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Ohio Basketball Topic
Topic: The Perils of Television
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catfan28
1/23/2017 9:57 PM
Just announced the Akron gametime has been moved to noon. If history is any indication, that will have a big impact on the crowd - both students and fans.

We've already had a Saturday game moved to Friday at 9:00 (Kent), and I'd imagine the BGSU game could shift too.

First, TV came for football. That gave us the annual "gift" of 4 midweek games per year. Our Saturday games frequently get moved to off-times for sub-par TV.

Now, it's coming for basketball. I honestly fear that Saturday MAC games - which are what most of us look forward to every year - will become a rarity within the next couple years. Will basketball #MACtion - perhaps played at 9pm during the week - become the next big thing? It wouldn't shock me.

When does it end? I'll be there if we play at 6 in the morning, but for those from out-of-town or students, they won't. It hurts our crowds, it hurts our fans and it undoubtedly impacts our team too.
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Jeff McKinney
1/24/2017 12:09 AM
You make some good points. Personally, this time change is a hardship. Have spent a good deal of money on tickets for guests...now I have no idea if they'll even attend.
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Buckeye to Bobcat
1/24/2017 1:09 AM
The fine line had been crossed years ago with MAC Football. It has come to the point the conference has to defend its own brand or else it's going to become some TV Thing that people watch in Vegas when it has nothing else to bet on.

I reached it when Toledo vs. Bowling Green growing up got moved from a Saturday slot into mid-week slots. If you want to tell me rivalries mean something, then why make them a Tuesday night? No offense, but when I was in HS, our conference was smart enough to put the big games on Friday night (when it actually is a HS night). They wouldn't put it on a Tuesday, or a Thursday, it was Friday. For College Basketball, the games have to stay on Saturday as often as possible.

Another scheduling approach I would be interested in seeing a conference take, is putting as many conference games on Saturday starting in November. To me, that would make the conference season very intriguing, especially as I watch these soccer teams on NBCSN and Fox Sports One that play at the same time on Saturday.
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RSBobcat
1/24/2017 1:15 AM
second post about this - BS!
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bobcatsquared
1/24/2017 6:15 AM
My 4 season tickets will now likely go unused. Will have to scramble to get out of Newark on time after son's youth game and make it to Athens before tipoff.
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Brian Smith (No, not that one)
1/24/2017 8:57 AM
I have more issues when games get moved from afternoon to night games than afternoon games getting moved earlier in the afternoon.
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gbur
1/24/2017 10:39 AM
Flying into Cleveland from Houston to meet up with some friends to go to this game. 3:30 start time was perfect. It gave us enough time to drive down Saturday morning, eat lunch and get a few drinks in Athens before the game. Now it's looking like we're going to get up super early on Saturday or go down Friday night. Either way it won't be ideal.
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OU_Country
1/24/2017 1:11 PM
Brian Smith wrote:expand_more
I have more issues when games get moved from afternoon to night games than afternoon games getting moved earlier in the afternoon.
I'm guessing that's primarily because you have youngsters. Those without, or with older ones, me included, would rather see a 7pm game than a noon game all day long.

It doesn't matter - they aren't cahnging times because we complain. I just wish it would happe more than 10-12 days in advance. Didn't it used to be 20-21 days for these TV changes?
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Alan Swank
1/24/2017 1:27 PM
That is also Sibs Weekend, one of the biggest crowds for the after Christmas break schedule. I'm sure the uptown food establishments aren't too happy with this. With the 3:30 start they would have a big lunch crowd and dinner crowd. Noon started puts a dent in the lunch crowd. And all for what?
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OU_Country
1/24/2017 2:47 PM
Alan Swank wrote:expand_more
That is also Sibs Weekend, one of the biggest crowds for the after Christmas break schedule. I'm sure the uptown food establishments aren't too happy with this. With the 3:30 start they would have a big lunch crowd and dinner crowd. Noon started puts a dent in the lunch crowd. And all for what?

Agreed, but unless we all reach out to Schaus and Steinbrecher, nothing will change. Over the course of time, this is something that TV and the various conferences need to do better with. TV is great, but if we are seeing half of our home schedule changed by TV just ten days from the game, it's bad for business for everyone except the TV network.
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GoCats105
1/24/2017 3:44 PM
Alan Swank wrote:expand_more
That is also Sibs Weekend, one of the biggest crowds for the after Christmas break schedule. I'm sure the uptown food establishments aren't too happy with this. With the 3:30 start they would have a big lunch crowd and dinner crowd. Noon started puts a dent in the lunch crowd. And all for what?
Pretty sure those establishments aren't going to have a problem filling their piggy banks.

The game will be over by 2, probably 2:30 at the latest. Plenty of time for late lunch, linner.
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Casper71
1/24/2017 3:59 PM
Coming from Cincinnati earlier starts are better. It's tough getting home at midnight after the football games on Thursdays and Tuesdays. Same with basketball 7 o clock starts or top late.
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Andrew Ruck
1/24/2017 4:57 PM
GoCats105 wrote:expand_more
That is also Sibs Weekend, one of the biggest crowds for the after Christmas break schedule. I'm sure the uptown food establishments aren't too happy with this. With the 3:30 start they would have a big lunch crowd and dinner crowd. Noon started puts a dent in the lunch crowd. And all for what?
Pretty sure those establishments aren't going to have a problem filling their piggy banks.
Pretty sure many of those establishments don't even know there is a game.
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Alan Swank
1/24/2017 5:07 PM
Andrew Ruck wrote:expand_more
That is also Sibs Weekend, one of the biggest crowds for the after Christmas break schedule. I'm sure the uptown food establishments aren't too happy with this. With the 3:30 start they would have a big lunch crowd and dinner crowd. Noon started puts a dent in the lunch crowd. And all for what?
Pretty sure those establishments aren't going to have a problem filling their piggy banks.
Pretty sure many of those establishments don't even know there is a game.
They absolutely do and many of them are obc members. They staff according to game times.
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OhioCatFan
1/24/2017 11:09 PM
Alan Swank wrote:expand_more
That is also Sibs Weekend, one of the biggest crowds for the after Christmas break schedule. I'm sure the uptown food establishments aren't too happy with this. With the 3:30 start they would have a big lunch crowd and dinner crowd. Noon started puts a dent in the lunch crowd. And all for what?
Pretty sure those establishments aren't going to have a problem filling their piggy banks.
Pretty sure many of those establishments don't even know there is a game.
They absolutely do and many of them are obc members. They staff according to game times.
+1 Alan is absolute correct on this one.
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RSBobcat
1/24/2017 11:38 PM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
That is also Sibs Weekend, one of the biggest crowds for the after Christmas break schedule. I'm sure the uptown food establishments aren't too happy with this. With the 3:30 start they would have a big lunch crowd and dinner crowd. Noon started puts a dent in the lunch crowd. And all for what?
Pretty sure those establishments aren't going to have a problem filling their piggy banks.
Pretty sure many of those establishments don't even know there is a game.
They absolutely do and many of them are obc members. They staff according to game times.
+1 Alan is absolute correct on this one.
Tru Dat - Especially weekends like Sibs weekend
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Speaker of Truth
1/24/2017 11:39 PM
We can't have it both ways. No one in the country has control over game times, much less a MAC school. This is what college athletics is. We need the TV money, and quite frankly don't have any choice in the matter.
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Brian Smith (No, not that one)
1/25/2017 10:41 AM
OU_Country wrote:expand_more
I have more issues when games get moved from afternoon to night games than afternoon games getting moved earlier in the afternoon.
I'm guessing that's primarily because you have youngsters. Those without, or with older ones, me included, would rather see a 7pm game than a noon game all day long.

It doesn't matter - they aren't cahnging times because we complain. I just wish it would happe more than 10-12 days in advance. Didn't it used to be 20-21 days for these TV changes?
No, no youngsters.

I just expected most people have plans for a Saturday night already in the works and they'd be less likely to drive to Athens. I could be totally off-base with this assumption. I often assume other people live more exciting lives than I do. My wife and I are usually making risotto and listening to a podcast on a Saturday night. (Yes, we are a living 'Portlandia' skit, why do you ask?)
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OU_Country
1/25/2017 10:58 AM
Brian Smith wrote:expand_more
I have more issues when games get moved from afternoon to night games than afternoon games getting moved earlier in the afternoon.
I'm guessing that's primarily because you have youngsters. Those without, or with older ones, me included, would rather see a 7pm game than a noon game all day long.

It doesn't matter - they aren't changing times because we complain. I just wish it would happen more than 10-12 days in advance. Didn't it used to be 20-21 days for these TV changes?
No, no youngsters.

I just expected most people have plans for a Saturday night already in the works and they'd be less likely to drive to Athens. I could be totally off-base with this assumption. I often assume other people live more exciting lives than I do. My wife and I are usually making risotto and listening to a podcast on a Saturday night. (Yes, we are a living 'Portlandia' skit, why do you ask?)
And that's what happens when I assume. My bad.

I guess we're a little different, but Saturday night's are about the only nights that either my wife & I, or when she works, my buddies and I, go out. The idea of going out on a weeknight is totally foreign to me now. So Saturday night/late afternoon games are ideal for me. I go to Athens before the game, indulge, go to the game, and get home late, and that's my night. And it's ideal to me.
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Alan Swank
1/25/2017 8:17 PM
the123kid wrote:expand_more
We can't have it both ways. No one in the country has control over game times, much less a MAC school. This is what college athletics is. We need the TV money, and quite frankly don't have any choice in the matter.
Can someone please find out how much TV money we actually get each year?
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Speaker of Truth
1/25/2017 8:48 PM
Alan Swank wrote:expand_more
We can't have it both ways. No one in the country has control over game times, much less a MAC school. This is what college athletics is. We need the TV money, and quite frankly don't have any choice in the matter.
Can someone please find out how much TV money we actually get each year?
About $700,000. This is in place for a long time too I think like 10-15 years? CUSA signed one recently that is way way way below this. Not sure how all the ESPN set up works out. This also doesn't factor in other things associated with the TV deal. Free commercials and added value to sponsor that we can see on TV.

Also tons of exposure for alumni as well who donate. Coaches always seem to talk about the importance for recruiting as well.

I really don't see how anyone could argue against TV deals or playing on TV?
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Jeff McKinney
1/25/2017 11:16 PM
If the $700,000 is all part of the ESPN deal, what do we get from other networks like CBS SN?
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Casper71
1/26/2017 12:09 AM
700k for us OR the whole MAC?

If it is for us, I guess it is a no brainer to do anything ESPN wants us to even if it screws up alumni plans!!
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catfan28
1/26/2017 12:36 AM
$700K for us.

Still, it's a trade-off. The MAC has sold its soul (and fans) to ESPN. That doesn't mean that we have to like it.
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Speaker of Truth
1/26/2017 12:24 PM
catfan28 wrote:expand_more
$700K for us.

Still, it's a trade-off. The MAC has sold its soul (and fans) to ESPN. That doesn't mean that we have to like it.
Cat? Tell me what soul has been sold? It seems like a perfectly good deal in my book. How many games a year are affected by this? Maybe 2 football and 2 basketball? That's a pretty small price to pay.

I think the 700K covers all of it from espn and then they sublease the rights to other networks for games.
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