MAC parity has come up in another thread as a bad thing and it led me to this question. What events would need to occur for the MAC to gain the exposure and fan growth that could start to threaten our local BCS schools? Basically, how do we start swaying more OSU, Michigan, MSU, Illinois and other fans toward MAC schools?
I ask this because it has been on my mind for some time. As a resident of Northeast Ohio I see how the QB for the Cleveland Browns is a HUGE glamour position. Sure Josh Cribbs is doing well on Special Teams for the Browns, but let's be realistic. If Charlie Frye takes over this team at some point and has some success (playoffs some year?) this could be HUGE for the MAC and for the U of Akron. Is this the way to get the exposure and grow our fan base in the MAC? Do the Lions, Bengals, Bills, Browns and Bears need more star players from the MAC? And if these teams all had star MAC alumni would this really create more attention and cause more fans to care about the MAC?
What about a BCS bid for an 11-0 MAC school? Would this get the attention of our region and the fans living here?
(b-ball) How about 2-3 years of Sweet 16 or Elite 8 (or better runs) by 1-2 MAC schools?
Or how about an upset of The Overrated State University or Michigan by a MAC school? Or would it just be labeled as "luck?"
We need guns, lots of guns! :biggun:
All of those things would help...and the MAC needs them to come pretty soon. But, I think the answer is simpler than that. The MAC needs the following:
1. Respectable coverage in local media, primarily newspapers. It is no coincidence that local papers hold MAC sports in disdain. It's not simply that they don't care, they have an active dislike of the MAC. MAC teams need to get parity coverage to tOAMU, Mich, ND, IU, etc. That means a front page story, and a headline should a MAC team deserve it (e.g. Miami(IN) over N'western).
2. Better student turnout. These students turn into alumni. But fan turnout and alumni support depend much on quality play. Obviously every MAC team can't win every game...but the MAC needs to win more than 50% of its OOC games, especially those at home.
DrTorch Wrote:1. Respectable coverage in local media, primarily newspapers. It is no coincidence that local papers hold MAC sports in disdain. It's not simply that they don't care, they have an active dislike of the MAC. MAC teams need to get parity coverage to tOAMU, Mich, ND, IU, etc. That means a front page story, and a headline should a MAC team deserve it (e.g. Miami(IN) over N'western).
Actually the Kalamazoo Gazette gives WMU exelent coverage. At least one story a day on the football team and they are highlighted on Sundays.
Todays sports section has Western taking up 2/3rds the front page with 2 other full pages.
U of M and MSU got a picture each and a few paragraphs.
IBleedOhioGreen Wrote:MAC parity has come up in another thread as a bad thing and it led me to this question. What events would need to occur for the MAC to gain the exposure and fan growth that could start to threaten our local BCS schools? Basically, how do we start swaying more OSU, Michigan, MSU, Illinois and other fans toward MAC schools?
I ask this because it has been on my mind for some time. As a resident of Northeast Ohio I see how the QB for the Cleveland Browns is a HUGE glamour position. Sure Josh Cribbs is doing well on Special Teams for the Browns, but let's be realistic. If Charlie Frye takes over this team at some point and has some success (playoffs some year?) this could be HUGE for the MAC and for the U of Akron. Is this the way to get the exposure and grow our fan base in the MAC? Do the Lions, Bengals, Bills, Browns and Bears need more star players from the MAC? And if these teams all had star MAC alumni would this really create more attention and cause more fans to care about the MAC?
What about a BCS bid for an 11-0 MAC school? Would this get the attention of our region and the fans living here?
(b-ball) How about 2-3 years of Sweet 16 or Elite 8 (or better runs) by 1-2 MAC schools?
Or how about an upset of The Overrated State University or Michigan by a MAC school? Or would it just be labeled as "luck?"
I don't belive it would make any difference at all, sad to say.
What did Ben R.'s incredible season do for the MAC this year? Not much of anything except for the good feeling for Miami fans. Attendance is down. The fact that we have more games on tv is only because there are simply more games on tv, period. If NCAA football broadcasts were cut by 30%, who do you think would be cut? The non-BCS teams, of course. We are still in the marginalized areas of national coverage.
The success of Cribbs, Frye, Gates, Chester Taylor, or any other MAC player is still small change compared to the NFL players from the big schools. We get a handful of players drafted conference-wide, they get 6+ per team. We occupy the same place in the NFL that we do in the NCAA--an interesting minority, worthy of attention only when something exceptional occurs: an undefeteated team that beats BCS teams, a peripheral Heisman mention, etc. When it's business as usual, we go unnoticed. That is why parity is the worst thing that could happen to the MAC: if no one is exceptional, we will really be ignored. There is no charm to a 7-4 MAC team when there are seven Big 10 teams with equal or better records.
And even if that MAC team wins a bowl game, it will not make any national impact.
BobcatFan Wrote:Easy...it can't.
Ahh yes. The defeatist attitude. How sad to not have hope of something better. I disagree with this 110%.
It takes time.
Ben is not going to brake out and the whole country becomes MAC fans over night.
Look at Utah last year, does anyone care this year?
We need to build a rep over time.
And fear not, some of my retarded "Michigan Fan" friends are already stating that the MAC is the QB conference.
If they can see this anyone (or any species) can see this.
IBleedOhioGreen Wrote:BobcatFan Wrote:Easy...it can't.
Ahh yes. The defeatist attitude. How sad to not have hope of something better. I disagree with this 110%.
It may be defeatist, but it's also realistic.
Have you been to a Michigan game in Ann Arbor, a Wisconsin game in Madison, or a tOAMU game in Cowlumbus? You honestly think there is anything the MAC could do to get even 5% of those fans to switch their primary allegiance to a MAC school?
Look, we all like the MAC. But some people here have completely lost all perspective or sense of reality. The MAC is never going to be able to compete with the Big Ten. There is too much history, money, and political power behind the Big Ten. Especially in football.
BobcatFan Wrote:IBleedOhioGreen Wrote:BobcatFan Wrote:Easy...it can't.
Ahh yes. The defeatist attitude. How sad to not have hope of something better. I disagree with this 110%.
It may be defeatist, but it's also realistic.
Have you been to a Michigan game in Ann Arbor, a Wisconsin game in Madison, or a tOAMU game in Cowlumbus? You honestly think there is anything the MAC could do to get even 5% of those fans to switch their primary allegiance to a MAC school?
Look, we all like the MAC. But some people here have completely lost all perspective or sense of reality. The MAC is never going to be able to compete with the Big Ten. There is too much history, money, and political power behind the Big Ten. Especially in football.
Yes.
Beat them regularly.
BobcatFan Wrote:IBleedOhioGreen Wrote:BobcatFan Wrote:Easy...it can't.
Ahh yes. The defeatist attitude. How sad to not have hope of something better. I disagree with this 110%.
It may be defeatist, but it's also realistic.
Have you been to a Michigan game in Ann Arbor, a Wisconsin game in Madison, or a tOAMU game in Cowlumbus? You honestly think there is anything the MAC could do to get even 5% of those fans to switch their primary allegiance to a MAC school?
Look, we all like the MAC. But some people here have completely lost all perspective or sense of reality. The MAC is never going to be able to compete with the Big Ten. There is too much history, money, and political power behind the Big Ten. Especially in football.
Yes, I have been to the Big House 3 times and to Ohio Stadium probably 4-5 times in my life. I also was at Peden Stadium in Athens for the Ohio/Pitt game and saw the same kind of atmosphere for an Ohio University football game. Was the crowd as big? Heck no. But it's about the game atmosphere and excited students and fans inside the stadium. I think these things can happen with some big wins and big events that would help build to this.
I am perfectly aware that the MAC will never be the Big Ten. Trust me, I do not want it to be. We will never fill 100,000-seat stadiums, but I do no think it is unrealistic to think that 35,000-45,000 seast stadiums can be filled at MAC schools. There's always room to grow and if you give up on these hopes what do you have to hold on to?
Look at the MAC as a good publicly-held corporation. What is always the goal? Growth. I think this should be our goal with our fans, but the product on the field has to make a lot of these large step in order for growth to happen. The addition of NIU, Marshall and UB was supposed to promote growth for the MAC and it did. Marshall helped out in football tremendously and NIU has become a consistent top MAC football team.
I don't think we're going to pull there "die-hard" Big Ten school fans away from their allegiences. But MAC schools graduate a comparable amount each year to the Big Ten schools and there's no reason more of the MAC alumni can't become more proud and excited about their Alma Mater's sports programs.
IBleedOhioGreen Wrote:Yes, I have been to the Big House 3 times and to Ohio Stadium probably 4-5 times in my life. I also was at Peden Stadium in Athens for the Ohio/Pitt game and saw the same kind of atmosphere for an Ohio University football game.
So was I. It was great. But it was the one game like that in the 20+ years I've been going to Peden. I was also at the Ball State game...same old, same old.
Until the Pitt game becomes the norm, rather than the outlier, I remain skeptical.
What would be required?
Divine intervention. :angel:
Or plate tectonics. Either one would probably be sufficient.
What they should do is schedule 1 game a year in Cleveland Browns Stadium vs big school. BG plays Wisconsin. The media will cover that game because of the venue and if you get wknr to air the game with a pregame show you have a chance to build something. The EMU/CMU/WMU games at ford field are good too. I would give away tickets too local school kids. You might find a 7th grader that got free tickets to a BGSU/Wisconsin game and become a MAC fan. Get'em in the door show them a good time.
Simple, TV coverage of every game for years on end. That has built generations of fans for the Big Ten teams of people who not only never attended "their" school, but would get lost walking around the campus of "their" school!
tailer parks.
Don't forget trailer parks, when not following NASCAR they are the fans of the Big 10.
westernwilly Wrote:DrTorch Wrote:1. Respectable coverage in local media, primarily newspapers. It is no coincidence that local papers hold MAC sports in disdain. It's not simply that they don't care, they have an active dislike of the MAC. MAC teams need to get parity coverage to tOAMU, Mich, ND, IU, etc. That means a front page story, and a headline should a MAC team deserve it (e.g. Miami(IN) over N'western).
Actually the Kalamazoo Gazette gives WMU exelent coverage. At least one story a day on the football team and they are highlighted on Sundays.
Todays sports section has Western taking up 2/3rds the front page with 2 other full pages.
U of M and MSU got a picture each and a few paragraphs.
And that's why I think WMU is one of the most important teams in the MAC: they have good presence in their market.
I'd like to see that extend to G Rapids (or perhaps it does).
NIU may be gaining some momentum in this area as well.
As for OhioBobcat's defeatist mentality...it's a circular argument. That is exactly the loser mentality that too much of the midwest has. Like Motown Bronco explained, they'd rather dress up in some sexy team's clothes, b/c they don't believe in their own school.
The afflicted obviously don't have the cure, or they wouldn't be afflicted.
I believe the MAC can break that cycle. I doubt if a MAC team will get 80K fans to a game any time in the next two decades...but I think consistently near 30K and an occasional 40K is a reasonable goal. But, it takes intentional effort.
DrTorch Wrote:As for OhioBobcat's defeatist mentality...it's a circular argument. That is exactly the loser mentality that too much of the midwest has. Like Motown Bronco explained, they'd rather dress up in some sexy team's clothes, b/c they don't believe in their own school.
The afflicted obviously don't have the cure, or they wouldn't be afflicted.
I believe the MAC can break that cycle. I doubt if a MAC team will get 80K fans to a game any time in the next two decades...but I think consistently near 30K and an occasional 40K is a reasonable goal. But, it takes intentional effort.
BINGO!
We should first worry about being at the same level with a Conference USA or a Big East before we turn our attention to the Big Ten. The MAC has a long way to go before we are a respected conference to the public.
BobcatFan Wrote:IBleedOhioGreen Wrote:BobcatFan Wrote:Easy...it can't.
Ahh yes. The defeatist attitude. How sad to not have hope of something better. I disagree with this 110%.
It may be defeatist, but it's also realistic.
Have you been to a Michigan game in Ann Arbor, a Wisconsin game in Madison, or a tOAMU game in Cowlumbus? You honestly think there is anything the MAC could do to get even 5% of those fans to switch their primary allegiance to a MAC school?
Look, we all like the MAC. But some people here have completely lost all perspective or sense of reality. The MAC is never going to be able to compete with the Big Ten. There is too much history, money, and political power behind the Big Ten. Especially in football.
Well then, get off this board and go home. Tell the media not to worry about the MAC. Screw the facilities improvements and tell the recruits to look somewhere else because the MAC will always be suppar according to you.
I guess Virginia Tech should have been "realistic" 15 years ago when they sucked, guess Kansas State should have packed it in years ago as well. Florida State was horrible pre-Bowden. So I guess they should have been realistic and cut football back then :mad: