I do not understand the love for noon games. I hate the atmosphere around a noon game.
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There Is Even More Money
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The Big Ten will have yet more money with which to not fire Darrell Hazell in the near future:
Fox is close to signing a deal that gives it half of the Big Ten’s available media rights package, according to several sources. Deal terms still are flexible – both in terms of money and rights. However, the two sides have agreed on basic terms that will give Fox the rights to around 25 football games and 50 basketball games that it will carry on both the broadcast channel and FS1 starting in the fall of '17. The deal runs six years and could cost Fox as much as $250M per year, depending on the amount of rights the Big Ten conference puts in its second package.
Let's think some thoughts about this.
First, this is why the TV networks hurl the money. Combine this graph…
![large[1]](http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/large[1]_1.png "large[1]")
…with the relative prosperity of Big Ten folks versus the other section of the country that can't get enough college football and you get a lot of money. When it comes to Jim Delany, this is strictly Bedouins owning the land the oil is on. It's replacement-level performance. You are the reason TV networks are throwing crazy dollars at the Big Ten.
Second, it's a lot of money. Per SBD, the potential 250 million dollar deal is half of a package the Big Ten is currently getting 112 million for from ESPN and CBS. I imagine the total will come in under a half billion dollars a year unless they want to evaporate from ESPN entirely, which they probably don't. It's still a staggering amount of dough.
Third, it's not for very long. A six year term is unusually short when it comes to these kind of contracts, and it puts the Big Ten's rights up at around the same time everybody else sees theirs expire. Six years may be unusually short from the perspective of rights contracts—the BTN has their rights package until 2032(!)—but this is an unusual transition period.
In six years everyone may decide to boot the middleman and make everything more or less WWE Network, except unscripted. Or they may carry on because momentum is a powerful thing and ESPN matters. Meanwhile, networks are already looking at the number of dollars they've committed in a uncertain environment and blanching. SBN reports that ESPN's offer was "not competitive."
The Big Ten wanted a deal that would expire at the same time the BTN deal does and did not get it. Uncertainty reigns.
Fourth, mark your calendars. In six years there will be another tumultuous period of conference expansion. Contracts will be more or less up across the spectrum, grant-of-rights agreements in the ACC will be close to expiring, and it'll be time for another dance of doom.
Fifth, I'm relatively happy about FOX. Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt are both great and we'll be hearing a lot more of them call Michigan games in the future. Gus doing more Michigan basketball is also enticing. FS1 is a wasteland of hot takes delivered by morons, but FOX's actual game coverage has gotten a lot better over the last few years.
Also, adding college football to Fox networks increases the WALL OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL effect on Saturdays this fall. More options for games to watch and less pressure to bump Michigan off of noon windows* gets a thumbs up from me. I kind of want Fox to always put Michigan on at noon on the broadcast network.
*[Noon is the best time for a game if you want to watch the rest of CFB.]
Sixth, just pay some people. The Big Ten now has hundreds of millions of dollars and no additional expenses.
April 20th, 2016 at 12:12 PM
#2
I do not understand the love for noon games. I
April 20th, 2016 at 12:17 PM
#3
Yup. It's awful. While night
Yup. It's awful. While night games are the best, not every game will be played then, so 3:30 is the next best option. I love waking on Saturdays, getting a light breakfast, and watching some noon games, which are the appetizers. Then when 3:30 (or later) comes around , it's time for the main course. I like the build to the Michigan game while watching other teams play in the noon slot.
April 20th, 2016 at 12:17 PM
#4
Noon games are great if you
Noon games are great if you live in Ann Arbor and aren't a student.
April 20th, 2016 at 12:21 PM
#5
As a west coast resident, I
As a west coast resident, I love 9AM games. Get to morning drink and do football brunch, and then either have the rest of the day available to do other stuff, or have the rest of the day to stay at the bar and drink and watch more football. I've long preferred early games (although I'll admit it took some getting used to at first).
April 20th, 2016 at 12:39 PM
#6
100% agree.
UM being finished at noon is fantastic.
April 20th, 2016 at 6:10 PM
#7
I wait all year for football
I wait all year for football season, and once it starts I wait all week for Saturday. Michigan football is the main event. It's not something to just get out of the way.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:04 PM
#8
The West Coast rules for
The West Coast rules for watching sports. During football season, you can watch everything during normal waking hours and still get to bed at a reasonable hour. 9am kickoffs for CFB and 10am for the NFL RedZone bonanza window = awesome sauce.
Unrelated to timezone, can I just say how amazing the DVR is for basketball? The 30 second skip handles freethows perfectly and you get to eliminate the inane deluge of timeouts and intentional fouling that the last 3 minutes of each game is always filled with.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:10 PM
#9
I have DISH Network and all I
I have DISH Network and all I use to skip forward is the 30-second button. It's great for the things you described and also when watching recorded hockey. In between whistles and faceoffs is around thirty seconds, so it's perfect.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:37 PM
#10
Football too
If you ever have to muscle through a DVR'd game (like when the Detroit Lions are losing and you don't really care), the :30 second bump will take you pretty reliably from tackle to snap.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:33 PM
#11
100% agree. I love having the
100% agree. I love having the game over early so I have the rest of the day to do stuff. In Washington, in the fall, we're running out of non-rainy days so I don't like to spend them in front of the tv.
April 20th, 2016 at 3:23 PM
#12
As a west cost resident, I
As a west cost resident, I hate 9AM games. Weekends are for sleeping in....Unless it's on ESPN, then it's fine, because I can just sleep in then watch it on the appletv and ff through commercials.
April 20th, 2016 at 7:11 PM
#13
9am is sleeping in for me!
9am is sleeping in for me! Way better than the 5am M-F. That being said its all about preference, priorities, and what else you have going in your life.
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April 25th, 2016 at 2:45 PM
#14
I am 36 and hate mornings
I am 36 and hate mornings almost as much as I did as a teenager. 8AM is sleeping in to my wife and she and the mother-in-law handle the lil ones when they wake up then on weekend mornings while I sleep till 11ish.
April 20th, 2016 at 3:38 PM
#15
I love it also
Living in the MST zone. Those noon games kick off at 10:00 a.m. for me. Can catch the game and still have all afternoon do things if I want. Have great weather in the fall do spend outdoors on a Saturday afternoon having already seen UM play.
April 20th, 2016 at 6:46 PM
#16
I am in Eastern time zone,
I am in the Eastern time zone, but this is my dream. You can literally watch football from 9am until you go to bed. Amazing.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:20 PM
#17
However
Speaking for those of us who are students and even yes grad students (Shout out to my (gulp) 9th year of student tickets this fall), noon games are the absolute worse.
I honestly only care abut the Michigan game on gamedays. 3:30 allows us to wake up at a reasonable time (say 7:30-8) and still have time for a proper pregame. With noon games, by the time your done with breakfast you have to leave to the stadium in like an hour. Like it or not, a huge part of the student experience at Michigan is those 7/8 tailgates you get a year and as long as you have noon games, you will have students showing up late.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:45 PM
#18
If noon games suck for you,
If noon games suck for you, improve your post-gaming.
I always liked the noon start because the games finished early enough to go home and rest/eat/wash up for a Saturday night out.
But I also prefer to be mostly sober at the game itself so that puts me in the minority I suppose.
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April 20th, 2016 at 3:25 PM
#19
I
understand why noon would be good for some people who go to the games to enjoy the rest of the day of college football, I don't buy into it for a couple of reasons. First, I am only able to "enjoy" college football on any given Saturday if Michigan wins. If Michigan loses a noon game, forget it, I don't even care about the rest of the games for that Saturday. Second, I occassionally go to a game but usually I watch them on TV. I get to watch the rest of the games before and after without any difficulty.
Lastly, the atmosphere at a noon game really is lacking, at least as to how it looks and feels on TV. Having been to noon games and 3:30 games in the past, I remember not noticing a whole lot of difference in person. You are so busy with getting in, getting to seat, refreshment, etc. that you don't really notice, but on TV it is remarkable how much different of a place Michigan stadium is at noon than it is at 3:30. Noon games are sleepy, the crowd is really dead and the team is often lethargic or at least that is how it appears. Even The Game seems to lack for quality atmosphere in recent years. This year, you could have heard a pin drop against Ohio State when you compare it to Michigan State in the 3:30 slot weeks earlier, which was the loudest and most engaged I have ever seen Michigan stadium.
April 20th, 2016 at 3:45 PM
#20
The scores of the OSU and MSU
The scores of the OSU and MSU game probably had more to do with the noise level than the time slot. The MSU game was a competive down to the wire contest, the OSU game was not.
I'm also the opposite of you personality wise. I can't get anything done before Michigan plays as I get worked up, for this reason alone night games are torture for me. Once the game is over I'm usually fine with the result, it is 'only football' and it should supplement your life not detract from it.
April 20th, 2016 at 3:53 PM
#21
There
was no score until about the end of the first quarter in The Game. The place looked and sounded dead.
EDIT - As to JMblue below, were you there? I ask because perhaps it was different live, but the crowd did not seem all that into it on TV.
April 20th, 2016 at 4:08 PM
#22
I was there. TV isn't
I was there. TV isn't necessarily a great indicator of crowd noise. The crowd was absolutely ready to go when the game started. It was the way the game unfolded that killed its energy.
April 20th, 2016 at 3:54 PM
#23
The crowd at the Game was
The crowd at the Game was actually very loud early on when we forced a punt. Then we roughed the punter, and gave up a million yards on the ground the rest of the way, and the crowd energy went out of the building.
April 20th, 2016 at 3:59 PM
#24
Game was loud early. The
Game was loud early. The second half was miserable.
April 20th, 2016 at 3:41 PM
#25
Postgaming. Nothing beats
Postgaming. Nothing beats sleeping in and making a hearty breakfast at 10AM then coming home to a kick ass spread of grilled meats, beers, dips, salads, etc. Once the weather gets cold I usually put a roast in the oven or some chili in a croc pot for the post-gaming. I'm probably spoiled because I live within walking distance of the stadium but don't have any people trying to park on my street.
April 20th, 2016 at 3:34 PM
#26
I won't disagree. When I was
I won't disagree. When I was a student I loved 3:30 games. Heck even when I was single graduate I loved 3:30. Preferences change though. If I ever move back to Detroit I'll probably hate noon games due to traffic but right now noon is the best.
April 20th, 2016 at 12:23 PM
#27
Agree
Iater is better
April 20th, 2016 at 1:11 PM
#28
A good point, but I still
A good point, but I still never want to see a noon game for the rest of my life.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:16 PM
#29
Too bad.
Too bad.
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April 20th, 2016 at 3:02 PM
#30
No...not really. I absolutely
No...not really. I absolutely hate noon games. I cannot stand how Michigan and OSU play at noon. The one year we got 3:30 (2006) was awesome. Of course the fun was ruined after we got Crable'd.
April 20th, 2016 at 3:30 PM
#31
I said
it above before I saw this, but you are absolutely right. Anybody who thinks that Michigan Stadium is in full gear for The Game is completely mistaken. That is the biggest rivalry in college sports and should get "primetime" treatment. When the game started this year and I still saw empty student seats at kick it sealed it. I think that Michigan v. Ohio State should be moved to 3:30 and kept there.
April 20th, 2016 at 12:40 PM
#32
Agreed
330 or night games let you have a bigger chunk of your day to do other things if you're not one to spend 12 hours on the couch watching CFB.
April 20th, 2016 at 12:56 PM
#33
Speaking of
Who in the hell has time for that? People without kids that live in condos I suppose. My weekends are typically busy as hell, to the point that I'm sometimes glad to come into work on Monday.
I always try to watch the Michigan game live, but often I have to watch it later on the DVR and avoid all other forms of media during the day.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:09 PM
#34
You just plagerized what I
You just plagerized what I was going to say virtually word for word! There are some games I just refuse to miss live, but end up watching on DVR 30 minutes, or so, behind real. That's about as clase as I get. Weekends are the only time I get to finish yardwork, 'projects' (of which the backlog is large, and growing), and spend time with the 5 yr old doing kid things with the kid - which is different from doing chores with the kid hanging around (which adds an hour to each chore). I often look forward to the break that Monday offers...
April 20th, 2016 at 6:16 PM
#35
Kids are the death of noon
Kids are the death of noon games. Every kid activity is during noon on a Saturday. By 3:30, that stuff is finally over.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:10 PM
#36
Ahhh...12 straight hours on
Ahhh...12 straight hours on the couch to watch football. Come on down, 20-something without kids!!
+1 for media blackout on DVR football days. There are, aparently, apps that block out content related to your team for social media but I'm too scared to try them. I'd also need something to block text messages related to the sporting event I'm recording for later viewing.
(Mgo developers...can someone come up with a "do not disturb" feature for text messages that screens incoming texts and notifies the sender that the recipient is in a sports blackout period?)
April 20th, 2016 at 1:13 PM
#37
That's what I do. I am
That's what I do. I am married, but don't have kids. Thankfully the wife understands my college football obsession and tends to not interfere or schedule things to do on Saturdays during the season.
Also, what the hell do condos have to do with anything? I live in a house.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:23 PM
#38
Assumption: Condo living
Assumption: Condo living means no yard/house work to do?I thought it was a great line though. I have three kids, one 13 year old in Soccer, luckily MGoWife loves soccer games so I can "stay home" with the other rugrats and guzzle down my Vodka and watch fusbal.
April 20th, 2016 at 3:07 PM
#39
I mean, how often do people
I mean, how often do people have yard/house work? Are people really spending hours upon hours doing that kind of work every Saturday that they cannot watch 12 hours of football? I have my doubts. Mow the lawn the day before or in the early morning.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:23 PM
#40
Unmarried males between the
Unmarried males between the ages of 20 - 40 who like college football? Btw going to a sports bar and watching college football for an extended period of time is a great way to meet cool chicks. This is probably city dependent, but in NYC it's pretty fun due to the wide variety of college educated transplants and sports bars.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:41 PM
#41
Boston
was a great place to watch football all day at the alumni bar. Amazing how much money I'd go through in a day and night of watching football and drinking, and then going out later and drinking. No matter how well I planned, I always seemed to have to hit up an ATM for morning breakfast.
I'm with a bunch of the other posters here now, where I am watching a delayed broadcast. I just am super paranoid now and record the game, the aftershow, and then the next game, just in case.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:28 PM
#42
I like being able to check in
I like being able to check in on games while I'm getting my honey-do's done, but agree it's impossible to just sit and watch the games anymore. This is why my son needs to get older so he can do more chores and give me more time goof off(tplease let me keep my illusions. I really dig the 3:30 or the night games on the weekends my kids have sports games(aka all of them) as I don't have to go through the DVR and media blackout to make sure I can catch the Michigan game.
April 20th, 2016 at 2:53 PM
#43
Children CREATING free time?
Please let me know what age that happens. Maybe when they move out?
April 20th, 2016 at 1:48 PM
#44
Bigger chunk of your day? But
Bigger chunk of your day? But 330 is smack in the middle of your day! You basically get up to lunch time free. By the time the game is over its late dinner time. Noon games (for the TV watcher) let you sleep in a bit, grab breakfast, settle in for the game, and be done by mid afternoon for a free evening.
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April 20th, 2016 at 3:54 PM
#45
This
The noon games are better for me for exactly this reason (YMMV).
The 3:30 games, I am sitting there with the dilemma of "can I plausibly just dick around for X hours until kickoff because this really isn't enough time to do all my errands/chores, and I don't want to go out, come back in and then go out again after the game"
Also re: noon games as a student, I woke up still drunk at 11AM, filled a flask, and walked to the stadium. This isn't that hard, millenials.
April 20th, 2016 at 12:51 PM
#46
My opinion.
Noon games are great when we play MAC or MAC level B1G teams. Just lets whoop that butt and let me get on with my day. Which is like most of our schedule btw. 3:30 is fine for big games. I still don't like waiting that much. And Night games, while great at atmosphere, are just too damn long to wait for. Like seriously, I get too drunk waiting. And I just want that game to start already!
Hawaii - Noon
UCF - Noon
Colorado - Noon
PSU - 3:30/Night
Wisconsin - Noon/3:30/Night
@Rutgers - Play this on Thursday or something
Illinois - Nooner
@MSU - 3:30 is a great time slot for this game.
Maryland - Noon
@Iowa - Noon/3:30/Night
Indiana - Noon
Ohio St. - Noon/3:30
April 20th, 2016 at 1:16 PM
#47
I would hate that schedule.
I would hate that schedule. Also, let's never play a Thursday game again, shall we? In 2015, I hated having the first Saturday of the season with no Michigan game, especially after losing to Utah on the previous Thursday.
April 21st, 2016 at 10:00 AM
#48
Rutgers would finish in the
Rutgers would finish in the bottom half of the MAC. They deserve a MACTION schedule was my only point.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:45 PM
#49
Hawaii Noon?
Poor Hawaii if a noon kickoff happens. Their bodies will be shock - opening kickoff at like 6 am on their internal clocks.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:55 PM
#50
Counterpoint
I can't muster up one bit of sympathy for college football players that go to Hawai'i. Because they're college football players. And they go to school in freakin' Hawai'i. / Eric Cartman voice / So screw all of those guys. / end Eric Cartman voice /
So "poor Hawaii" doesn't really make any sense to me.
April 20th, 2016 at 2:25 PM
#51
Even worse, bootlegger
Hawaii plays the previous week in Australia!
