BobcatAttack.com - For Fans of Ohio University Sports

Welcome Guest!
Create an Account

site search

about us

advertise with us

help

BobcatAttack.com Message Board

Ohio Football

Topic: Why can't we schedule better?

Topic: Why can't we schedule better?

Author

Message

TWT
General User

Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Alexandria, VA
Post Count: 5,169

Status: Offline

Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/23/2013 11:07:09 PM

Central Michigan has Syracuse and Oklahoma State visiting at home the next two years. That is as many BCS schools at home as what Ohio had (Pitt, UConn) in the entire tenure of Frank Solich.

http://www.hustlebelt.com/2013/10/23/4987520/cmu-adds-home-games-vs-syracuse-oklahoma-state-in-2014-2015

Most Memorable Bobcat Events Attended
2010 97-83 win over Georgetown in NCAA 1st round
2012 45-13 victory over ULM in the Independence Bowl
2015 34-3 drubbing of Miami @ Peden front of 25,086

RSBobcat
General User

Member Since: 8/22/2010
Location: Columbus, OH
Post Count: 4,437

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 12:25:00 AM

Uncle Wes wrote:

Central Michigan has Syracuse and Oklahoma State visiting at home the next two years. That is as many BCS schools at home as what Ohio had (Pitt, UConn) in the entire tenure of Frank Solich.

http://www.hustlebelt.com/2013/10/23/4987520/cmu-adds-home-games-vs-syracuse-oklahoma-state-in-2014-2015

Uh - because less OHIO grads will end up being secretaries? Or that we will have more vs BCS school wins in Athens than they get in Mt Pleasant?

RS Bobcat

Sony7
General User

Member Since: 6/25/2005
Location: Greenfield, WI
Post Count: 299

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 3:47:45 AM

I don't care if we ever schedule BCS schools. They are going PRO - let's face it. We should schedule and re-brand ourselves as, "Traditional College Football". It will be a great product, and we will survive. We do need to make a deal however: when the "PRO" teams want to come back to "Traditional College Football" they will have to wait 10 years. My viewpoint - that's all.

Go Bobcats!

SONY7

Pataskala
General User

Member Since: 7/8/2010
Location: At least six feet away from anybody else
Post Count: 9,363

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 7:09:05 AM

Sony7 wrote:

Or pay each school $10-20 million as an entry fee.

It's good to have Omegas come to town occasionally, so long as we don't have to mortgage the Convo to get them there. The team seems to get extra fired-up; when Seneca Wallace & Iowa St came to town during the Knorr years we put up a really good fight; and the Pitt game was really special and helped get Ohio lots of attention. It also helps bring Mothership ESPN instead of ESPN3 (or worse) without having to play midweek. But I'd like to see us upgrade our Delta schedule. We seem to get the North Texases and New Mexico States of the world while other MAC schools get Tulsa, UCF and even Boise home-and-home. A BYU or a Navy would do just as much for us as most Omegas as far as attendance and TV exposure without having to shell out a bunch of cash.

We will get by.
We will get by.
We will get by.
We will survive.

colobobcat66
General User

Member Since: 9/1/2006
Location: Watching the bobcats run outside my window., CO
Post Count: 4,547

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 7:51:02 AM

As the record shows, Kansas and Cincinnati are coming to town in the not too distant. Probably after Frank leaves. The schedule in place is intended to get at least 6 home games and some hopefully easier wins. Not a glamour show for sure.

UpSan Bobcat
General User

Member Since: 8/30/2005
Location: Upper Sandusky, OH
Post Count: 3,812

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 7:55:42 AM

Ohio has upcoming home games against Kansas (2017) and Cincinnati (2020).

It's hard to make those kinds of games happen every year unless you take a hit financially.

Casper71
General User

Member Since: 12/1/2006
Post Count: 3,090

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 9:40:18 AM

I love the current staff and what they have done at OHIO. But, let's be real here...the schedule is designed to get us 8-9 wins a year as long as we have the strength we currently do vs the MAC East. I'm not convinced these guys would ever "over-schedule" by playing two Big10ers or the like in one season.

BillyTheCat
General User

Member Since: 10/6/2012
Post Count: 10,392

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 9:48:25 AM

Because we'd rather pay $325K for a home game v. a poor FCS team and chalk up a win over testing ourselves.

MonroeClassmate
General User

Member Since: 8/31/2010
Post Count: 2,165

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 10:16:47 AM

How is that Missouri at Miami working out for the RedHawks, oh, last minute replaced by SouthCentralChampaignUrbanaSpringfield-Lincoln School of Agriculture!

Off topic--Sign a contract to play Navy in Annapolis or neurtal site every year for the next 20. Play it on the weekend closest to the US Navy on Erie kicking British duppa to celebrate 100 year old meaningful history OHIO/NAVY. While the Tennessees, O$U's, Louisvilles, State Colleges and VTechs are fun places to go--playing at Navy is so special. Ever go to a game there? Patriot's Pride--its hard to look around you and NOT see everyone singing the National Anthem. Your players would know they get a weekend trip to the DC/Balitmore/Bay area every year. The 110 gets to go each year, the Midshipmen would love them and maybe throw in a Redskin, Eagles, Steelers on Sunday to top their weekend. Great publicity, great fun, awesome atmosphere, quality opponent.

BillyTheCat
General User

Member Since: 10/6/2012
Post Count: 10,392

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 10:19:52 AM

MonroeClassmate wrote:

Watching a game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial is a truly special experience, same for catching a game at West Point.

mf279801
General User

Member Since: 8/6/2010
Location: Newark, DE
Post Count: 2,472

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 12:07:26 PM

Pataskala wrote:

It's good to have Omegas come to town occasionally, so long as we don't have to mortgage the Convo to get them there. The team seems to get extra fired-up; when Seneca Wallace & Iowa St came to town during the Knorr years we put up a really good fight; and the Pitt game was really special and helped get Ohio lots of attention. It also helps bring Mothership ESPN instead of ESPN3 (or worse) without having to play midweek. But I'd like to see us upgrade our Delta schedule. We seem to get the North Texases and New Mexico States of the world while other MAC schools get Tulsa, UCF and even Boise home-and-home. A BYU or a Navy would do just as much for us as most Omegas as far as attendance and TV exposure without having to shell out a bunch of cash.

What is with the sudden influx of this "alpha/delta/omega" nomenclature? Are the AQ leagues supposed to be referred to as alpha? Because that at least sorta makes sense...though I'm not sure why we'd be "deltas" in that numbering system, since we're not in the 4th tier of college football, so maybe betas?. Is it a reference to the Delta House boys from Faber College?

And the omega thing makes no sense to me.

OhioCatFan
General User

Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 14,743

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 12:08:22 PM

I'd go for a home-away schedule with Navy for the next 20 years. Now that they are moving to the AAC, it might be more difficult to schedule but other MAC schools have done one-and-ones with the United States Naval Academy. I'm sure we could too, if we had a mind to. I did hear that years ago there was some bad blood between ADs of the two schools, but I don't believe that would affect things today in the least TOS got Navy here for a basketball game in his tenure. Loved that game. As I recall that was a doubleheader with the Lady Midshipman playing our women's team the same evening.

The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

"It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right."

Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org

L.C.
General User

Member Since: 8/31/2005
Location: United States
Post Count: 10,494

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 12:14:55 PM

BillyTheCat wrote:

Because we'd rather pay $325K for a home game v. a poor FCS team and chalk up a win over testing ourselves...

This actually makes sense, though. Let's do some math. We'll guess that travel expenses for a road game are $200,000, and expenses for a home game are $100,000. Let's also use $200,000 as an estimate of the home gate. Let's say you have a slot in your schedule for a game in 2015 and a game in 2016. You could schedule a home and home with, say, Marshall, or you could schedule a money game with Louisville, and a home game against Austin Peay.

Home-Home
Expenses -Road game - $200,000
Expenses -Home game - $100,000
Revenue - Road game - $0
Revenue - Home game - $200,000
Net - Loss of $100,000

Money Game+Austin Peay
Expenses - Road game - $200,000
Expenses - Home game - $100,000
Paid to Austin Peay - $325,000
Paid by Louisville - $850,000
Revenue Home game - $200,000
Net - Profit of $550,000

You could, of course, also do a third option - playing money games both times, and a 5 game home schedule.
Money Game+Money Game
Expenses - Road games - $200,000*2
Paid for money games - $850,000*2
Net - Profit of $1,300,000

How you mix these depends how badly you need the money. You also need to factor in that a home game supposedly adds about $500,000 or revenue to the Athens community, which closes some of the gap between $1,300,000 and the $550,000. Note also that as the home gate increases, the need for money games decreases. Let's say that they were able to sell 18,000 tickets to home games at $35 each. That makes the home gate $630,000. Now the numbers become:
Home-Home - $330,000 profit (+$500,000 to local business community)
Money-bought game - $980,000 profit (+500,000 to local business community)
Money+Money - $1,300,000

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

OhioStunter
General User

Member Since: 2/18/2005
Location: Chicago
Post Count: 2,516

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 12:41:00 PM

Well done LC.

What is the actual paid attendance at Peden? Is it really around 18,000? If so, that's great.

Also, I think the $500,000 "back into the community" number is very conservative. I'm not trying to nitpick your math, but if you think about 18,000 attendees spending an extra $27 each because of the game, that's $500K. It seems like they might spend more. Food, lodging, parking, souvenirs, gas for a FB game weekend all add up. This number might be well over a million.*

So I think the power of a home game's affect on the local economy is more than $500,000. Which is exactly why I feel a home game during Halloween weekend really costs Athens a lot of much-needed money.

*with 18,000 paid, let's break it into a travel party of 3, so we are working with a group of 6,000. If these 6,000 parties spend an average of $200 on food, hotel, bars, shopping, parking tickets, towing fees over the weekend in Athens -- when they wouldn't otherwise be there -- that's $1.2M. Yes, some are locals that may come in for the game and grab dinner before heading home that day, but others come in and stay in Athens. $200 seems like a fair, average number to spend for each group of 3.

L.C.
General User

Member Since: 8/31/2005
Location: United States
Post Count: 10,494

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 1:15:32 PM

OhioStunter wrote:

...hat is the actual paid attendance at Peden? Is it really around 18,000? If so, that's great.

Also, I think the $500,000 "back into the community" number is very conservative. I'm not trying to nitpick your math....

No, no. Feel free to nitpick it. That's the whole point. I'm not saying my numbers are accurate - they aren't. What I was trying to do was to provide a framework for analyzing the costs associated with various scheduling choices. Anyone who has a better guess is free to use their own numbers. The point is, there are reasons that the schedule is what it is that go beyond just "trying to get more easy wins".

When I first starting following Ohio football, the finances were in pretty dire straits, according to what was posted here. That was caused by the 2:1 deals that had previously been scheduled, combined with low alumni giving. I didn't even list the 2:1 deals, but financially they are significantly worse than any of the options above. In the succeeding years, the facilities have been upgraded a lot, and the finances have also been cleaned up, I think. Also, attendance and giving are both up, as well, and the teams have significantly improved.

I agree that Ohio is now at a point where they can schedule more 1:1 games with better foes, and I think the AD agrees, too. That's why we saw the 1:1 deals with Kansas and Cincinnati instead of NTSU and NMSU. I still expect to see a bought game, and a money game on the schedule, and if you look at the numbers, you see why.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

OhioStunter
General User

Member Since: 2/18/2005
Location: Chicago
Post Count: 2,516

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 1:28:42 PM

Again, good work. It got me to think about how much Ohio Football home games bring to the Athens community and it really is more significant than I thought!

Deciduous Forest Cat
General User

Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Ohio
Post Count: 4,466

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 1:46:18 PM

Sony7 wrote:

Or we could just call it "College" Football, and with a straight face.

Pataskala
General User

Member Since: 7/8/2010
Location: At least six feet away from anybody else
Post Count: 9,363

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 3:09:12 PM

mf279801 wrote:

Pataskala wrote:

Exactly. The Omegas were the preppy a**holes. I think the are highly appropriate given the attitudes that populate the two sets of conferences. The Omegas think they're better than everybody else and the Deltas are out there mostly for the joy of the game. I hate the terms "power" and "mid-major" conferences, and come next year there will be five of each, so "group of five" has no meaning.

We will get by.
We will get by.
We will get by.
We will survive.

OhioStunter
General User

Member Since: 2/18/2005
Location: Chicago
Post Count: 2,516

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 3:26:46 PM

Is the "Leaders" and "Legends" type of nomenclature already taken?

oldkatz
General User

Member Since: 12/22/2004
Post Count: 1,439

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 7:13:15 PM

Let's not forget the unknown but significant factor that is ticketing people drinking beer out of cups while tailgating during Homecoming. That may impact giving/attendance/attitude/etc.

"All my inside sources tell me I have no inside sources." Salvatore "money bucks" Mafiosiano.

TWT
General User

Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Alexandria, VA
Post Count: 5,169

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 11:36:02 PM

Pataskala wrote:

mf279801 wrote:

Pataskala wrote:

I'll go with your Omega's and Deltas. The Omega's will be the teams that we go on the road for a money game and the Delta's the teams that will do home and home with Ohio. There is something to be said for making big cash on the road but I think it makes sense to avoid the Alabama and Ohio State type programs that are tough to stay on the field with. The Omega's then could be Arkansas, Notre Dame, Nebraska, South Carolina programs that we either haven't played or not done so in recent years that Ohio has a shot at an upset against. The Delta's I would continue with Cincinnati and Kansas but add BYU and Wake Forest to the list. Its a more challenging mix then what Ohio's played in recent years. Ohio doesn't make a bowl game in 2010 playing a stronger schedule and finishing 7-5, a concern when the MAC had only 3 bowls. Temple wouldn't have been left out of a bowl game that year with more wins than Ohio. At this point I would trade an extra loss every couple of years for a schedule that was more attractive to fans and recruits. With the extra bowl games now padding the win total isn't as important.

Most Memorable Bobcat Events Attended
2010 97-83 win over Georgetown in NCAA 1st round
2012 45-13 victory over ULM in the Independence Bowl
2015 34-3 drubbing of Miami @ Peden front of 25,086

TWT
General User

Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Alexandria, VA
Post Count: 5,169

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/24/2013 11:41:32 PM

OhioStunter wrote:

Well done LC.

The figure of 1 million local economic impact of an Ohio football game was 8-10 years ago. That might be 1.5 million in today's dollars. Home games make sense but how about getting those pay days into the 2 million range like other programs are earning. The home schedule has to be improved to charge too much more for the home football games in Peden Stadium.

Last Edited: 10/24/2013 11:41:51 PM by TWT

Most Memorable Bobcat Events Attended
2010 97-83 win over Georgetown in NCAA 1st round
2012 45-13 victory over ULM in the Independence Bowl
2015 34-3 drubbing of Miami @ Peden front of 25,086

L.C.
General User

Member Since: 8/31/2005
Location: United States
Post Count: 10,494

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/25/2013 12:45:30 AM

Uncle Wes wrote:

...Home games make sense but how about getting those pay days into the 2 million range like other programs are earning. The home schedule has to be improved to charge too much more for the home football games in Peden Stadium.

Last time they had a BCS game, they put the cart before the horse. Yes, they filled the stadium for UConn, but they gave the tickets away to do it. Thus they actually charged less against UConn, not more. Now the attendance is stronger, and they often fill Peden even against lesser opponents. Thus, only now can they think about charging more for some home games, as they did against Marshall.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

Monroe Slavin
General User

Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Oxnard, CA
Post Count: 9,121

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/25/2013 10:15:54 AM

We need more threads on this topic.

Where's the band?!
WHERE"S THE BAND?!

DesignspiritUSA.com
The Pets On The Go Collection of pet gear travel bags
The Holiday Tote Bigg Bagg Collection--over-sized, reversible, extra pockets; now love carrying packages as much as you love shopping!

BillyTheCat
General User

Member Since: 10/6/2012
Post Count: 10,392

Status: Offline

RE: Why can't we schedule better?

Posted: 10/25/2013 10:43:25 AM

L.C. wrote:

BillyTheCat wrote:

Because we'd rather pay $325K for a home game v. a poor FCS team and chalk up a win over testing ourselves...

However, our take on our money game this year essentially was a wash after we paid out $325K to Austin Peay.
And where do you see 850K paid by us from Louisville, because I believe that is not very accurate.

Showing Replies:	1 - 25 of 34 Posts
Jump to Page:	1 \| 2 Next >

View Other 'Ohio Football' Topics

There are 330 Active Visitors on BobcatAttack.com

330 Guests
0 Registered Users

There are no other users looking at this page.