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NIU rolling Toledo. 31-9 late in the 3rd. They look really good. We lose to Ball on 11/13, NIU will clinch the Division with 2 games left. Even if we beat Ball, they could beat Miami (at NIU) on 11/14 making for a final game with no Division race implications on 11/20. Final game could still impact bowl picture though.

I like watching us absolutely dominate our non-rival. NIU just running it down their throats now.

What the hell is this conference even?

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Toledo and Ohio not looking like the unstoppable juggernauts of the past 2 weeks.

(11-07-2018 11:21 PM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  Toledo and Ohio not looking like the unstoppable juggernauts of the past 2 weeks.

Welcome to the MAC.

And with these ill-conceived, self-serving mid-week games for ESPN, teams are going to be even more high & low.

With live-streaming, and more and more cable cutters, the MAC does not need smarmy ESPN anymore.

Move the games back to Saturday at 1 p.m. and gradually rebuild the fan bases that have been allowed to erode.

I don't think attendance itself would differ much if these late-season games were on Saturdays, especially with snowflakes flying soon. Although what MACtion does is advertise our empty stadiums to television audiences.

Playing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays just gives an image of us being the "JV" conference of college football.

And I agree that the sudden erratic schedule that awaits teams in November could throw off players' rhythms. But we survived it in 2016 and Buffalo seems to be handling it fine. I think in Ohio's and Toledo's cases, we just made them look like world-beaters when they really aren't.

I wonder if the TV money we're getting is enough to make up for loss of revenue from ticket sales, concessions, etc.

(11-08-2018 08:54 AM)MajorHoople Wrote:  I wonder if the TV money we're getting is enough to make up for loss of revenue from ticket sales, concessions, etc.

Probably does for the short term, but only if you do not include what would be made by local restaurants, bars, gas stations, etc, as a result of more people coming to Kalamazoo for games. Of course, ESPN does not care about the local community, and I question if WMU does either.

It also does not make up for the long-term and gradual erosion of interest, support, and passion for the program.

ESPN "MACtion" is a short-term jolly for quick buck that has long-term consequences. Kinda like prostitution...and STDs.

The loss of revenue from tickets and concessions is minimal. November Saturdays are not well attended either. Not sure why that keeps getting ignored.

(11-08-2018 05:58 AM)GullLake Wrote:  

(11-07-2018 11:21 PM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  Toledo and Ohio not looking like the unstoppable juggernauts of the past 2 weeks.

Welcome to the MAC.

And with these ill-conceived, self-serving mid-week games for ESPN, teams are going to be even more high & low.

With live-streaming, and more and more cable cutters, the MAC does not need smarmy ESPN anymore.

Move the games back to Saturday at 1 p.m. and gradually rebuild the fan bases that have been allowed to erode.

Or it could just be, Toledo and Ohio aren't that good.

I mean, we already knew that going into the games.

(11-08-2018 09:39 AM)wmubroncopilot Wrote:  The loss of revenue from tickets and concessions is minimal. November Saturdays are not well attended either. Not sure why that keeps getting ignored.

People aren't buying season tickets because they know they're not going to two weeknight games in November.

Not solely talking about individual game and walk-up sales.

(11-08-2018 09:49 AM)MajorHoople Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 09:39 AM)wmubroncopilot Wrote:  The loss of revenue from tickets and concessions is minimal. November Saturdays are not well attended either. Not sure why that keeps getting ignored.

People aren't buying season tickets because they know they're not going to two weeknight games in November.

Not solely talking about individual game and walk-up sales.

That is exactly why I didn't renew season tix this year.

I was watching the game last night with my son and couple of high school juniors. One of whom is a D1 recruit. His comment was after seeing the empty stands..."That's why I will not play in the MAC. I would hate to play on Wednesday nights."

These weekday games are killing our fan base and hurting our recruiting. I really can't see the upside.

I heard we lost the kid from Kentwood last week. He probably was thinking the same thing after watching Ohio kill us in front of ten people.

Agree. If our Sat games will be on ESPN plus anyway, WTF is the point of mid-week games? MAC leadership is perfectly content with being the JV conference.

(11-08-2018 10:03 AM)broncofan1 Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 09:49 AM)MajorHoople Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 09:39 AM)wmubroncopilot Wrote:  The loss of revenue from tickets and concessions is minimal. November Saturdays are not well attended either. Not sure why that keeps getting ignored.

People aren't buying season tickets because they know they're not going to two weeknight games in November.

Not solely talking about individual game and walk-up sales.

That is exactly why I didn't renew season tix this year.

That's the reason that I didn't renew as well.

(11-08-2018 11:05 AM)bronco89 Wrote:  I was watching the game last night with my son and couple of high school juniors. One of whom is a D1 recruit. His comment was after seeing the empty stands..."That's why I will not play in the MAC. I would hate to play on Wednesday nights."

These weekday games are killing our fan base and hurting our recruiting. I really can't see the upside.

I heard we lost the kid from Kentwood last week. He probably was thinking the same thing after watching Ohio kill us in front of ten people.

That would explain why the "exposure" hasn't resulted in any improvement in MAC recruiting vs. the other G5 conferences. So then it just comes down to the money we get. But one money game against a decent P5 team will provide that much money.

The ESPN deal needs to be allowed to expire because the exposure that it used to offer has dwindled to almost nothing, owing to widespread streaming and now midweek saturation from other leagues.

Any attendance bump (and I'm sure there will be a small one) will be a bonus. I'm just saying don't hold your breath. I see a lot of hyperbole (its KILLING the fan base!) and anecdotal evidence. But the fact is, the numbers just are not there when the weather gets colder.

The reason I continue to say these things, is that the midweek argument re: attendance is simply a distraction from the real problems that keep WMU from consistently filling Waldo Stadium.

(11-08-2018 01:01 PM)wmubroncopilot Wrote:  The ESPN deal needs to be allowed to expire because the exposure that it used to offer has dwindled to almost nothing, owing to widespread streaming and now midweek saturation from other leagues.

Any attendance bump (and I'm sure there will be a small one) will be a bonus. I'm just saying don't hold your breath. I see a lot of hyperbole (its KILLING the fan base!) and anecdotal evidence. But the fact is, the numbers just are not there when the weather gets colder.

The reason I continue to say these things, is that the midweek argument re: attendance is simply a distraction from the real problems that keep WMU from consistently filling Waldo Stadium.

It's more than the low attendance for these weeknight games . The MAC looks like the kids that are too small to eat at the adult table and play games on Saturdays. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I believe that it is actually hurting our recruiting.

(11-08-2018 11:05 AM)bronco89 Wrote:  I was watching the game last night with my son and couple of high school juniors. One of whom is a D1 recruit. His comment was after seeing the empty stands..."That's why I will not play in the MAC. I would hate to play on Wednesday nights."

These weekday games are killing our fan base and hurting our recruiting. I really can't see the upside.

I heard we lost the kid from Kentwood last week. He probably was thinking the same thing after watching Ohio kill us in front of ten people.

Yeah, but to be fair, we were going to lose him anyway. The bigs came calling.

(11-08-2018 11:05 AM)bronco89 Wrote:  I was watching the game last night with my son and couple of high school juniors. One of whom is a D1 recruit. His comment was after seeing the empty stands..."That's why I will not play in the MAC. I would hate to play on Wednesday nights."

These weekday games are killing our fan base and hurting our recruiting. I really can't see the upside.

I heard we lost the kid from Kentwood last week. He probably was thinking the same thing after watching Ohio kill us in front of ten people.

Agreed. The major problem is nearly every MAC commissioner is just getting their ticket stamped. They think exposure on national TV makes them looks like they're effective commissioners. They could care less about the impact to the schools.