Buy Games - Dare We Hope For Competition?

[businesslawyer]

The buy games don't all have to be Q4.

This. It wouldn’t kill us to have some of the buy games be against a mid-level A Ten team or a strong MAAC team.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Bryant is a type of local mid-major I can get behind scheduling.

One of the better teams in the America East, Grasso’s been a NY/CT/RI basketball lifer and they play a fun, fast-paced style.

This year’s roster will feature a bunch of interchangeable spots, with their starting lineup between 6’4 and 6’6. Earl Timberlake, Rafael Pinzon and Doug Edert are notable names.

Also about as close to Storrs as any D1 team can be. Holy Cross should be on our list more often too. We don't usually sell these games out.

 

[CL82]

Actually I'm an optimist on that score. I've always thought it silly to believe that everyone now living is going to die when no one now living ever has.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Also about as close to Storrs as any D1 team can be. Holy Cross should be on our list more often too. We don't usually sell these games out.

Holy Cross is another team with some juice after hiring Dave Paulsen, the veteran coach most known for his success at Bucknell.

 

[bendm]

UConn makes money on these buy games. You think they would play them if they were losing money?

are you sure? two seasons ago the men only generated $755k in revenue for single-game tickets for the entire season. that's an average of $44k per home game and a buy game costs twice that on average. i'm not counting season ticket revenue but people arent buying those to see stonehill.

 

[Tomahawk]

Kinda OT but I hope we end up playing Indiana in the Empire Classic. Stephon Castle's teammate in HS, Jakai Newton is a freshman there this season.

 

[The Yakk]

I have a different view.

I think the quality of these Euro opponents is better than we think, and we are just that good.

I bet we win a good number of our Quad 1 games in humiliating blowouts.

 

[Palatine]

are you sure? two seasons ago the men only generated $755k in revenue for single-game tickets for the entire season. that's an average of $44k per home game and a buy game costs twice that on average. i'm not counting season ticket revenue but people arent buying those to see stonehill.

Very clever of you to not count season tickets, food and beverages, merch, parking and such.

What is the real number? I don't know. If they were losing money some bean counter would find even cheaper (worse) opponents.

 

[NJHoops]

This. It wouldn’t kill us to have some of the buy games be against a mid-level A Ten team or a strong MAAC team.

The A10 is interesting in this regard in that many of their teams don’t want to “get bought.” They try to work out home and homes when possible or some kind of 2 and 1 deal, maybe with a neutral location involved.

 

[August_West]

I have a different view.

I think the quality of these Euro opponents is better than we think, and we are just that good.

I bet we win a good number of our Quad 1 games in humiliating blowouts.

 

[Sphinx]

Another thing you can waste too much time on is trying to decide which of identical twins looks the more alike.

 

[CL82]

Another thing you can waste too much time on is trying to decide which of identical twins looks the more alike.

Depends which one you're comparing them to.

 

[August_West]

are you sure? two seasons ago the men only generated $755k in revenue for single-game tickets for the entire season. that's an average of $44k per home game and a buy game costs twice that on average. i'm not counting season ticket revenue but people arent buying those to see stonehill.

Coming into a mask wearing quarantine season? Quite frankly Im glad you non mask wearing dreck stayed out.,

 

[August_West]

Actually I'm an optimist on that score. I've always thought it silly to believe that everyone now living is going to die when no one now living ever has.

They say there’s no two people on earth exactly the same. No two faces, no two sets of fingerprints. But do they know that for sure? Cuz they would have to get everybody together in one huge space. And obviously that’s not possible even with computers. But not only that, they’d have to get all the people that ever lived, not just the ones now. So they got no proof. They got nothin.

 

[Storrs South]

 

[Sphinx]

They say there’s no two people on earth exactly the same. No two faces, no two sets of fingerprints. But do they know that for sure? Cuz they would have to get everybody together in one huge space. And obviously that’s not possible even with computers. But not only that, they’d have to get all the people that ever lived, not just the ones now. So they got no proof. They got nothin.

You're going a little deeper than I dare to dig, but I subscribe 100% to your last two sentences.

 

[bendm]

Very clever of you to not count season tickets, food and beverages, merch, parking and such.

What is the real number? I don't know. If they were losing money some bean counter would find even cheaper (worse) opponents.

i dont know i could only find ticket revenue but cheaper would mean better not worse opponents because they wouldnt be buy-games at all

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Another thing you can waste too much time on is trying to decide which of identical twins looks the more alike.

Yeah, but remember, a lot of people get tripped up on this because it's different for boys than it is for girls.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

They say there’s no two people on earth exactly the same. No two faces, no two sets of fingerprints. But do they know that for sure? Cuz they would have to get everybody together in one huge space. And obviously that’s not possible even with computers. But not only that, they’d have to get all the people that ever lived, not just the ones now. So they got no proof. They got nothin.

People thought it would be easier once computers weren't as big as rooms, because more people could fit into the space. But it didn't work out that way.

 

[caw]

Haven't paid attention to scheduling this year but why the assumption UConn won't play Yale, and not the other way around.

It's not as simple as calling up Yale and saying "X date Y time, Z amount of money, Gampel."

Yale may not want the game this year as they want to build their resume, pad their wins to get a better seed if they win the Ivy, etc. Or they think they are good enough to warrant something they don't (return game, more money, different day/time, etc.)

 

[Dooooooomed]

 

[Palatine]

Haven't paid attention to scheduling this year but why the assumption UConn won't play Yale, and not the other way around.

It's not as simple as calling up Yale and saying "X date Y time, Z amount of money, Gampel."

Yale may not want the game this year as they want to build their resume, pad their wins to get a better seed if they win the Ivy, etc. Or they think they are good enough to warrant something they don't (return game, more money, different day/time, etc.)

Yale has a 30 billion dollar endowment, they should pay us.

 

[willie99]

I have to buy games all the time. Is there an alternative?

If you build a field, people will come. We're zombies, and hanging with the boys, drinking, nice dinner.. are pretty cool byproducts

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I cannot explain why UConn and Yale do not play each other, as has been requested. I can take note that Yale beat UConn 9 years ago when the two teams last played. And I can note that Rutgers last played in-state Ivy League school Princeton 10 years ago and lost.

Rutgers will play Princeton this year in November in Trenton.

Without either broad or deep knowledge regarding all factors that go into scheduling, I personally would favor a steady rotation at multiple CT sites with UConn playing each of Connecticut's D-1 schools. In other words, I'd like a couple games (or more) scheduled each season against Yale, Quinnipiac, Fairfield, Sacred Heart, and/or Central, with the games scheduled at XL, Total Mortgage, Mohegan Sun, and/or Gampel.

In my aforementioned ignorance, I don't know why this would be unworkable and not worth considering. Without such informed feedback, I imagine that fan bases from each of the other schools would like to see their team play in a big-time atmosphere against the state's elite program. I also imagine that such games would have higher attendence and wider value for local fans, and that it would translate into greater economic value for Hartford, Bridgeport, Storrs, and Uncasville.

I'd appreciate it if someone would be willing to politely explain how this series of games wouldn't be an improvement over what is currently done with visiting, lower D-1 teams from neighboring or distant states. In such games, there tend to be minimal opposing fans traveling to CT, and lower interest/enthusiasm from UConn season ticket holders.

In my proposed scenario, it's plausible to imagine friends who cheer for different teams attending together, or in some cases, UConn ticket holders gifting their tickets to friends who root for other teams and would appreciate the generosity. It conceivably could result in stronger overall support for the state's lead program, based on goodwill generated by a greater sense of inclusion & fellowship among CT basketball fans.

Again, I wouldn't mind being walked through why and how my vision might be impractical, myopic, naive, etc. My intention is to be factually informed. I already imagine there must good reasons why this isn't done, but any helpful response offered with sincerity and/or kindness would be appreciated.

PS - I'm not extending the value to include Bryant or Holy Cross, as were suggested elsewhere, but I can see where other might be in favor of schools from adjacent states.

 

[Waquoit]

IIRC, Yale's coach has taken needless shots at UConn. You shouldn't do that to someone you want something from.