I know ESPN deal discussion is an exhausted topic here. However this situation has become urgent. What can be done to get out of this deal, there are literally no fans left because the product is not accessible. Something has to change. Is there any leadership in this conference? We are approaching a point of no return quickly.

MAC teams playing on weekdays for ESPNU and ESPN+ is pointless. Yes, our game was absolutely boring to watch but all weekday games should be on ESPN or ESPN2 only.

(11-15-2018 06:59 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  MAC teams playing on weekdays for ESPNU and ESPN+ is pointless. Yes, our game was absolutely boring to watch but all weekday games should be on ESPN or ESPN2 only.

It seems like right now the offense is so painful to watch that maybe ESPN will let us play on Saturday since no one will want to watch it anyway.

(11-15-2018 04:18 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  I know ESPN deal discussion is an exhausted topic here. However this situation has become urgent. What can be done to get out of this deal, there are literally no fans left because the product is not accessible. Something has to change. Is there any leadership in this conference? We are approaching a point of no return quickly.

Temp-wise yesterday it wasn't that bad. Certainly better than the UT game. Less wind. No reason for the student section not to be filled even if only for the first half.
NIU should have promoted the fact Joe Novak was going to be in attendance. That would have increased attendance.
The fact is they don't have a dominant offensive player to draw fans in. There is no Hammock, Turner, Wolfe, Harnish or Lynch that people want to see. Smith is great but he's a defensive player.

(11-15-2018 09:24 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-15-2018 06:59 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  MAC teams playing on weekdays for ESPNU and ESPN+ is pointless. Yes, our game was absolutely boring to watch but all weekday games should be on ESPN or ESPN2 only.

It seems like right now the offense is so painful to watch that maybe ESPN will let us play on Saturday since no one will want to watch it anyway.

I wonder how the ratings are compared to other ESPN programing in that spot. I'd imagine a football game does better than a college BBall game so I don't see any reason why they'd stop the weeknight games. Football has become a made for TV sport.

You can't expect fans to sit in the freezing cold for hours when NIU is struggling to score a touchdown the entire game.

Guys here at EMU we did not get a one of those games this year and I indeed feel blessed. These are TV studio games for the most part as ESPN has the contract and simply sells the games they don't want to CBS or Fox. Attendance is embarrassingly abysmal and when the stands are shown, it reminds one of a normal high school game.

I live one mile from the U-M Big House but MAC football presents a much better, low stress value six miles east in Ypsilanti. I pay 5 bucks for a spot that would cost me $60 in Ann Arbor and save at least $70 on the game ticket as well. I don't fight the police atmosphere of the Big Ten stadium staff either.

For those of my friends who doubt the quality of MAC football, I remind them that our best Detroit Lion's receiver is Kenny Golladay. Our best O Lineman was TJ Lang from EMU and Kareem Hunt, Antoine Brown and Ben Rothliesberger are not doing bad for their teams either.

I, for one, hate these midweek MACTION games.

This continues for a few more years and this conference is done. What is scary is no one seems to care the conference is about to become extinct, even the ADs in the conference

(11-15-2018 04:18 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  I know ESPN deal discussion is an exhausted topic here. However this situation has become urgent. What can be done to get out of this deal, there are literally no fans left because the product is not accessible. Something has to change. Is there any leadership in this conference? We are approaching a point of no return quickly.

(11-15-2018 09:31 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  This continues for a few more years and this conference is done. What is scary is no one seems to care the conference is about to become extinct, even the ADs in the conference

I totally agree with you that MACtion is killing the conference. I hope (and believe) the ADs and Presidents do care.

The problem is that fans aren't going to come back. Have you seen Saturday attendance for us this year? Unless we join another conference we're not getting anything by moving back.

(11-16-2018 07:10 AM)numbersdontlie Wrote:  The problem is that fans aren't going to come back. Have you seen Saturday attendance for us this year? Unless we join another conference we're not getting anything by moving back.

Impeach the MAC leadership!


Fan's are speaking with their wallet's and commitment!

I would bet that ESPN wouldn't mind getting out of this contract. When originally signed, ESPN was throwing money around. Since then, new deals (conference USA?) are not as lucrative. The next round won't be as beneficial financially so things could change. Heck, NIU might be streaming all their games and have control of content.

(11-16-2018 09:34 AM)klake87 Wrote:  I would bet that ESPN wouldn't mind getting out of this contract. When originally signed, ESPN was throwing money around. Since then, new deals (conference USA?) are not as lucrative. The next round won't be as beneficial financially so things could change. Heck, NIU might be streaming all their games and have control of content.

ESPN still wants to fill weekdays with live sports content though, supplied from any G5 conference that is willing.

On the other hand maybe the MAC realizes these games are destroying their fan bases more than anticipated and the inflow is not worth the cost.

(11-16-2018 09:34 AM)klake87 Wrote:  I would bet that ESPN wouldn't mind getting out of this contract. When originally signed, ESPN was throwing money around. Since then, new deals (conference USA?) are not as lucrative. The next round won't be as beneficial financially so things could change. Heck, NIU might be streaming all their games and have control of content.

It's not even that lucrative of a contract. Each school makes just over $600k per year. FSU paid us $1.6 million for one game. I'd rather we just play another payday game, stream our own games, and play on Saturdays again.

(11-15-2018 04:18 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  I know ESPN deal discussion is an exhausted topic here. However this situation has become urgent. What can be done to get out of this deal, there are literally no fans left because the product is not accessible. Something has to change. Is there any leadership in this conference? We are approaching a point of no return quickly.

You act like people will show up on Saturday afternoon when it’s 30 degrees out....you will get what another 1000 fans? problem is deeper than the ESPN deal. Attendance is down across the nation. NIU couldn’t even come close to selling out the Utah game on a nice September Saturday night. There’s absolutely no excuse for that.....what do the town people of DeKalb do for fun on a Saturday night? People are to lazy and would rather watch on a 70 inch high def screen. I don’t understand why the students can’t make the game though. Is it a generational thing? Too busy on your phone? Does niu need to make a stronger effort to make the game experience into a party?

(11-16-2018 12:05 PM)JoeNovak Wrote:  

(11-15-2018 04:18 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  I know ESPN deal discussion is an exhausted topic here. However this situation has become urgent. What can be done to get out of this deal, there are literally no fans left because the product is not accessible. Something has to change. Is there any leadership in this conference? We are approaching a point of no return quickly.

You act like people will show up on Saturday afternoon when it’s 30 degrees out....you will get what another 1000 fans? problem is deeper than the ESPN deal. Attendance is down across the nation. NIU couldn’t even come close to selling out the Utah game on a nice September Saturday night. There’s absolutely no excuse for that.....what do the town people of DeKalb do for fun on a Saturday night? People are to lazy and would rather watch on a 70 inch high def screen. I don’t understand why the students can’t make the game though. Is it a generational thing? Too busy on your phone? Does niu need to make a stronger effort to make the game experience into a party?

If a game were held tomorrow on a Saturday, yes no one would be there. It's going to take several years of a more fan friendly system to get fans back. It took a decade plus to get to the point of having no fans because of this deal and it will take several years to build it back up. We lost a generation of Huskie fans during this period.