Silvertip said:
Grizfan-24 said:
Boise State used the we'll play at home and any time to get on National Television model. They knew what it meant, decreased ticket revenue and in game sales for the added and more lucrative TV contracts. They knew it was going to make Bronco Stadium a Mausoleum for games at odd hours and days. Of those games that I attended on those games, I don't think they had more than 15,000 in attendance (though always reported in paid attendance of more than 20 or 25,000) for those games. Awful in game atmosphere to be honest. Most wouldn't commute from Twin or Pocatello when they knew it was going to be on ESPN.
BSU like the UM has a huge commute crowd for games, but the added bonus like the UM as well, is that those empty seats are bought and paid for already. So many of those games the TV contract represents extra money in the coffers whereas for the Sun Belt it represents money not had.
Fast forward to 2016 Boise. You'll see a whole different picture suggesting that the end justified the means.
Oh I agree completely. For BSU it worked, they got incredibly lucky as well because their success on the field made them a marketable product for TV. Few, and I mean few, transition schools were able to do what BSU did. So when you look at Sun Belt, former WAC schools, and MAC schools there is a bit of a purgatory they live in. To get your brand recognized you do have sell your soul a bit. I just don't think it'll bring the same type of returns that BSU was able to enjoy.
There might be five or ten schools along with BSU have seen a breakthrough that lower level purgatory for short time periods. TCU being the other comparative to BSU, the rest (Marshall, Central Florida, Northern Illinois, others) haven't been able to sustain that national profile.