FBS move fans. Here's a good read

[56BISON73]

espn3 is kind of lame but honestly with the expansion of it and smart TV's... it may be a pretty good deal within a few years. You'll probably have an ESPN3 icon on your tv by default.

I agree the mac espn primetime Wed night isn't a killer. I checked out Northern Illinois schedule and they play a 12 game regular season (every year) and 3 total games were on Wed Night primetime ESPN2. Of those 3 games, 2 were home games. Then you get the Mac championship in Detroit (Ford Field) in front of a 1/3 empty stadium. (it is on a saturday) But they also went to the Orange Bowl last year and this year it was in Sunny San Diego!

Substituting a few home playoff games for Bowls or mac championship would be ok in my book. And while their early season tv wasn't as good as ours, they made their way on ESPN 6 times. And last time I checked we were trending on twitter during the CC espn game.

As a fan do you really want to go to Detroit? As a fan I can tell you you wont like Miami. The Orange Bowl isnt nearly as much fun as you think it is. Of course for the boozers they will love it because they sell booze all over the stadium. Be careful for what you wish for.

[1998braves64]

espn3 is kind of lame but honestly with the expansion of it and smart TV's... it may be a pretty good deal within a few years. You'll probably have an ESPN3 icon on your tv by default.

The app is called watchespn (technically can watch all ESPN channels on it they blackout some games such as SB and MNF) and can get it for most smartphones ipods iPad etc. Don't know if its available on any smart tvs yet??

So yes believe you are correct.







Sent from my HTC8x Windows Phone.

[XUBison]

The way I see it is this... Why did we dominate at the D2 level? Because we didn't belong there. Why are we dominating at this level so quickly? Because we don't belong here. What happened to the program in the 90's/early 2000's? Boredom, and a general sense of apathy, which I believe will happen again if we stay on this level.

I am so tired of the people who keep droning on about the financial and logistical hurdles associated with an FBS move. As if those of us who support a move to FBS have no understanding of finance, investment,risk assessment etc. This is amusing to me, because I suspect that the supporters of an FBS move probably tend to be the ones who understand these things the best.

While a move would certainly require additional funding, I strongly feel that this is severely overstated. For one, I completely agree that there is no reason we would need a larger stadium to make a move. We already draw better than many FBS programs. A larger stadium would eventually be required to allow the program continued growth, but it would not be needed at the outset.

As far as finding more money, you do what you always do when you want to finance a major investment... You go find people who want to invest in your project. It is well established that there is more money in FBS. Most "donors" are actually sponsors, and this is even true of most season ticket holders.

Our company buys season tickets and pays the hefty required donation to obtain the tickets. Companies do this because they feel they will see a return on their investment. They can give the tickets to employees as a perk, they gain access to an elite networking group in Teammakers, and they may even use the donation as leverage to sell their products to the university.

The notion that these sponsors have dried up because they just gave to the BSA is absurd. Those sponsors "gave" to that project because they feel they will see an ROI. If NDSU can show these sponsors that their increased investment will see an increased ROI with the growth of the NDSU brand that comes with an FBS move, then those sponsors will be happy to open up their check books yet again.

I've heard some people throwing around words like "grandiose" to describe the idea of moving to the FBS. I'm sorry, but that is just plain dumb. I don't think grandiose is the word I would use to describe Western Michigan, Ohio U, or Marshall. This is very doable, if we decide we want to do it.

[tjamz]

My talking points are pretty clear. Its money driven now. Any FBS conferences is beneficiary to the MVFC. TV contracts, bowl game payouts, bigger stadium. All help NDSU grow.

You are correct, it is a money driven game now and many teams are losing money by being fbs. Assuming NDSU remains a powerful force if/when we move up and we get to the "Rob Portapotty" bowl and can't sell our allocation of tickets it will likely cost NDSU money.

http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-foo...-georgia-state

The money doesn't really come until you are in a power conference with a stellar tv contract. Which are two things I don't think will happen for quite some time.

[tjamz]

Btw, I do think NDSU should start an exploratory committee to get a real feel of the costs of moving up as well as who would invite us to their conference. Then figure out if it makes sense financially to do so. It's possible that even if we lose money on football the added resources that come in to the university because of the exposure garnered by the football program makes the whole venture worthwhile to the state of North Dakota and it's legislators.

My want for moving up had nothing to do with the number of fans our opposition has at their home playoff games as it will likely be similar with bowl games. I just want to watch NDSU play at the highest level that they are capable of being competitive in.

[scbison91]

We should seriously think about going FBS.. I was watching a ESPN thing on Baylor and for many years(20 yrs) their football program just sucked.. They had players state they were probably a mid level FCS team for many years in 1990 and 2000's.. They hired Art Broyles and somehow got RGIII and look at their program now.. One of Baylor finance guys stated when RGIII won the Heisman trophy it generated a BILLION in free advertising for the university which has allowed them to build a new stadium on campus and Baylor is a top contender in BIG 12.

[MNLonghorn10]

You are correct, it is a money driven game now and many teams are losing money by being fbs. Assuming NDSU remains a powerful force if/when we move up and we get to the "Rob Portapotty" bowl and can't sell our allocation of tickets it will likely cost NDSU money.

http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-foo...-georgia-state

The money doesn't really come until you are in a power conference with a stellar tv contract. Which are two things I don't think will happen for quite some time.

take your lumps early, and it pays to play baby..see you in vegas!

[tjamz]

take your lumps early, and it pays to play baby..see you in vegas!

I don't see the nd legislature funding a money losing proposition (that isn't named UND) for any real period of time. ALL of the talk in the state is about reducing funding to higher education, not increasing it drastically. It will take a major culture change I'm Bismarck for that to change.

[56BISON73]

The way I see it is this... Why did we dominate at the D2 level? Because we didn't belong there. Why are we dominating at this level so quickly? Because we don't belong here. What happened to the program in the 90's/early 2000's? Boredom, and a general sense of apathy, which I believe will happen again if we stay on this level.

I am so tired of the people who keep droning on about the financial and logistical hurdles associated with an FBS move. As if those of us who support a move to FBS have no understanding of finance, investment,risk assessment etc. This is amusing to me, because I suspect that the supporters of an FBS move probably tend to be the ones who understand these things the best.

While a move would certainly require additional funding, I strongly feel that this is severely overstated. For one, I completely agree that there is no reason we would need a larger stadium to make a move. We already draw better than many FBS programs. A larger stadium would eventually be required to allow the program continued growth, but it would not be needed at the outset.

As far as finding more money, you do what you always do when you want to finance a major investment... You go find people who want to invest in your project. It is well established that there is more money in FBS. Most "donors" are actually sponsors, and this is even true of most season ticket holders.

Our company buys season tickets and pays the hefty required donation to obtain the tickets. Companies do this because they feel they will see a return on their investment. They can give the tickets to employees as a perk, they gain access to an elite networking group in Teammakers, and they may even use the donation as leverage to sell their products to the university.

The notion that these sponsors have dried up because they just gave to the BSA is absurd. Those sponsors "gave" to that project because they feel they will see an ROI. If NDSU can show these sponsors that their increased investment will see an increased ROI with the growth of the NDSU brand that comes with an FBS move, then those sponsors will be happy to open up their check books yet again.

I've heard some people throwing around words like "grandiose" to describe the idea of moving to the FBS. I'm sorry, but that is just plain dumb. I don't think grandiose is the word I would use to describe Western Michigan, Ohio U, or Marshall. This is very doable, if we decide we want to do it.

The reason we dominated in D2 is because we were over funded and the other schools didnt have the resources we did. Look what happened when there was more parity. During the 90s there were other issues of which led to the apathy. As a matter of fact the 70s and 90s is a prime example why your theory is wrong. So just because you win championships you dont belong in that division??? So UW Whitewater doesnt belong in that division either? Why dont they move up? What about Florida and LSU for example? When they were dominating for a short period of time I guess they didnt belong in that division as well? But now that they arent dominating they now belong there?????

Weve had a great 3 year run. I wouldnt bet the future of NDSU on a 3 year run or peoples uninformed musings.

[56BISON73]

Btw, I do think NDSU should start an exploratory committee to get a real feel of the costs of moving up as well as who would invite us to their conference. Then figure out if it makes sense financially to do so. It's possible that even if we lose money on football the added resources that come in to the university because of the exposure garnered by the football program makes the whole venture worthwhile to the state of North Dakota and it's legislators.

My want for moving up had nothing to do with the number of fans our opposition has at their home playoff games as it will likely be similar with bowl games. I just want to watch NDSU play at the highest level that they are capable of being competitive in.

So you dont think NDSU doesnt know this already?