The Athletic Group of 5 Mailbag Question: Will UConn's turnaround under Jim Mora get them in a conference?

[NE Football]

Oh lol, why would we want to play games in Massachusetts?

As New England Champions and as New England’s team, we should play games in New England’s premier venue. Think bigger.

 

[CL82]

As New England Champions and as New England’s team, we should play games in New England’s premier venue. Think bigger.

As New England‘s team we should be playing in our home venue. Leave the stunt locations for the lesser teams.

Think bigger.

 

[Stinger92860]

Unless (or unti)l we make more money, we should consider money games in our backyard. Why go to Michigan to get our a z z kicked when we can do it with a bus ride. The kids love playing in professional venues and one of these a year will help recruiting, visibility, and the bank account. There will be a time when we can beat a team like ND again And hopefully it’s on national TV.

 

[CL82]

Unless (or unti)l we make more money, we should consider money games in our backyard. Why go to Michigan to get our a z z kicked when we can do it with a bus ride. The kids love playing in professional venues and one of these a year will help recruiting, visibility, and the bank account. There will be a time when we can beat a team like ND again And hopefully it’s on national TV.

If someone wants to play pay us $1 million+ to play at Gillette or Giants stadium, I’m all in. Who do you know that wants to do that?

 

[Storrs South]

If someone wants to play pay us $1 million+ to play at Gillette or Giants stadium, I’m all in. Who do you know that wants to do that?

Fenway Park paid UConn $1.125 million 5 years ago to play there, guaranteed, against BC. Granted they forgo the home game but definitely is more money than they make from a home game today. That can obviously change if and when the Rent is packed again.

 

[CL82]

Fenway Park paid UConn $1.125 million 5 years ago to play there, guaranteed, against BC. Granted they forgo the home game but definitely is more money than they make from a home game today. That can obviously change if and when the Rent is packed again.

Yeah, I’m fine with that as a pay game. I’d rather not forgo the home game though. Theoretically, we can do both since we don’t have to worry about league games.

 

[Stinger92860]

If someone wants to play pay us $1 million+ to play at Gillette or Giants stadium, I’m all in. Who do you know that wants to do that?

ND for one, and the 1M can come from ticket sales and/or other revenue streams associated with the game. I’d call Texas, tOSU, USC, etc. I imagine we would take 500K.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

ND for one, and the 1M can come from ticket sales and/or other revenue streams associated with the game. I’d call Texas, tOSU, USC, etc. I imagine we would take 500K.

Has ND done this with some of their neutral site games/which ones?

 

[CL82]

ND for one, and the 1M can come from ticket sales and/or other revenue streams associated with the game. I’d call Texas, tOSU, USC, etc. I imagine we would take 500K.

I don’t know if it’s that easy. First, remember you have to rent the facility, so to net $1 million you’ve got to make 1 million over the lease costs. Easier said than done for a program that can’t fill the rent. i’m not sure what you would think the other associated revenue streams would be. If you’re not at your own venue you don’t get concessions or parking.

 

[SU1968]

I don’t know if it’s that easy. First, remember you have to rent the facility, so to net $1 million you’ve got to make 1 million over the lease costs. Easier said than done for a program that can’t fill the rent. i’m not sure what you would think the other associated revenue streams would be. If you’re not at your own venue you don’t get concessions or parking.

You can make good $$ from doing this. Before Syracuse started getting ACC dollars, they "sold" a home game against Notre Dame because ESPN or NBC wanted to play it in NYC. IIRC, Syracuse was paid an extra $5M to do this.

 

[CL82]

You can make good $$ from doing this. Before Syracuse started getting ACC dollars, they "sold" a home game against Notre Dame because ESPN or NBC wanted to play it in NYC. IIRC, Syracuse was paid an extra $5M to do this.

$5 million? Sweet! That would be tough to turn away. That said, you have to be careful not to do this too often because your season-ticket holders want to see games at home.

 

[baggerbob]

You can make good $$ from doing this. Before Syracuse started getting ACC dollars, they "sold" a home game against Notre Dame because ESPN or NBC wanted to play it in NYC. IIRC, Syracuse was paid an extra $5M to do this.

They also did the Southern California game at Met life, rather then playing at home.
For a school like Uconn if they can get a name school like Southern California or Notre Dame to do this it's a win for both sides.

 

[Stinger92860]

Has ND done this with some of their neutral site games/which ones?

They were going to do it with us.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

They were going to do it with us.

As much as the site, I was wondering about the money aspect as well.

 

[SU1968]

$5 million? Sweet! That would be tough to turn away. That said, you have to be careful not to do this too often because your season-ticket holders want to see games at home.

True. It turned off a lot of fans but was necessary at the time. Since getting the ACC dollars, that hasn't happened again.

 

[HitDog]

True. It turned off a lot of fans but was necessary at the time. Since getting the ACC dollars, that hasn't happened again.

Yep and they invested all the ACC money and turned the whole athletic program into a juggernaut!

 

[JohnFSilver]

Even if we’re winning 10-12 games per season and fighting for the G5 crown, I still don’t think we’d get people at the rent against any C-USA or MAC team the way we would against just about any P5 opponent. I think it’s P5 or independence no matter what. The game against Michigan is potentially what it would look like if we were in a P5 conference

I know this was a long time away, but the UConn fans summarily rejected the AAC for football and even basketball to a point .

I just don’t see any of the G5s as alternatives, even for football.

The fans won’t come. They would rather play BC and Cuse than a top 20 AAC squad .

 

[Waquoit]

I know this was a long time away, but the UConn fans summarily rejected the AAC for football and even basketball to a point .

It was even hurting WBB. I'm thinking that was a bridge too far.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

I know this was a long time away, but the UConn fans summarily rejected the AAC for football and even basketball to a point .

I just don’t see any of the G5s as alternatives, even for football.

The fans won’t come. They would rather play BC and Cuse than a top 20 AAC squad .

Fans didn't reject the AAC for football. They rejected us being pure trash while playing AAC Football

 

[JohnFSilver]

Fans didn't reject the AAC for football. They rejected us being pure trash while playing AAC Football

Disagree. Hoops took a major hit too.

 

[Waquoit]

Fans didn't reject the AAC for football. They rejected us being pure trash while playing AAC Football

Remember, we're talking about fans who go to games here; not Boneyarders. You don't think they studied this in-depth before they went Indy?

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Remember, we're talking about fans who go to games here; not Boneyarders. You don't think they studied this in-depth before they went Indy?

I think fans saw a lot of losing and decided to spend their time and attention elsewhere. If we had been a winning program the fan decline would have been minimal or non-existent. So called "casual" fans see a winning team and they stay for the fun. Give them a losing team and the party ends. I doubt the casual fan cares who we beat, as long as we are winning. Look at the difference in tone and attention around the football program this season. Our schedule was much better than a typical AAC schedule. The difference is winning and being competitive.

There are teams in Power 5 conferences playing all the teams we care about and they can't draw flies because they don't win. "Winning cures all" is a saying for a reason. The American was4 heaven or really ideal, but had we been going 8-5 instead of 3-9, I think it would have been different. But none of that matters now.

As for study before the move, the first plan was to stay in the AAC for football and move Basketball. I just think it is hard to compare the conference change impact when we were losing so much. Things look great now and that is what matters. I just balk at the AAC was the reason for everything belief.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I think fans saw a lot of losing and decided to spend their time and attention elsewhere. If we had been a winning program the fan decline would have been minimal or non-existent. So called "casual" fans see a winning team and they stay for the fun. Give them a losing team and the party ends. I doubt the casual fan cares who we beat, as long as we are winning. Look at the difference in tone and attention around the football program this season. Our schedule was much better than a typical AAC schedule. The difference is winning and being competitive.

There are teams in Power 5 conferences playing all the teams we care about and they can't draw flies because they don't win. "Winning cures all" is a saying for a reason. The American was4 heaven or really ideal, but had we been going 8-5 instead of 3-9, I think it would have been different. But none of that matters now.

As for study before the move, the first plan was to stay in the AAC for football and move Basketball. I just think it is hard to compare the conference change impact when we were losing so much. Things look great now and that is what matters. I just balk at the AAC was the reason for everything belief.

I recall Diaco’s best year wasn’t the Houston game a sell out or close . Instead of 5-5 imagine if we were 9-1
with a top bowl on the line .

 

[CL82]

Fans didn't reject the AAC for football. They rejected us being pure trash while playing AAC Football

Disagree. Playing opponents no one cares about year after year erodes the fanbase. Being out on an island so every trip to every school is a long flight wears on the coaches and wears on the athletes. Finally, putting woman’s basketball behind a pay wall would have put that program on the road to irrelevancy. It was the last straw, but not the only straw.

But really, why are we talking about it? The decisions been long made and turned out well for us. There was never any point in whining about it, but even less after it has been a relative success.

 

[JohnFSilver]

I recall Diaco’s best year wasn’t the Houston game a sell out or close . Instead of 5-5 imagine if we were 9-1
with a top bowl on the line .

Diaco never got close to a sellout. There were 25k in the building that game, barely.