ASU continues study of possible move to FBS

[ASUG8]

But would they show up to watch you guys vs. WKU, Troy, MTSU, FIU, FAU, UNT, USA, ULM, ULL, Arkansas St.?

I think App has good fans who would go watch against anyone but, you guys know better than I.

Nobody on that list gets me excited to go, but I'll go to the game for the gameday experience first, opponent second.

[89Hen]

I find that extreme and sad that people couldn't care less about winning the conference. I'd like to see more emphasis placed on the regular season and on beating our peers (conference teams). Otherwise, why have conferences at all?

To give you 8 opponents and 4 home games without having to search. I honestly have never given a rats arse about conference titles and it doesn't bother me one bit.

[Fresno St. Alum]

But would they show up to watch you guys vs. WKU, Troy, MTSU, FIU, FAU, UNT, USA, ULM, ULL, Arkansas St.?

I think App has good fans who would go watch against anyone but, you guys know better than I.

Nobody on that list gets me excited to go, but I'll go to the game for the gameday experience first, opponent second.

Well you figure you'd get 3 ooc games where ECU, Marshall, SEC schools would play you but probably most would be on the road.

[AppMan]

If App feels that they want to leave the union under the compact entitled "The By-laws of the Southern Conference" then they have every right to do so. It isn't like Americans have a track record of coercing others to remain parties to contracts against their will.

I just hope Iamarino doen't try to pull a Lincoln on us! After all, he is a Yankee!

[Skjellyfetti]

But would they show up to watch you guys vs. WKU, Troy, MTSU, FIU, FAU, UNT, USA, ULM, ULL, Arkansas St.?

Yes. Stands were packed for North Carolina Central and the Jacksonville University Dolphins last year. All of those teams you listed would be much more interesting than either of those games.

We play one of the worst teams in all of Division I football this year. Stands will be packed and it will be close to a Kidd Brewer Stadium record.

[Fresno St. Alum]

But would they show up to watch you guys vs. WKU, Troy, MTSU, FIU, FAU, UNT, USA, ULM, ULL, Arkansas St.?

Yes. Stands were packed for North Carolina Central and the Jacksonville University Dolphins last year. All of those teams you listed would be much more interesting than either of those games.

We play one of the worst teams in all of Division I football this year. Stands will be packed and it will be close to a Kidd Brewer Stadium record.

App is the only game in town so they'd probably draw if they were FBS, D-II, D-III. They'd probably make an effort to be the best at what ever level they play, producing a winner, which is the easiest way to get fans to come. It also helps that App has the best looking stadium/backdrop in FCS. I like Montana's too.

[AppMan]

making a bowl game now means you passed the mirror test... ...so I stand by my orginal "meaningless" bowl game statement...

FWIW, EVERY bowl except ONE is "meaningless". It's just to what extent. But even the worst bowl has somewhat of a cool factor in that: you don't know who you play until the season is over, it is for a trophy, it might be in a place you've never been, it might be against a school you've never played, it will be on national TV, you will be included in everyone's bowl pool, etc... Would you rather be a fan of Jacksonville, who really has no chance at any kind of post season, or would you rather have a shot at the Scrubbin Bubble Toilet Bowl?

Meaningless to who? The players, fans, and schools involved in the game? I doubt it. It is all perspective. One could argue the FCS playoffs are meaningless considering only the final two rounds are played on national tv and always take a back seat to these "meaningless" bowl games in terms of air times and dates. Especially when you consider the playoffs averaged less than 10,000 per game and pulled in a whopping 13,027 for the national championship. Constantly attempting to degrade the lower level bowls with petty and sarcastic made up names does little to enhance your position. If anything it smacks of an inferiority complex. Anytime someone resorts to tearing something down in an attempt to build their position up is eye opening. Just call it like it is and let the cards fall where they may

[citdog]

Yes. Stands were packed for North Carolina Central and the Jacksonville University Dolphins last year. All of those teams you listed would be much more interesting than either of those games.

We play one of the worst teams in all of Division I football this year. Stands will be packed and it will be close to a Kidd Brewer Stadium record.

App is the only game in town so they'd probably draw if they were FBS, D-II, D-III. They'd probably make an effort to be the best at what ever level they play, producing a winner, which is the easiest way to get fans to come. It also helps that App has the best looking stadium/backdrop in FCS. I like Montana's too.

It is impossible to have the best looking stadium in ANY division, including 4AAAA SC high school football, with a track around the field and markings for marxist football on the field........or should I say on the Pitch?

[Ursus A. Horribilis]

But would they show up to watch you guys vs. WKU, Troy, MTSU, FIU, FAU, UNT, USA, ULM, ULL, Arkansas St.?

I think App has good fans who would go watch against anyone but, you guys know better than I.

App has good fans but they also have an uptick with the current success. I think has Marshall also had some pretty rabid fans but they DID NOT have the kind of uptick that is frequently bandied about.. I could see 10-15% increase and maybe slightly more than that in years when they had some good home draws with ECU and the like. Guaranteeing 40K/game is nothing I would be willing to bet a penny on though. I highly doubt that the group putting this all together in a study would use that number either.

[Skjellyfetti]

markings for marxist football on the field........or should I say on the Pitch?

Those are gone.

Johnson Hagood would demand to have his name taken off your stadium out of shame that you can only fill half of it.

[Skjellyfetti]

App has good fans but they also have an uptick with the current success. I think has Marshall also had some pretty rabid fans but they DID NOT have the kind of uptick that is frequently bandied about.. I could see 10-15% increase and maybe slightly more than that in years when they had some good home draws with ECU and the like. Guaranteeing 40K/game is nothing I would be willing to bet a penny on though. I highly doubt that the group putting this all together in a study would use that number either.

We had about a 10% increase in attendance from 2009 to 2010... with no new additional seating... and the national championships and the Michigan game several years in the past. We're adding new endzone seating this year... so I think another 10% increase is possible this year. Only need a couple more years of 10% increase or 4 years of 5% increase to hit 40,000. Certainly not out of reach.

[Fresno St. Alum]

App has good fans but they also have an uptick with the current success. I think has Marshall also had some pretty rabid fans but they DID NOT have the kind of uptick that is frequently bandied about.. I could see 10-15% increase and maybe slightly more than that in years when they had some good home draws with ECU and the like. Guaranteeing 40K/game is nothing I would be willing to bet a penny on though. I highly doubt that the group putting this all together in a study would use that number either.

We had about a 10% increase in attendance from 2009 to 2010... with no new additional seating... and the national championships and the Michigan game several years in the past. We're adding new endzone seating this year... so I think another 10% increase is possible this year. Only need a couple more years of 10% increase or 4 years of 5% increase to hit 40,000. Certainly not out of reach.

If you move to FBS you can sink the field a little and replace the track with seats. No big deal. No one watches track anyway. Go put it out the forest somwhere.

[Skjellyfetti]

If you move to FBS you can sink the field a little and replace the track with seats. No big deal. No one watches track anyway. Go put it out the forest somwhere.

There's quite a bit of undeveloped land and forest around the stadium and campus... but, flat land... not so much.


I hope we sink the field some day and remove the track... I've always heard rumors/legends/etc. that there is a creek or a rockbed under the stadium that would make it not worth it to lower the field financially. I don't know if that's true or not.

But, we're replacing the turf as we speak... so, even if lowering the track is part of a long-term plan... we wouldn't do it for another ~10 years or so at the earliest.

[89Hen]

FWIW, EVERY bowl except ONE is "meaningless". It's just to what extent. But even the worst bowl has somewhat of a cool factor in that: you don't know who you play until the season is over, it is for a trophy, it might be in a place you've never been, it might be against a school you've never played, it will be on national TV, you will be included in everyone's bowl pool, etc... Would you rather be a fan of Jacksonville, who really has no chance at any kind of post season, or would you rather have a shot at the Scrubbin Bubble Toilet Bowl?

Meaningless to who? The players, fans, and schools involved in the game? I doubt it. It is all perspective. One could argue the FCS playoffs are meaningless considering only the final two rounds are played on national tv and always take a back seat to these "meaningless" bowl games in terms of air times and dates. Especially when you consider the playoffs averaged less than 10,000 per game and pulled in a whopping 13,027 for the national championship. Constantly attempting to degrade the lower level bowls with petty and sarcastic made up names does little to enhance your position. If anything it smacks of an inferiority complex. Anytime someone resorts to tearing something down in an attempt to build their position up is eye opening. Just call it like it is and let the cards fall where they may

Meaningless in that they are not for THE prize. If you read my whole post, I say that bowls are pretty cool for the teams involved. I went to the Tire Bowl in Charlotte and it was a "meaningless" bowl, which is to say anyone outside of UVA and WVU and a few locals in Queen City didn't really care who won unless they had money on it, but it was one of the most fun football games I've attended.

[Ursus A. Horribilis]

App has good fans but they also have an uptick with the current success. I think has Marshall also had some pretty rabid fans but they DID NOT have the kind of uptick that is frequently bandied about.. I could see 10-15% increase and maybe slightly more than that in years when they had some good home draws with ECU and the like. Guaranteeing 40K/game is nothing I would be willing to bet a penny on though. I highly doubt that the group putting this all together in a study would use that number either.

We had about a 10% increase in attendance from 2009 to 2010... with no new additional seating... and the national championships and the Michigan game several years in the past. We're adding new endzone seating this year... so I think another 10% increase is possible this year. Only need a couple more years of 10% increase or 4 years of 5% increase to hit 40,000. Certainly not out of reach.

I don't think its unattainable at all. You guys are doing it not because of FBS right now correct? My point is that wherever it is at it is not gonna be a jump of 1/3 that is being thrown about with the move to FBS.

[Skjellyfetti]

I don't think its unattainable at all. You guys are doing it not because of FBS right now correct? My point is that wherever it is at it is not gonna be a jump of 1/3 that is being thrown about with the move to FBS.

Maybe I misunderstood the original question... but, I don't think it will be an immediate jump from 30k to 40k the first year we're in FBS. I think we can continue the current increase of 5% or 10%... and a several years down the line be at 40k. I don't think Boone or Kidd Brewer could handle an immediate 10k increase. But, as seats get added and as road widening projects are completed we can be at 40k in 3-5 years.

Our attendance hasn't plateaued yet. We're still filling more seats every year. When that ends, I'm not sure... but, if we announce a move to FBS, I think that interest in App football continues to build.

[Fresno St. Alum]

more proof the bleacher report is as useless as the enquirer

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Someone from JMU should talk to BR about VT. Someone from Michigan should talk to BR about App. Allowed it to happen again. Yeah like VT allowed JMU to do that last year

[Ursus A. Horribilis]

I don't think its unattainable at all. You guys are doing it not because of FBS right now correct? My point is that wherever it is at it is not gonna be a jump of 1/3 that is being thrown about with the move to FBS.

Maybe I misunderstood the original question... but, I don't think it will be an immediate jump from 30k to 40k the first year we're in FBS. I think we can continue the current increase of 5% or 10%... and a several years down the line be at 40k. I don't think Boone or Kidd Brewer could handle an immediate 10k increase. But, as seats get added and as road widening projects are completed we can be at 40k in 3-5 years.

Our attendance hasn't plateaued yet. We're still filling more seats every year. When that ends, I'm not sure... but, if we announce a move to FBS, I think that interest in App football continues to build.

My fault as I wasn't clear what I was saying in the original post. Attendance is still growing but it has nothing to do with FBS. Will FBS give it even more of a punch over the next 5 yrs.? Possibly but not the punch that is being professed. As I pointed out in the last thread it has not happened at the other schools to nearly the extent that is being put out here.

In a business sense if you're adding revenues and keeping the expenses about the same then the bottom line is gonna start looking better obviously. What is the incremental amount that the move will add to revenues...I have no idea but as far as fans go I don't see it as a major amount year to year. Of course if the fans want it then they raise ticket prices and it goes up more but I don't know where it is at now or where they expect it to be.

[AppMan]

Meaningless to who? The players, fans, and schools involved in the game? I doubt it. It is all perspective. One could argue the FCS playoffs are meaningless considering only the final two rounds are played on national tv and always take a back seat to these "meaningless" bowl games in terms of air times and dates. Especially when you consider the playoffs averaged less than 10,000 per game and pulled in a whopping 13,027 for the national championship. Constantly attempting to degrade the lower level bowls with petty and sarcastic made up names does little to enhance your position. If anything it smacks of an inferiority complex. Anytime someone resorts to tearing something down in an attempt to build their position up is eye opening. Just call it like it is and let the cards fall where they may

Meaningless in that they are not for THE prize. If you read my whole post, I say that bowls are pretty cool for the teams involved. I went to the Tire Bowl in Charlotte and it was a "meaningless" bowl, which is to say anyone outside of UVA and WVU and a few locals in Queen City didn't really care who won unless they had money on it, but it was one of the most fun football games I've attended.

I simply think the term "meaningless" is a bad choice. A game doesn't need to have an impact on the national championship picture to be a meaningful game.

[AppMan]

If you move to FBS you can sink the field a little and replace the track with seats. No big deal. No one watches track anyway. Go put it out the forest somwhere.

There's quite a bit of undeveloped land and forest around the stadium and campus... but, flat land... not so much.


I hope we sink the field some day and remove the track... I've always heard rumors/legends/etc. that there is a creek or a rockbed under the stadium that would make it not worth it to lower the field financially. I don't know if that's true or not.

But, we're replacing the turf as we speak... so, even if lowering the track is part of a long-term plan... we wouldn't do it for another ~10 years or so at the earliest.

Spoke to Chancellor Peacock tonight at a Charlotte alumni event and specifically asked him about relocating the track. I got the impression it will happen at some point in the not so distant future. John Weaver would like to have his own facility and has been taking an aggressive role in exploring possible sites around campus.

[ASUMountaineer]

If you move to FBS you can sink the field a little and replace the track with seats. No big deal. No one watches track anyway. Go put it out the forest somwhere.

There's quite a bit of undeveloped land and forest around the stadium and campus... but, flat land... not so much.

Lord, that's beautiful. Just look at that. God bless Appalachian.

[ASUMountaineer]

I understand Appa's thoughts...he really values the playoff system, and I get how his support of it prevents him from supporting bowl games. However, it's sad that the playoffs have helped devalue the regular season. Many FCS fans just don't care about the regular season other than for seeding purposes.

I think ASU winning it's sixth-consecutive SoCon title is a great accomplishment, yet many ASU fans considered our season a failure because we didn't win the National Championship. I find that extreme and sad that people couldn't care less about winning the conference. I'd like to see more emphasis placed on the regular season and on beating our peers (conference teams). Otherwise, why have conferences at all? Just start the season in the playoffs and determine a champion.

Yes, in the situation your presented I'd rather have a shot at the Toilet Bowl than be a non-AQ school in the FCS.

It's not so much the playoff system that I value, I just don't get excited at the thought of a bowl game with 69 other teams. Quite frankly, if we go FBS, I hope we don't even make a bowl for financial reasons. We'll split someone else's take and not be on the hook for ticket allotments. What I do value is our historic rivalries. If you want to put App in an FBS conference with Wake Forest, ECU, Marshall, GaSouth, JMU, Delaware & Charlotte, then great, I'm all for that but not because of the bowls. Outside of that, I'd rather us be an FBS indy with the abiltiy to schedule or be scheduled by any FBS school. I'd rather us keep playing our current conference schedule than be obligated to play the likes of troy, Memphis or UTEP due to conference affiliation. But I'm in the minority and I'm fine with that....

I doubt most pro-FBSers want to go FBS simply for the bowls. Mostly, it's for the perceived enhanced regular season and potential to play amongst schools more like us. I understand the historic rivalries, but we had historic rivalries before ever playing GSU and Furman, and we moved on to establishing rivalries with GSU and Furman, and now we may move on again. It would be sad to lose the rivalries with GSU and Furman, but renewing rivalries with Marshall and ECU could be worth it.

[ASUMountaineer]

But would they show up to watch you guys vs. WKU, Troy, MTSU, FIU, FAU, UNT, USA, ULM, ULL, Arkansas St.?

I think App has good fans who would go watch against anyone but, you guys know better than I.

Based on the talk around here, I don't think that will be a worry. Our AD has done nothing but publicly rebuke the SunBelt. It doesn't appear that the SunBelt is an option. I will say what I said before, I believe it's CUSA or bust. I could be wrong, but it would certainly be counter to everything that has been said thus far. We'll see.

[89Hen]

I will say what I said before, I believe it's CUSA or bust. I could be wrong, but it would certainly be counter to everything that has been said thus far. We'll see.

I hope you're right for your sake. SB would be a badddd option.

[ASUMountaineer]

I will say what I said before, I believe it's CUSA or bust. I could be wrong, but it would certainly be counter to everything that has been said thus far. We'll see.

I hope you're right for your sake. SB would be a badddd option.

Yeah, just another reason I don't see it as an option. Our AD said the SunBelt is a "glorified FCS conference." The SunBelt has publicly stated it has no intention of expanding. I just don't see it as a viable option. We'll see.