Dooley
Done with U-con athletics
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2012
- Messages
- 9,963
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After watching the Pinstripe Bowl this past Saturday, I couldn't help but be impressed with the Penn State turnout. They truly turned Yankee Stadium into a home game for their Nittany Lions. It got me to thinking about Jim Delany's continual comments about expanding eastward, in large part, to bring B1G games closer to millions of alumni who work/live on the east coast.
Then, naturally, I got to thinking about how UCONN can play a role in this.
UCONN brought some 16-18K fans to a garbage game against Army this past November; a battle of two putrid 2-win teams. UCONN fans have travelled quite well to past bowl games and in road games against Notre Dame and Michigan. So...is it time for Warde Manuel and/or Susan Herbst to approach the State and ask for them to ease up on their legislated home game venue requirement?
According to the State of CT, all UCONN football home games must be played at Rentschler Field until the year 2017. While that law can be eased (rumors surfaced that they were going to relax this law in order for UCONN to sign a long-term series with Notre Dame), it still exists. And yes, Michigan did just come to Rentschler Field to satisfy their contracted return trip of a home and home. BUT, that series was signed when 1) UCONN played in a BCS conference and 2) UCONN was very competitive, frequently going to bowl games. Our AAC sentence requires us to schedule creatively if we want to put "needle moving" games on the docket.
In the spirit of all this...I think it is time for Warde (and the State of CT) to "sacrifice" a home game and aggressively approach Penn State about a game at Yankee Stadium. As the "home team", UCONN could control a large chunk of the gate (sure to be a sellout), boost their average per-game attendance for the year, and offer season ticket holders a chance to see UCONN play a marquee OOC game (since our AAC conference schedule does not do much for most UCONN fans). Make no mistake, there WILL be more PSU fans in attendance than UCONN fans. But there will also be MUCH more UCONN fans at this game than what BC brought to the Pinstripe Bowl. Electric atmosphere anyone???
The offer is simple: we sacrifice the home game so they don't have to, but we share the gate. Even if we share it 50/50, we'd likely still make more money on the game than any regular season game at the Rent that would bring 25-30K through the gates. If Penn State says no thanks, then we keep going down the B1G school rolodex until we find an interested party. OSU? Michigan? Michigan State? Wisconsin? Nebraska? All of these games would also sell out.
Our 2015 home slate is, to put it nicely, God fahqing awful. The best games on the 2015 season (and the ones that I plan on spending thousands of dollars to attend despite knowing full well that we are going to lose) are road games at Missouri and BYU. We desperately need juice. We also desperately need to demonstrate that UCONN football carries a pulse in big games. Without the help from a bowl game, UCONN has only played in one "needle moving" game in the past 4 years. The reasons for UCONN to want to schedule such a game are obvious. Why would Penn State do it (or OSU, Michigan, MSU, UW, UNL)? For the very reason that Jim Delany wants to move eastward: a VERY large alumni fanbase on the east coast. These fans will get a chance to go High Points Stadium at Rutgers but tickets will be limited, dependent on how many tickets outside of the school's normal 5-7K allotment are available. At Yankee Stadium, they could offer their huge fanbases a venue with 20-30K open seats in the best city in the world.
Sure, UCONN might lose the game if it's played sooner than later. But what we'd lose on the field, we'd win in the stands. 20+K fans making up a truly electric atmosphere in a city that UCONN has always demonstrated tremendous presence in. The game would serve as yet another reminder that eastward B1G expansion should include UCONN.
Here's hoping that Warde and the State of CT have already begun the process to schedule such a game or series of games.
Then, naturally, I got to thinking about how UCONN can play a role in this.
UCONN brought some 16-18K fans to a garbage game against Army this past November; a battle of two putrid 2-win teams. UCONN fans have travelled quite well to past bowl games and in road games against Notre Dame and Michigan. So...is it time for Warde Manuel and/or Susan Herbst to approach the State and ask for them to ease up on their legislated home game venue requirement?
According to the State of CT, all UCONN football home games must be played at Rentschler Field until the year 2017. While that law can be eased (rumors surfaced that they were going to relax this law in order for UCONN to sign a long-term series with Notre Dame), it still exists. And yes, Michigan did just come to Rentschler Field to satisfy their contracted return trip of a home and home. BUT, that series was signed when 1) UCONN played in a BCS conference and 2) UCONN was very competitive, frequently going to bowl games. Our AAC sentence requires us to schedule creatively if we want to put "needle moving" games on the docket.
In the spirit of all this...I think it is time for Warde (and the State of CT) to "sacrifice" a home game and aggressively approach Penn State about a game at Yankee Stadium. As the "home team", UCONN could control a large chunk of the gate (sure to be a sellout), boost their average per-game attendance for the year, and offer season ticket holders a chance to see UCONN play a marquee OOC game (since our AAC conference schedule does not do much for most UCONN fans). Make no mistake, there WILL be more PSU fans in attendance than UCONN fans. But there will also be MUCH more UCONN fans at this game than what BC brought to the Pinstripe Bowl. Electric atmosphere anyone???
The offer is simple: we sacrifice the home game so they don't have to, but we share the gate. Even if we share it 50/50, we'd likely still make more money on the game than any regular season game at the Rent that would bring 25-30K through the gates. If Penn State says no thanks, then we keep going down the B1G school rolodex until we find an interested party. OSU? Michigan? Michigan State? Wisconsin? Nebraska? All of these games would also sell out.
Our 2015 home slate is, to put it nicely, God fahqing awful. The best games on the 2015 season (and the ones that I plan on spending thousands of dollars to attend despite knowing full well that we are going to lose) are road games at Missouri and BYU. We desperately need juice. We also desperately need to demonstrate that UCONN football carries a pulse in big games. Without the help from a bowl game, UCONN has only played in one "needle moving" game in the past 4 years. The reasons for UCONN to want to schedule such a game are obvious. Why would Penn State do it (or OSU, Michigan, MSU, UW, UNL)? For the very reason that Jim Delany wants to move eastward: a VERY large alumni fanbase on the east coast. These fans will get a chance to go High Points Stadium at Rutgers but tickets will be limited, dependent on how many tickets outside of the school's normal 5-7K allotment are available. At Yankee Stadium, they could offer their huge fanbases a venue with 20-30K open seats in the best city in the world.
Sure, UCONN might lose the game if it's played sooner than later. But what we'd lose on the field, we'd win in the stands. 20+K fans making up a truly electric atmosphere in a city that UCONN has always demonstrated tremendous presence in. The game would serve as yet another reminder that eastward B1G expansion should include UCONN.
Here's hoping that Warde and the State of CT have already begun the process to schedule such a game or series of games.