Conference Talk

[Clickclack]

CAA has a tv deal with nbc sports, but not sure when that expires. If we can get into CAA for all sports do we get the full tv share split?

 

I believe that TV deal is revenue neutral...unlike the AE having to pay for air time.

[Michigan_Dane]

Everyone keeps saying that the BCS will separate from FBS in a few years and we should wait. There's no guarantee of that happening. We could be waiting years for an event that never happens.

[madDOG]

Why do we want to rush to be the next Buffalo? Honestly, I don't see the value in FBS if it's in a lower tier conference. What could we get out of it? Fools gold IMO.

 

Our budgets may be small but look what we've done with it...not only on the fields but with class-act coaches and good kids. The emphasis should be on preserving that culture.

[Clickclack]

Why do we want to rush to be the next Buffalo? Honestly, I don't see the value in FBS if it's in a lower tier conference. What could we get out of it? Fools gold IMO.

 

Our budgets may be small but look what we've done with it...not only on the fields but with class-act coaches and good kids. The emphasis should be on preserving that culture.

 

What exactly has Buffalo ever won of note?

[Michigan_Dane]

So in 20 years you still want to be watching Albany play UMass Lowell or Maine?

 

AIM low...

[Michigan_Dane]

I heard that argument when we were D3, D2, D1 and D1 scholly.

 

Anyone think it was a mistake leaving D3?

[Phoenix]

So in 20 years you still want to be watching Albany play UMass Lowell or Maine?

 

AIM low...

 

Talk about a straw man.

[UBBulls]

Why do we want to rush to be the next Buffalo? Honestly, I don't see the value in FBS if it's in a lower tier conference. What could we get out of it? Fools gold IMO.

 

Superior football exposure, for one. Even with weekday MAC games and all the 'toilet bowls' the AGS crowd loves to disparage, the MAC packages blow away FCS: http://www.sportsbus...FB-Ratings.aspx

 

*NBCSN, which now has a package of CAA and Ivy League games, averaged 62,000 viewers this season, down 39% from last year, when the net still had Mountain West Conference games. NBCSN’s average has dropped sharply in recent years as it has now renewed rights to the Pac-12 and Big 12 as well.

 

*Mid-American Conference telecasts on ESPN2 this season, which typically air late in the season, averaged 927,000 viewers, marking the best “MACtion” figure since ’09. The 927,000 viewers mark also is up 22% from last year. Northern Illinois fueled many of the telecasts as the school attempted another run at an undefeated season. The Bowling Green-NIU MAC Championship on Dec. 6 drew 1.9 million viewers, marking the best figure for that game on record.

 

For the season, UB's 5 nationally televeised games averaged nearly as many viewers as Rutgers: http://www.goodbullh...eason-final-sec

 

Then, comparing UB's bowl game rating and viewership estimate vs FCS semi's/final, D-2 Final, D-3 Final

Sat Dec 21 Potato Bowl UB/SDSU 1.4HH 2062K

Sat Jan 4 NDSU/Tow .8HH 1243k

Sat Dec 21 D-2 Final .6HH 870k

Fri Dec 20 NDSU/UNH .5HH 813K

Sat Dec 21 Tow/EWU .3HH 409K

Fri Dec 20 D-3 Final .3HH 473k

 

And viewership superlatives from UB's 2008 MAC title season:

 

(Jan 2009) The Ball State football team’s game vs. Buffalo in the Marathon Mid-American Conference Championship Game received a 1.7 rating on ESPN2, which set a league record for the most viewers to ever watch a game involving two MAC teams on the ESPN family of networks [Now 2nd to the 2013 MAC title game]

 

The Bulls appearance in the International Bowl against Connecticut saw a huge ratings swing from 2008 to 2009. This year's game got a national rating of 2.12 (or just over two million homes) up 33% from last year's number of 1.59 between Rutgers and Ball State. Locally [buffalo market], the game got a high 18.2 rating (70,400) [16.4 average] in cable households according to Time-Warner statistics. It was the most watched cable show in four years, higher even than the Buffalo Bills Monday Night broadcasts on ESPN in 2007 and 2008.

 

Buffalo's 10,500 tickets sold for the International Bowl ranked it second among all non-BCS programs in terms of tickets sold for bowl games. Only Navy, which sold 16,200 tickets to its game in Washington, DC (the Eagle Bank Bowl), sold more than Buffalo among non-BCS schools. Among schools that Buffalo outdrew at the ticket window were Arizona, North Carolina State, Kansas and Wake Forest.

 

As great as the Ford story was for Albany, the national media just won't pick up on an FCS story like an FBS bowl team's story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXuX1GsQ-ZQ

 

And Buffalo will receive a head start on great MAC ratings when we host Baylor on ESPN on Sept 12. Home loss, highly likely. But a top 10 team at home can't be beat.

Edited March 29, 2014 by UBBulls

[danefan]

There are definitely advantages of being FBS in NY. Some FCS schools can get the same exposure at the FCS level that they would at the FBS level due to location, etc. Montana comes to mind.

 

The college football audience in the northeast is very limited. That audience is much more likely to be interested in an FBS school, even a low level FBS team than an FCS team. It's just fact. And don't use UMass as an example. It was a terrible plan.

 

I am personally happy at the FCS level as currently stands because we don't have the resources to play FBS like Buffalo so why try half baked? That's what UMass did. That doesn't work.

 

But if all of a sudden Pres Jones said he was going to dump $5m more a year into football and build the remaining 18,000 seats onto the stadium I'd be all for it.

[Dane96]

This.

[madDOG]

Why do we want to rush to be the next Buffalo? Honestly, I don't see the value in FBS if it's in a lower tier conference. What could we get out of it? Fools gold IMO.

 

Superior football exposure, for one. Even with weekday MAC games and all the 'toilet bowls' the AGS crowd loves to disparage, the MAC packages blow away FCS: http://www.sportsbus...FB-Ratings.aspx

 

*NBCSN, which now has a package of CAA and Ivy League games, averaged 62,000 viewers this season, down 39% from last year, when the net still had Mountain West Conference games. NBCSN’s average has dropped sharply in recent years as it has now renewed rights to the Pac-12 and Big 12 as well.

 

*Mid-American Conference telecasts on ESPN2 this season, which typically air late in the season, averaged 927,000 viewers, marking the best “MACtion” figure since ’09. The 927,000 viewers mark also is up 22% from last year. Northern Illinois fueled many of the telecasts as the school attempted another run at an undefeated season. The Bowling Green-NIU MAC Championship on Dec. 6 drew 1.9 million viewers, marking the best figure for that game on record.

 

For the season, UB's 5 nationally televeised games averaged nearly as many viewers as Rutgers: http://www.goodbullh...eason-final-sec

 

Then, comparing UB's bowl game rating and viewership estimate vs FCS semi's/final, D-2 Final, D-3 Final

Sat Dec 21 Potato Bowl UB/SDSU 1.4HH 2062K

Sat Jan 4 NDSU/Tow .8HH 1243k

Sat Dec 21 D-2 Final .6HH 870k

Fri Dec 20 NDSU/UNH .5HH 813K

Sat Dec 21 Tow/EWU .3HH 409K

Fri Dec 20 D-3 Final .3HH 473k

 

And viewership superlatives from UB's 2008 MAC title season:

 

(Jan 2009) The Ball State football team’s game vs. Buffalo in the Marathon Mid-American Conference Championship Game received a 1.7 rating on ESPN2, which set a league record for the most viewers to ever watch a game involving two MAC teams on the ESPN family of networks [Now 2nd to the 2013 MAC title game]

 

The Bulls appearance in the International Bowl against Connecticut saw a huge ratings swing from 2008 to 2009. This year's game got a national rating of 2.12 (or just over two million homes) up 33% from last year's number of 1.59 between Rutgers and Ball State. Locally [buffalo market], the game got a high 18.2 rating (70,400) [16.4 average] in cable households according to Time-Warner statistics. It was the most watched cable show in four years, higher even than the Buffalo Bills Monday Night broadcasts on ESPN in 2007 and 2008.

 

Buffalo's 10,500 tickets sold for the International Bowl ranked it second among all non-BCS programs in terms of tickets sold for bowl games. Only Navy, which sold 16,200 tickets to its game in Washington, DC (the Eagle Bank Bowl), sold more than Buffalo among non-BCS schools. Among schools that Buffalo outdrew at the ticket window were Arizona, North Carolina State, Kansas and Wake Forest.

 

As great as the Ford story was for Albany, the national media just won't pick up on an FCS story like an FBS bowl team's story:

 

And Buffalo will receive a head start on great MAC ratings when we host Baylor on ESPN on Sept 12. Home loss, highly likely. But a top 10 team at home can't be beat.

 

It all comes down to ROI. I am not arguing that FBS means the potential for greater exposure (note, I didn't say "guarantees"), however what did Buffalo spend to get those TV ratings, and ultimately, is it worth it? That is really what I was getting at in my post.

 

UB's athletics budget is $12.5+ million dollars more than UA's athletics budget (almost double, based on 2012 numbers). Did they earn $12MM worth of additional exposure vs UA? I don't know the answer to that question, but my guess is a resounding "no".

 

Danefan mentioned advantages of being FBS in NY, but I just don't see it. Northeast Football is dominated by Syracuse and Rutgers, and maybe Boston College and UCONN. I don't think there is a market for Albany, at least not to the extent at which we'll have to increase our budget to get it. Buffalo certainly hasn't cracked it, and they spend twice as much as us and still don't have a BBall NCAA Tournament appearance under their belt.

Edited March 31, 2014 by madDOG

[madDOG]

n/m

Edited March 31, 2014 by madDOG

[UAalum72]

Danefan mentioned advantages of being FBS in NY, but I just don't see it. Northeast Football is dominated by Syracuse and Rutgers, and maybe Boston College and UCONN.

Of course. Just like the naysayers said there's not enough market for Ford Field. Syracuse and Rutgers (and BC and Army) dominate Northeast Football - because WHO ELSE HAS EVER TRIED? Just because the dozens of tiny private colleges in upstate NY haven't cracked the top of college football since the 1930's, doesn't mean it's impossible. Yes, there's a risk in spending that much money, but is it as bad as Syracuse asking for another couple hundred million for new facilities to prop up their program?

[Clickclack]

Danefan mentioned advantages of being FBS in NY, but I just don't see it. Northeast Football is dominated by Syracuse and Rutgers, and maybe Boston College and UCONN.

Of course. Just like the naysayers said there's not enough market for Ford Field. Syracuse and Rutgers (and BC and Army) dominate Northeast Football - because WHO ELSE HAS EVER TRIED? Just because the dozens of tiny private colleges in upstate NY haven't cracked the top of college football since the 1930's, doesn't mean it's impossible. Yes, there's a risk in spending that much money, but is it as bad as Syracuse asking for another couple hundred million for new facilities to prop up their program?

 

++1

 

Think about how absurd this all is...a non-state school is asking for HUNDREDS of millions...and we have been so beaten down and rejected so many times we are afraid to ask for anything.

Edited March 31, 2014 by Clickclack

[DanesRGood]

Maybe off topic but has to do with spending. I wonder how much it costs SBU to have Mike Francessa read commercials for their new basketball arena on WFAN 5 times a day during his show. I know a regular commercial costs a lot during his show but a read by Francessa must cost a lot more.

Edited April 1, 2014 by DanesRGood