Future schedule news

[Vespidae]

Good games get watched.

Hear, hear. If you’re going to play on Friday night, play Tennessee. Play Auburn. Play somebody. UCF? Why don’t we just play Carson-Newman?

 

[slugboy]

Hear, hear. If you’re going to play on Friday night, play Tennessee. Play Auburn. Play somebody. UCF? Why don’t we just play Carson-Newman?

UCF has generally been top 25 for the past few years. They seem like somebody


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[Vespidae]

UCF has generally been top 25 for the past few years. They seem like somebody


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You’re right. They beat Auburn. Who beat Bama. And declared themselves National Champions.

 

[GTpdm]

UCF has generally been top 25 for the past few years. They seem like somebody


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But will a Friday night game against UCF draw more viewership than a noon Saturday game against them? I know few people who go out of their way to watch Friday college football. I know plenty who get up early on West Coast time, just to watch East Coast games.

And to be clear—I’m not objecting to a Friday home game; I’m just questioning the automatic presumption that it’s better exposure for our program than a Saturday game would be.

 

[JacketOff]

I’m just having fun with this, but cui bono? Who benefits? It’s television programming. ESPN nor the ACCN could care less what the attendance is. It’s just content.

There’s no magic bullet on national fame or extending the brand. It’s just programming content. It’s the same as if ESPN ran the Sandlot again. Just sell commercials.

I’m not invested either way. Ok, fine. We’re on TV. Is it the Second Coming? No. It’s Gilligan’s Island.

You talk as if a Friday night college game is the equivalent of Monday Night Football. It isn’t. It is way below the exposure of a Saturday night game, and I would venture to say, even below the exposure of a noon Saturday game.

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-football-tv-ratings/
This page includes ratings for all national networks for all college football games. Thursday night and Friday night games are consistently in the top half of games watched across a football week, and the vast majority of those aren’t marquee games, kinda like GT-UCF will be. The only noon games that surpass Friday night viewership are marquee rivalry games that appear on FOX, ABC, or the main ESPN channel. There are hardly any noon games on ESPN 2 or ESPNU that surpass weeknight ratings. SECN and ACCN games aren’t included in this metric, and I would imagine even prime time ACCN games are pretty low on the ratings list. Tech vs. UCF is not going to be able to compete for national TV slots when games that week include:

• Georgia @ Alabama
• Auburn @ Ole Miss
• USC @ Stanford
• Mizzou @ South Carolina
• Arkansas @ Miss State
• App State @ Wisconsin
• LSU vs Rice (in Houston)
• Maryland @ West Virginia
• Houston @ Memphis

Will all of those matchups be intriguing? No, probably not. Will the be just as intriguing as GT vs. UCF? Yeah, probably. Tech would be lucky to sneak a 3:30 ESPN 2 slot out of that group. Pitt played UCF at home after UCF had beaten Stanford and was undefeated on ABC at 3:30. However they didn’t even have that time slot to themselves, it was divided regionally between Pitt-UCF & Washington-BYU. The combined ratings for the 3:30 ABC slot was 2.55M. The Friday night game between USC and Utah on FS1 drew 1.42M. So the 3:30 Saturday slot on ABC between Pitt and UCF drew marginally more viewers than the Friday night game, if more viewers at all.

 

[RyanS12]

But will a Friday night game against UCF draw more viewership than a noon Saturday game against them? I know few people who go out of their way to watch Friday college football. I know plenty who get up early on West Coast time, just to watch East Coast games.

And to be clear—I’m not objecting to a Friday home game; I’m just questioning the automatic presumption that it’s better exposure for our program than a Saturday game would be.

There’s a chance that we’d be playing on Acc network on Saturday where as Friday night we’re on ESPN.

 

[GTpdm]

There’s a chance that we’d be playing on Acc network on Saturday where as Friday night we’re on ESPN.

That’s a good point, and I’d agree that Friday on ESPN is likely to give us netter exposure than noon Saturday on ACCN.

But damn, I like my Saturday tailgates...and I’m a selfish bastard.

 

[Vespidae]

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-football-tv-ratings/
This page includes ratings for all national networks for all college football games. Thursday night and Friday night games are consistently in the top half of games watched across a football week, and the vast majority of those aren’t marquee games, kinda like GT-UCF will be. The only noon games that surpass Friday night viewership are marquee rivalry games that appear on FOX, ABC, or the main ESPN channel. There are hardly any noon games on ESPN 2 or ESPNU that surpass weeknight ratings. SECN and ACCN games aren’t included in this metric, and I would imagine even prime time ACCN games are pretty low on the ratings list. Tech vs. UCF is not going to be able to compete for national TV slots when games that week include:

• Georgia @ Alabama
• Auburn @ Ole Miss
• USC @ Stanford
• Mizzou @ South Carolina
• Arkansas @ Miss State
• App State @ Wisconsin
• LSU vs Rice (in Houston)
• Maryland @ West Virginia
• Houston @ Memphis

Will all of those matchups be intriguing? No, probably not. Will the be just as intriguing as GT vs. UCF? Yeah, probably. Tech would be lucky to sneak a 3:30 ESPN 2 slot out of that group. Pitt played UCF at home after UCF had beaten Stanford and was undefeated on ABC at 3:30. However they didn’t even have that time slot to themselves, it was divided regionally between Pitt-UCF & Washington-BYU. The combined ratings for the 3:30 ABC slot was 2.55M. The Friday night game between USC and Utah on FS1 drew 1.42M. So the 3:30 Saturday slot on ABC between Pitt and UCF drew marginally more viewers than the Friday night game, if more viewers at all.

I’ve seen the site and concede your point. But if everyone is gaga over tv exposure, we should stop complaining about attendance. ESPN doesn’t care if there are zero people attending games ... play anyone and let us sell the content.

I love college football. But it has become a television commodity.

I’m sure I”ll watch on tv. But I do miss the days of the 1 pm and 4 pm days.

 

[JacketOff]

I’ve seen the site and concede your point. But if everyone is gaga over tv exposure, we should stop complaining about attendance. ESPN doesn’t care if there are zero people attending games ... play anyone and let us sell the content.

I love college football. But it has become a television commodity.

I’m sure I”ll watch on tv. But I do miss the days of the 1 pm and 4 pm days.

Well, yeah. That’s how all sporting events have been programmed for the past 2 decades. When’s the last time a World Series game was played in the afternoon? The NFL plays games on Saturdays when college football is over to get more TV viewership. They continue to play Thursday games after numerous players have made statements against it, and seem to have no regard for player safety, they only care about TV dollars. NBA starts their Finals games at 8:30ET or later to get as many viewers as possible. Look how much the SECN contract is worth. The SEC is leaving one of the most popular time slots in the country on CBS at 3:30 because they’ll get more money from ABC. This game was never going to sellout at BDS anyway. It’s not like BDS is full for a Saturday 1pm game anyway. Nor a Saturday 4pm game, nor a Saturday night game (although it would be close see Miami 2018). A Friday night game will draw about the same attendance as a Saturday afternoon game.

 

[Vespidae]

Well, yeah. That’s how all sporting events have been programmed for the past 2 decades. When’s the last time a World Series game was played in the afternoon? The NFL plays games on Saturdays when college football is over to get more TV viewership. They continue to play Thursday games after numerous players have made statements against it, and seem to have no regard for player safety, they only care about TV dollars. NBA starts their Finals games at 8:30ET or later to get as many viewers as possible. Look how much the SECN contract is worth. The SEC is leaving one of the most popular time slots in the country on CBS at 3:30 because they’ll get more money from ABC. This game was never going to sellout at BDS anyway. It’s not like BDS is full for a Saturday 1pm game anyway. Nor a Saturday 4pm game, nor a Saturday night game (although it would be close see Miami 2018). A Friday night game will draw about the same attendance as a Saturday afternoon game.

Does it matter? I’m increasingly cynical re college athletics and the direction it’s taking. I’m more inclined to watch it on tv because that’s what’s driving it. And it’s incredibly sad.

 

[JacketOff]

Does it matter? I’m increasingly cynical re college athletics and the direction it’s taking. I’m more inclined to watch it on tv because that’s what’s driving it. And it’s incredibly sad.

I’m not sure what you’re trying to get at here? Does what matter? The emphasis TV has taken in regards to sports hasn’t really changed my viewing experience of college sports, either at the game or watching it on TV. I grew up in an age where most of the games were televised, but not all, and definitely not any G5 (non existent at the time) or FCS games unless you were lucky and they were on Raycom or something. The SEC network didn’t become a thing until I was a teenager. Even growing up in an age where broadcasts are seen as just as important as the in game atmosphere, I still much prefer to watch games from the stadium. I’ve never understood people who don’t like watching games live. Obviously there are hindrances for people getting to games, but especially when I was a student at Tech and tickets were free and you could walk home, I never understood why people wouldn’t want to go. A lot of my friends would tailgate, and then when the game was about to start they’d head home and watch other games on TV. I didn’t get it. Regardless of whether or not I get it, it’s not going to change. TV and streaming broadcasts of games will increasingly become more popular. That’s why it’s important Tech gets in front of as many eyes as possible. It’s why playing a prime time game matters. Will Tech ever get to a point where 4-5 out of 7 home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium are sellouts again? It’s doubtful. But as it’s been discussed before, declining attendance isn’t unique to GT. It’s widespread across all sports at all levels. Sports popularity is on the decline, while electronic entertainment is increasing rapidly.

 

[Oakland]

Anyone know of any UCF boards. I wonder if they will travel or stay home.

 

[Vespidae]

I’m not sure what you’re trying to get at here? Does what matter? The emphasis TV has taken in regards to sports hasn’t really changed my viewing experience of college sports, either at the game or watching it on TV. I grew up in an age where most of the games were televised, but not all, and definitely not any G5 (non existent at the time) or FCS games unless you were lucky and they were on Raycom or something. The SEC network didn’t become a thing until I was a teenager. Even growing up in an age where broadcasts are seen as just as important as the in game atmosphere, I still much prefer to watch games from the stadium. I’ve never understood people who don’t like watching games live. Obviously there are hindrances for people getting to games, but especially when I was a student at Tech and tickets were free and you could walk home, I never understood why people wouldn’t want to go. A lot of my friends would tailgate, and then when the game was about to start they’d head home and watch other games on TV. I didn’t get it. Regardless of whether or not I get it, it’s not going to change. TV and streaming broadcasts of games will increasingly become more popular. That’s why it’s important Tech gets in front of as many eyes as possible. It’s why playing a prime time game matters. Will Tech ever get to a point where 4-5 out of 7 home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium are sellouts again? It’s doubtful. But as it’s been discussed before, declining attendance isn’t unique to GT. It’s widespread across all sports at all levels. Sports popularity is on the decline, while electronic entertainment is increasing rapidly.

I prefer a live game. Against a quality opponent. I abhor playing Gardner Webb. Or Alcorn State. But it is what it is.

When I was at Tech, we played Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Notre Dame, and UGA. We played the toughest SEC schedule and weren’t even in the SEC. And it was glorious. And so much fun.

 

[ncjacket79]

I’ve seen the site and concede your point. But if everyone is gaga over tv exposure, we should stop complaining about attendance. ESPN doesn’t care if there are zero people attending games ... play anyone and let us sell the content.

I love college football. But it has become a television commodity.

I’m sure I”ll watch on tv. But I do miss the days of the 1 pm and 4 pm days.

So you miss the 70s? I get it and miss the old days as well but they ain’t coming back.

 

[Vespidae]

So you miss the 70s? I get it and miss the old days as well but they ain’t coming back.

Do I miss it? Yes! But I’m not naive. Still, streaming and and “exposure” is going to ruin it. It has become the equivalent of a rerun.

 

[TechCubed]

I’m not sure what you’re trying to get at here? Does what matter? The emphasis TV has taken in regards to sports hasn’t really changed my viewing experience of college sports, either at the game or watching it on TV. I grew up in an age where most of the games were televised, but not all, and definitely not any G5 (non existent at the time) or FCS games unless you were lucky and they were on Raycom or something. The SEC network didn’t become a thing until I was a teenager. Even growing up in an age where broadcasts are seen as just as important as the in game atmosphere, I still much prefer to watch games from the stadium. I’ve never understood people who don’t like watching games live. Obviously there are hindrances for people getting to games, but especially when I was a student at Tech and tickets were free and you could walk home, I never understood why people wouldn’t want to go. A lot of my friends would tailgate, and then when the game was about to start they’d head home and watch other games on TV. I didn’t get it. Regardless of whether or not I get it, it’s not going to change. TV and streaming broadcasts of games will increasingly become more popular. That’s why it’s important Tech gets in front of as many eyes as possible. It’s why playing a prime time game matters. Will Tech ever get to a point where 4-5 out of 7 home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium are sellouts again? It’s doubtful. But as it’s been discussed before, declining attendance isn’t unique to GT. It’s widespread across all sports at all levels. Sports popularity is on the decline, while electronic entertainment is increasing rapidly.

Your facts and reasonable assumptions have no place on a message board!

 

[RonJohn]

I prefer a live game. Against a quality opponent. I abhor playing Gardner Webb. Or Alcorn State. But it is what it is.

When I was at Tech, we played Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Notre Dame, and UGA. We played the toughest SEC schedule and weren’t even in the SEC. And it was glorious. And so much fun.

In the 70s, GT also played: Army, Navy, Air Force, Rice, Tulane, VMI, The Citadel, etc. It isn't like GT didn't play G5 or FCS teams before the year 2000. (Although those teams weren't called G5 and FCS back then)

 

[stech81]

But damn, I like my Saturday tailgates...and I’m a selfish bastard.

Hi selfish I'm ( Let me check with my wife) I'm a**hole and I like Saturday games better , Saturday in the fall means college football.
Now Satursdays in the summer sucks it means cutting the grass.

 

[gtjackets930]

I assume that was sarcasm, otherwise I hate to tell you but only a small percentage of households get the ACC Network.

Was heavy sarcasm

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

Lmaooo. That’s what we’re going with now. Get out your tin foil hats. Holy sh*t. There’s no pleasing some of you people. Trading in a noon Saturday game on ACCN for a prime time game on ESPN sure does sound like a positive change to me. Of course there are some cons that come along with it, but at worst they’re a wash compared to the potential gain Tech will get out of this game.

Negatives

• Loss of gameday atmosphere for recruits
• Possible attendance drop (marginal at most)
• Piss of a small portion of fans who were going to be pissed off regardless
• Interfere with high school games (non issue to me)
• Listen to a few back handed comments from local fan bases

Positives

• Prime time game at Bobby Dodd
• Hundreds of thousands of more TV viewers
• Nationally televised
• National talking point
• Greater opportunity to expose the brand of GT football

You may think exposure isn’t a big deal, but would anybody outside of Tech fans remember the 2015 FSU game if it was a noon game? Would the atmosphere be the same? Doubt it. It would just be a footnote on the season. Just like our wins over UGA that have occurred at noon. Anybody remember Illinois upset over Wisconsin this year? What about USCe over uGA? Those games would absolutely be bigger deals had they been prime time games. I’m not trying to compare those particular games to GT vs UCF. I’m just saying there’s no harm in getting more eyeballs on your program, and should Tech take it to UCF, there’s going to be a lot more people talking about it than they would if it were a noon game.

Thank you for the point about National Talking Point.

The Sports Talk & Call In Shows!!!

My gosh can you only imagine in texas, chicago, new orleans, Nashville, portland, cleveland, detroit, phoenix and other places how the hosts & callers will be talking about our game as compared to UT, n.d., lsu, tenn, oregon, osu, mich, zona games happening the next day or week?

It will be nothing but GT coast to coast.