I think most posters are somewhat clueless as to what the mutual benefits of this deal to ESPN and the MAC.

Let me use yesterday's Akron FB game:

ESPN has a lot of channels (ESPN/2/U, etc.) and digital media (ESPN3, ESPN+) to fill.

The more games the merrier for them. They can keep putting games out somewhere. Some even end up on CBSSN.

And ESPN is always looking for content, E.g., from our game Saturday, ESPN got SportsCenter highlight #4.

more thoughts tomorrow morning...

I forgot the details, but ESPN provided financial support (not sure how much) to get the MAC telecasts up to their (ESPN's) standards.

So we got better ESPN3 and ESPN+ games.

For the MAC schools, if you aren't ESPN channels (or equivalent) you are out in the cold looking in. To be relevant in FBS today, a school has to have their games on some member of the ESPN family either TV channels or digital media.

P.S. Anyone remember how BAD some of the MAC schools produced games were say 5 years ago?

Pre cable and early cable being on tv was a big deal. It isn't now. Early on a tv appearance would attract a bigger crowd because it was such a rare event. Now I suspect it might suppress the crowd especially for week night November games.

(11-12-2018 09:46 AM)ljmhurons Wrote:  Pre cable and early cable being on tv was a big deal. It isn't now. Early on a tv appearance would attract a bigger crowd because it was such a rare event. Now I suspect it might suppress the crowd especially for week night November games.

I agree.

What happens now is being on television isn't a big deal, but NOT being on is a big minus.

EMU fans, unbelievably, are SPOILED. We could watch what 12 EMU FB games and never leave the living room.

Mid-Major sports have become a living room sport. If the weather isn't great, stay home and watch it there.

UofM and OSU will still draw 100K+ regardless of the weather.

(11-12-2018 09:46 AM)ljmhurons Wrote:  Pre cable and early cable being on tv was a big deal. It isn't now. Early on a tv appearance would attract a bigger crowd because it was such a rare event. Now I suspect it might suppress the crowd especially for week night November games.

Yep. I can't think of one MAC midweek game where the stands were filled. One could make an argument that it helps a little with recruiting, as your game is on ESPN, but that's probably negated when you see empty stadiums during play.

Glad EMU didn't have any of those this season.

I'm not convinced it has helped recruiting at all. I haven't seen anything that would indicate better recruiting by MAC teams vs. other G5 conferences, all of which play fewer midweek games.

(11-12-2018 11:09 AM)EagleSam Wrote:  

(11-12-2018 09:46 AM)ljmhurons Wrote:  Pre cable and early cable being on tv was a big deal. It isn't now. Early on a tv appearance would attract a bigger crowd because it was such a rare event. Now I suspect it might suppress the crowd especially for week night November games.

Yep. I can't think of one MAC midweek game where the stands were filled. One could make an argument that it helps a little with recruiting, as your game is on ESPN, but that's probably negated when you see empty stadiums during play.

Glad EMU didn't have any of those this season.

Western came pretty close two years ago, but the MAC doesn't play these games for the gate

(11-11-2018 11:44 PM)emu steve Wrote:  Let me use yesterday's Akron FB game:

Steve, were you about to say something specific about yesterday's game?

All I know is I had no trouble getting EMU Football this year on a hulu and plus subscription, which didn't used to be a given.

As for basketball, I have a question. Looking at the schedule, I see a few big games not on ESPN Plus or my usual Hulu slate. They are:
@TCU (FSSW)
@ Northeastern (NESN)
Feb 2 at Miami (Radio Only)
Feb 9 at NIU (Radio only)
Feb 23 v WMU (Radio only)
Mar 8 at Toledo (Radio Only)

Anyone know if that means they won't be on ESPN Plus?

(11-12-2018 12:25 PM)Block_E Wrote:  All I know is I had no trouble getting EMU Football this year on a hulu and plus subscription, which didn't used to be a given.

As for basketball, I have a question. Looking at the schedule, I see a few big games not on ESPN Plus or my usual Hulu slate. They are:
@TCU (FSSW)
@ Northeastern (NESN)
Feb 2 at Miami (Radio Only)
Feb 9 at NIU (Radio only)
Feb 23 v WMU (Radio only)
Mar 8 at Toledo (Radio Only)

Anyone know if that means they won't be on ESPN Plus?

Greg Steiner said every MAC game will be on ESPN+, so I think they just haven't updated the schedule yet. Maybe those MAC games with no TV currently are waiting to see if they'll get picked up by ESPN2/ESPNU/CBS Sports? And if not will end up on ESPN+.

As for TCU and Northeastern, we may be out of luck for those two. I checked Fox Sports Go (Fox Sports streaming site) yesterday while TCU played Oral Roberts, and the game was nowhere to be found. I worry it'll be the same for our game. For the Northeastern game on NESN...I have no clue how that will work. Never tried to watch anything on that channel before.