Stadium advertising in exchange for better schedule?
The main reason Bill Martin is offering for the crappy non-conference schedules that he's lining up is that we need the revenue from as many home dates as possible, and BCS conference teams always demand return home games in exchange for coming to Ann Arbor. Hence the now-steady diet of MAC teams, UMass, Delaware State, and other assorted tomato cans... and supposed tomato cans like App State.
How many of you that are frustrated with this situation would be willing to accept some form of limited stadium advertising — such as silent digital ads confined to the scoreboards — if it meant we could have home-and-homes every other year or so with teams like Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Va Tech, or Stanford, just to pick a few? I have no idea whether the revenue from this kind of advertising would make up for a lost home date, but if it did, what would you be prepared to accept?
We really have missed out on millions and millions of dollars over the years by not allowing advertising in the stadium bowl. It is nice to have a stadium without corporate ads everywhere you look. However, is it really that big of an eyesore if we just had a few done tastefully? Probably not.
It is a tough call, but I'd rather play schools that bring us more exposure than keep the Big House ad free.
I hear Notre Dame fans say that their stadium does not have advertising, but I saw both NBC Sports and Adidas ads on their antique scoreboards during the 2006 Michigan game.
All these other teams are struggling for revenue too and trying to schedule as many home games as they can to boost it. Also no, I don't want advertising anyway.
And a few small ads can lead to more and bigger ads so its a slippery slope.
No advertising in the Big House.
Don't TRASH the Big house
lol, I laugh every time Grapentine says that. Unintentional hilarity.
NO LOGO and let me know what you think about the missed ad dollars.
I dunno.
I'd like to see higher quality opponents, as well, but I don't think ads in the Big House is the ONLY answer.
Whatever. College football always follows trends. Eventually it is going to happen. One day we'll probably see Papa John's logos on the player uniforms, Toyota logos at the 50 yard line, and every concievable commentary started with, This is the Mieneke Muffler First Down Summary Report with Lee Corso.
BTW--get well soon Lee Corso.
I dunno.
I'd like to see higher quality opponents, as well, but I don't think ads in the Big House is the ONLY answer.
Whatever. College football always follows trends. Eventually it is going to happen. One day we'll probably see Papa John's logos on the player uniforms, Toyota logos at the 50 yard line, and every concievable commentary started with, This is the Mieneke Muffler First Down Summary Report with Lee Corso.
BTW--get well soon Lee Corso.
Bringing in a few Advertising dollars isn't going to substantially change scheduling anyway. Though the primary reason for scheduling teams that will play home only series is the money, it's also to placate a lot of the fanbase, who doesn't care who we play, as long as they get to go to games. Take away one to two home games a year, figure about 60% of the season ticket holders sell off some of their seats each year, and you've got a couple hundred thousand Michigan fans that don't get to go to games anymore. They will be upset.
Done the right way, you could take advantage of the advertising $$$ without taking away from the feel of the stadium. You have a number of areas within the stadium where subtle advertising could help make a few extra $$$ - which in turn could help some of the other sports (Lacrosse for example).
Advertising is done enough at Crisler.
Actually, the only ads at Crisler are on the scoreboard.
Then I'm wrong. Or maybe I can't see from the tippy top. That's probably it.
They once had more, but now all the panels just say "MICHIGAN" or have a block M.
They want you to come to their house. There is no way that advertising would bring in the amount of revenue missed by a home game combined with the additional expenses of traveling to an away game.
That would have to be some AMAZING amount of advertising. Way beyond anything people would be comfortable with.
Those companys pay THOUSANDS for teams to adversite just one sign. I'm pretty sure it would bring in enough money if we had just a few signs flashed on the scoreboard.
money for what?
Bill Martin says we don't play home and home series with other BCS teams because they don't make nearly as much money as scheduling MAC and other small teams for home games. If we allowed a little bit of advertising, they would make up the difference, and the athletic department would be able to afford scheduling home and home series. Thats what this whole post is about...
It doesn't work that way. It's not that they want to hit a certain number in revenue and not go over. If they put ads in the Big House they would still want to schedule home games, because they make more money. Making money on something else doesn't mean that making money of ticket sales is less important. They want to make as much as possible.
If you picked up a second job, you wouldn't want to take a pay cut in the first one would you? No, you would only take the second job if it made you more money.
Not to mention that we have a $230 million stadium renovation to pay off. Our athletic department may be profitable from a year-to-year standpoint, but we're now facing a very large long-term debt to pay off.
My point exactly. If advertisers would say $175,000 (or $25,000 per home game) for an ad to run for seven home games, they would likely pay another $25,000 (or $200,000 total) for the exposure at an additional (eighth) home game.
This means that the athletic department would make even more money per home game and would, therefore, be more likely to schedule as many home games a possible.
Let me explain to you how this works: you see, the corporations finance UM football, and then UM football goes out... and the corporations sit there in their... in their corporation buildings, and... and, and see, they're all corporation-y... and they make money.
sir. Yes.
the people or groups that donated the money, correct? Isn't that a form of advertisement? On the towers put "GM Tower" or something to that idea. No big lavish advertisement, just a simple sign saying the companies name.
M is in the SAME situation as everyone else. we don't want 1-1s, and neither do other BCS programs. we already have the ND series as the OOC road game every other year.
that said, i'm not against some minor adidas logos or a few ads. just not Meijer and farmer jack ads plasted all over the place.
comes an incentive to schedule more home games. Advertisers will pay more for more opportunities for their ads to be viewed. The athletic department is not hurting for money and this is just a lame excuse.
Advertising will not lead to a better schedule!
If theoretically it did, the question is analogous to: would you take an anal fisting for the opportunity to screw the girl of your dreams. I say "No!"
yeah i kind of agree with this.
You can't just say 'If we allow advertising in the stadium, well we want better home games in exchange'.
These two issues are independent of eachother. If they put in advertising in the stadium, that decision is now over with. They are still going to maximize revenue within reason in regards to the schedule.
Think of it this way. In economic terms, the decision to advertise is like a sunk cost ( or in this case a benefit). This amount of revenue is now in the bank and they have every incentive to still schedule like they always did. This pisses off fans to some extent. But not to the extent that it has had any monetary effects on the AD. The Big House will always sell out and I don't think donations have declined (relative to expectations given the economic crisis). Fans have no bearing on the scheduling process as most of the threats made are idle. The big donators, by and large, don't have the time to think about the scheduling dynamics of college football.
What kind of fisting are we talking about? A man's fist, or the girl of your dreams' fist? Are we talking just in and out once, or like a few minutes worth? How big of a fist? I don't think any fist would fit, but if the fist belonged to the girl of my dreams, and we're talking just in and out once or twice...I don't know.
how about the fist of Barwis until he tires of the fisting? We then can convalese before taking on the girl of our dreams.
No. That would be like eight days of fisting. Plus he's a man.
agree fully with you.
I've been to college football games in other stadiums that have advertising and promotions as part of the game day expereience and I don't want any part of it.
For example, I went to a Michigan-Northwestern game a few years back at Ryan Field and saw the football "delivered" to the field before the game as part of a UPS promotion. There was also a prominent United Airlines airplane balloon behind one of the endzones.
I live in Phoenix and have been to a couple of Arizona State football games. Their pregame ceremonies are dominated by advertising flashing from the scoreboards, rap music pounding out of loudspeakers and all sorts of promotional events. In sum, its not a very collegiate atmosphere and it brings together all the things about attending professional sporting events that I don't like, i.e. the constant noise during intermissions, breaks in play, etc.
I get to occasionally attend a game at Michign Stadium and I enjoy the fact that there's a certain low-key nature to it. When there's music playing, I know it comes from the Michigan Marching Band--and that's the way it should be. Keep in mind that once you bring in advertising signage to the stadium, that's also probably going to be accompanied by active promotional events and announcements before, during and after the game.
One other thing. If you really want to see Michigan play teams like Georgia or LSU or VT or Stanford as part of the regular season non-conference schedule, then you have to remove or alter two main obstacles.
The first is the scheduling agreement with Notre Dame going through 2031. Michigan--like most other major BCS programs--is only going to play one major opponent in its non-conference schedule per year. Unless there are scheduled breaks in the agreement with ND, that team is going to be the Irish for the next twenty-plus years.
The second factor is related to the first--the Bowl Championship Series. If you want to get into the BCS championship game, the best path to make it is to go undefeated. This is especially true for Big Ten teams as the BT has no conference championship game in football to bolsters a team's chances at the very end of the season and there have been no bye weeks in recent years (that may change as the conference extends its schedule to dates after Thanksgiving). It makes sense to schedule smart and to give your program a chance to go undefeated--that's why you don't see a program like Michigan playing more than one major non-conference program per year in the regular season.
It's an excellent question. I guess I would (begrudgingly) prefer a pristine Michigan Stadium filled with sub-par opponents, but...not by much.
There is a precedent in Michigan football history for scheduling weak home opponents. Between 1879 and 1933, Michigan lost only two season openers and posted shutouts in 42, including 15 consecutive between 1911 and 1925. Among the opponents were Case, Albion, the Detroit Athletic Club, and Ann Arbor High School.
Obviously, times have changed; data from the Teddy Roosevelt Football days can arguably be discarded as irrelevant. But that is Michigan football nonetheless.
There is no precedent for advertising within Michigan Stadium. I do not wish to see this change, no matter what on-field developments it might yield.
This is the point at which fans of other, less illustrious programs scratch their heads. Why, dear Michigan fans, are you not merely willing to sacrifice tradition for results, but eager to do so? If, say, Oklahoma State were faced with the scenario in which adding advertisements to their scoreboard would automatically yield a Top-10 Sugar Bowl season (I realize this is not how it works), I suspect they would do it without pause.
It's odd. I am 21 years old, an age at which traditions and community and history are at the nadir of relevance for so many. Some people call it Michigan Arrogance; some people say we are living in the past. But I don't think I'm alone--even amongst current students--in expressing just how important the tradition of Michigan football is. I suppose I feel that if we dilute or tarnish the past with stuff like piped-in rap metal or Pizza Hut Field at Michigan Stadium, then we have nothing truly meaningful onto which we can hold. Just my EPINION.
a mascot race featuring a blimpy burger, a quickie burger, a burrito from BTB, and a roofie from Rick's
too hasty in the "purity" of the Big House.
Think MBNA wigwams (or yurts) around the stadium and their free:
T-shirts
Blankets
Caps
The Bank of America "Maize Out" free t-shirt, which wasn't as day-glo maize as Adidas now provides us.
Washtenaw County Chevy (or Pontiac) dealers asking you to sign-up to win a free year of an Avalanche (or a Solstice), complete with t-shirt for lucky participants.
Pontiac is soon to be gone, so their large- and standard-drink cup advertising will be "up for grabs." And don't forget that there's a small band of advertising along the bottom of the scoreboard that is currently Pontiac.
As to the comments about one major non-conference program per year being scheduled, I guess ND isn't seen as a 21st century highest echelon opponent. 4 years on, 4 years off would have allowed a "new face" to appear at Michigan Stadium, as opposed to the same old engorged CW.
In sum, would the added revenues change scheduling? Not much, if at all, especially during the Bill Martin regime. But note that there is the Rich Rodriguez breath of fresh air, and scheduling could change. (The night game issue will have to wait. Maybe there's a revenue opp in that?)
I cannot remember the last time that I saw a Michigan football jersey without some form of advertisement on it. Football in the Big Ten ceased to be truly amateur a long time ago, and I would not have a problem with understated advertisements in the stadium (Think Rose Bowl presented by Citi).
that if we have night game (!!!) that we won't be able to see the advertisements? Also, black uniforms and lasers coming out of the players eyes.
should play nine home night games (!!!!!!!!!) against top ten opponents with the stadium filled with subliminal (so as not to be an eyesore) advertising. Then the athletic department would have enough money to afford laser beams (for players) and live wolverines (perhaps with laser beams)and we can all dress in black, but change into maize at halftime.
have to convince the other BCS level team to play a home & home... b/c they also make more money for NOT scheduling a Michigan.