BTN announces primetime schedule - Air Force and Michigan State games at night

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Hell yeah! A night game to open the stadium. I can't wait for the full day of festivities.
 

can't help but be excited, but was kind of hoping they would save the first night game at TCF for the big ten opener vs Wiscaaaansin. But o well it's going to be awesome, better have a flyover!
 



PlayHosea said:
Is it really a good idea to play a night game on Halloween?
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One of my favorite memories was going to the Indiana game back on Halloween in 1992. My cousin and I were 16. We went and bought tix from a 'scalper' (paid way under face value) and had seats right on the 30 yard line about 15 rows up. Gophers blew a 17-0 lead to lose 24-17 but afterwards everyone got to go on the field for a laser light show and the band/cheerleaders passed out candy/pop.
 


PlayHosea said:
Is it really a good idea to play a night game on Halloween?
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i think it is a great idea. if we are at 6 wins it could be a great environment, with all the fans dressed up. it would be a great warm-up for students halloween revelries. could be huge.
 

Halloween game should be super fun, especially since its at night. all day to get into the atmosphere and drinking all day will surely result in some hilarious costumes, can't wait!
 



It'll be fun and I'm looking forward to it, I'm just surprised the U is OK with it, since it's already a massive night for partying.
 

I am really excited for the Michigan State game for selfish reasons. This year due to the late Labor Day weekend and MEA being a week later for the high schools, I believe that Saturday will be the first round of high school playoffs. The team I coach will play an afternoon that game. I was worried I was going to have to give my tickets away... to my Grandpa who introduced me to Gopher Football and will be attending 9/12/09 with me vs Air Force!
 

I'm sorry, but this sucks.

I was so hoping that somebody with a national reach would pick up this game. New stadium, no coverage. If a recruit does not live in the BTN's small viewing area, they will not be able to see it. BTN's prime time numbers are terrible, very close to cable access. I'm exaggerating, but not by a ton. This might draw a few look-ins, but as soon as they show the B-roll footage, they will leave. I'm sorry to be a downer, but I could not picture a worse possible outcome.
 

re3886 said:
I was so hoping that somebody with a national reach would pick up this game. New stadium, no coverage. If a recruit does not live in the BTN's small viewing area, they will not be able to see it. BTN's prime time numbers are terrible, very close to cable access. I'm exaggerating, but not by a ton. This might draw a few look-ins, but as soon as they show the B-roll footage, they will leave. I'm sorry to be a downer, but I could not picture a worse possible outcome.
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No offense, but I think this is immensely short sighted. While I also wish that the 1st game at TCF were to get wider coverage it was not meant to be with the other games going on this day. Yes, that is another thing that will hurt how many people watch the game. I also wish that we weren't going head to head with OSU/USC. But you know what? I care more about getting to see that first game in TCF and all the hoopla that will go with it. But there will be plenty of opportunities for TCF to be shown widely to everyone, including recruits. Its a pretty safe bet that ESPN will feature something on TCF every time a game is on the Deuce, the 4-letter, or ABC. It will the overplayed Gopher storyline of every game, with tons of video/pictures and the announcers talking about how much they love it and how great it is for recruiting and yada yada. They'll show all sorts of behind the scenes footage and TCF will get plenty of exposure. We'll probably be sick of hearing about how great TCF is by the end of the season...ok, maybe not! ;)

I can easily picture a worse possible outcome. An 11am game on BTN. Same crappy coverage with a crappy kickoff time to boot. The U got this done so that the fans attending the game will get the best experience possible. That is where the focus should be and I'm glad they pulled it off. They put the fans over the "exposure" that the stadium will get plenty of anyway.
 



Maturi says start time was for fans at TCF

From the STrib: http://www.startribune.com/sports/g...cyaiUjc8LDyiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

Not that the Gophers are likely to draw a large TV audience outside of Minnesota. It's a regional BTN game, sharing the broadcast spot with Illinois State at Illinois. And both BTN games face stiff competition on a national level, playing opposite USC at Ohio State starting at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

None of that mattered to Maturi.

"It's awesome for our fans," he said of the start time. "I didn't want 11 a.m. for our first game, and this is a great time -- a beautiful part of the day where the sun will still be shining."​
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Maturi said the late start time will allow university officials to plan a full day of activities in conjunction with the first game at the on-campus, outdoor stadium. The Gophers, who have played in the Metrodome since 1982, will open the season Sept. 5 at Syracuse.
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"Now that we know the game time [for Air Force], our plans will become more definitive," Maturi said. "We've got a lot of things that are being planned that we can go ahead with now [because of the late start time]."​
As for opening the new stadium opposite a nationally televised game between USC and Ohio State, Maturi has no complaints. All that matters is the Gophers won't be playing at 11 a.m.
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"Right now, what concerns me is the Gophers, and our fans, and [the start time] is great for us," he said. "I'd be stunned if anyone with an affinity for this state, this stadium and this football program won't find a way to watch our football game."​

Like I said, this decision was made for the fans at the game which is where the focus should be during this first game. Hats off to the U for getting this done.
 

re3886 said:
I was so hoping that somebody with a national reach would pick up this game. New stadium, no coverage. If a recruit does not live in the BTN's small viewing area, they will not be able to see it. BTN's prime time numbers are terrible, very close to cable access. I'm exaggerating, but not by a ton. This might draw a few look-ins, but as soon as they show the B-roll footage, they will leave. I'm sorry to be a downer, but I could not picture a worse possible outcome.
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You do realize that the BTN is in 70 MILLION homes across the nation, right? This is NOT local access. Some of the top rated cable TV shows in Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan are Big Ten Network football telecasts - ranking ahead of ESPN's Monday Night Football or any other cable TV show on some occasions in those states. In 2007, the top rated cable TV show in both Wisconsin and Ohio was a football game on BTN...ahead of anything at any time on ESPN, TNT, TBS, USA, CNN, etc.

In addition, one would have to assume that this will be the BTN's marquee game of the opening day, and we could see their college football crew here that day, as well as that corny show they do on Fridays. Every little bit helps.

re3886 said:
I'm sorry to be a downer, but I could not picture a worse possible outcome.
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A worse outcome would have been what would likely have happened pre-BTN. Then, the game would have been put on a local syndication that would have hit about 7 states and gotten no viewers. Instead, it can hit big portions of the country and be seen by anyone who really wants to see it.

I mean, how soon we forget. In 2006, we had TWO non-conference games that were not on television ANYWHERE. The game at Kent State was an internet feed and the home game against Temple had NO TV AT ALL. The Big Ten conference game against Indiana in 2006 - internet feed only - NO TV! In 2004 - back-to-back conference games against Illinois and Indiana - NO TV AT ALL!

So, please, don't tell us that a PRIME TIME Big Ten Network game - accessible in 70 million homes - is the worst possible outcome.
 

This is good.

Obviously not the 2:30 slot on ESPN or ABC, but it sure as hell beats 11:00 AM on the BTN splitting coverage with 8 other games. That would have been 9 or 10 AM for a lot of Air Force fans.

Look at some of the other games that weekend! A lot of intersting match-ups are not going to be on television anywhere:

South Carolina at Georgia
Iowa at Iowa State
North Carolina at Connecticut
Notre Dame at Michigan
Stanford at Wake Forest
Syracuse at Penn State
TCU at Virginia
Pittsburgh at Buffalo
Hawaii at Washington State
Purdue at Oregon
UCLA at Tennessee
Vanderbilt at LSU
USC at Ohio State
Clemson at Georgia Tech
 

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