http://collegead.com/college-football-sc...t-ratings/


Here was something that was written up about the state of college football. It was something that I have been saying all along. The fans really ain't happy about Colorado in the PAC 12, but they will be even more unhappy when they tried to get Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State into the PAC 12. It is a way to exploit tv ratings, but ignores the fans who attends the games. Are the Big 10 fans happy with Nebraska being added, or Rutgers and Maryland to the east? Are the ACC fans happy with so many schools that have spread their conference far apart? The SEC have not overreached like the PAC 12, Big 10, Big 12 and The ACC. I think the fans really want more local new blood to join the conference to make it a family day outing. The numbers of fans at the PAC 12 games have fallen off? Why? I do not think it is the PRO teams in the area. It has to do with Colorado visits Seattle for a game. Usually, most of the games are drive-able for fans like Washington Vs Oregon or Stanford Vs UCLA. Some of the big games are on 6 days notice which does not give fans enough time to get to the site of the game on a short notice. This could explain some of the issues with the MAC like the Northern Illinois games last year. ESPN, Fox, CBS and NBC that shows football games on network decides the game times for the schools to play. The schools and conferences really have no control over it. I say do away with what ESPN and others set for game time, and let the schools make the agreement on what time so that the fans do come to the games.

And this is surprising because...

(09-23-2015 01:00 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  And this is surprising because...

The fans are the customers. If you do not give them what they want? They will not show up. If they want to set it up like a business type deal? Merger with some G5 schools in the area sure helps solidified a conference. Boise State fits better in the PAC 12, not Colorado. You have to give up the academics expects.

NIU's attendance is a problem for 2 reasons...

1.) Midweek night games-these have been discussed ad nauseum, but the fact remains they absolutely devastate our attendance. Also having them in freezing midwest weather late in November hurts a lot, especially for low class MAC teams rolling through the fans have seen been beaten countless times. It's getting boring to the fans.

2.) Alumni attendance-anyone who has watched any NIU game (instead of spouting off on here about how you know it all about what we do wrong) will notice our student side is typically packed and rocking. Our alumni side? Not so much. Our alumni involvement and season ticket sales are pathetic, but our current AD is working fervently to fix both these problems.

(09-23-2015 01:04 AM)Stay Cool Wrote:  NIU's attendance is a problem for 2 reasons...

1.) Midweek night games-these have been discussed ad nauseum, but the fact remains they absolutely devastate our attendance. Also having them in freezing midwest weather late in November hurts a lot, especially for low class MAC teams rolling through the fans have seen been beaten countless times. It's getting boring to the fans.

2.) Alumni attendance-anyone who has watched any NIU game (instead of spouting off on here about how you know it all about what we do wrong) will notice our student side is typically packed and rocking. Our alumni side? Not so much. Our alumni involvement and season ticket sales are pathetic, but our current AD is working fervently to fix both these problems.

Blame that on ESPN, not the schools fault.

(09-23-2015 01:06 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 01:04 AM)Stay Cool Wrote:  NIU's attendance is a problem for 2 reasons...

1.) Midweek night games-these have been discussed ad nauseum, but the fact remains they absolutely devastate our attendance. Also having them in freezing midwest weather late in November hurts a lot, especially for low class MAC teams rolling through the fans have seen been beaten countless times. It's getting boring to the fans.

2.) Alumni attendance-anyone who has watched any NIU game (instead of spouting off on here about how you know it all about what we do wrong) will notice our student side is typically packed and rocking. Our alumni side? Not so much. Our alumni involvement and season ticket sales are pathetic, but our current AD is working fervently to fix both these problems.

Blame that on ESPN, not the schools fault.

I agree. NIU and the MAC sold their souls to ESPN for a pay day and now the fans would rather watch the games on TV than sit out in the cold. And while everyone is quick to crucify us for attendance, if they looked at our TV ratings they would see that's where a lot of our fans went. And this is a problem in all of college football, not just NIU

The idea that the Pac-10 was a drivable league is laughable. its 1500 miles from Arizona to Washington. the idea that you need fans from opposing teams to help fill your stadium is not a good strategy for filling your stadium.

with that said, there is still a lot of truth to the idea that tv is ruining the game day experience.

I think the vast majority of Big Ten fans are happy about Nebraska. Maryland is probably 50-50 depending whether you talk football fans or basketball/lacrosse fans. Rutgers was probably around 20% before this season started and probably single digits now.

As far as television: someone is watching the games and those are fans too. The tv vs attendance is an issue for every sports league from the NFL on down, but as you say most leagues seem to have picked the accessibility of tv over convenience for attendees.

If the people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them.

I think the vast majority of Big Ten fans are happy about Nebraska. Maryland is probably 50-50 depending whether you talk football fans or basketball/lacrosse fans. Rutgers was probably around 20% before this season started and probably single digits now.

As far as television: someone is watching the games and those are fans too. The tv vs attendance is an issue for every sports league from the NFL on down, but as you say most leagues seem to have picked the accessibility of tv over convenience for attendees.

If the people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them.

The article does not really delve into the issue of playing geographical/historical opponents. The article is about playing games at 11am or at night for the purpose of TV.

(09-23-2015 01:06 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 01:04 AM)Stay Cool Wrote:  NIU's attendance is a problem for 2 reasons...

1.) Midweek night games-these have been discussed ad nauseum, but the fact remains they absolutely devastate our attendance. Also having them in freezing midwest weather late in November hurts a lot, especially for low class MAC teams rolling through the fans have seen been beaten countless times. It's getting boring to the fans.

2.) Alumni attendance-anyone who has watched any NIU game (instead of spouting off on here about how you know it all about what we do wrong) will notice our student side is typically packed and rocking. Our alumni side? Not so much. Our alumni involvement and season ticket sales are pathetic, but our current AD is working fervently to fix both these problems.

Blame that on ESPN, not the schools fault.

Some of the alumni are sitting on the east side with the students, that's why it's packed. We still need more to show up though.

As an NIU alumni, I would no more sit with the alumni than there is a man in the moon. The student section is where it's at and it's a great way to re-live some of the great memories I had as a student.

(09-23-2015 07:25 AM)goofus Wrote:  The idea that the Pac-10 was a drivable league is laughable. its 1500 miles from Arizona to Washington. the idea that you need fans from opposing teams to help fill your stadium is not a good strategy for filling your stadium.

with that said, there is still a lot of truth to the idea that tv is ruining the game day experience.

Me and my dad had to go from Parker, Arizona to Tacoma, Washington in less than 2 days drive when my grandmother died. My mother was already up there. It is more realistic back in the 1980s when I was a kid. But the problem is the driving distance from Boulder to Seattle. That is not realistic drive. Arizona fans do drive to Seattle for games when they take a day off from work and so forth.

It is not a realistic drive from Lincoln, Nebraska to Maryland for a game.

(09-23-2015 07:25 AM)goofus Wrote:  The idea that the Pac-10 was a drivable league is laughable. its 1500 miles from Arizona to Washington. the idea that you need fans from opposing teams to help fill your stadium is not a good strategy for filling your stadium.

with that said, there is still a lot of truth to the idea that tv is ruining the game day experience.

Weeknight games create hassles you don't think about before they happen.

On a normal Saturday even if AState is having a near full house, traffic isn't much of a problem. Very unusual for it to take much over 15 minutes to drive the 3 miles down Red Wolf Boulevard from US49/63 bypass.

2012 we play ULM on a Thursday night with a 7pm kickoff. It took about an hour and 20 minutes to drive that last three miles. Instead of fans drifting in at different times to tailgate pretty much everyone had the idea of coming right after work so they balled up the usual commute home traffic.

Instead of parking the cars needed to bring around 30,000 people over a period of 10 hours, they had to get them parked in about 2 hours.

First time I've missed a kickoff in years.

(09-23-2015 02:46 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 07:25 AM)goofus Wrote:  The idea that the Pac-10 was a drivable league is laughable. its 1500 miles from Arizona to Washington. the idea that you need fans from opposing teams to help fill your stadium is not a good strategy for filling your stadium.

with that said, there is still a lot of truth to the idea that tv is ruining the game day experience.

Me and my dad had to go from Parker, Arizona to Tacoma, Washington in less than 2 days drive when my grandmother died. My mother was already up there. It is more realistic back in the 1980s when I was a kid. But the problem is the driving distance from Boulder to Seattle. That is not realistic drive. Arizona fans do drive to Seattle for games when they take a day off from work and so forth.

It is not a realistic drive from Lincoln, Nebraska to Maryland for a game.

Per Google Maps it's 19.5 hours from Seattle to Boulder or the same drive you claim you took as a kid. I would imagine the drive is better now since they have had 30 years to improve the infrastructure.

It's 23 hours from Seattle to Tempe, 17.5 hours to Los Angeles.

So it's kinda hard to see how Washington to Colorado is a hardship while Washington to Arizona State isn't.

(09-23-2015 02:46 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 07:25 AM)goofus Wrote:  The idea that the Pac-10 was a drivable league is laughable. its 1500 miles from Arizona to Washington. the idea that you need fans from opposing teams to help fill your stadium is not a good strategy for filling your stadium.

with that said, there is still a lot of truth to the idea that tv is ruining the game day experience.

Me and my dad had to go from Parker, Arizona to Tacoma, Washington in less than 2 days drive when my grandmother died. My mother was already up there. It is more realistic back in the 1980s when I was a kid. But the problem is the driving distance from Boulder to Seattle. That is not realistic drive. Arizona fans do drive to Seattle for games when they take a day off from work and so forth.

It is not a realistic drive from Lincoln, Nebraska to Maryland for a game.

Lincoln to College Park is not a realistic drive, but the drive from Tucson to Seattle which is four hours longer is?

Got it.

(09-23-2015 08:22 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  The article does not really delve into the issue of playing geographical/historical opponents. The article is about playing games at 11am or at night for the purpose of TV.

It also does not delve into the recent reality that many games are now stretched into 4-hour marathons with long delays of players just standing around.

(09-24-2015 05:32 AM)PGEMF Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 02:46 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 07:25 AM)goofus Wrote:  The idea that the Pac-10 was a drivable league is laughable. its 1500 miles from Arizona to Washington. the idea that you need fans from opposing teams to help fill your stadium is not a good strategy for filling your stadium.

with that said, there is still a lot of truth to the idea that tv is ruining the game day experience.

Me and my dad had to go from Parker, Arizona to Tacoma, Washington in less than 2 days drive when my grandmother died. My mother was already up there. It is more realistic back in the 1980s when I was a kid. But the problem is the driving distance from Boulder to Seattle. That is not realistic drive. Arizona fans do drive to Seattle for games when they take a day off from work and so forth.

It is not a realistic drive from Lincoln, Nebraska to Maryland for a game.

Lincoln to College Park is not a realistic drive, but the drive from Tucson to Seattle which is four hours longer is?

Got it.

I am talking about the drive from Lincoln to New Jersey and Maryland which is farther than Penn State. They do need to make some exceptions like if North Dakota State and South Dakota State are declared P5 type school from Big 10 to play? I could see the MWC adds them and then add Eastern Washington and Sacramento State to get to 16. I would say BYU, but they will decline. If all the P5 conferences decides the whole MWC as a P5 type conference? Then I could see BYU might rejoin.

(09-23-2015 01:04 AM)Stay Cool Wrote:  NIU's attendance is a problem for 2 reasons...

1.) Midweek night games-these have been discussed ad nauseum, but the fact remains they absolutely devastate our attendance. Also having them in freezing midwest weather late in November hurts a lot, especially for low class MAC teams rolling through the fans have seen been beaten countless times. It's getting boring to the fans.

2.) Alumni attendance-anyone who has watched any NIU game (instead of spouting off on here about how you know it all about what we do wrong) will notice our student side is typically packed and rocking. Our alumni side? Not so much. Our alumni involvement and season ticket sales are pathetic, but our current AD is working fervently to fix both these problems.

That can change over the years. The students today become the alumni that return in the future.

Nebraska and the Big Ten are very happy. Northwestern insisted on being on the side of the conference with the Cornhuskers.

What is missing is the Oklahoma game to end the season. Instead, NU ends with Iowa.