Dave Brandon: ESPN paid for Michigan Stadium lights
I'm just as shocked as all of you are that he appeared on AED: The Harbaugh's Podcast.
They were talking about all of the facility upgrades during his time here and he had this to say which I looked up and hadn't heard before-
"I put lights on the stadium. We'd play those afternoon games and bring those portable lights and there'd be those shadows on the field. I actually got ESPN to pay for it. Didn't cost us a DIME. All we had to do was promise to play a night game once a year."
August 20th, 2019 at 1:19 PM ^
Art of the Deal!
August 20th, 2019 at 2:10 PM ^
I'd want some details--did we offer to play a night game in perpetuity? Televised by ESPN in perpetuity? What happens when the lights want replacing?
Devil's in the details. And two devils made the deal! :)
August 20th, 2019 at 2:53 PM ^
Looks like Dave Brandon won another deal with ESPN by keeping the MTSU game on BTN Primetime!
Take that ESPN!!
August 20th, 2019 at 4:03 PM ^
Honestly, I view the MTSU game as the conference’s response to us refusing to play in the Thursday/Friday games they started having a few years ago. As in, ideally they would have wanted that game to be on the 29th or 30th like some B1G schools have had their openers, but since we refused to do those, they’re making the game at least be a night game.
I assume the conference/network drove the decision, since back in May they announced not just the time but also that it would be on BTN. Some of the other night games, by contrast, were clearly decided by the school. UTL I, for example, was announced long before the coverage was determined (a year and a half in advance, back in March 2010!?!).
August 20th, 2019 at 4:30 PM ^
But a night game is the best time for a game (assuming not sub freezing temperatures). So they are just improving things for us.
August 20th, 2019 at 4:49 PM ^
Wait a minute. So this deal is good.
I see alot of recent deals that help America and they are apparently bad per people that seek power.
How is a Brandon deal good or is this site flipping to seek power for all the wrong unAmerican reasons.
August 20th, 2019 at 1:22 PM ^
wow that is a brilliant move on his part. Still hate you Dave!
August 20th, 2019 at 3:57 PM ^
Stay Gold, Ponyboy Dave Brandon. I also hate you.
August 20th, 2019 at 5:46 PM ^
Upvote for "The Outsiders" reference!
August 20th, 2019 at 1:23 PM ^
Huh, that's actually good business.
August 20th, 2019 at 1:30 PM ^
At least for Michigan but not so much for ESPN. They did have to fire a lot of really talented people
August 20th, 2019 at 1:33 PM ^
Think of all the jobs lost at ESPN because of those damn lights.
August 20th, 2019 at 3:11 PM ^
I thought Mexico was supposed to pay for the lights.
August 20th, 2019 at 3:30 PM ^
Poor jamele.....
August 20th, 2019 at 3:54 PM ^
Poor (writing/speaking/thinking/grammar) Jamele...
August 20th, 2019 at 5:45 PM ^
Think of all the young minds who could not quit drinking and go to bed because those lights were persistently glaring into all the student rooms surrounding The Big House.....
August 20th, 2019 at 1:35 PM ^
Because of a changing business model not because they bought UM lights.
August 20th, 2019 at 1:54 PM ^
Sigh... The literal in some of the posts today, I tell ya...
August 20th, 2019 at 3:32 PM ^
Whatever ESPN paid for those lights, they more than made up for it with primetime Michigan home games. That investment has probably paid for itself 20x over. And that's probably a super low estimate.
August 20th, 2019 at 1:24 PM ^
Wow this guy sounds like he'd make a great athletic director some day
August 20th, 2019 at 1:51 PM ^
You should tell all your friends in ohio
August 20th, 2019 at 4:46 PM ^
....or maybe even a CEO!!!
August 20th, 2019 at 1:24 PM ^
BTN and Fox thanks ESPN as well.
August 20th, 2019 at 1:25 PM ^
No wonder why ESPN fired all those people!
August 20th, 2019 at 1:45 PM ^
Now the night games...that was probably the legit best thing Brandon did do. It was the way college football was going, but with so much old school thinking at UM it could easily have been delayed more.
Also, the whole getting ESPN to pay for it maybe not the best thing? I mean if you had to sign a contract to promise to play X number of night games, then I would argue kind of a stupid thing to do. You were probably going to do it anyway, but the AD has so much dang money, and the lights are a small portion, I would think the flexibility and independence from another TV commitment would be nice to have. But small nitpick. Otherwise, nice piece of negotiating. And stupid of ESPN.
August 20th, 2019 at 1:52 PM ^
Why was it stupid for ESPN? Couldn't have cost them more than a couple million - at the high end. That's a rounding error in yearly TV coverage. They make that back, and then some, on the first night game at THE Big House.
And wasn't UTL-I on either ESPN or ABC?
Made it back...
August 20th, 2019 at 2:23 PM ^
This is dead on. Those lights are decimal dust to ESPN and I'm sure they made it all back on UTL-1.
August 20th, 2019 at 4:24 PM ^
"decimal dust" conjures up something like this to me:
August 20th, 2019 at 3:39 PM ^
Some Googling seems to indicate the lights cost $1.8M in 2010.
For context, ESPN is paying the Big Ten $190M a year to broadcast games. One percent of that to add primetime games at Michigan into the mix is absolutely nothing. And as someone else said, that was probably easily paid for on the first night game.
August 20th, 2019 at 5:09 PM ^
How much would a project like that cost?
Wasnt there a game recently when the lights went out, or was that the scoreboard?
August 21st, 2019 at 12:29 AM ^
Okay, but is there a big nitpick?
August 20th, 2019 at 1:56 PM ^
He had some interesting and about 3 decent ideas but they were far outweighed by his piss poor ideas and his own ego getting in his way.
August 20th, 2019 at 1:59 PM ^
MSU had White Castle pay for new port-a-johns.
Hollis for the win.
August 20th, 2019 at 2:36 PM ^
Eating White Castle and having port-a-johns in close proximity is a necessity. It's the least they could do.
August 20th, 2019 at 3:50 PM ^
Central Ohio University in Columbus got Cabela's to pay for the cooler privies.
August 20th, 2019 at 2:05 PM ^
Pretty sure John U. Bacon had that info in Endzone.
August 20th, 2019 at 2:11 PM ^
It was most definitely in there.
August 20th, 2019 at 2:10 PM ^
That's using the old noodle
August 20th, 2019 at 5:58 PM ^
Mac and cheese noodle?
August 20th, 2019 at 2:20 PM ^
All they had to do was promise to have a night game once a year? There were no night games in 2012, 2015 and 2016. So I guess that's kind of sticking it to ESPN.
You still suck, Brandon. And I don't miss you.
August 20th, 2019 at 2:22 PM ^
Thought this was pretty well known. As posted above, it's in Endzone, and I seem to remember Brandon talking about this a bit in the run-up to UTL.
August 20th, 2019 at 2:38 PM ^
I figure DB screwed this up as well. He probably had ESPN on the ropes and ready to put in stadium lights that also function as awesome dance rave lights and he let them off the hook.
August 20th, 2019 at 2:42 PM ^
Dollars to donuts ESPN approached him with the offer and it wasn't anything even close to, "I actually got ESPN to pay for it."
August 20th, 2019 at 2:43 PM ^
This is a much better deal than Lake Superior State having to play a home game against Michigan or MSU at the JLA for 20 years as part of a payback for the Ilitchs putting money towards renovations of their home area in the Soo.
August 20th, 2019 at 2:48 PM ^
Did they pay for the halo too?
August 20th, 2019 at 3:03 PM ^
So he promised us night games and made someone else pay for the lights?
Maybe this guy should run for President.
August 20th, 2019 at 3:07 PM ^
who paid for Shane Morris' ER visit after he had the concussion?
jackass. . .
who paid for the NCIS guy who went to UCLA to give a halftime speech? Or pregame or whatever the hell it was.
August 20th, 2019 at 3:38 PM ^
That NCIS guy who went to UCLA happens to be the son of arguably the greatest player in our program's history.
August 20th, 2019 at 4:46 PM ^
don't you have a hype video to go make for the dance team?
