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Does anyone know if any of the MAC athletic directors have thought about using
an NFL stadium once a year to schedule home & homes against some of the
"big boys"?

Here are the most likely teams and venues:
CMU/WMU/EMU/UT/BGSU in Pontiac and/or Detroit
NIU in Chicago
KSU/UA/OU/UT/BGSU in Cleveland
MUr/MUg/OU in Cincinnati
BSU in Indy
and of course UB already in Buffalo and UCF already uses the Orlando stadium.

While any week would work; the best ones would be Labor Day or Fall Break
weekends (most students go home anyway.. plus many live in these metro areas,
not to mention the alumni).

Most of the "big boys" could be agreeable to this. They can get a hefty payday, not
have to play on the opponent's regular home field, be able to showcase/recruit in the
metro area, have a perceived high probability of winning, etc., etc.

MAC schools would obviously benefit. Their schedule is upgraded w/o having to play
true road games all of the time, recruiting benefits, a nice payday is gained, etc., etc.

Certainly there would be stumbling blocks. One possibility would be the NFL owners either
wanting too big of a cut or not wanting colleges to play on their field. Either way,
most of their stadiums were built with public $$$, so some political pressure perhaps could be
applied.

Your thoughts?

Weird, I was thinking of that just a bit ago. It seems like a great idea to me, 'Bama has been playing in Birmingham for years.

For example Kent hosting ND in Cleveland Stadium would be great for both schools (except Kent could win).

Toledo vs Bob Toledo in the Silverdome or Ford Field?

You forget the biggest benefit - it would (or could) count as our home attendence!

"Hello, EMU AD - call the UM-ers about a Silverdome deal" (Silverdome needs events and holds 80,000 to Ford Feld's 65,000).

In 1990, Bowling Green played (and beat, as it always does) Cincinnati at Riverfront Colisseum. I'm not sure whose home game it was. It may have been Bowling Green's home game...it drew flies, I'll bet...

Also, in 1975, Bowling Green beat Kent State 35-9 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. I believe that game was part of a doubleheader that also included Miami and another MAC school. I don't think it drew much, either, or else it would have been repeated.

This isn't a terrible idea. THe right game in the right stadium ... e.g. Miami-Kentucky at Paul Brown Stadium... might be great.

But I'm not sure if EMU-Michigan @ Tiger Stadium works or not. Do people laugh and decide to skip it because its actually EMU's game and doesn't appear on a season ticket package...?

It was UT in the double header in Cleveland. They played WMU and won 25-7. I was at the game and don;t think there were 10,000 in attendance, maybe less. It looked kind of bad in a 80,000 seat stadium.

I think a game at Ford field might work if it was against MSU, UM, or ND. IMO it wouldn't work otherwise.

Ohio State is playing UC in PB Stadium......it's a home game for UC, and is sold out.

The key to these games is getting the "right" school.....for Miami at PB Stadium that would be Kentucky, Ohio State (which won't happen), or maybe Louisville or IU.

The problem is finding someone with an open date willing to play a MAC team.

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by exCincy Kid:
Ohio State is playing UC in PB Stadium......it's a home game for UC, and is sold out.

The key to these games is getting the "right" school.....for Miami at PB Stadium that would be Kentucky, Ohio State (which won't happen), or maybe Louisville or IU.

The problem is finding someone with an open date willing to play a MAC team.<hr /></blockquote>The Ohio A&M vs Cincy is a rare event. Cincy gave up 3 for 1? And it doesn't hurt Ohio A&M. They still play in state, at a brand new stadium.

But I agree, the MAC should look for similar situations. Maybe Kent vs Buffalo as a package deal w/ Browns vs Bills?
Miami (OH) vs Kentucky is a good idea.
I think USC or UCLA in Detroit would work.
NIU vs IL, IA or WI at a re-vamped Soldier field.
Giving up a 2-for-1 for such a game would benefit the MAC for expsoure, revenue, attendance and maintaining the 5 Div IA game schedules.

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by RochesterFalcon:
But I'm not sure if EMU-Michigan @ Tiger Stadium works or not. Do people laugh and decide to skip it because its actually EMU's game and doesn't appear on a season ticket package...?<hr /></blockquote>Michigan fans will go anywhere to see U of M play - so either at the Silverdome or Ford Field - they would come. MichSt fans at any stadium in the Detroit area would also work (although Tiger Stadium is mostly condemned now - you can't even go into parts of it).

It can't be a middle of the pack team like Cincinnati or even Louisville (who barely gets 25,000 in their own stadium) or a team from too far away (like a Syracuse coming to Chicago) or a MAC vs MAC game just moved to a larger venue (if we can't fill an on-campus stadium for it - forget going to some downtown area 100 miles away).

It has to be a BCS team with strong attendence (sell out type attendence) at a venue their fans will come to.

EMU, CMU, WMU, Toledo or BGSU vs either MichSt or UM would sell out in either of the Detroit area's domes (and of course, the Silverdome is bigger and has more potential openings). Heck, MSU and UM can sell out double header hockey games in Detroit's Joe Louis Arena (which holds almost 20,000) - even when the opponents are Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech. They'll come and they won't care whose home game it is. The fact that it isn't part of the season ticket package at their own stadiums allows newer fans to get good seats for once.

I think OhioSt vs any Ohio MAC school could do the same in either Cleveland or Cincinnati (we don't actually believe that PB Stadium is filling up with Bearcat fans - do we?).

Purdue (or of course, Notre Dame) vs BallSt could fill the Hoosier Dome - but I think support for Indiana FB is too soft.

Illinois vs NIU in either Chicago (or maybe even St.Louis) could sell out. A NW'tern game probably couldn't - and frankly, why would they agree to move it just a few miles anyway?

Marshall could play Navy, Virginia or Va-Tech in DC, or PennSt (maybe even Army) in Philadelphia and probably sell out. The other BCS teams in the area couldn't do it (Temple, Syracuse, WVU, Rutgers). Marshall vs Navy may be even easier to pack in Baltimore.

Marshall, Ohio, Akron or KentSt at Pittsburgh against PennSt could sell out as well.

Syracuse or PennSt vs Buffalo at Buffalo would do very well - I think.

The more I look at it, the more opportunities and venues PennSt could really be a factor in - Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Buffalo, maybe even DC. If someone would get PennSt to agree to host a MAC team a year at a road venue - they could almost single-handedly secure the attendence average for a team per year (5 x 15,000 = 75,000 per year total). OhioSt, MichSt and U of M could each do the same thing.

I know that UofM's coach has been hinting that they may not be doing so many road games (BCS or otherwise) in the future because they make so much more money in their much larger stadium ---- so play them at the Silverdome and let them keep the money - it's the attendence that we need most.

MichSt has scheduled a MAC team per year since Perles was there - and they even stated it was to help the MAC schools with $$$ and give them an opportunity to play their body bag game where their fans could actually come (which is why it is almost always one of the 3 Michigan MAC schools). Would they refuse to play in the Silverdome (which is larger than Spartan Stadium anyway), keep most of the money and help the Michigan MAC teams out in one extra way? Besides, they could tie it in with an Izzo recruiting trip to the Detroit market of BB talent. I think you'ld find MichSt agreeable.

The same scenarios may not be true for other Big11 teams in MAC states, but it might be.

[ September 10, 2002, 10:41 AM: Message edited by: nert ]

There was always a notion that Buffalo would/should try to host Syracuse in Ralph Wilson Stadium. Maybe that's just my idea.

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