Hackett: get used to multiple night games in future

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

I'm a 3:30-kickoff hater. Shouldn't have complained as hard. 

 

!!!! RT @nickbaumgardner: Hackett still says home night games against Michigan State/Ohio State not off the table. No decision yet, though.

— jamie mac (@justcoverblog) March 6, 2015

!! MT @nickbaumgardner: Hackett: month away from figuring out night game opponent. says "get used to" having multiple night games in future

— jamie mac (@justcoverblog) March 6, 2015

2manylincs

March 7th, 2015 at 4:13 AM ^

But when i was in high school, the onlt sat. Noon games that we played were late playoff games, and those were always more important than the 9 friday nights that we played in the regular season..

2manylincs

March 7th, 2015 at 4:15 AM ^

If sparty and osu arent at night, who cares.
Nobody is watching um v. unlv just because its at night.
Id take a good out of conference matchup, but i dont think arkansas is going to fit the bill, fl is at a neutral site, and ok is so far in the future that skynet may have exterminated all human life by then..

BlueCube

March 6th, 2015 at 7:47 PM ^

night games.

 

I listened to most of this. The two concerns he mentioned were that it was too cold for OSU and that the crowd control issues could be a problem and safety hazard because of the closeness of the two schools. Do not look for these to be night games under Hackett even if it wasn't ruled out.

rob f

March 7th, 2015 at 10:34 AM ^

"Get off my lawn!" generation/demographic, I do like an occasional night game---but absolutely 2 per season MAX (and preferably no more than 3 every 2 seasons).   I have gradually grown to prefer 3:30 games over the noon ones, especially the first half of the season---tailgating is much better that way, and for the most part over the last 7 seasons has even been the highlight of the day rather than the play on the field (ugh!).

I'd like to occasionally have a 1pm game, though.  For many, many years (back when TV appearances were limited to 3 over 2 regular seasons), 1pm was the standard start time for home games.  Let's even take it a step further and make it a "Retro Game":  besides a 1 pm start, music and cheers only from the Michigan Marching Band and the cheerleaders, no RAWK, no uniformz, limiting TV commercial breaks to the normal lengths of stoppages in the game for kickoffs, etc. .  And even a mini "Band Day"  with a small handful of High School marching bands seated on the sideline corners.   

2manylincs

March 7th, 2015 at 4:17 AM ^

We were the what, 9th?, most watched team last year. Even being a total tire fire.
This is michigan, not oregon or texas a&m. Or some mac team.
The only reason for night games is to beg for exposure.
I can understand staging a game that warrants the exposure at night ( im thinking osu, msu, nd, or a top 15 team). But miami (ntm) at night is just a joke..

rpm881

March 6th, 2015 at 6:17 PM ^

I like one night game a year. Too many in a season I think will take the novelty out of them. But prefer noon games over 3:30 games.

TrueBlue2003

March 6th, 2015 at 8:12 PM ^

That's a good point, but I wonder how many people have to work Saturdays or can't attend day games for whatever reason but could attend night games.  Always two sides to the coin.  I would hope we actually do a little market research and talk to our fans before making unilateral decisions based on assumptions like the previous regime. Can never please everybody but should try to please the most people while keeping the safety and well-being of everyone a priority.

PeterKlima

March 6th, 2015 at 7:26 PM ^

this will be bad for the majority of fans. most fans are over 30 and night games are less fun to attend the older you get. no chance to get home at a decent hour if you drive, no need for all day drinking, etc.

this only makes sense for TV. Maybe to make an impression on 17 year old kids too. but, this is not fan friendly to the majority of fans.

In reply to by PeterKlima

TrueBlue2003

March 6th, 2015 at 8:25 PM ^

Those are first two that come to mind that have a lot of night games and they have similarly huge stadiums and fan bases. I don't know that their fans do or do not like all the night games, but I think it's certainly an unsubstantiated assumption that the majority of our fans wouldn't like more night games. They may hate it, and we may like it. Who knows.  I hope the powers that be do a little research before making the decision.

Shop Smart Sho…

March 6th, 2015 at 8:08 PM ^

Other schools don't have the same sized alumni and fan base as Michigan.  That means Michigan is more likely to have fans traveling from hours away to games.  Not all of us live in close proximity to Ann Arbor.



Granted, in my case I'll probably begin enjoying night games more next year as I'm moving so far away that I'll need the extra time for travel.  However, for those living in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois night games suck aside from the 2-3 hours you're in the stadium.

ak47

March 6th, 2015 at 8:25 PM ^

I think penn state has a pretty big alumni that have to travel and they make it work, so does osu. Lsu has 70k that sit outside their 90k stadium. Michigan is great we aren't that different and night games have better atmospheres, impress recruits more, are bigger national tv draws, etc.

Jack Harbaugh

March 6th, 2015 at 9:17 PM ^

You're kinda contradicting yourself here. If the fan base is bigger, we should have no problem getting 30 year olds to night games and more of them. I feel like too many people are in love with "traditions." The Victors is great, tapping the banner is great, no ads is great, the band is great, the winged helmet is great. That being said, the younger fanbase, the future older fanbase, prefers later games. If I have the choice between getting up at 9am to drink after drinking the night before and getting up at 11am after drinking the night before. I'm choosing 11 every single time. Noon games just aren't fun when you're young.

a2bluefan

March 7th, 2015 at 11:12 AM ^

Hopefully under Hackett, night games will simply be night games and nothing more. No OMG-WE-HAVE--LIGHTS-NOW-SO-LETS-GET-UNIFORMZ-AND-SPECIAL-SHIRTS-AND-FIREWORKS-WOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Seriously. It was notable the first time. But any over-hyped hoopla at this point just makes us look like fools.

buckeyeh8er

March 6th, 2015 at 6:20 PM ^

I love night games. I personally even prefer 3:30 over noon games. Extra tailgating is always a good thing. However, I will say that I am only in favor of 1-2 night games a year

slaunius

March 6th, 2015 at 7:13 PM ^

Yeah, 3:30 is great for tailgating. A lot of fans must be early risers, cause I always found it annoying to make it to A2, set up, drink, and then have to leave for the game by 11:30. Requires me to either wake up way earlier than I want to on a Saturday or cram my tailgating into like 90 minutes.