How to eliminate the noon football games for TV

[Guest]

Doug,

I hear what you are saying.  It does suck.  All I can say is that we ALL have to understand that from now on, Saturdays in the fall are going to be like this.

I also agree that if the Big East can start drawing more viewers, it would make some sense to move the GOTW to a later timeslot.  That doesn't necessarily mean that we won't be having Noon games, though...

[BigShoop]

i love 9am bull games from my bed

keep them at 9am

so rod smith can put you back to sleep?

[Joe]

Forget the GOTW moving slots, in EVERY conference that has a regional carrier the Game of the Week will be at 12:00 - 12:30.

ESPN plus - Big 10, Big East are both noon starts

Raycom - ACC Noon start

Lincoln Financial - SEC 12:30 start

FSN Big 12, Pac 10 - 12:00 Central and 12:30 Pacific start

The 3:30 slot is reserved for national telecasts only.

[lotsofbull99]

Lets drop back to I-AA so we can schedule games when we want.

[Cubanbull]

Its a fact of life and now that we are in a BCS conference we will see more of our games televised so youll see more noon and 3:30pm games.

Some of us wont be able to amke them BUT it will give us more exposure around the state and nation. ALL players like to be on TV and tell their friends to watch them on ESPN.

So if the choice is now play on ESPN or other TV in front of 23,000 or NO TV in front of 28,000. I think is obvious that TV wins out.

we need kids around the nation growing up wanting to be Bulls and TV exposure is the best bet and winning.

[Who'sYourData?]

The other option would be to find (or even start) leagues that don't play on Saturdays in the fall.  That would be one way to have both.  I'd rather give up Sunday football than Saturdays.  Not sure how many others feel this way ... but Sunday afternoons are GREAT times for youth sports.

Very few sports programs have kids games on Sunday.  Since we have the occasional Sunday afternoon soccer game, I can tell you it doesn't work out that well.  People have to work around religious obligations, and homework and projects that are due on Monday.  Saturday afternoon home games mean fewer families attending.

As stated elsewhere, however, it is a necessity and attendence will still increase with increased exposure.

[smazza]

kids play 7 days a week in LA

[BDYZR]

Is it the noon kickoff that's a problem, or the fact that you have to wait so late in the season to find out?  I have friends coming into town for the SU game and have/had plans for the day. Those have now been scrubbed because of the nooner.

Some people schedule flights for the game only. Seven hours makes a huge difference.

I think the BE should be able to do a better job of scheduling to accomodate the fans at the game. I know wishful thinking...

GO BULLS!

[Knight_Light]

BE must win 2-3 NCGs in the next decade and elevate attendance to a minimum avg of 40K.  That way the ESPN/ABC beast will garner more respect for our conference.  The BE would then be able to compete for TV viewers at the Sat. 3:30 and 7pm slots vs the ACC, B10, B12, SEC & P10.  And a conference game may ever be worth of a GameDay appearance.  Now our nat. attention just comes on Th., Fri. & Sun nites which does have its pluses (No other games on the tube).

Could be worse...since ESPN and ESPN2 have the Big 10 contract (Noon kickoffs EST), heck...40% of those Big 10 schools kick off at 11:00 AM CENTRAL! (Believe ESPN might be losing a few games to the new Big 10 TV Network starting up soon).

Noon is still better than 11:00 AM!

KL

PS. Most Programs will always sacrifice a few thousand in attendance for a chance to be on National TV (even limited national tv like ESPN Plus).

[Joe]

KL you do know that very few Big 10 stadiums have lights right? Thats why there is so many noon kickoffs this time of the year for them.

BDZYR: Sorry, it's the reality of the situation, and it is only gonna get worse. That's why most schools use TBA and don't set times until they are 100% sure it won't be on TV.