FCS Should Expand Coverage

[SU DOG]

Sure, no arguing that, but the article doesn't say exactly how. Still a good review of the very successful FCS opening game TV ratings. Also, a very good compliment to Samford Fans in Birmingham who propelled the ratings here to the highest anywhere - OK, so I added the Samford part.xlolx

http://thecomeback.com/thestudentsection/football/fcs-should-continue-to-expand-its-kickoff-weekend.html

[DFW HOYA]

Maybe they can bring a Duquesne game back to ESPN2 (one of the first shown on that network).

[BadlandsGrizFan]

right....why have one game??? Lets make it 4- games all in a row..starting at noon work from east coast to west coast....8 different FCS teams get exposure....all college football fans get "warmup games" for the season to start the following week....FCS gets great exposure for all regions of the country...

make a deal like the 2 teams that played in the chipper the year before are garaunteed a game that day

Seems like a no brainer win-win.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

The comment about the attendance rise is pretty dumb but other than that I agree they should have two games, maybe three.

[clenz]

The comment about the attendance rise is pretty dumb but other than that I agree they should have two games, maybe three.

A NDSU/CSU UNI/Montana double header would have been amazing.

[Thumper 76]

Is expanding really up to the FCS? I would think if networks wanted to they could get two more games that day from teams. What really should be expanded is coverage of the playoffs, but that's a different issue.

[Anthony215]

Here in Philadelphia we get the Ivy League and CAA games on Comcast Sports network as well as NBC Sports Network. Would be great if ESPN started picking up some FCS games of the week even if they moved game time up to 10am so they can still air their SEC/ACC/Big 10 games at noon...

[Gangtackle11]

Take 8 teams and play cross section. Play 4 games starting @ 1pm eastern, 4pm, 7pm, 10pm est.

Id take the final 8 from previous year & reward them with a 12th game.

FCS SATURDAY:
Charleston Southern @ NDSU
Colgate @ Jacksonville St.
UNI @ Richmond
Illinois State @ Sam Houston St.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Is expanding really up to the FCS? I would think if networks wanted to they could get two more games that day from teams. What really should be expanded is coverage of the playoffs, but that's a different issue.

There was some uneducated grasping at straws for sure like that. Good sentiment, could have been put together a little better but I appreciated the article even if I did scrath the ol' head on a couple of spots. xlolx

[Southern Bison]

right....why have one game??? Lets make it 4- games all in a row..starting at noon work from east coast to west coast....8 different FCS teams get exposure....all college football fans get "warmup games" for the season to start the following week....FCS gets great exposure for all regions of the country...

make a deal like the 2 teams that played in the chipper the year before are garaunteed a game that day

Seems like a no brainer win-win.
I do like the idea that the Champ & Runner-up get an early game next season. As long as you can secure "national" matchups rather than a small regional game, it can provide a good draw with 4pm ET & 7:30pm ET games.

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[dewey]

Take 8 teams and play cross section. Play 4 games starting @ 1pm eastern, 4pm, 7pm, 10pm est.

Id take the final 8 from previous year & reward them with a 12th game.

FCS SATURDAY:
Charleston Southern @ NDSU
Colgate @ Jacksonville St.
UNI @ Richmond
Illinois State @ Sam Houston St.

I like the idea of the final 8 playing in the first 4 games. Would a random draw for the matchup suffice or make sure the games are not rematches? Also how would the home team be selected? I like the idea of this game being an allowed additional game. Losing a 6th home to NDSU is virtually a show stopper.

Dewey

[dewey]

A NDSU/CSU UNI/Montana double header would have been amazing.

Agreed. That would have been a great double header.

Dewey

[bluehenbillk]

ESPN isn't going to give FCS any more play when they can show the Little League World Series.....

[walliver]

Attendance will be down by 4000 this year - not that that means anything. Ratings were up, likely because casual fans recognized NDSU from GameDay. I suspect the article's author has misread his tea leaves.

A doubleheader with an afternoon game and and evening game may help a little, but any more games than that and ratings will fall. Not many FBS fans want to watch multiple FCS games in a day.

I also suspect a lot of coaches will not want to start the season this early, especially in the South where it is still quite hot.

[Sandlapper Spike]

I don't think expanding it (beyond maybe one more game) is really beneficial, either.

[Bisonator]

I always thought the original plan was for 3 games, one out east, central and west. Starting at noon, 4 and 8 eastern time. The problem is finding intriguing matchups.

[Bisonator]

I don't see how they could set it up so last years PO teams would play when schools need to schedule in advance. Maybe that could be a part of the 12 game option plan.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Take 8 teams and play cross section. Play 4 games starting @ 1pm eastern, 4pm, 7pm, 10pm est.

Id take the final 8 from previous year & reward them with a 12th game.

FCS SATURDAY:
Charleston Southern @ NDSU
Colgate @ Jacksonville St.
UNI @ Richmond
Illinois State @ Sam Houston St.

This is also, of course, what should be done in the opening weeks of the FCS playoffs as well. No more than 2 games simultaneously, pegged at 12:30PM, 4PM, 7:30PM, and 10PM starts, and preferably pitting games in different regions, so that a Villanova/Duquesne game isn't going up against Richmond/Fordham but is going against Southeastern Louisiana/UNI instead.

I think with just some minimal coordination you could make things like kickoff weekend and the first few rounds of the playoffs as TV/fan-friendly events that make it seem like more than an afterthought.

[ASU33]

ESPN isn't going to give FCS any more play when they can show the Little League World Series.....

ESPN also is head first into the High School Football showcase which features kids from the ESPN top 150.

[GetEmGriz]

A NDSU/CSU UNI/Montana double header would have been amazing.

If ESPN was smart, they would have done this. xnodx

[GetEmGriz]

Attendance will be down by 4000 this year - not that that means anything. Ratings were up, likely because casual fans recognized NDSU from GameDay. I suspect the article's author has misread his tea leaves.

A doubleheader with an afternoon game and and evening game may help a little, but any more games than that and ratings will fall. Not many FBS fans want to watch multiple FCS games in a day.

I also suspect a lot of coaches will not want to start the season this early, especially in the South where it is still quite hot.

Ratings weren't up just because of NDSU. Montana is well-known across the country too, and that played a big role. I'm willing to bet that the TV ratings for NDSU/CSU won't beat last year's Montana/NDSU matchup.

[clenz]

Ratings weren't up just because of NDSU. Montana is well-known across the country too, and that played a big role. I'm willing to bet that the TV ratings for NDSU/CSU won't beat last year's Montana/NDSU matchup.
Won't touch NDSU/UNI either.

[melloware13]

I'd set it up so the semifinalists are first moved up (since Non-Con games are usually scheduled too far out to use final 8). Schedule would be (using last year's teams): 11 AM EDT Richmond, 2:30 PM EDT NDSU (to give southern teams later games out of sun), 6:00 PM EDT Jacksonville State, 9:30 PM EDT SHSU. Then they pick a non-conference home game and move it to these slots.

[Professor Chaos]

Ratings would be better if the game was promoted on ESPN at all.

I guess they don't think the interest is there but it sure seems like ratings do pretty well in comparison to other sporting events ESPN broadcasts the weekend of the FCS Kickoff game so you'd think they could spare a few seconds on Sportscenter to drop a plug for it.

But much like the FCS Championship game they make junior high bake sales look well marketed by comparison.

[ASU33]

Ratings weren't up just because of NDSU. Montana is well-known across the country too, and that played a big role. I'm willing to bet that the TV ratings for NDSU/CSU won't beat last year's Montana/NDSU matchup.

Montana was a heck of a host too! The environment in the stadium was electric to say the least. I think that caught the attention of a lot of people who don't normally follow FCS football.

[smilo]

Ratings weren't up just because of NDSU. Montana is well-known across the country too, and that played a big role. I'm willing to bet that the TV ratings for NDSU/CSU won't beat last year's Montana/NDSU matchup.

As in people know Montana is one of the 50 states and they probably have a state college? :)


Here in Philadelphia we get the Ivy League and CAA games on Comcast Sports network as well as NBC Sports Network. Would be great if ESPN started picking up some FCS games of the week even if they moved game time up to 10am so they can still air their SEC/ACC/Big 10 games at noon...

Do we really want to be massively out-viewed by the Premier League (and College GameDay itself of course)? Sad, but true. I probably wouldn't tune in unless it was a pretty special game, and as a fan, I'd be upset about having to be out of the house that early to attend.

I like the early start. Hopefully ESPN gives plenty of FCS hype this year beyond just NDSU. NDSU will almost certainly be the FCS host again if we get one. Super longshots would be EKU's homecoming IF they get past their FBS opponents or maybe NAU (vs. Montana) if they get past EWU and and WIU first. Both options require a ton to go right. And both don't seem likely to have the hype being 'directional' schools with little known history like say a Western Michigan might. We got quite lucky with Madison last year, and boy, did we get a show, but it's looking like more NDSU dominance. And the casual fan views that the same way I view Mount Union.

[dgtw]

I like the idea of the final 8 playing in the first 4 games. Would a random draw for the matchup suffice or make sure the games are not rematches? Also how would the home team be selected? I like the idea of this game being an allowed additional game. Losing a 6th home to NDSU is virtually a show stopper.

Dewey

Let the four semi finalists host the four QF losers but no rematches. Of course, not everyone may want to play an extra game, especially if it requires a long road trip.

I would cap it at two games.


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[Redbird007]

Yes expand coverage but more importantly play the FCS title game in the same city as the FBS championship game similar to 2015. That was nice in 2015 when both games were in Dallas. Fans could attend both FCS and FBS title and the press for big game was able to attend FCS game on Saturday too. FCS got more press coverage that year. No reason to have title game in Frisco every year.

[Thumper 76]

Yes expand coverage but more importantly play the FCS title game in the same city as the FBS championship game similar to 2015. That was nice in 2015 when both games were in Dallas. Fans could attend both FCS and FBS title and the press for big game was able to attend FCS game on Saturday too. FCS got more press coverage that year. No reason to have title game in Frisco every year.

Edit: Welcome to the board, hope you take part in our lovely Caseys Pizza discussions on the MVFC thread./Edit

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Yes expand coverage but more importantly play the FCS title game in the same city as the FBS championship game similar to 2015. That was nice in 2015 when both games were in Dallas. Fans could attend both FCS and FBS title and the press for big game was able to attend FCS game on Saturday too. FCS got more press coverage that year. No reason to have title game in Frisco every year.

You are new, I'm gonna take it easy on ya and tell ya you are sort of uneducated as to how this all works. I am interested in seeing what you mean by "more press" and so forth because you are the only one I've seen say this...due to the other game.

It's a cool coincidence but moeny talks and Frisco bid it. That as they say is that. Welcome to the board. We have a lot to talk about.xthumbsupx

[Thumper 76]

You are new, I'm gonna take it easy on ya and tell ya you are sort of uneducated as to how this all works. I am interested in seeing what you mean by "more press" and so forth because you are the only one I've seen say this...due to the other game.

It's a cool coincidence but moeny talks and Frisco bid it. That as they say is that. Welcome to the board. We have a lot to talk about.xthumbsupx

Yeah, I feel bad the more I think about it being his first post. My bad.

[Matt]

If/when there's another week like when JMU got gameday, I bet ESPN will show an FCS matchup. Learned their lesson (hopefully) by passing on showing JMU-Richmond

[Southern Bison]

You are new, I'm gonna take it easy on ya and tell ya you are sort of uneducated as to how this all works. I am interested in seeing what you mean by "more press" and so forth because you are the only one I've seen say this...due to the other game.

It's a cool coincidence but moeny talks and Frisco bid it. That as they say is that. Welcome to the board. We have a lot to talk about.xthumbsupx
RB007's favorite James Bond actor must be George Lazenby...

Welcome to AGS!

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[LUnpretty11]

Let the four semi finalists host the four QF losers but no rematches. Of course, not everyone may want to play an extra game, especially if it requires a long road trip.

I would cap it at two games.


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This is not a bad idea at all. However, the FCS would benefit from high profile games that Montana and App State used to have "back in the day". Using the opening weekend to showcase 2-4 games is a great idea, but you have to make sure the games live up to the excitement. I mean no disrespect by this statement, but there aren't many people that want to see Richmond host an opening weekend game.

Example: NDSU hosts Montana at 8PM with college gameday showing up to kick off the year. I would love to see a lineup like this...
Youngstown St. at JMU at noon
Liberty at Jax St at 3PM
Sam Houston St. at Eastern Washington at 6PM
Montana at NDSU (or @Montana) at 8/9PM

I feel like this will never be realistic with ESPN being the way they are, but it would be sweet.

[Redbird007]

You are new, I'm gonna take it easy on ya and tell ya you are sort of uneducated as to how this all works. I am interested in seeing what you mean by "more press" and so forth because you are the only one I've seen say this...due to the other game.

It's a cool coincidence but moeny talks and Frisco bid it. That as they say is that. Welcome to the board. We have a lot to talk about.xthumbsupx

Thanks to all for the post #1 hall pass before you i get shredded. I am sure I will get my arse scorched a few times too soon as I see I am bird surrounded by Bison/Panthers that are amongst other animals.

I do attend the fbs championship game on average about once every three years and would also attend the FCS championship game on the prior Saturday, regardless of who was playing, if every year it was in the same city (does not have to be the same stadium). I attended both in 2015 and thought that was a awesome (except for that F'ing 50 yard bison completion late in the game...that damn ball was up in the air forever). If the NCAA got behind the concept I believe there is an opportunity to further promote the FCS game and give the game more national attention. My comment about more press related to the fact that I attended the game with some national press that was in Dallas mainly for the FBS game and they stated that they would not have attended the FCS game had it not be held near the FBS game. My comments do not include knowing how the bidding process works but yes MONEY TALKS.

[Thumper 76]

Thanks to all for the post #1 hall pass before you i get shredded. I am sure I will get my arse scorched a few times too soon as I see I am bird surrounded by Bison/Panthers that are amongst other animals.

I do attend the fbs championship game on average about once every three years and would also attend the FCS championship game on the prior Saturday, regardless of who was playing, if every year it was in the same city (does not have to be the same stadium). I attended both in 2015 and thought that was a awesome (except for that F'ing 50 yard bison completion late in the game...that damn ball was up in the air forever). If the NCAA got behind the concept I believe there is an opportunity to further promote the FCS game and give the game more national attention. My comment about more press related to the fact that I attended the game with some national press that was in Dallas mainly for the FBS game and they stated that they would not have attended the FCS game had it not be held near the FBS game. My comments do not include knowing how the bidding process works but yes MONEY TALKS.

The problem is promotion of the game in general, and having the FBS game in the same city won't help that. ESPN is the ones who promote the game, and they put all of their energy into promotion of the FBS playoff, which isn't a NCAA championship. By putting the FCS championship in the same city every year it's basically the equivalent of putting it on ESPN 2 the same day as the FBS championship. It loses the focus and ability to be THE event. The area will focus on the major draw while the FCS game will be an afterthought. By having it in a different city, and one that bid to have it that doesn't have other major championships constantly, you get a town that is invested into putting on a great show, because it's THE show.

Also, you might get some more media guys there because it's easier for them to do, but it's not like the game got a huge amount of extra publicity nationally compared to other games. Your average FBS fan going to the FBS title game considers FCS DII anyways, so you aren't going to get much carry over there, especially if the games are a week apart. How many people are really going to take an entire week off, if they weren't going to originally, or an extra two days or so if they were planning on spending the week, for what they consider to be DII? Sure you'll get a couple, but the overall game will be lost in the noise and become a, "oh, there's this going on too I guess".

If you want better national coverage of it, it will all stem from ESPN promoting it decently. They don't see it as a big money earner like the FBS game, so they don't even try. That's why having the city really embrace it is a bigger deal, since our coverage isn't going to change anytime soon. It is what it is.

[Redbird007]

The problem is promotion of the game in general, and having the FBS game in the same city won't help that. ESPN is the ones who promote the game, and they put all of their energy into promotion of the FBS playoff, which isn't a NCAA championship. By putting the FCS championship in the same city every year it's basically the equivalent of putting it on ESPN 2 the same day as the FBS championship. It loses the focus and ability to be THE event. The area will focus on the major draw while the FCS game will be an afterthought. By having it in a different city, and one that bid to have it that doesn't have other major championships constantly, you get a town that is invested into putting on a great show, because it's THE show.

Also, you might get some more media guys there because it's easier for them to do, but it's not like the game got a huge amount of extra publicity nationally compared to other games. Your average FBS fan going to the FBS title game considers FCS DII anyways, so you aren't going to get much carry over there, especially if the games are a week apart. How many people are really going to take an entire week off, if they weren't going to originally, or an extra two days or so if they were planning on spending the week, for what they consider to be DII? Sure you'll get a couple, but the overall game will be lost in the noise and become a, "oh, there's this going on too I guess".

If you want better national coverage of it, it will all stem from ESPN promoting it decently. They don't see it as a big money earner like the FBS game, so they don't even try. That's why having the city really embrace it is a bigger deal, since our coverage isn't going to change anytime soon. It is what it is.

Thanks Thump for the perspective and your comments make sense. I guess the key is for me to accept the FCS game for what it currently is and not for what I want that game to be. I used to view college football as a whole...that is no longer the case due to the Power 5 taking so much of the wealth (their revenue is so much more than everyone else and their facilities are far more elaborate) and nearly all of the attention (almost all TV exposure and increasingly will only play each other) so I am grasping for ways to get the other schools into the mix. P5 FOOTBALL CAN REALLY SUCK AT TIMES

[Sader87]

NO ONE CARES.....end of story

[Thumper 76]

Thanks Thump for the perspective and your comments make sense. I guess the key is for me to accept the FCS game for what it currently is and not for what I want that game to be. I used to view college football as a whole...that is no longer the case due to the Power 5 taking so much of the wealth (their revenue is so much more than everyone else and their facilities are far more elaborate) and nearly all of the attention (almost all TV exposure and increasingly will only play each other) so I am grasping for ways to get the other schools into the mix. P5 FOOTBALL CAN REALLY SUCK AT TIMES

There's two ways of thinking I've seen, the move your team to FBS crowd, and the not. I'm personally in the mindset of don't do it, unless you get a crazy offer from the Mountain West or similar. Especially looking at what CUSA just got for their TV contract. I don't know how those schools are all going to keep funding their programs with all the extra expenses of FBS and only making $200,000 on a TV contract. A FCS team makes that in one FBS payday game. Sure you can get bigger pay days as a G5 schools, but is that really going to cover the difference in amount invested? That's a really quick brush over of the money side.

Now look at exposure. You can reasonably argue that the best FCS teams get better exposure oftentimes than a MAC team will. Sure, they get to be on ESPN on a Tuesday night a couple times a year, plus maybe a bowl game. How many times has Gameday been at a G5 school in the last five years? FCS is starting to get one once a year as a novelty thing during a dead week (thanks NDSU). Plus FCS gets a day to itself opening the season with the FCS kickoff game. It won't always be a NDSU game. The fans of the top of the FCS gets to enjoy a quality of football often on par with the lower G5 conferences, in better attended games often times (I'm talking actual people with butts in seats vs empty seats), with better atmospheres and Saturday games. The reality is there isn't a FCS team left with the market and academics to work their way into a P5 conference anymore, barring a miracle, and those conferences are making it harder and harder for someone to become the next Boise St. With expanding their conferences they are building a wall that will eventually be impenetrable.

So the reality of it is, as a fan, do you want your teams greatest years to be rewarded with being relegated to a more expensive level of play, a meaningless bowl you have to pretend is significant to you, in the same level of irrelevance as a great FCS school except for the fact that you can say "we're FBS TOO"? I can tell you for a fact, growing up in Wisconsin, your average Badger fan wouldn't be able to tell you who was a FCS team out of Kent St, FAU, Georgia Southern, App St, or Illinois St without it being wrItten in an article or on the TV screen. Hell I've heard radio and TV hosts who were crying about FCS payday games talk about G5 schools thinking they were a FCS school.

Or do you want the chance to have a season that can have just as fun of an atmosphere, just as well attended, as good as or better chance of an ESPN focal point game, with the bonus of making an exciting playoff system and real championship opportunity? Every fan that is huge on the FBS bandwagon has convinced themselves that somehow a Tuesday matchup with Eastern Michigan would be more fun than a game against a Illinois St, thinks that somehow the badge of FBS makes you instantly relevant to your neighboring big time schools, a payday game to get blown out by Ohio State is somehow better and different as a Sun Belt or CUSA team (image wise, I know the payday is bigger), and they won't be known as the little guys anymore.

Personally I obviously like FCS better. It feels less commercialized and phony. You get a lot more unique atmospheres from really cool smaller stadiums on the east coast to the Montanas and NDSUs, a real high caliber of football with NFL prospects throughout the division, and your school not going bankrupt. Now should SDSU somehow end up FBS, I won't stop following them, but my interest might be dulled a little bit. I'm not saying it's a terrible position to be a guy who wants to move up to FBS to try to grab a chunk of the glory. I'm not saying teams can't be successful, GSU and App St seem to be doing OK. I just personally feel the difference between the top of FCS and G5 teams is pretty small compared to the amount of investment it takes to make that jump. The reward just isn't there like it used to be, and every year the BCS conferences gobble up more and more of the pie available to FBS teams IMHO. It's more fun to be fighting like hell to be the top than to fight like hell to be the best of the middle to get some scraps.

[Sader87]

You OK????

[GAD]

The problem is promotion of the game in general, and having the FBS game in the same city won't help that. ESPN is the ones who promote the game, and they put all of their energy into promotion of the FBS playoff, which isn't a NCAA championship. By putting the FCS championship in the same city every year it's basically the equivalent of putting it on ESPN 2 the same day as the FBS championship. It loses the focus and ability to be THE event. The area will focus on the major draw while the FCS game will be an afterthought. By having it in a different city, and one that bid to have it that doesn't have other major championships constantly, you get a town that is invested into putting on a great show, because it's THE show.

Also, you might get some more media guys there because it's easier for them to do, but it's not like the game got a huge amount of extra publicity nationally compared to other games. Your average FBS fan going to the FBS title game considers FCS DII anyways, so you aren't going to get much carry over there, especially if the games are a week apart. How many people are really going to take an entire week off, if they weren't going to originally, or an extra two days or so if they were planning on spending the week, for what they consider to be DII? Sure you'll get a couple, but the overall game will be lost in the noise and become a, "oh, there's this going on too I guess".

If you want better national coverage of it, it will all stem from ESPN promoting it decently. They don't see it as a big money earner like the FBS game, so they don't even try. That's why having the city really embrace it is a bigger deal, since our coverage isn't going to change anytime soon. It is what it is.
ESPN doesn't promote the game they just broadcast it, the NCAA is responsible for the games promotion

[dgtw]

I don't think putting it in the same area as the FBS game would be a good idea. Would every area that hosts the FBS game have a place that would be good for an FCS title game?


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[ursus arctos horribilis]

This is not a bad idea at all. However, the FCS would benefit from high profile games that Montana and App State used to have "back in the day". Using the opening weekend to showcase 2-4 games is a great idea, but you have to make sure the games live up to the excitement. I mean no disrespect by this statement, but there aren't many people that want to see Richmond host an opening weekend game.

Example: NDSU hosts Montana at 8PM with college gameday showing up to kick off the year. I would love to see a lineup like this...
Youngstown St. at JMU at noon
Liberty at Jax St at 3PM
Sam Houston St. at Eastern Washington at 6PM
Montana at NDSU (or @Montana) at 8/9PM

I feel like this will never be realistic with ESPN being the way they are, but it would be sweet.

Sorry LUnpretty11 but I just saw this post needed to be approved (new members have that for a spell) so I'm bumping your post up and also saying welcome to you as well.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Thanks to all for the post #1 hall pass before you i get shredded. I am sure I will get my arse scorched a few times too soon as I see I am bird surrounded by Bison/Panthers that are amongst other animals.

I do attend the fbs championship game on average about once every three years and would also attend the FCS championship game on the prior Saturday, regardless of who was playing, if every year it was in the same city (does not have to be the same stadium). I attended both in 2015 and thought that was a awesome (except for that F'ing 50 yard bison completion late in the game...that damn ball was up in the air forever). If the NCAA got behind the concept I believe there is an opportunity to further promote the FCS game and give the game more national attention. My comment about more press related to the fact that I attended the game with some national press that was in Dallas mainly for the FBS game and they stated that they would not have attended the FCS game had it not be held near the FBS game. My comments do not include knowing how the bidding process works but yes MONEY TALKS.

Hey good post but I do assume that there would be a bit more press if held in proximity to an FBS game but I'm not sure that a few more newspapers and so forth make a big difference in the converage ans unless ESPN wanted to move the game to another channel in their network I don't think it matters a whole lot...but more is better, I'll give you that.

The NCAA getting behind it matters a bit but really there isn't a lot they can do unless TV wants to make something happen.

You will be corrected if you make a mistake or have an opinion that doesn't jive. That happens to all of us. xlolx

You will have fun though I bet.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

There's two ways of thinking I've seen, the move your team to FBS crowd, and the not. I'm personally in the mindset of don't do it, unless you get a crazy offer from the Mountain West or similar. Especially looking at what CUSA just got for their TV contract. I don't know how those schools are all going to keep funding their programs with all the extra expenses of FBS and only making $200,000 on a TV contract. A FCS team makes that in one FBS payday game. Sure you can get bigger pay days as a G5 schools, but is that really going to cover the difference in amount invested? That's a really quick brush over of the money side.

Now look at exposure. You can reasonably argue that the best FCS teams get better exposure oftentimes than a MAC team will. Sure, they get to be on ESPN on a Tuesday night a couple times a year, plus maybe a bowl game. How many times has Gameday been at a G5 school in the last five years? FCS is starting to get one once a year as a novelty thing during a dead week (thanks NDSU). Plus FCS gets a day to itself opening the season with the FCS kickoff game. It won't always be a NDSU game. The fans of the top of the FCS gets to enjoy a quality of football often on par with the lower G5 conferences, in better attended games often times (I'm talking actual people with butts in seats vs empty seats), with better atmospheres and Saturday games. The reality is there isn't a FCS team left with the market and academics to work their way into a P5 conference anymore, barring a miracle, and those conferences are making it harder and harder for someone to become the next Boise St. With expanding their conferences they are building a wall that will eventually be impenetrable.

So the reality of it is, as a fan, do you want your teams greatest years to be rewarded with being relegated to a more expensive level of play, a meaningless bowl you have to pretend is significant to you, in the same level of irrelevance as a great FCS school except for the fact that you can say "we're FBS TOO"? I can tell you for a fact, growing up in Wisconsin, your average Badger fan wouldn't be able to tell you who was a FCS team out of Kent St, FAU, Georgia Southern, App St, or Illinois St without it being wrItten in an article or on the TV screen. Hell I've heard radio and TV hosts who were crying about FCS payday games talk about G5 schools thinking they were a FCS school.

Or do you want the chance to have a season that can have just as fun of an atmosphere, just as well attended, as good as or better chance of an ESPN focal point game, with the bonus of making an exciting playoff system and real championship opportunity? Every fan that is huge on the FBS bandwagon has convinced themselves that somehow a Tuesday matchup with Eastern Michigan would be more fun than a game against a Illinois St, thinks that somehow the badge of FBS makes you instantly relevant to your neighboring big time schools, a payday game to get blown out by Ohio State is somehow better and different as a Sun Belt or CUSA team (image wise, I know the payday is bigger), and they won't be known as the little guys anymore.

Personally I obviously like FCS better. It feels less commercialized and phony. You get a lot more unique atmospheres from really cool smaller stadiums on the east coast to the Montanas and NDSUs, a real high caliber of football with NFL prospects throughout the division, and your school not going bankrupt. Now should SDSU somehow end up FBS, I won't stop following them, but my interest might be dulled a little bit. I'm not saying it's a terrible position to be a guy who wants to move up to FBS to try to grab a chunk of the glory. I'm not saying teams can't be successful, GSU and App St seem to be doing OK. I just personally feel the difference between the top of FCS and G5 teams is pretty small compared to the amount of investment it takes to make that jump. The reward just isn't there like it used to be, and every year the BCS conferences gobble up more and more of the pie available to FBS teams IMHO. It's more fun to be fighting like hell to be the top than to fight like hell to be the best of the middle to get some scraps.

Agree, nice work.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Hey good post but I do assume that there would be a bit more press if held in proximity to an FBS game but I'm not sure that a few more newspapers and so forth make a big difference in the converage ans unless ESPN wanted to move the game to another channel in their network I don't think it matters a whole lot...but more is better, I'll give you that.

The NCAA getting behind it matters a bit but really there isn't a lot they can do unless TV wants to make something happen.

You will be corrected if you make a mistake or have an opinion that doesn't jive. That happens to all of us. xlolx

You will have fun though I bet.

This lines up with Thumper's post in reply so I could have saved some time by just saying I agree with that one as well.

[tigonian02]

ESPN doesn't promote the game they just broadcast it, the NCAA is responsible for the games promotion

Right now ESPN is promoting the heck out of high school football... Grayson vs IMG academy has 17 player in the ESPN top 300 playing right now on ESPN2.

[Thumper 76]

ESPN doesn't promote the game they just broadcast it, the NCAA is responsible for the games promotion

That doesn't make any sense. They buy the rights to broadcast it, and now the NCAA has to pay that money back to buy advertising? Do you think the NFL pays them to promote MNF? ESPN promotes what it broadcasts and decides how much they promote what. How hard is it to throw up a banner on their app or throw out a couple tweets about the upcoming FCS national championship game? The FCS playoffs don't make enough money (I think it loses money) for the NCAA to pay for promos, it's up to the company that bought the rights to promote it.

[kalm]

Thumper is killing it in here.

[GAD]

That doesn't make any sense. They buy the rights to broadcast it, and now the NCAA has to pay that money back to buy advertising? Do you think the NFL pays them to promote MNF? ESPN promotes what it broadcasts and decides how much they promote what. How hard is it to throw up a banner on their app or throw out a couple tweets about the upcoming FCS national championship game? The FCS playoffs don't make enough money (I think it loses money) for the NCAA to pay for promos, it's up to the company that bought the rights to promote it.
I could be wrong, but ESPN bought the rights to the NCAA fall championships not just the FCS. If they promoted the FCS how long before D-II & D-III start to scream then every other sport would complain about not being promoted equally... they probably see this as the only way of being fair

[Thumper 76]

I could be wrong, but ESPN bought the rights to the NCAA fall championships not just the FCS. If they promoted the FCS how long before D-II & D-III start to scream then every other sport would complain about not being promoted equally... they probably see this as the only way of being fair

If fair mattered then they wouldn't promote high school games more than college championship games. But like my pa says, fair is where you get corn dogs and cotton candy. It's about the $. Period.

[GAD]

If fair mattered then they wouldn't promote high school games more than college championship games. But like my pa says, fair is where you get corn dogs and cotton candy. It's about the $. Period.
Yep! its about $$$ can't argue there, but those high school games feature kids that are in the ESPN top 150 and are future FBS and NFL stars those college championships and often teams most people have never even heard of