More & More Are Doin' It

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

With a 1AA home opponent:

6 away games

1 Money game (LSU, Texas, etc)

1 Away home & home with "mid-major" (SMU, Tulsa, Rice, Houston, Army)

4 conference games

home games

1 1AA opener (Texas State, SFA, etc)

1 Home & home with mid-major

4 conference games

In '06 we had OC away games with Texas,Akron & Tulsa. Who thinks we made more traveling to Akron that we would have if we'd hosted a 1AA for our opener ?

Not the best example, 61, because instead of getting Akron in return, we got Navy. The 26,000+ earned us more than any 1-AA could ever do. If we ever choose to do a FCS team, please make it a Texas team. Right now that means Texas State, Sam Houston State, or SFA only.

[MeanGreen61]

Not the best example, 61, because instead of getting Akron in return, we got Navy. The 26,000+ earned us more than any 1-AA could ever do. If we ever choose to do a FCS team, please make it a Texas team. Right now that means Texas State, Sam Houston State, or SFA only.

I do know that we got Navy in return, but that wasn't exactly planned was it ? The point is unless the 7th away game is a necessary SECOND money game, why wouldn't we be better off with a 1AA home opener financially vs traveling to a mid-major ?

Edited July 7, 2008 by MeanGreen61

[VideoEagle]

If we have 6 1A (FBS) home opponents great ! If not why go on the road for a 7th games ? Isn't the goal ONE money game a year ? With a 1AA home opponent:

b]home games

1 1AA opener (Texas State, SFA, etc)

1 Home & home with mid-major

4 conference games

In a few years, USA football is moving up to FBS and gets automatic membership in the Belt. So every other year we would have 5 conference home games. That makes the FCS game just every OTHER year and even more palatable.

Edited July 7, 2008 by VideoEagle

[Arkstfan]

June Jones lost two games to I-AA teams at Hawaii and built a team that went to the BCS, albeit a team with sloppy habits like giving up yards after each catch to try to get extra yards that work fine against inferior teams but not so well against a team like Georgia.

[gangrene]

The point is unless the 7th away game is a necessary SECOND money game, why wouldn't we be better off with a 1AA home opener financially vs traveling to a mid-major ?

I agree with your point and I think it depends greatly on who that second money game or mid major team is. I'd rather see an away victory/close game over a program like Air Force, LaTech, NMSU, Memphis, Tulane (no one in the MAC really excites me)...even Rice fits that category, than a home victory over SFA or Texas State. On the other hand, I'd probably prefer that SFA or TSU home game victory to that annual ass-thumping we receive at the hands of Texas, OU, LSU, etc...

I think we all reluctantly understand that we can't afford to scrap the body bag game(s) just yet, but how many do we need to schedule in one season? And, would you prefer a (more) guaranteed home victory against a FCS team than a possible chance to beat a more worthy, more nationally recognized adversary on the road?

[NT80]

You might want to double check your math. If we were to get 25K fans, they only have to spend $28 each to equal $700K.

Now, 25K doesn't happen very often and that is the problem. We need to up our average attendance. It was four or five years ago when I read about a home game with 20K to 22K being roughly equal to a "money" game and the payouts then were $400K to $500K. At an average of just $20 a person, we would need 20K in attendance to equal $400K. Or $22.73 a person and 22K in attendance to equal $500K.

You should factor in the fee for the opponent too. The 1-AA teams now have choices and $$ about which 1-A to schedule themselves as road bait. I doubt we can offer to pay like a BCS school can for a W.

Edited July 7, 2008 by NT80

[MeanGreen61]

You should factor in the fee for the opponent too. The 1-AA teams now have choices and $$ about which 1-A to schedule themselves as road bait. I doubt we can offer to pay like a BCS school can for a W.

Here's some non-BCS teams that have 1AA opponents this year. I doubt that they are paying anywhere near BCS type $$$ to get them in.

SUN BELT

Arkansas State

ULM

Troy

MAC

Ball State

C. Michigan

E. michigan

Miami (O)

Kent State

N. Illinois

Ohio

WAC

Boise

Idaho

La. Tech

Nevada

NMSU

San jose

MWC

Air Force

BYU

Colo State

S. Diego St

TCU

Wyoming

CUSA

UCF

Houston

memphis

SMU

Edited July 8, 2008 by MeanGreen61

[VideoEagle]

You should factor in the fee for the opponent too. The 1-AA teams now have choices and $$ about which 1-A to schedule themselves as road bait. I doubt we can offer to pay like a BCS school can for a W.

Besides what Meangreen 61 wrote above, not all FCS teams want to get their heads stomped in by BCS teams. From their view point, they at least have a chance against NT - especially when compared to an upper level BCS team. That is the appeal to them.

[GrandGreen]

Who says we would replace Navy/Tulsa/Rice as home games?! I don't understand this logic. Why would it be anything other than having an ADDITIONAL home game to start the season---as opposed to an away game at KSU/OU/Texas/LSU, we'd get a directional FCS team and beat the hell out of them....in front of 22k fans. Then, when Tulsa showed up in week 2, we'd have 25k fans ready to see us be competitive and beat the hell oughta them, too. As it stands right now, we're going to have 5 home games this season. Week 2, we're going to come in with a 0-1 record (after not winning a single body bag game in 9 years I think this is pretty much a certainty) and hopefully draw 25k if we don't get beat too badly in week 1.

I think RV has done a better job with our schedules, recently, but I'd really like to know what the numbers REALLY are that support our still current plan of taking a loss in game 1 every year? Are we really balancing the budget with these games?...or do we just think that we can't draw well enough in successive weeks to open the season? How much (in attendance and $) do we have to make in one home game to offset the body bag money?

[/quo

Because NT needs the money of away guaranteed games and an 1-AA game has to replace something. As for as your question how much attendance to offset an guaranteed game, the answer is easy. NT cannot economically replace a guaranteed game. It is not calculus, make up your own wild assumptions and see how much NT can make from a home game. Assume a minimum of 6000 tickets for students, that leaves 14,000 sideline seats and 10000 end zones. Further assume you can get an average of $10 for end zone and $25 for side line tickets even though that is highly unlikely, that equals ticket revenue of $450,000 for a sell out. Further assume that parking and concessions will equal game day expenses. That would give NT revenue of $450,000 less guarantees to the visiting team. Assume it is a home and home series, and NT would average approximately $225,000 a game after the return game is factored in. If NT scheduled an 1-AA team which NT may get for $75,000 and does not require a return game, then NT would have a net income of $375,000. This would still be substantially lower than a guaranteed game even if you live in fantasy land and believe that an 1-AA game could have ticket revenues above $200,000. Also, factor in that one of NT's few oc home games is with an unappealing lower division team.

[Arkstfan]

ASU is playing Texas Southern but WKU is supposedly paying the difference between what they would receive for the game with ASU. WKU backed out in order to play Kentucky.

[NT80]

Besides what Meangreen 61 wrote above, not all FCS teams want to get their heads stomped in by BCS teams. From their view point, they at least have a chance against NT - especially when compared to an upper level BCS team. That is the appeal to them.

Oh, I agree we could probably find a 1-AA to host, but the ones we would want to see (Texas schools) have other offers. Texas State, SFA, and Sam Houston play at SMUt, TCU, and Kansas. That's who we'd have to bid against $$ for a game.