Weekday (Tues Weds) MACtion football in November will no longer be an exclusive idea. CUSA's new deal will put their games on Tuesday and Wednesday in October. (Picked up from main forum board). Wonder what they'll call it.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/SB...-ESPN.aspx

Also noted SBC has a ton of games on Thursdays, so MAC squeezed out there.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays on CBSSN. Sun Belt already has the October ESPN slots. CUSA just moved their already existing 18 Saturday CBSSN broadcasts to 18 Tuesday broadcasts.

Im hoping the MAC can fill the void of those 18 open timeslots via our already existing 10-12 games per year on CBSSN. So maybe more like double, 24 games on sub-contracted to CBSSN on Saturdays now. Id assume the Sun Belt may grab a few like they are giving out a few to NFLN.

Judy may have just helped the MAC and SBC get some more exposure by abandoning her Saturday slots on CBSSN for a couple more $$$$'s

All that weeknight football just to be on the CBS Sports Network.

For all the bellyaching around here about our television contract, we seem to be in a much better spot.

Miami (Oh) Yeah, that's a good point about the new void on Saturdays on CBS Sports Network. It would be wonderful to get a MAC game of the week on there in early fall if we could.

They got $750k per school for a conference with a bunch of random FCS schools.

MAC should be getting far more considering we killed our fanbases many years ago by creating the whole weeknight college football concept.

(11-09-2022 06:48 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  They got $750k per school for a conference with a bunch of random FCS schools.

MAC should be getting far more considering we killed our fanbases many years ago by creating the whole weeknight college football concept.

Per McMurphy it is at least $800,000/team per year.

(11-09-2022 06:48 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  They got $750k per school for a conference with a bunch of random FCS schools.

MAC should be getting far more considering we killed our fanbases many years ago by creating the whole weeknight college football concept.

I expect us to at least double up when we renegotiate in the next year or 2. Hopefully we add WKU and MTSU at that same time. MTSU will have had time to collect the exit fees of the 6 who left for the AAC and they will see the writing on the wall that Memphis isn't going anywhere (New Big XII contract says ESPN will only pay more if they expand with P5 teams and not G5 teams like Memphis) so MTSU will now know they won't be joining AAC.

(11-09-2022 07:09 PM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  

(11-09-2022 06:48 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  They got $750k per school for a conference with a bunch of random FCS schools.

MAC should be getting far more considering we killed our fanbases many years ago by creating the whole weeknight college football concept.

I expect us to at least double up when we renegotiate in the next year or 2. Hopefully we add WKU and MTSU at that same time. MTSU will have had time to collect the exit fees of the 6 who left for the AAC and they will see the writing on the wall that Memphis isn't going anywhere (New Big XII contract says ESPN will only pay more if they expand with P5 teams and not G5 teams like Memphis) so MTSU will now know they won't be joining AAC.

Wouldn’t count on that. The MTSU fan reaction to this on the CUSA makes it seem as though they want nothing to do with MAC.

https://www.csnbbs.com/thread-959066.html

(11-09-2022 07:09 PM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  

(11-09-2022 06:48 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  They got $750k per school for a conference with a bunch of random FCS schools.

MAC should be getting far more considering we killed our fanbases many years ago by creating the whole weeknight college football concept.

I expect us to at least double up when we renegotiate in the next year or 2. Hopefully we add WKU and MTSU at that same time. MTSU will have had time to collect the exit fees of the 6 who left for the AAC and they will see the writing on the wall that Memphis isn't going anywhere (New Big XII contract says ESPN will only pay more if they expand with P5 teams and not G5 teams like Memphis) so MTSU will now know they won't be joining AAC.

Why did we ever sign a 13-year deal or whatever ridiculous length it was? Unless ESPN was giving us millions per team annually that was a pretty silly thing to do. CUSA contract for five years seems more appropriate.

(11-09-2022 06:48 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  MAC should be getting far more considering we killed our fanbases many years ago by creating the whole weeknight college football concept.

This is more myth than reality. Northern Illinois was drawing four-figure crowds in November at times before MACtion.

(11-09-2022 08:47 PM)Schadenfreude Wrote:  

(11-09-2022 06:48 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  MAC should be getting far more considering we killed our fanbases many years ago by creating the whole weeknight college football concept.

This is more myth than reality. Northern Illinois was drawing four-figure crowds in November at times before MACtion.

Show me the numbers. Midweek November games started around 2005 season. NIU had much stronger attendances prior to it. From 2002-2006 NIU had an average attendance greater than 20k. In 2004, NIU led the MAC in attendance with an average of 27,652 fans.

(11-09-2022 09:03 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(11-09-2022 08:47 PM)Schadenfreude Wrote:  

(11-09-2022 06:48 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  MAC should be getting far more considering we killed our fanbases many years ago by creating the whole weeknight college football concept.

This is more myth than reality. Northern Illinois was drawing four-figure crowds in November at times before MACtion.

Show me the numbers. Midweek November games started around 2005 season. NIU had much stronger attendances prior to it. From 2002-2006 NIU had an average attendance greater than 20k. In 2004, NIU led the MAC in attendance with an average of 27,652 fans.

All sports (pro and college) has seen declining attendance. Why fight traffic, pay for parking and a ticket and $10 hotdog and $10 beer when you can watch at home on your big screen tv with surround sound in the warmth?
.
20 years ago, there wasn't as many TV options to see your team play and no big screen TVs with pause and rewind etc... so you went to the game.

(11-09-2022 10:26 PM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  

(11-09-2022 09:03 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(11-09-2022 08:47 PM)Schadenfreude Wrote:  

(11-09-2022 06:48 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  MAC should be getting far more considering we killed our fanbases many years ago by creating the whole weeknight college football concept.

This is more myth than reality. Northern Illinois was drawing four-figure crowds in November at times before MACtion.

Show me the numbers. Midweek November games started around 2005 season. NIU had much stronger attendances prior to it. From 2002-2006 NIU had an average attendance greater than 20k. In 2004, NIU led the MAC in attendance with an average of 27,652 fans.

All sports (pro and college) has seen declining attendance. Why fight traffic, pay for parking and a ticket and $10 hotdog and $10 beer when you can watch at home on your big screen tv with surround sound in the warmth?
.
20 years ago, there wasn't as many TV options to see your team play and no big screen TVs with pause and rewind etc... so you went to the game.

Attendance is down but the weeknight games don't just kill your attendance in November. They kill your fanbase. Why would I buy season tickets if only three of the home games are on Saturday when i can attend? 17 years of this has eroded fanbases to what it is now. Now if we get 20k for a game early in the season on a Saturday that's a good attendance.

Did not notice a new GOR being mentions that Top Straight mentioned as a possibility here: https://csnbbs.com/thread-934887-post-18...id18554279

Quote:Two additions to my previous post.

1.) A GOR (even if small) might be included in the new C-USA media deal due to be released very soon. This may make moving a "little" more difficult.

2.) WKU is getting between 4.5 to 5.5 million in buyout money from conference departures and entry fees.

This money is being directly used to improve/build various athletic facilities. That money has become a VITAL "bonus". WKU can't afford to give that up. It should be received over the next three years. FOLLOW the money.

Travel costs in the new ten team conference have been "managed" to an extent.

no reason for a televised weeknight game other than helping ESPN-Disney make money. the games are close to 4 hours long w replays and tv timeouts. few fans, students, kids, folks who work in the morning are gonna go to the stadium until 11 or 12 on a work/school night. If the games were at 6 p.m. I could see it.

(11-09-2022 10:36 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  Attendance is down but the weeknight games don't just kill your attendance in November. They kill your fanbase. Why would I buy season tickets if only three of the home games are on Saturday when i can attend? 17 years of this has eroded fanbases to what it is now. Now if we get 20k for a game early in the season on a Saturday that's a good attendance.

Exactly!!!

(11-10-2022 03:23 AM)pono Wrote:  no reason for a televised weeknight game other than helping ESPN-Disney make money. the games are close to 4 hours long w replays and tv timeouts. few fans, students, kids, folks who work in the morning are gonna go to the stadium until 11 or 12 on a work/school night. If the games were at 6 p.m. I could see it.

Its so the degenerate gamblers can have their fix almost every day of the week. Who else tunes into these games? A couple thousand diehards of each school, half of which are watching because they can't attend a midweek game due to real life obligations but would attend a conventional Saturday game like every other fan base in college sports seems to enjoy.

(11-10-2022 07:29 AM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  

(11-10-2022 03:23 AM)pono Wrote:  no reason for a televised weeknight game other than helping ESPN-Disney make money. the games are close to 4 hours long w replays and tv timeouts. few fans, students, kids, folks who work in the morning are gonna go to the stadium until 11 or 12 on a work/school night. If the games were at 6 p.m. I could see it.

Its so the degenerate gamblers can have their fix almost every day of the week. Who else tunes into these games? A couple thousand diehards of each school, half of which are watching because they can't attend a midweek game due to real life obligations but would attend a conventional Saturday game like every other fan base in college sports seems to enjoy.

The phrase "degenerate gamblers" is a backwords, stupid comment from the past. Gambling is our national pastime and the #1 entertainment for Senior citizens.

C-USA official release:

https://conferenceusa.com/news/2022/11/1...-deal.aspx

(11-10-2022 11:29 AM)DICK Wrote:  

(11-10-2022 07:29 AM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  

(11-10-2022 03:23 AM)pono Wrote:  no reason for a televised weeknight game other than helping ESPN-Disney make money. the games are close to 4 hours long w replays and tv timeouts. few fans, students, kids, folks who work in the morning are gonna go to the stadium until 11 or 12 on a work/school night. If the games were at 6 p.m. I could see it.

Its so the degenerate gamblers can have their fix almost every day of the week. Who else tunes into these games? A couple thousand diehards of each school, half of which are watching because they can't attend a midweek game due to real life obligations but would attend a conventional Saturday game like every other fan base in college sports seems to enjoy.

The phrase "degenerate gamblers" is a backwords, stupid comment from the past. Gambling is our national pastime and the #1 entertainment for Senior citizens.

So is prostitution and nobody’s trying to put a positive spin on that nor are they disrupting our fall sports schedule to accomplish it.

(11-09-2022 11:17 PM)Steve1981 Wrote:  Did not notice a new GOR being mentions that Top Straight mentioned as a possibility here: https://csnbbs.com/thread-934887-post-18...id18554279

Quote:Two additions to my previous post.

1.) A GOR (even if small) might be included in the new C-USA media deal due to be released very soon. This may make moving a "little" more difficult.

2.) WKU is getting between 4.5 to 5.5 million in buyout money from conference departures and entry fees.

This money is being directly used to improve/build various athletic facilities. That money has become a VITAL "bonus". WKU can't afford to give that up. It should be received over the next three years. FOLLOW the money.

Travel costs in the new ten team conference have been "managed" to an extent.

Good points, Steve1981, and thanks for sticking with the MAC board and (at least some) UMass interest in us Mid-Americaners.

The possible CUSA GOR you mentioned has been cited (in main CSNBBS forum) as being probably 5 years, which would a) allow a CUSA member like WKU to collect all that nice money over the next few years, and b) dovetail with the MAC-ESPN deal, which currently runs through mid-2027.

IMO, that also gives UMass time to rebuild its fb program and perhaps (long shot?) reassess its infatuation with the A10. Of course there are a whole bunch of other things going on that can influence changes.

The CUSA-ESPN deal now gives ESPN weekday night games on Tues-Weds in October and November, as well as media deals with the MAC, SBC, CUSA and AAC, four of the five G5 conferences (obviously it also has the ACC and SEC). I agree with other posters that ESPN is after ad revenue, and we all know live home attendance is not in their equation.

MAC schools have largely failed to counter that attendance drop with other efforts. Back when Covid cancelled an NIU-BYU game at a remote Chicago stadium instead of at NIU, I offered a proposal to incorporate new strategy with the declining weekday attendance. All I heard from a semi-official source at NIU was they were
"interested" in the concept.

It's simple but kind of long, so I am loathe to repost it, but it's something that might be reconsidered with the changing media rights landscape. Not now, though.

As to UMass, hang in there. Here to 2027 is a long time.