BTN's Tom Dienhart: Friday football? There are 'lots of possibilities' for Big Ten

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Dienhart:

ESPN currently airs games on Friday nights, but they typically are unappealing contests from lesser leagues. San Jose State vs. Utah State doesn’t really move the needle, if you know what I mean.

The Big Ten could step in and own Friday night. Make it the league’s own: “Friday Night Big Ten Football.” Get a title sponsor. Write a theme song. Hire an A-team announcing crew. Lots of possibilities.

The kicker: EVERY Big Ten school has to take part. That means Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Nebraska have to play a Friday night home game. You can’t make Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue and the like play more than once at home on a Friday night. If the entire league is going to benefit from a Friday night package, then the entire league has to accommodate and be flexible.

http://btn.com/2014/02/25/friday-night-football-there-are-lots-of-possibilities/

Go Gophers!!
 

I know people that are really in to high school football will absolutely hate this, but I could get down with it. I could see it appealing to students. I always thought Friday night home hockey games were an awesome way to kick off the weekend, I probably would have thought the same of Friday night football games.
 

As a guy with a son playing high school football, this could mean I'd miss my first ever TCF Bank Stadium Gopher game.
 

I would HATE this idea. Part of the reason we love Gopher football games so much is the togetherness from early AM at the tailgate, through the game, and finishing with a tailgate/bar hop around Dinkytown. Thursday for the first game of the year already makes us miss one wonderful Saturday, and I don't know if I can miss another!!
 

Gopherocious said:
I would HATE this idea. Part of the reason we love Gopher football games so much is the togetherness from early AM at the tailgate, through the game, and finishing with a tailgate/bar hop around Dinkytown. Thursday for the first game of the year already makes us miss one wonderful Saturday, and I don't know if I can miss another!!
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Basketball used to be always on Saturday also. Now everyone just accepts half of them on Sunday. I'm sure the same will happen with Football.

My guess would be every team plays once on Friday. That's seven weeks of programming. That's one home Friday game every other year.
 


Horrible idea.

The reason why they stick Utah State-San Jose State on Friday nights is because Friday is the worst TV night of the week. People go out on Friday nights. Ohio State-Purdue might draw better ratings than a Mountain West Conference game, but it still won't draw good ratings.
 

Jike Spingleton said:
Ohio State-Purdue might draw better ratings than a Mountain West Conference game, but it still won't draw good ratings.
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Air Force-Boise (2.0m) outdrew Vanderbilt-South Carolina, Mississippi State-Auburn, Iowa-Iowa State

Boise State-Fresno (2.2m) outdrew Arizona State-Stanford, San Jose State-Minnesota (638K), Purdue-Wisconsin

UCF-Louisville (2.22m) outdrew Oklahoma-Kansas, Oregon State-Cal, Minnesota-Northwestern

USC-Oregon State (1.77m) outdrew Auburn-Arkansas, Clemson-Virginia

Washington-UCLA (1.74m) outdrew Indiana-Wisconsin, Iowa State-Oklahoma

Bowling Green-Northern Illinois (1.87m) outdrew Arizona State-Stanford
 

Not a fan of the idea. Seven weeks of games would start in September unless they lift the November night game rule. I would never be able to attend unless we go a game on MEA Friday.

One Friday night game will have better ratings that a bunch of Saturday games on at the same time.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
One Friday night game will have better ratings that a bunch of Saturday games on at the same time.
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The average rating of a Friday night college game during the regular season (excluding holiday weekends) was 1.43 - on any given Saturday, there are 8-10 games that draw better, despite there being way more viewing options. The ones that don't are almost always on ESPN2, ESPNU or FS1. The ceiling for Friday night games is limited, and hardly worth the reward, IMO.
 



With the addition of Rutgers and Maryland, there will 14 Big ten games some non-conference weeks. Bumping two Non-conference to Friday and one weekly conference game would work for me.
 

Jike Spingleton said:
The average rating of a Friday night college game during the regular season (excluding holiday weekends) was 1.43 - on any given Saturday, there are 8-10 games that draw better, despite there being way more viewing options. The ones that don't are almost always on ESPN2, ESPNU or FS1. The ceiling for Friday night games is limited, and hardly worth the reward, IMO.
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Well your data is going to be skewed. Look at who, on average, plays the Friday night games. They're mostly west coast teams or low tier teams. They historically I not going to draw well nationally due to late start times and uninterested people in the football crazy hot beds and out east. Those are a recipe for disaster. You get some actual powers with normally large drawing crowds/networks and you will see the averages rise.
 

upnorthkid said:
Well your data is going to be skewed. Look at who, on average, plays the Friday night games. They're mostly west coast teams or low tier teams. They historically I not going to draw well nationally due to late start times and uninterested people in the football crazy hot beds and out east. Those are a recipe for disaster. You get some actual powers with normally large drawing crowds/networks and you will see the averages rise.
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Exactly my original point - Big Ten games might draw better than Mountain West games, but on Friday nights, they will still draw poorly. Friday night TV does not work. If ESPN wants to make Thursday night a Big Ten night - I'm still not a fan of the idea - but at least it would make some sense.
 

The only Friday this would work in Minnesota would be the Friday of the Education Minnesota conference. No high school football that day (except for a couple private school games).
 



Ski U Mah Gopher said:
The only Friday this would work in Minnesota would be the Friday of the Education Minnesota conference. No high school football that day (except for a couple private school games).
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They'll get people to watch the games any day. But if they want high school kids to watch the games. They might miss out by doing it on Friday.

What is the main demographic they want anyway? If it is me, they should have every game on Thursday or friday. Because I live in China and have Friday and Saturday off. So I can stay up late or wake up super early and catch every game. But I bet my demographic is not the target.

Sent from my MUCH i5 using Tapatalk
 



Jike Spingleton said:
Exactly my original point - Big Ten games might draw better than Mountain West games, but on Friday nights, they will still draw poorly. Friday night TV does not work. If ESPN wants to make Thursday night a Big Ten night - I'm still not a fan of the idea - but at least it would make some sense.
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I'm not sure that I follow this line of thinking. The Big Ten game would be the premier sporting event on Friday. It's not only home viewership that would be up, but just about every bar that has TV's would also be tuned in.
 

RodentRampage said:
Yes, but an hour later, you're hungry - no, starving - for more football.
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citizen-kane-clapping.jpg
 

Just remember - the infamous Michigan "4th-quarter collapse" game was on a Friday night. I never want to see the Gophers play another game on a
Friday night.
 

Selfishly, this idea blows. We would have to miss a game or a day of work, which isn't possible for my wife since we have stupid-a$$ Thursday games now.
 

I wouldnt mind it. Considering its at most once a year and would only be a home game every other year. From a BIG14 standpoint Im much more likely to watch a Purdue vs Michigan game (or whoever) on a Friday night rather than a Saturday @ 3pm after the Gopher game. And in the end the conference is most worried about what? Exposure.

Just my $0.02
 

Friday night football in the B1G = Really bad idea....and will never happen, unless another anchor tenant in the Gophers stadium happens to need the facility on an autumn Saturday when the Gophers have a scheduled home game (ahem...remember the Twins playoff game in the Dome a decade or so ago?), thereby booting the football Gophers to a Friday night time slot instead.

Glen Mason and Lloyd Carr were none too happy about that late switch to Friday night...and the infringement upon the sacred high school football time slot...
 

RochesterGopher said:
I wouldnt mind it. Considering its at most once a year and would only be a home game every other year. From a BIG14 standpoint Im much more likely to watch a Purdue vs Michigan game (or whoever) on a Friday night rather than a Saturday @ 3pm after the Gopher game. And in the end the conference is most worried about what? Exposure.

Just my $0.02
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Agreed.
 

dinkything said:
Friday night football in the B1G = Really bad idea....and will never happen, unless another anchor tenant in the Gophers stadium happens to need the facility on an autumn Saturday when the Gophers have a scheduled home game (ahem...remember the Twins playoff game in the Dome a decade or so ago?), thereby booting the football Gophers to a Friday night time slot instead.

Glen Mason and Lloyd Carr were none too happy about that late switch to Friday night...and the infringement upon the sacred high school football time slot...
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Were you drunk when you wrote this?
 


Hate this idea and would not support it. Football was invented as a college sport to be played on Saturday.
 


bleedsmaroonandgold said:
We really need the admins to figure out the tailgating situation if they do this.
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Just another reason why it won't happen. The U can't be the only school that uses tailgate lots as regular lots on schooldays. If a non conference game over Labor Day weekend caused problems, I'd hate to imagine what hassled a Friday night game against Iowa would cause on midterms week in October.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
Hate this idea and would not support it. Football was invented as a college sport to be played on Saturday.
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I don't like it either.

I'm a traditionalist, and one of the things about football which always most appealed to me from NFL on down were how the various levels tried to take care of each other and watch each others back, and thus the NFL traditionally would not schedule Saturday games (until December anyway, after the college football regular season had wrapped up) so as not to infringe upon the college game, and how college football (again, traditionally) steered away from Friday nights, so as not to take away nor detract attention from high school ball. I loved that sense of comradery and brotherhood and spirit of 'Hey, we're all in this together, so let's take care of each other'.

As has been noted, that unspoken agreement has been violated in recent years with some college programs and conferences electing to play on Friday nights, but that still doesn't mean that they should do so, at least in my opinion. In other words, just because some are choosing to do that, it doesn't make it right, and obviously, it's all about television and the pursuit the almighty dollar, and if that happens to be to the detriment of high school football, well then hey, let's not think about that too much, lest it might really tend to weigh.

If some mickey mouse conferences and joke programs choose to money-grub and play for that Friday night dollar, then let them, but we are the Big Ten, and should be way, way, way far above and beyond that.
 

dont f with tailgate saturday.. thats a one way ticket to buzz kill city especially to us 9 to 5ers
 

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