It is possible it WOULD fix it, and its possible its WOULDNT. I think the evidence would suggest that closing the talent gap (obviously I mean increasing the quality of the competition, not the Quality of NDSU), would stand for more dramatic games, more akin to the 2011-2012 seasons would drive greater attendance. Also inherently, getting a new "shiny object" does create excitement. Though eventually the shiny object gets less shiny over time- which brings us back to the law of decreasing marginal utility again.
MAC would become less shiny quicker than the AAC, thats for sure. But I think you'd have to come up with a helluva argument to say that MVFC is inherently more exciting to fans than AAC, or even the lowly MAC
1. The FCS was the Best option for NDSU for a very long time.
2. As a general rule- the FCS sucks at football and has proven that is not committed to football at all.
3. It's time to go FBS
AAC fans are not Totally against NDSU coming in:
https://csnbbs.com/thread-888079.html (beware I know the moderator over there.. don't get banned! )
NDSU TO FBS. HAVEN'T WE WON ENOUGH?
1. The FCS was the Best option for NDSU for a very long time.
2. As a general rule- the FCS sucks at football and has proven that is not committed to football at all.
3. It's time to go FBS
I'm not saying that FBS is required, I am saying that FCS is not providing a FIX for football junkies after 7 recent titles. It's like moving from beer to booze when the buzz gets old. The Fargo dome is highly over-rated in regard to crowd noise. Take away the artificial noise pumped in a couple minutes prior to kick-off and there is more a dull roar in that building. YES, the meter gets spiked for very short periods of time during playoff season, and again, artificial noise blaring over the top of screaming fans is a big part of it (in-door echo effect). five seconds before the next snap it all get deathly quiet. I also forgot to mention that 1 of 3 fans are looking at their cell phones when they do pan the crowd. THERE IS NO EASY FIX or it would be taken care of by now.
Allow me to put on my Hoople Hat on for a moment....
How do we know FBS is the fix for that? How do we know the trends we're seeing aren't just a reflection fading interest in live college football (and live sports in general) from fans all over the country?
Average attendance for App St and Georgia Southern in 2012 (the last year they were in FCS and eligible for the postseason) was 26,538 and 18,487 respectively. Last year it was 21,953 and 16,802 respectively. If NDSU makes the same move and sees the same attendance declines now you've got even more ground to make up due to the added costs of being an FBS athletic department.
NDSU athletics pushed all their chips into the middle in 2002 and won big. Should we be so anxious to see them push the big stack they've accumulated in the last 10-15 years into the middle again? It's a high risk/high reward gamble same as that one in 2002 was and there's no easy answer as to whether the right move is to shove again or check our option.
<takes off my Hoople Hat>
Football only would come with some added costs but i think it would be doable. 44 more scholarships to fun and a bit more required for coaches salaries. Obviously the conference invite would be needed. I think any FBS tv contract would add a little bit of coin, also it seems that G5 schools get better guarantees when they play P5 schools than FCS schools do. I don't think a new stadium would be required for a move up, just something that gets tossed into that conversation. Sure, a new stadium could help bring in more revenue if there were more seats to fill, but obviously it would be a giant mountain to climb with no outside help in sight.
Not an argument for or against moving up, just the way I see things. Best case would be the P5/G5 split, obviously.
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