Michigan To Play Florida In 2017, In Dallas Comment Count

Brian

jerry-jones-cowboys[1]

Just about all of the luster has gone out of the idea of playing a football game in Dallas after Michigan got pounded by Alabama to not make any money, to the point where actually getting the band there required Dave Brandon to squeeze half of the cost of that out of donors.

So guess what, guys!

I'd say this further proves that Dave Brandon charged his family for Thanksgiving dinner, but like playing a canned version of the Victors against the #1 basketball team in the country, money isn't actually a good explanation. These games are kind of inexplicable when OSU and MSU are locking down quality home and homes.

This leaves… I don't actually know. With dynamic pricing shoving marquee prices into the stratosphere and Michigan charging extra for premium opponents, a home and home is at least a financial push compared to these one-off neutral site games, and then you have a nice thing to show your season ticket holders instead of a six-game home schedule featuring Cincinnati and Air Force as your nonconference draws. If Florida won't agree to it, maybe someone else would.

The only thing I've got is that this gives Dave Brandon a chance to hang around his idol some more.

FWIW, this completes the unerring accuracy of that list the BTN leaked a few months ago.

Comments

Here2CWoodson

December 19th, 2013 at 10:57 AM ^

Is there any chance that because he is an alum, played under Bo, and has since been in charge of many successful companies, that maybe he does get it? And that maybe he knows a lot more about the big picture than we do from the outside?

AriGold

December 19th, 2013 at 11:14 AM ^

i mean, Domino's is incredibly successful if you like shitty over-priced pizza made by people who are making minimum wage and couldn't give two shits about their job...and you're right, he has done such a great job "expanding the brand" by charging more for tickets to games that people won't show up for due to the insanely high prices for a slew of bad home games this coming year...but yeah, I suppose playing for Bo counts for something

AriGold

December 19th, 2013 at 1:38 PM ^

check out Shot's on the west side (Lake Mich Dr.), they half an incredibly good pizza and it is half off on Thursdays!...Uccellos makes a pretty decent pie as well...all of which pay their cooks well over minimum wage and produce a much better product

lbpeley

December 19th, 2013 at 3:19 PM ^

big chains. Domino's, Little Caesar's, Papa Johns, etc. That's all junk pizza with minimum wage employess who don't give 2 shits but I guaran-damn-tee you you'd love to have their CEOs' money.

Bando Calrissian

December 19th, 2013 at 11:25 AM ^

The proper argument for this isn't the people making the pizza, it's the fact that Domino's marketing strategy at the transition out of Dave Brandon's tenure was "we know we make a shitty product." He starred in the damn advertisements. This is a guy who is unashamed about peddling cardboard with some cheese, because "we know it's bad, but it's going to get better!"

If you read the Brandon Blog these days, sounds eerily familiar...

GoBLUinTX

December 19th, 2013 at 12:55 PM ^

Domino's Pizza didn't become worse, other brands became better.  Brandon recognized that Domino's was losing market share because the old traditional product had been by-passed by the competition.  He then instituted a program to make the product better and though it took about two years of research and development, the new recipes and ad campaign were launched as Brandon left Domino's.  

aiglick

December 19th, 2013 at 1:16 PM ^

This sounds remarkably similar to what is happening to Michigan football: "old traditional product has been by-passed by the competition." We should do whatever the Manball equivalent is of the second part because even though I'd love to pair a spread offense with the tough, hardnosed defense we are apparently building I don't want to go through a whole transition again. How about we make the 2007 Capital One bowl offense our offense going forward. It is a hybrid spread/pro style offense that seemed to work great against a vaunted SEC defense. Borges would even get to have his quarterback sling it around. Win-win.

WolvinLA2

December 19th, 2013 at 1:18 PM ^

Exactly. Dominos is neither awful nor overpriced. When we have a bunch of people over for an informal something at my house, I buy like 8 Dominos pizzas for 50 bucks and everyone's happy.

Also - why does a business have to be expensive to be a good business? Mcdonalds has cheap food and they're doing OK.

jmdblue

December 19th, 2013 at 11:23 AM ^

Early on he was offered a teaming opportunity with a very successful, well known local group.  The idea they had didn't make a damn bit of sense, but hey, they were well known, successful, and were putting significant skin in the game.  They must know what they were doing.

Fail.

Here's the rub.  If it smells like shit and feels like shit and looks like shit, don't eat it no matter who is telling you it tastes good.  It's probably shit   Brandon loves Michigan, has the pedigree, and has been successful in life.  It doesn't mean he is doing a good job now or even if his aspirations for his department are appropriate.

Blue in Yarmouth

December 19th, 2013 at 2:06 PM ^

that every other program in the country can (and is) doing it seems to suggest that's not the case. Maybe our AD is just asking for too much in the H&H's, I don't know but it doesn't change the fact that it can and is being done everywhere else. That's probably why no one is running with your hypothesis at this point.

bigclam69

December 19th, 2013 at 4:51 PM ^

can and/or are scheduling home and homes. Not only that, but we have h&h's w/Arkansas, UCLA, and Utah. Alabama cancelled their h&h w/MSU. LSU and Wisconsin have a psuedo h&h. So what other teams in the B1G have these awesome h&h's that you want. We haven't had the on field success to get an Alabama to travel up here or an Oregon to come across the country. So before throwing my "hypothesis" out the window, you could do some actual thinking about what I was saying. 

Kermits Blue Key

December 19th, 2013 at 11:23 AM ^

Maybe the "it" you're referring to is much different from the "it" Ari was. Does DB get how to make the most money possible out of every situation? He seems to. Does DB get how to maintain the gameday experience and national brand of Michigan? Depends on who you talk to. Does DB get how to not piss off large portions of the fanbase? Not really. I guess it all comes down to what your definition of the big picture is.

JeepinBen

December 19th, 2013 at 11:30 AM ^

DB does some things extremely well as an AD. And he does some things less than well. I don't think anyone disagrees that DB has been very good for the department's bottom line (although credit should go to Martin too, who got the dept in the black and bankrolled the stadium upgrades that are now printing money). Also, Michigan fans are never satisfied. If we don't shutout the season while winning our 3rd national title in a row, we used to do that, so why don't we now?

As many said below, DB needed to fill 1 hole on the schedule and this is better than a tomato can at home. That said, it's not as good as a home-and-home with a real team, but we do have some of those coming up. Based on DB's (vast, very successful) experiences you list, I'll offer a counter list. Dave Brandon has never:

  • Sat in the student section at Michigan Stadium as a student (he was on the sidelines)
  • Worried about an extra $200 for a season ticket purchase/PSL (he's done quite well for himself financially)
  • Tried to get a cushion into Michigan Stadium, or dealt with any of the new policies
  • Had to drive down to Dallas like he wanted the Band to

I guess my point is that while DB has a lot of extremely positive experiences regarding Michigan Football, he doesn't have the same experience as many of us on the board do. That's not to discount his - I mean, were I good enough I would have loved to never watch a game from the student section but rather the sideline - but to say that it's different. I'd argue that DB doesn't "Get" being an every day fan - in much the same way that we don't "get" being athletic directors or running multi-billion dollar entities.

CooperLily21

December 19th, 2013 at 12:22 PM ^

My only comment is that I would much, much rather pay to travel to see Michigan play in The Swamp than go to Dallas.  No competition where I'd pay to go.  In other words, no way in hell am I paying to see them play in Dallas but there's a chance I'd pay to see them play a home-and-home.  Assuming I'm an average Joe (which I am), I'm the kind of fan that Brandon should be considering in his choices ESPECIALLY if the AD made no money on the last trip to Dallas.  Its just a bad business decision.

SWFLWolverine

December 19th, 2013 at 2:53 PM ^

Yeah....Gainesville has pretty much nothing to offer, and it is not really close to anything that does either. Not really close to the beach or Orlando or Tampa or Jacksonville. I would imagine Dallas is much better than Florida farmland and karst topography. And September is the raining season, so it is very likely to rain there in addition to having a 120 heat index. Though I suppose Dallas isn't that different in the weather.

GoBLUinTX

December 19th, 2013 at 3:33 PM ^

in late August early September.  Highs in the upper 90s low 100s.  I don't know the schedule for 2017, but there is a chance the Tigers would be across the parking lot playing at the Ball Park. If one is bringing family Six Flags is in the same complex.  Or if you just want to slum, come on over to mi casa, I usually smoke a few briskets and racks of ribs over the Labor Day weekend.

Indiana Blue

December 19th, 2013 at 1:56 PM ^

he seems to be working on developing Michigan Football as a TV product.  Screw the season ticket holders that pay for the "exclusive" opportuntiy, PSD plus the cost of game tickets and the $4.50 water, to sit in Michigan Stadium.

Without question the home football schedule in 2014 is the worst in 135 years of Michigan Football.  DB putting $$$ on the bottom line (he makes more for this game than a home and home) ahead of the anything else.  He must figure that national TV exposure is more valuable than making season ticket holders happy.  

DB gets kudos from a lot of people, but not this season ticket holder.  Seems that he thought having nd on a home and home was enough for all us "sheep" ... well Dave nd told you to "fuck off" and this is what you give us ????

 

mjv

December 19th, 2013 at 11:39 AM ^

My understanding of his great success at Vlassis had the board secretly get him on a golf course that didn't allow cell phones so they could fire him without his being warned.

If the big picture is trying to extract every last dollar from a fanbase and in return providing a poor product on the field that plays home games against very unappealing competition, I'd say he doing a wonderful job.  

Next year's home schedule is incredibly terrible. He sent all of the season ticket holders a letter saying how they are holding the PSD flat for the year.  Well no crap.  The slate of games is an embarrassment.  

the empty seats in the stadium aren't about a lack of Wow experiences or not enough fly overs, its about the fans finally beginning to reach the breaking point regarding how much is being asked of them in return for something they value.  The asking price continues to rise, but there is little to no value in return.

umchicago

December 19th, 2013 at 1:03 PM ^

he doesn't get it.  i just paid my PSD.  our home schedule next year sucks.  now, he schedules some of our only quality opponents offsite; bama a couple years ago and now fla.  paying what amounts to about $200 to see the akrons of the world stinks.  and if the team doesn't right its ship in a hurry, that stadium won't be filled in the coming years.

samdrussBLUE

December 19th, 2013 at 10:35 AM ^

Now that the schedules are set 2014 through 2017, I expect someone to break down the next 4 years in terms of attractive and non attractive games, excitement level, etc. It is not a matter of if someone will do this, just when

michchi85

December 19th, 2013 at 10:36 AM ^

A neutral game with Florida or a home game against Central?  No SEC team is going north for a home and home.  Times are changing with the new playoffs, and there will be more games like this going forward.