Frightening Numbers For ESPN

[IMind]

Even college baseball is popular. The #1 national offseason league for college baseball players is in Cape Cod. Baseball is just as big in New England as anywhere, we just can't play year-round.

Again pro-ball probably hurts the college programs up here... minor league baseball is fairly popular and there are a lot of local AAA and AA franchises that are tied to the big market teams. I'm a 20 minute drive from both the Phillies AA and AAA franchises.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The NE loves college football it's just a very fragmented market. Large numbers of Notre Dame and PSU fans... followed by a ton of local colleges...
and other big national programs.

CT is actually a little more like the south or Penn State in the way we follow UConn sports than most markets up here. The whole state is pretty invested in UConn more so than say the rest of New England or New York. I'm not trying to over sell this, but I think there's a lot of potential in the market and a winning program in CT would draw well... especially if we got out of the G5.

This is something the people in the midwest and south don't understand. UConn doesn't have the football following that Penn State has, clearly, but it is stronger state-wide in overall following than many P5 schools, including all the "States"...Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, etc. We are a state-wide flagship with almost no in-state competition athletically. That's rare. And in considering overall following, all sports count. Basketball, WBB, soccer, hockey, whatever.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'm shocked how much people down here in NC follow college baseball. I'm a huge baseball fan, but I don't watch anything but mlb.

It's not too much of a stretch to compare northerners following college hockey the way southerners follow college baseball.

Many SEC and ACC baseball parks are AA or AAA quality in terms of capacity and amenities. The Goat Yard in Hartford would be middle of the pack SEC quality stadium.

 

[Waquoit]

Five New England teams in the CWS this year.

 

[FartMan69]

Yeah we don't dig baseball up here, I've only had beer dumped on me in the bronx because the guy thought i needed a shower.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

Again..EXACTLY!!

Popular some places.....geographic relevance----localized watching via streamed nets.

Connecticut may love some hockey, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, etc...not so much.

Baseball is big in the south, west coast, and southwest....not so much in the mid west and northeast

(The ACC just set a record for putting 10 teams into the Regionals). It is an ACC sport of interest.

Alabama Huntsville plays in the WCHA; Has a loyal following.

Team

 

[billybud]

Alabama Huntsville plays in the WCHA; Has a loyal following.

Team

Yeah...the FSU hockey team has a loyal following as well....loyal, not numerous.

The WCHA has Bemidji State and Ferris State (the hockey FSU)...and Lake Superior State....I like the sound of some of the teams names.

 

[billybud]

Our guys were surprised by the difference in BC's baseball field and FSU's.....Boston College's field did not look like a college stadium.

FSU's field

http://www.seminoles.com/pics33/1024/Tyler Phommachanh/TPURHNPBIGEDDES.20140702044545.jpeg

BC's field...

http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/bc/galleries/shea-field-rev-110702/Shea2b-lg.jpg

https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Eb...image/image/49466995/Shea_Field_Crowd.0.0.jpg

 

[BlueMAB]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/McCoy_Stadium_Pan.jpg

http://www.milb.com/images/2008/09/23/9FaPh7is.jpg

Here's the minor league stadium for the Red Sox, located in Pawtucket RI.

FYI, the Red Sox have the smallest stadium in MLB. Does that mean they too, have no following?

 

[Ldandy]

I'm not sure why Billybud needs to constantly bring up the fact that people in the South prefer different sports than people in other areas of the country. No s***. The US is a huge country with a diverse population. We live in different climates, and come from differing backgrounds and socioeconomic standings. If all you like is college baseball and football congratulations there's a channel for you called The SEC Network. Watch it until your heart is content.

 

[Ldandy]

Our guys were surprised by the difference in BC's baseball field and FSU's.....Boston College's field did not look like a college stadium.

FSU's field

http://www.seminoles.com/pics33/1024/Tyler Phommachanh/TPURHNPBIGEDDES.20140702044545.jpeg

BC's field...

http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/bc/galleries/shea-field-rev-110702/Shea2b-lg.jpg

https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Eb...image/image/49466995/Shea_Field_Crowd.0.0.jpg

I hope that this is not your attempt to prove that only schools in the South care about baseball. Comparing a team like FSU that prioritizes the game and has a huge athletics budget, versus BC that clearly puts little money into facilities is indicative of nothing other than that BC should probably be a G5 School or playing in The Big East with Villanova.

Here's some actual P5 Northern Programs that have money and AD's who will spend it.

PSU

Huskers

Several other very nice facilities in The B1G as well as in the Northeast including our host UCONN's Field.

 

[billybud]

When UConn plays at Dodd, it is very nice...their home field is just OK.

But no...don't put words in my mouth...BC's was a high school field...and Rutgers and PSU's are nice....

My post was what it was...our guys were surprised by the BC baseball facilities.


About different strokes for different folks...that's just back to my point about regional networks that allow fan flexibility in what they watch.

 

[Nostical]

Getting worse for cable.
ESPN Has Lost 10 Million Subscribers Since 2013

 

[whaler11]

Getting worse for cable.
ESPN Has Lost 10 Million Subscribers Since 2013

That's the article that I pulled the original link from rather than give that a-clown any clicks.

 

[Ldandy]

When UConn plays at Dodd, it is very nice...their home field is just OK.

But no...don't put words in my mouth...BC's was a high school field...and Rutgers and PSU's are nice....

My post was what it was...our guys were surprised by the BC baseball facilities.


About different strokes for different folks...that's just back to my point about regional networks that allow fan flexibility in what they watch.

I've lost count of how many times and in how many threads you've made a point to say that people in the south prefer watching different things than those in the north. I bet many of these same people prefer eating different things, attend different churches, and like different music than people who live in the northeast as well. Once again what's the point? If you want a regional sports network that shows college football and baseball 24/7 odds are its already on your cable package. If that's not enough you can stream content on ESPN3.

 

[billybud]

I do stream...

But what you get when you bastardize conferences...Boston and Syracuse with Clemson-FSU and West Virginia with Kansas, are programs and fan bases with different emphasis on various sports interests and that makes for a much less cohesive conference.

I suspect that much of the strength of the SEC and B1G are due to their more cohesive regional character.

 

[Ldandy]

I do stream...

But what you get when you bastardize conferences...Boston and Syracuse with Clemson-FSU and West Virginia with Kansas, are programs and fan bases with different emphasis on various sports interests and that makes for a much less cohesive conference.

I suspect that much of the strength of the SEC and B1G are due to their more cohesive regional character.

I don't think anyone would disagree with you regarding the cohesion of conferences, but the majority of the posters on this board are hoping against hope to get into one of the "bastardized" conferences that you apparently deplore.

Short of a total upheaval of college sports to an NFL Model, the die has been cast. The B1G and SEC are the clear winners. Nothing any of the other 3 power conferences can do will ever keep them from sucking hind teat. That said being in one of these "bastardized" conferences is far better than the alternative. I imagine Nole Fans will be suffering the indignity of playing at BC's HS Field in baseball, or hosting Syracuse in Tallahassee for a long time.

Edit- I forgot FSU and every other major team in college football are joining The B1G next month. Bluevod's best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard Delany tell Harbaugh at 31 Flavors last month.

 

[Seaa Blue]

You mock Bluevod? Heathen.

 

[IMind]

I do stream...

But what you get when you bastardize conferences...Boston and Syracuse with Clemson-FSU and West Virginia with Kansas, are programs and fan bases with different emphasis on various sports interests and that makes for a much less cohesive conference.

I suspect that much of the strength of the SEC and B1G are due to their more cohesive regional character.

It's less about the regional nature, and more about the types of schools added.... The ACC had a chance to strengthen it's position.. instead they added small private schools, with limited fan bases, in a much wider geographic area. In retrospect adding Miami, BC, and Syracuse were probably as dumb as you can get. Miami has shown that they're content just collecting a check... heck they cheat AND lose. BC... well you can just take a look at that dumpster fire. Syracuse is a retirement away from being nationally irrelevant in every sport of note. Pittsburgh and Louisville make more sense... but they're both second fiddle (or third or fourth in Pittsburgh) in their own markets, but at least they have resources and are state schools. VT is a solid add but we'll see what life post Beamer brings... meanwhile you're commission who allows the AD at literally the least important school in the conference to have an over sized say in expansion... while selling off your future to Raycom. I love Chad Swofford's bio on Raycom's site BTW: "Joined Raycom in 2007 as Manager of ACC Marketing... He worked at Boston College prior to joining Raycom." If that doesn't lay it all out for you I don't know what does... of course I'd gladly jump into the middle of your dumpster fire of a conference in a hot second...