursday. It's not going to budge through scolding. It is what it is. You can tell the rest of us to use PTO until you're blue in the face but it's not going to work, and it doesn't matter why. Whatever the motivation -- spite, or genuine difficulties, or a mix -- people aren't coming. Move the game to Saturday afternoon and it will fix it to some extent at least. That's all you can control, or the MAC can at least.

(11-01-2017 07:28 AM)Max Power Wrote:  Miami-Ohio is their rivalry so it better be good.

I don't know what your point is Vegas. Are you trying to scold people into attending MACtion games? Do you really think that's going to work? Are there Huskie fans who are willing to make arrangements to attend all the MACtion games? Sure, they're called the 2k in attendance last Thursday. It's not going to budge through scolding. It is what it is. You can tell the rest of us to use PTO until you're blue in the face but it's not going to work, and it doesn't matter why. Whatever the motivation -- spite, or genuine difficulties, or a mix -- people aren't coming. Move the game to Saturday afternoon and it will fix it to some extent at least. That's all you can control, or the MAC can at least.

My point is that television has changed college football. For better or worse, fans want to watch games on their phones, televisions, or tablets instead of attending live. That is not a MAC issue, it's a college football issue.

When everyone continues to lambaste the MAC and ESPN, I shake my head. The MAC knew the future of college football was television money and they made a good deal. NIU fans can make these games if they wanted to - they just choose not to. As I've said repeatedly, there is nothing wrong with that. I'm not trying to scold anyone. If I still lived in the area, I might prefer to sit at home and watch on TV, too. I just wouldn't say that I couldn't make it to the stadium. Where it gets hypocritical, however, is NIU fans are not coming on Saturdays, either. As you said, Max, it is what it is. Watching live football is not the priority it once was, and it probably never will be again.

(11-01-2017 10:47 AM)VegasHuskie Wrote:  

(11-01-2017 07:28 AM)Max Power Wrote:  Miami-Ohio is their rivalry so it better be good.

I don't know what your point is Vegas. Are you trying to scold people into attending MACtion games? Do you really think that's going to work? Are there Huskie fans who are willing to make arrangements to attend all the MACtion games? Sure, they're called the 2k in attendance last Thursday. It's not going to budge through scolding. It is what it is. You can tell the rest of us to use PTO until you're blue in the face but it's not going to work, and it doesn't matter why. Whatever the motivation -- spite, or genuine difficulties, or a mix -- people aren't coming. Move the game to Saturday afternoon and it will fix it to some extent at least. That's all you can control, or the MAC can at least.

My point is that television has changed college football. For better or worse, fans want to watch games on their phones, televisions, or tablets instead of attending live. That is not a MAC issue, it's a college football issue.

When everyone continues to lambaste the MAC and ESPN, I shake my head. The MAC knew the future of college football was television money and they made a good deal. NIU fans can make these games if they wanted to - they just choose not to. As I've said repeatedly, there is nothing wrong with that. I'm not trying to scold anyone. If I still lived in the area, I might prefer to sit at home and watch on TV, too. I just wouldn't say that I couldn't make it to the stadium. Where it gets hypocritical, however, is NIU fans are not coming on Saturdays, either. As you said, Max, it is what it is. Watching live football is not the priority it once was, and it probably never will be again.

I can work 80 hours a week but I choose not to.

And as far as your comment about NIU football fans not coming Saturday's would be the equivalent of saying "I beat my wife regularly but she just never spends enough time at home". NIUs attendance problem is due to a decade of fans being pissed on

KSU had less than 1,000 after halftime from what I could tell.

(11-01-2017 10:47 AM)VegasHuskie Wrote:  My point is that television has changed college football. For better or worse, fans want to watch games on their phones, televisions, or tablets instead of attending live. That is not a MAC issue, it's a college football issue.

When everyone continues to lambaste the MAC and ESPN, I shake my head. The MAC knew the future of college football was television money and they made a good deal. NIU fans can make these games if they wanted to - they just choose not to. As I've said repeatedly, there is nothing wrong with that. I'm not trying to scold anyone. If I still lived in the area, I might prefer to sit at home and watch on TV, too. I just wouldn't say that I couldn't make it to the stadium. Where it gets hypocritical, however, is NIU fans are not coming on Saturdays, either. As you said, Max, it is what it is. Watching live football is not the priority it once was, and it probably never will be again.

No doubt TV has changed college football and attendance is down everywhere, but I don't agree the MAC made a good deal. Sure the conference gets millions of dollars, but it causes them to lose attendance and loyal fans who are more important for the long term health of the programs. Saying "(fans) can make it if they wanted to" is flippant and too black and white. There are different degrees of "wants to." You have to REALLY want to attend to make a 6pm Thursday kickoff vs EMU. By inconveniencing people you're left with the die hards on game night. While it might be easy to dismiss everyone else as casual fans who are no big loss, I would wager many of those die hards weren't die hards from day 1 -- they began going as casual fans and grew more invested as the years went by. The problem with inconveniencing people who are interested in NIU games is you're making it harder to convert more casual fans into die hards, so that even the 2k number will continue to shrink.

(11-01-2017 12:48 PM)Max Power Wrote:  

(11-01-2017 10:47 AM)VegasHuskie Wrote:  My point is that television has changed college football. For better or worse, fans want to watch games on their phones, televisions, or tablets instead of attending live. That is not a MAC issue, it's a college football issue.

When everyone continues to lambaste the MAC and ESPN, I shake my head. The MAC knew the future of college football was television money and they made a good deal. NIU fans can make these games if they wanted to - they just choose not to. As I've said repeatedly, there is nothing wrong with that. I'm not trying to scold anyone. If I still lived in the area, I might prefer to sit at home and watch on TV, too. I just wouldn't say that I couldn't make it to the stadium. Where it gets hypocritical, however, is NIU fans are not coming on Saturdays, either. As you said, Max, it is what it is. Watching live football is not the priority it once was, and it probably never will be again.

No doubt TV has changed college football and attendance is down everywhere, but I don't agree the MAC made a good deal. Sure the conference gets millions of dollars, but it causes them to lose attendance and loyal fans who are more important for the long term health of the programs. Saying "(fans) can make it if they wanted to" is flippant and too black and white. There are different degrees of "wants to." You have to REALLY want to attend to make a 6pm Thursday kickoff vs EMU. By inconveniencing people you're left with the die hards on game night. While it might be easy to dismiss everyone else as casual fans who are no big loss, I would wager many of those die hards weren't die hards from day 1 -- they began going as casual fans and grew more invested as the years went by. The problem with inconveniencing people who are interested in NIU games is you're making it harder to convert more casual fans into die hards, so that even the 2k number will continue to shrink.

Okay, but playing devil's advocate, isn't it possible that all these games being televised during the week could be turning casual fans into diehards? Or more likely, keeping a casual fan AS a casual fan in lieu of games not being televised which could easily turn a casual fan into a former casual fan.

You make good points, Max, and you are correct, I am being a bit flippant as I try to sell my viewpoint.

I think the most important thing that many seem to be skimming past is Saturday attendance is also down dramatically. I have seen a couple people offer flimsy excuses as to why, but we all know the real reason is television. We want to watch games from our home or the tavern, not sit outside in a mediocre, dated football stadium.

Would NIU have been the ONLY non powerhouse school in the nation that would have bucked the nationwide trend of dramatically declining attendance if every game was still on Saturday instead of the weeknight? Of course not, attendance would be dismal with or without MACtion.

Look, I get it fans don't like the idea of attending weeknight games and ESPN is an easy target, but it was a very smart deal getting that money. There is no way NIU would make up 750K in television revenue with additional gate if these games were all on Saturday's.