Schedule Released

[kreed5120]

Yeah, I'll make sure to let the ticket rep know why I'm not purchasing season tickets this year when they reach out to me. I'll still go to a game or 2, but the games I want to see the most I won't be able to attend.

[zipsoutsider]

1 hour ago, Blue & Gold said:

"The MAC just released its 2017 football schedule.  There are ZERO Saturday games in November." -Matt Brown

 

The MAC sucks.

While I agree with the sentiment, there are some vanes on Sat Nov. 24.

 

What a complete disaster. 

[a-zip]

Bottom of NCAA attendance rankings pretty much guaranteed.

[lance99]

So,

 

Two of the possible Three biggest crowds of the season is basically gone, with one being the week of Thanksgiving where the odds are noone will be on campus, let alone in town.

 

This better be all ESPN'S doing.....

 

 

[72 Roo]

3 hours ago, Balsy said:

Well for the November Games...this year is on pace to be the hottest year on record (beating out last year...which beat out the year before it...which beat out the year before it), so there's a wild chance we may have 75 degrees in November like we had in Februrary this year.

 

Why in the hell do they schedule our Kent game in November...last year it was in October.  Soooo Kent gets to benefit from good weather but the better stadium doesn't?  The MAC is fundamentally stupid.

Damn right. No one wants to play Kent and OU in November. There goes our attendance. The MAC cannot get any worse .... or can they? They are inept.

[skip-zip]

11 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

Yeah, I'll make sure to let the ticket rep know why I'm not purchasing season tickets this year when they reach out to me. I'll still go to a game or 2, but the games I want to see the most I won't be able to attend.

 

I think this will be the greatest impact.  For sure.  Anyone who looks at the schedule will hesitate to buy all the home games.  And that's a great guaranteed source of income.  

 

But the Kent game specifically still pisses me off.  Kent got an ideal spot last year and drew over 20,000 to help their averages, and make some money.  We'll get almost NO additional walk-up purchases on a Tuesday night of Thanksgiving week, in addition to dissuading many season ticket renewals/new purchases because of that game alone.  It's really unbelievable.  

[ZippyRulz]

An NIU writer's take:

 

Severson: MAC schedule shows top priority is money, not athletes

 

http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2017/03/01/severson-mac-schedule-shows-top-priority-is-money-not-athletes/anx0szz/?page=1

[Balsy]

I personally will admit my mistake.  Back when the ESPN deal was released and weekday games were first announced, I was a supporter of it.  I apologize for being supportive of it.  But the MAC could grow some moxy and actually take a stand for itself.  I guess it's kinda hard to rock the boat when the conference commissioner and all the athletic directors get paid 6-figures.

[zippy5]

As they should

[Let'sGoZips94]

Garbage. 

 

What the Hell are we still doing in the MAC? 

[K92]

59 minutes ago, lilroodude said:

Garbage. 

 

What the Hell are we still doing in the MAC? 

Because the details are still being worked out for our move to the ACC.

[uhgrad2002]

I stopped buying season tickets because of last season's schedule.  I'll stop going altogether because of this one.  If being big time is more important than fans, so be it.  I understand why it is the way it is, but there are other sports that deserve support too, other ways to have fun and other ways to support the university. 

[morris buttermaker]

Would this be a good time for the Athletic Dept. to only sell advance purchase lower bowl tickets in season ticket packages?

[K92]

1 hour ago, uhgrad2002 said:

If being big time is more important than fans, so be it.

If there's anything that screams big time it is a Tuesday night game on ESPN3.  That's when you know you've finally scaled the mountain.

[skip-zip]

3 hours ago, Balsy said:

But the MAC could grow some moxy and actually take a stand for itself.  I guess it's kinda hard to rock the boat when the conference commissioner and all the athletic directors get paid 6-figures.

 

Unfortunately, there isn't going to be any boat-rocking because there's a contract in place that allows this to happen, and there's a pretty nice amount of money that our members'  athletic departments all need that's being delivered in exchange for that contractual agreement.  

Edited March 2, 2017 by skip-zip

[94zipgrad]

I'm new here & new to supporting Akron Football

 

Is everyone saying if we are playing for a MAC championship & a trip to Detroit that no one will be there?

 

If we suck like we did down the stretch last year I understand staying home & watching on TV, happened to the Browns last year, that's part of it, give your fans a reason to come

 

Sounds like we are writing the season off or no matter what the team does no one is showing up

 

I'm new, tell me

[72 Roo]

I agree with Skip in that the ESPN contract lets ESPN do whatever they want to fill time slots and offer viewers some entertainment. All in exchange for a lot of money that the MAC isn't accustomed to. It's only when you look at the long term effects of this contract do you see that it ultimately will not help grow the conference. On the contrary, it cements the MAC as a starving, non-competitive conference that will do anything to get on TV. When viewers tune in they see bad weather, empty stadiums, no excitement and coaches who are auditioning for better jobs. The money is not worth it.

 

Akron vs Kent Tuesday of Thanksgiving week makes me sick. If Kent can get 20,000 at their place we can get 25,000 with good weather mid season. The fact that this happened only tells me that fans, players, alumni, and rivalries don't really matter. Money does and only ESPN wins.

[Balsy]

13 minutes ago, 94zipgrad said:

I'm new here & new to supporting Akron Football

 

Is everyone saying if we are playing for a MAC championship & a trip to Detroit that no one will be there?

 

If we suck like we did down the stretch last year I understand staying home & watching on TV, happened to the Browns last year, that's part of it, give your fans a reason to come

 

Sounds like we are writing the season off or no matter what the team does no one is showing up

 

I'm new, tell me

 

The Kent game @ home is historically the most attended game of the year.  Placing it on a Tuesday on the week of thanksgiving is a death sentence to attendance.  Being the week of thanks giving, most students won't be there, along with a chuck of fans.

 

Fans, of course, will make an effort to show up if they're winning...but even I have difficulty going to Weeknight games...and I live in Akron.   So it's the combination of all of these factors that will likely make the attendance at that game considerably lower than what it could be if it were earlier in the season.  There was relatively good attendance at the dumpster called Dix stadium...likely because it was an October 1st, Saturday with gorgeous weather. 

 

I don't think people are writing the season off as good or bad, it's just going to be shitty inconvenient.

[zippy5]

Students will be there, there has always been Wednesday class during Thanksgiving week unless something has changed recently. Whether they will be at the stadium is a different discussion.

[skip-zip]

38 minutes ago, 72 Roo said:

I agree with Skip in that the ESPN contract lets ESPN do whatever they want to fill time slots and offer viewers some entertainment. All in exchange for a lot of money that the MAC isn't accustomed to. It's only when you look at the long term effects of this contract do you see that it ultimately will not help grow the conference. On the contrary, it cements the MAC as a starving, non-competitive conference that will do anything to get on TV. When viewers tune in they see bad weather, empty stadiums, no excitement and coaches who are auditioning for better jobs. The money is not worth it.

 

Akron vs Kent Tuesday of Thanksgiving week makes me sick. If Kent can get 20,000 at their place we can get 25,000 with good weather mid season. The fact that this happened only tells me that fans, players, alumni, and rivalries don't really matter. Money does and only ESPN wins.

 

Here's the catch:  We NEED the money.  And I won't get into the whole diatribe concerning the absolute necessity to get outside money if you are a "lower level" D-1A program in this day and age. 

 

But, other than that,  I agree with everything you're saying........including the fact that these weekday games, in the long term, could have some negative drawbacks as well.  

 

Here's The Key: Tight camera shots of the fans 

[94zipgrad]

11 minutes ago, Balsy said:

 

The Kent game @ home is historically the most attended game of the year.  Placing it on a Tuesday on the week of thanksgiving is a death sentence to attendance.  Being the week of thanks giving, most students won't be there, along with a chuck of fans.

 

Fans, of course, will make an effort to show up if they're winning...but even I have difficulty going to Weeknight games...and I live in Akron.   So it's the combination of all of these factors that will likely make the attendance at that game considerably lower than what it could be if it were earlier in the season.  There was relatively good attendance at the dumpster called Dix stadium...likely because it was an October 1st, Saturday with gorgeous weather. 

 

I don't think people are writing the season off as good or bad, it's just going to be shitty inconvenient.

But from a MAC/ESPN schedule perspective

 

1.  They have to fill that Tuesday with a game

2.  I could be wrong but my guess we are probably one of the biggest commuter schools in the MAC

3.  I think we have as good of a chance as anyone coming out of East & I'm not saying that as a good thing

4.  Playing our arch rival for a possible trip to Detroit, the Wagon Wheel

5.  Closest schools in proximity, possible best attendance based on that alone & possibly of other games they could have put on that night

 

Doesn't do Akron any favors but probably best chose for MAC/ESPN

[skip-zip]

4 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

Students will be there, there has always been Wednesday class during Thanksgiving week unless something has changed recently. Whether they will be at the stadium is a different discussion.

 

You actually have a point there.  The student attendance should be better, vs. a game the Friday after Thanksgiving when everyone has left campus.  But the chance for this to be any kind of money-maker is shot, compared to the Oct. 1 afternoon game that Kent got last year.  

[kreed5120]

17 minutes ago, 94zipgrad said:

I'm new here & new to supporting Akron Football

 

Is everyone saying if we are playing for a MAC championship & a trip to Detroit that no one will be there?

 

If we suck like we did down the stretch last year I understand staying home & watching on TV, happened to the Browns last year, that's part of it, give your fans a reason to come

 

Sounds like we are writing the season off or no matter what the team does no one is showing up

 

I'm new, tell me

First off welcome aboard.

 

I personally don't feel the Zips will be good this year, but some others around these parts are more optimistic. Regardless, that's not what is factoring into my decision to not purchase season tickets. Attending college football games is a huge time commitment as the typical game last somewhere between 3 1/2 to 4 hours and that doesn't include pregame tailgating. I'd gladly commit 5-7+ hours to tailgate and attend a Saturday Ohio or Kent game (I'm not as excited for Ark-Pine Bluff, Buffalo, or Ball State). The problem is those games are now on Tuesday at ~7PM at the end of November. Leaving straight from work to get there just in time for maybe a beer (if lucky) before kickoff then having to sit in the freezing cold on ice cold bleachers only to get home late with work the next morning is just a huge inconvenience and not all that exciting for me. I can just watch the game at home and avoid the hassle .

 

I wouldn't try talking anyone out of going, more power to you. It's just not for me.

 

 

[Balsy]

46 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

Students will be there, there has always been Wednesday class during Thanksgiving week unless something has changed recently. Whether they will be at the stadium is a different discussion.

 

41 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

 

You actually have a point there.  The student attendance should be better, vs. a game the Friday after Thanksgiving when everyone has left campus.  But the chance for this to be any kind of money-maker is shot, compared to the Oct. 1 afternoon game that Kent got last year.  

 

Yes true, but some will skip that Wednesday Lecture...some may cancel the Wednesday Lecture...or assign assignments to turn in via springboard but not have to show up to class.  There will be significantly less students going to a weekday game vs weekend game, and then significantly less students going to a weekday game the same week as thanksgiving.

 

Just being realistic here.

[Fre5hington24]

4 hours ago, K92 said:

Because the details are still being worked out for our move to the ACC.

Is Akron really moving to the ACC ????