I remember this game, my brother and I came down for it.  The weather was abysmal, but I had season tickets that year and had already missed two games so I wasn't missing that one.

Without bothering to google this....

I'm willing to bet that out of our top 4 attended home games in the last 4 years (with best game day atmospheres) 2 off the top of my head were not on Saturday...

Pitt in 05:  Played on a Friday
Temple in 11:  played on a Thursday

I'd even go as far as to say that the Toledo game played in 05 is also probably up there as well, and that was played on a Friday as well.

Like it or not, the only thing that matters is ESPN

It sounds like we need to get rid of weekday games in basketball too because apparently sporting events not held on the weekend are detrimental to attendance and to the local economy.

Playing on ESPN in November is about marketing and you can make the case for or against the success of that marketing depending on what data points you chose to focus on. In regards to revenue gains vs revenue losses neither the losses from potential ticket sales or the gains from the TV contract seem to be very significant one way or the other. We had 17K for the Temple game, thats down 4k from the average of the previous 4 games, but how many Nov home games have had significantly larger crowds than that, historically?

The harder piece to judge is in the intangibles- what is the impact, if any, of playing on ESPN in Nov to the brand recognition of Ohio University? My personal opinion is that the good out weighs the bad, we looked GOOD against Temple, when you compare our game vs the other MAC games we defintely stand out as being a notch above the rest. And finally, as a kid that grew up in Ohio rooting for the Suckeyes because that was the only college team I had ever seen on TV, I like to think that there are young people out there who will see us and avoid going down the path to the dark side of the force.

I think DublinCat's point is spot-on.  Typical November games draw small crowds normally.  So the Temple game was a great crowd for a November game and demonstrates that it was well worth it to have it on a Wednesday on ESPN, even if it did cost some local area businesses some money (although as reported other threads, a lot of the bars had an increase in business in the 3rd and 4th quarters).  Like Monroe said, 1.3 million viewers saw Ohio!  A point not to be overlooked.

That being said, without looking at the attendance archives, I have to think that pretty much every Saturday game played in the month of September the last 10 years has outdrawn virtually every other weekday game other than the '05 Pitt game.  Heck even last year the mighty football powerhouse Gardner-Webb attracted 23,000 fans to Peden Stadium and I think the UConn game was over 24,000.  Most of the weekday games pale in comparison to September Saturday games go as far as attendance is concerned. 

I am curious to see what next year's conversion to the Semester sytem does for November football attendance.

Let's face it: there is a pecking order and we ain't at the top of that list.

Today's attendance at the Buffalo-EMU game (EMU's having its best season in years and Michigan played on the road, 2 1/2 hours after EMU's kickoff) -- 3,830.

Announced attendance for KSU-Akron: 19,889 (can't verify this; only watched bits and pieces).

I think the schools that schedule midweek games probably break even.  But the losers are the local businesses that get a bump from fans who come in for weekend games.

Im going to agree with this also.  Since I've graduated I've been in a depressed state because I am no longer around Bobcat faithful.  Instead I am stuck in Buckeye country where the only school you talk about is the buckeyes and no one else.  Because of the Temple game being on ESPN, people have actually talked to me about it at the local sports bar due to my wearing bobcat gear and their knowing that I went there (and I mean they mentioned they watched it and that we looked awesome {and added props to the unis}).  It's awesome if we can get people who love Ohio to the games but to show people outside of Bobcat Nation who we are then that is even more awesome in my opinion.  It even makes it better when people from work are asking me each week how we're doing.  I can understand how we need to keep games accessible to those who love us, but ESPN presents golden opportunities to prove that we are becoming relevant in the sports stage.

Agreed! Also, I can convince my friends to do a happy hour with me on Wednesday/Thursday and we can go to sports bars and basically have the run of the place.

Plus, it's nice because it gives you something to do midweek. If I asked a friend to give up a Saturday for MAC football I doubt I could find any takers. 

Maybe it sucks for those who want to attend the game, but for those of us outside of Ohio, it's pretty nice.

Either that or we start Boise Stating the MAC (yes, BSU is now a verb)

These weekday games have been GREAT exposure for Ohio. I live in CT and believe it or not people are taking notice to not only OHIO, but the MAC. I was walking down the hall at work the other day and heard people talking about the Toledo/NIU shootout. Over the last week or so I've also had several people say to me "Oh I saw them play Temple the other day(or last week) on ESPN" when I told them I went to Ohio.

It's this type of exposure that gains a program/conference better recruits and better teams. The eventually will lead to bigger paydays for the teams/conference. It goes along the lines of you have to spend money to make money. While they aren't spending it per se with the deals, they are taking less of it, to get the exposure, in hopes it will lead to more respect and bigger paydays later.

It definitely a risk worth taking. I LOVE it and hope it continues.

Jim Rome was talking about MAC football on the box tonight. Says he loves those guys and knows more about Northern Illinois than he does about LSU. 

Uh, for you naysayers about mid-week MAC, enjoy it while you can.  'cause the big boys are watching and we are not likely to have this forum much longer.  At least not all to ourselves.  It's too good for others not to want some of this.  Which is your proof that it works.


And, for the record....I know; who cares....some of us have long advocated mid-week MAC TV as a splendid idea.


Only question may be:  Are too many teams going to go for mid-week games such that there will be an excess.  The only thing that may stop there from being an excess is that weekend games get bigger viewership.