Non-Key Tweets

[pj]

If Buffalo is the flagship, it was silly of New York to put its flagship university at the point in the state most distant (374 miles) from its population, money, media, and prestige center.

 

[CL82]

Do you really believe that? The reality is that as far as college football TV is concerned the New England market is just as worthless as the Dakotas. Thus why schools like Maine, NH, Delaware, Vermont, etc are a non factor in college football. Heck NDSU has more clout in college football than all of New England combined. Huge populations and TV markets who don't care about college football are basically worthless to realignment it seems. New England is basically more like Canada when it comes to college football. Might be some huge cities but none of them care about college football.

IMO there is a reason nobody has claimed the "great unclaimed prize". There is no prize. Just the illusion of one.

Population density + per household earnings makes the northeast a desirable market. The fact no school in region has won a NC (arguably) since 1959 doesn't change the economics.

 

[upstater]

If Buffalo is the flagship, it was silly of New York to put its flagship university at the point in the state most distant (374 miles) from its population, money, media, and prestige center.

It grew on its own.

It's been gradual. Didn't start out that way. SUNY system is only 50 yrs old.

 

[Fishy]

The marketing move was by an AD and his cohort. It has nothing to do with what I'm talking about.

When UB20/20 went through, Zimpher and her pals pushed it through politically as the flagship. And the money in UB2020 dwarfs anything going to the other campuses. The Pres. of UB runs the Buffalo Billion.

Not sure what Cal-Berkely has to do with anything other than it isn't the flagship of the SUNY system either.

 

[SubbaBub]

I simply don't see it. Does ESPN even televise any college football games in New England?

What makes you think New England is a desirable market for college football?

Thank you for your interest in UConn athletics.

 

[pj]

15 million people, who do watch college football and who pay the same amount - e.g. $5/month for ESPN - for football-showing cable channels as do people in Texas.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

What kind of respect does New England get as far as college football is concerned?

Lets be real. I don't see TV partners putting much value on any of the New England schools. Any idea what the colonial conference TV payout is?

It seems to me that there is just a regional difference in college football interest. That is why state flagship schools in New England have 8k seat stadiums and high schools in Texas hold 20k +. That is just the reality of the situation.

Football is a religion in many states down south, especially areas that do not have a professional sports team(s). Tat said, the Northeast has some decent size stadiums with Yale at 61K from an era when the Northeast was college football plus BC at 45K and UConn at 40K .

I'm also glad that football is not such an emphasis in the Northeast to the point it is down south, like Texas, where districts a prove multimillion dollar football stadiums holding 10K plus while, at the same time, they are cutting classes, teachers, and other academic functions to avoid bankruptcy for said football stadium.

 

[CTMike]

If you take the area between NYC and Boston : population density and money. Because of those two, advertising goes a long ways. In other words, you don't need to pull a giant share to only reach a small total number of people. You can pull a smaller share, reach greater numbers of folks in total, who on average have more spending power. There are a lot more value adds but I've given this troll enough time.

 

[Husky25]

What kind of respect does New England get as far as college football is concerned?

Lets be real. I don't see TV partners putting much value on any of the New England schools. Any idea what the colonial conference TV payout is?

It seems to me that there is just a regional difference in college football interest. That is why state flagship schools in New England have 8k seat stadiums and high schools in Texas hold 20k +. That is just the reality of the situation.

You are so out of your depth, it's unbelievable. and apparently do not you know the definition of a straw man argument.

Just so you are partially informed (because I have no interest in wasting any more time than absolutely necessary in trying to teach Stupid), UConn is on an ESPN channel every single week and I don't mean ESPN3. They may not have the A-team announcers from ABC, but they are indeed on broadcast television. It's in the media contract. Boston College (as much as they are disrespected here), are on TV every single week by virtue of being in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Alumni Stadium (B.C) seats 45,000. Rentschler Field seats 40,000, with the appropriate footings to expand capacity for an additional 15-20,000, and UMass plays half their home games at 68,000-seat Gillette Stadium, while their on-campus venue is renovated to FBS standards.

The only occasion anyone outside the Dakotas ever sees inside the FargoDome is in December and that is only if they make the semi finals of the FCS playoffs.

The Northeast means eyeballs. Fargo means Kristin Rudrud in a wood chipper, terrible Upper Midwest accents, and mistaken geography.

 

[itgoeslike]

What makes you think New England is a desirable market for college football?

You come off as pretty clueless. Demand has a lot to do with match ups, time slots and networks, but with the right product, UConn has already proven it can outdraw/out-revenue many schools in the P5, just as it did when it was in the P6. This season, BYU/UConn and Boise State/UConn drew over a million viewers. The previous year Michigan at UConn (5M+) outdrew Arizona State/Stanford. Sure, Michigan is the main draw, but compare those results with Michigan vs. some other Big Ten teams without the word "State" in it. Whether it's UConn fan support or local fans from other schools, college football has a place in Connecticut—with the potential to grow into something substantially more. Don't be ignorant and/or lazy, look it up.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

.

The Northeast means eyeballs. Fargo means Kristin Rudrud in a wood chipper, terrible Upper Midwest accents, and mistaken geography.

Does Connecticut get a license fee from Fargo for using a wood chipper as a plot to kill someone and hide the evidence?

 

[Kolumbo]

Say, Lou, didya hear the one about the guy who couldn't afford personalized plates, so he went and changed his name to J3L2404?

 

[TruDomGopher]

The Dakotas are already B1G country and there is no additional value to be extracted there. Forget the lines on the map--it's a cultural and geographic thing. The two Dakotas are not North and South, they're east and west, divided by the Missouri river. Eastern Dakota is more or less already owned by Minnesota and, the southeast, by Nebraska. (FWIW, I believe Minnesota and the Dakotas still have tuition reciprocity, too. A lot of the smartest kids from the Dakotas end up in the Twin Cities for school.)

The B1G probably gets as much in carriage fees as they do in either Minnesota or Nebraska. If they don't, the B1G would spend more on lawyers to draw up contracts than they could recoup in revenue. There just isn't enough population base or tvs. There's simply no real value to be extracted there, zip, zero, nada.

 

[whaler11]

The Dakotas are already B1G country and there is no additional value to be extracted there. Forget the lines on the map--it's a cultural and geographic thing. The two Dakotas are not North and South, they're east and west, divided by the Missouri river. Eastern Dakota is more or less already owned by Minnesota and, the southeast, by Nebraska. (FWIW, I believe Minnesota and the Dakotas still have tuition reciprocity, too. A lot of the smartest kids from the Dakotas end up in the Twin Cities for school.)

The B1G probably gets as much in carriage fees as they do in either Minnesota or Nebraska. If they don't, the B1G would spend more on lawyers to draw up contracts than they could recoup in revenue. There just isn't enough population base or tvs. There's simply no real value to be extracted there, zip, zero, nada.

Ironic that North Dakota has value in real life because of what is extracted there.

 

[dayooper]

Ironic that North Dakota has value in real life because of what is extracted there.

It's one of the reasons that gas prices have dropped they way they have.

 

[specialisthusky]

I'm pretty sure this guy is okie lite taking another shot at hanging around the boneyard. Maybe I'm wrong but he reminds me a ton of that poster. "LAFFIN"

 

[CL82]

I simply don't see it.

That is readily apparent.

 

[1999.2004.2011]

I get the feeling this board is very uptight and angry for some reason.

Welcome to the Conference Realignment board!

 

[Fishy]

I get the feeling I am not really welcome.

Self-awareness is a wonderful thing.

Happy trails.

 

[Husky25]

LOL. What I said was 100% true about New England state flagship schools having 8k seat stadiums and playing in the patriot league. There is no straw man argument here. No idea why that upsets you but it is true. That is why the patriot league payout is nothing compared to other conferences.

I never said anything about UConn not being on TV. Stop getting your panties in a wad about Vermont not being on TV. It's a fact. TV partners do not televise many games in the New England area which confirms that there is no real value in the region.

What the...? Who the...? Where? Oh nevermind.

I tried to be rational with you but there seems to be either a disconnect between your eyes and your brain or your brain and your mouth. I don't which and I really don't care to find out...

However, for the 2nd time, Vermont's state population is just over 625,000 and the university does not sponsor an intercollegiate football team. There is no need for a football stadium.

Stadium capacities for the other 5 Flagships are:

Cowell Stadium (UNH - FCS): 10,000
Alfond Stadium (Univ. of Maine - FCS): 10,000
McGuirk Stadium (UMass - Amherst - FBS): 17,000 on campus
Gillette Stadium (UMass - Amherst - FBS): 68,700 off campus
Meade Stadium (Univ. of R.I. - FCS): 6,555
Rentschler Field (UConn - FBS): 40,000

Average seating capacity: 25,376. Even if you include Vermont and only McGuirk Stadium for UMass, Average Capacity is 13,926. Not only can't you say that what you say about New England Flagships schools is 100% true, it is actually 100% false!!!

The Patriot League is FCS level and just started offering scholarships for the first time in about 25 years. None of them are considered flagships.

The straw man that you introduced was moving on from a comparison of the Dakotas and New England ("The reality is that as far as college football TV is concerned the New England market is just as worthless as the Dakotas. Thus why schools like Maine, NH, Delaware, Vermont, etc are a non factor in college football. Heck NDSU has more clout in college football than all of New England combined.")

to

A comparison of Texas to New England ("That is why state flagship schools in New England have 8k seat stadiums and high schools in Texas hold 20k +.")

No one besides you claimed that New England college football competes with Texas.

 

[CL82]

I get the feeling I am not really welcome. That is fine. If you would prefer to only have angry UConn fans posting about how valuavble the NE is for college football so be it. TV partners are not desperately trying to get into the Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire market for good reason. Nobody cares about football up there. In reality BC, Rutgers, and Cuse have little value as far as college football is concerned. Without a conference network Rutgers has little value to a conference either.

It's really bizarre that somehow BC, Rutgers, and Cuse are in a power conference but I suspect that has everything to do with UConn not playing FBS football until recently and confirms my statements about college football not being a big deal in the area. It's just not. This is proven when state flagship schools get outdrawn by high school games in other parts of the country. Different strokes for different folks.

Wow, a new poster makes inflammatory comments repeatedly and then portrays himself as a victim when he gets called on it. I did not see that coming at all.

 

[TruDomGopher]

Let me take a whack at this.

The first component of value is the population base and ability to exploit it via cable fees. It doesn't matter if someone actually watches; they just need to pay the cable bill.

The second component of value is advertising. This does require eyeballs on sets watching. Viewers will show up when the right games show up.

UConn, by every metric, is valuable--and stuck. Personally, it offends all sensibilities to see a school the caliber of UConn in this situation. Because of UConn's geographic positioning, New York's flagship vacuum, and top-tier branding, UConn is the great unclaimed prize in realignment.

Anger on this board? Undoubtedly. And there are some here just to share our support while we wait for the B1G to get over their issues and get UConn on board where they belong.

I, for one, really want to see UConn in the B1G basketball lineup. (Then I plan on hanging around and talking smack when the Gophers play.)

 

[Kolumbo]

It would be very difficult to look at all the colleges in New England, large and small, from P5 to Division III, and state New England doesn't care about football. New England cares very much about football. THE GAME takes place in New England. Obviously New England evolved differently than the south so we have a different culture and different college and university demographics, and this evolution occurred long before espn. I suppose we could argue that Vandy doesn't care about academics because it is in the SEC but that would make no sense. If colleges really held all the athletes to their strict academic standards, I think we would find that there wouldn't be much difference between the areas that "care" about football and those that "don't care."

 

[pj]

I get the feeling I am not really welcome. That is fine. If you would prefer to only have angry UConn fans posting about how valuavble the NE is for college football so be it. TV partners are not desperately trying to get into the Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire market for good reason. Nobody cares about football up there. In reality BC, Rutgers, and Cuse have little value as far as college football is concerned. Without a conference network Rutgers has little value to a conference either.

It's really bizarre that somehow BC, Rutgers, and Cuse are in a power conference but I suspect that has everything to do with UConn not playing FBS football until recently and confirms my statements about college football not being a big deal in the area. It's just not. This is proven when state flagship schools get outdrawn by high school games in other parts of the country. Different strokes for different folks.

Do I need to spell this out for you?
- We're talking about UConn and its pull in the Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts markets
- In your first paragraph you say you were talking about Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire. Yet you had never mentioned that those were the schools you were referring to. You said you were talking about New England state flagship universities, which would naturally lead readers to think you meant UConn.
- In your second paragraph you go back to talking about UConn and saying that state flagship schools get outdrawn by high school games, which UConn does not. This belies your first paragraph.

 

[Husky25]

Let me take a whack at this.

The first component of value is the population base and ability to exploit it via cable fees. It doesn't matter if someone actually watches; they just need to pay the cable bill.

The second component of value is advertising. This does require eyeballs on sets watching. Viewers will show up when the right games show up.

UConn, by every metric, is valuable--and stuck. Personally, it offends all sensibilities to see a school the caliber of UConn in this situation. Because of UConn's geographic positioning, New York's flagship vacuum, and top-tier branding, UConn is the great unclaimed prize in realignment.

Anger on this board? Undoubtedly. And there are some here just to share our support while we wait for the B1G to get over their issues and get UConn on board where they belong.

I, for one, really want to see UConn in the B1G basketball lineup. (Then I plan on hanging around and talking smack when the Gophers play.)

Great post except to whom it is pointed. Can't teach stupid.