I can't disagree with the logic of his explanation.

I would love to know what it costs the teams/communities to have these weekday games. Lost gate and concession revenue for the teams, and lost revenue big time for Athens businesses, etc.

This thing works as long as teams can still sell season tickets to fans who can't attend games mid-week.

Has the MAC gotten any better as the result of these mid-week games or it is all about the money? The MAC does get better exposure, but having stadiums with 2-3 thousand fans doesn't do much in raising the profile of the league in my opinion. It comes across as really bush league.

Well if there was ever any question the most important thing to this sport is that article summed it up. So on one hand mid-major programs complain about the power and the influence of money at the P5 level, yet turn around and basically let it control every action at our level. We’re no better by selling ourselves out simply for a paycheck.

For the record I think it’s very short-cited. Do people tune in because there’s no other games on? Sure, I think that’s valid, but will they continue to tune in to watch games when absolutely nobody is in the stadium? I’m not sure about that. I think long-term viewers will ultimately find that boring - without fans it turns something possibly compelling into ho-hum television. 5-10 years ago watching a mid-major game on tv was compelling because the fans showed up in droves to have a big game on tv. Now there’s nothing special about it, and attendance at these games continues to dwindle. Think where we were a few years ago for that blackout game vs Temple (packed house), then look at our games last year. They are playing with fire by alienating entire fan bases. Students that don’t go to games (and to be fair some weeknights it’s tough depending on exam and vacation schedules and cold weather) won't go on to become future loyal supporters. Not to mention young alumni coming back to visit on weekends those first couple of years out. Also, fans that have to travel a decent distance, such as myself, never can see a key conference home game in person. We’re usually stuck going to see a Labor Day weekend matchup vs Gardner-Webb or trying to battle the crowds and costs of Homecoming. They’re turning off key segments of supporters leaving only the local community, and season ticket holders within an hour’s drive to prop up ticket sales. I was fortunate enough to attend during the Grobe era when students really started tailgating and attending in large numbers for the first time. Great memories of those fall Saturdays!

It seems like Alan posted something a few years back that come study had shown that each Saturday home game was worth about $.5 million to the Athens business community. I've always thought that it was more than a coincidence that NIU's attendance slide began when they started turning their back on the DeKalb business community and scheduling big games at Soldier field.

If a Saturday game is worth $.5 million, I'd guess a weekday game is worth $.1 million, so the Athens business community loses $.8 million as a result of losing two Saturday home games. Ohio, meanwhile, does get about $.7 million for the TV appearance. They also lose perhaps 5,000 a game in paid attendance, get less per ticket, and less in concessions. Probably Ohio losses $.1 million per game, or $.2 million for the season from the midweek games, so they are net $.5 to the positive in cash flow. Logically that means $.5 million less that needs to be assessed in fees, so more money in the pockets of students, some of which, in turn, ends up back in the business community. Regardless, Ohio is a little better off, and the business community is significantly worse off.

All this is moot, though. The TV contract runs until the 2026 season.

One gripe: rivals getting a crappy game.

Look at the Zips. Their two biggest conference draws, Kent and OHIO are on week nights in November. Total BS. And few fans in the stands when there may have been many on a balmy Saturday in September/October.

If the two November Akron opponents were low draw games then there is a benefit for the exposure. Taking revenue away from the Zips by scheduling the way they did is indefensible.

you can not do this. there is no true bye week anymore, so having some games on Saturday creates unfair scheduling where one team has 10-11 days rest and another has 6. Coaches would not go for this. Besides, how many people are actually in the stands at most MAC games in November? (hint: very few) Is everyone's memory foggy? Does your brain tell you we had packed houses with high-priced tickets? We're the top attendance team in the conference and I promise you being on TV is a huge net gain in revenue.

When I said "They also lose perhaps 5,000 a game in paid attendance, get less per ticket, and less in concessions", I meant they get about 5,000 less people per game for weekday games, and they lose $100,000 as a result.

Why don't we try escaping mediocrity (the land of at least four losses a year and no MACC).

Maybe winning will give us a more fervent fan base. I suspect we'll start seeing drop off in actual bodies in Peden (if we haven't already) if we don't start playing in a way that makes us look like a legit contender for a MACC.

Hint: 8-6 does not meet that standard.



Hey, you're the one who brought up the topic.

He's hopeless. he just keeps talking to advertise dog bags. What a joke.

We were vaguely close in the MAC title game last year.


But we lost.

We were 8-6 last year, worse than the prior year.

We lost 3 of our last 4 last year.

0-4 MAC Championship games.

2-6 bowl games, last bowl win being in 2012..about 80 years ago.




Now, if we'd've won the MAC title game, I'd be an ass and I suspect that interest in the program would skyrocket.

But we lost.


And, I've repeatedly posted that there are 13 teams in the MAC for football. Wrong; there are 12. So, if Solich brings home a MACC in year 13, he'll still be less than average and I'll still be right.


It must get tiring for you all SFB that the facts are on my side...allowing me to own you here.

As a CPA and a numbers guy, you sometimes get confused with your tenses. ;-)

Good call.

When you don't have any argument or reply of substance, go trumpage.