Packers inquiring about B-10 Championship

[Bisker82]

"The Green Bay Packers are interested in hosting a potential Big Ten conference championship game at Lambeau Field.

A team spokesman said the Packers have made preliminary contact with Big Ten officials to request information on hosting a new conference championship game, which will become possible after Nebraska leaves the Big 12 for the Big Ten."


http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/98556864.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUo8cyaiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

Saw this on the strib site. IMO, this shouldn't be considered by the B-10. It would take away from the collegiate feel of the game. On the other hand, alcohol would definitely be flowing freely!!

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

Saw this on the strib site. IMO, this shouldn't be considered by the B-10. It would take away from the collegiate feel of the game. On the other hand, alcohol would definitely be flowing freely!!

Where would you recommend that would maintain the "collegiate feel of the game"? Any Big Ten championship is going to definitely be in a neutral NFL stadium. Lambeau Field is actually probably the closest you'll come to having a collegiate style of stadium. It's outdoors, all bleachers and has tradition.

I wouldn't be opposed to a rotating schedule among NFL cities within the Big Ten footprint. (Mpls, Green Bay, Chicago, Indianapolis, Michigan, Cleveland). I'd leave Pittsburgh out because it's the home stadium for a different BCS team and I'd leave Philly and Cincy out because although they are in Big Ten states they aren't really Big Ten markets.

 

[RodentRampage]

Lets have it at the Metrodome! Then the Gophers can win the division, and have a warm reunion with the dome in the championship game. I imagine the dome could be rented for nearly nothing.

 

[auric@heart]

I really like the idea of Soldiers Field in Chicago for several reasons. Central to the Conference, a large metro population, Outdoors, a historic site, all the hotel space you could want.

I would rule out Indianapolis, its a dome.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Where would you recommend that would maintain the "collegiate feel of the game"? Any Big Ten championship is going to definitely be in a neutral NFL stadium. Lambeau Field is actually probably the closest you'll come to having a collegiate style of stadium. It's outdoors, all bleachers and has tradition.

I wouldn't be opposed to a rotating schedule among NFL cities within the Big Ten footprint. (Mpls, Green Bay, Chicago, Indianapolis, Michigan, Cleveland). I'd leave Pittsburgh out because it's the home stadium for a different BCS team and I'd leave Philly and Cincy out because although they are in Big Ten states they aren't really Big Ten markets.

I think a rotation is the way to go as well. When it's in the same city year after year, it becomes less exciting for the locals. But if it were in a different city every year, it would still be exciting for the people of that city, even if their favorite team is not playing.

 

[AhliBobwa]

I would rather the winner of the Big Ten hosted the championship game each year. If the two teams who win the right to go to the championship have equal Big Ten records, and have not played each other, the team who has gone the longest without winning a title would host.

 

[RodentRampage]

I think that divisions will be good for Minnesota. When the Big Ten allowed teams other than the champion to go to bowl games, that created some parity, teams could hang their hats on something. Now we will have a 1/6 chance of getting a title (a divisional title is still a title, even if it isn't as big as a conference title) as opposed to a 1/11 chance of a title.

On the other hand, it will eliminate the possibility of a shared title, and a shared title is still a title.

 

[Goldmember]

Lets have it at the Metrodome! Then the Gophers can win the division, and have a warm reunion with the dome in the championship game. I imagine the dome could be rented for nearly nothing.

There is no reason it shouldn't be at the Metrodome.

The only reason it may not be is that the Met. Sports Commission and the Vikings have purposely sabotaged efforts to host major events at the Metrodome over the last decade as part of the case they are building for the "community need for a new stadium".

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

There is no reason it shouldn't be at the Metrodome.

The only reason it may not be is that the Met. Sports Commission and the Vikings have purposely sabotaged efforts to host major events at the Metrodome over the last decade as part of the case they are building for the "community need for a new stadium".

Not that I'm doubting you but do you have any examples or proof to back this up?

 

[TAW]

Although is a special place and a game there would be cool, the logistics would be a nightmare. There are not enough hotel rooms and the airport is small. Lambeau would be a good choice if the B10 rotates the title game in a way that you are in GB once every 5-6 years; that way the novelty won't wear off.

If the game goes to a single venue, I think Soldier Field is the only choice. Good airports, good roads, lots of hotels, lots to do in town - you could go there year after year and never be bored.

 

[RodentRampage]

We'll see, it if the Big Ten decides to rotate the location, and the Metro Sports Commisson doesn't make a pitch for the Dome, that might be a bit suspicious.

 

[Goldmember]

We'll see, it if the Big Ten decides to rotate the location, and the Metro Sports Commisson doesn't make a pitch for the Dome, that might be a bit suspicious.

To me it's suspicious that they haven't already publicly lobbied to be a host. That is their their job, afterall. It's pretty obvious that they aren't doing it anymore. If they were, you would see articles in the paper talking about why the MSFC thinks the Metrodome would make a great site for the Big Ten CCG and how they intend to lobby to host.

Instead, we will hear about Lambeau, and we will probably even hear about the advantages of Miller Park hosting before we hear so much as a peep from the MSFC about the Metrodome.

 

[monk10]

Championship town with a Championship stadium coming from Championship teams with a Championship history. It is hard to argue against it .

 

[mplsbadger]

I really like the idea of Soldiers Field in Chicago for several reasons. Central to the Conference, a large metro population, Outdoors, a historic site, all the hotel space you could want.

I would rule out Indianapolis, its a dome.

+1 Soldier Field every year. Always outside, always in the middle of the conference, always within 75 miles of Notre Dame who can tune in on ABC.

 

[RodentRampage]

You could always attribute it to Minnesota humility. "Oh, they'd never want to have it here..." Well, sure they won't, if you don't try to sell them on it. It never really occurred to me to take it seriously, but you're right, even if it is a long shot, they should be making a pitch for it, it's their job.

 

[Goldmember]

I think a rotation is the way to go as well. When it's in the same city year after year, it becomes less exciting for the locals. But if it were in a different city every year, it would still be exciting for the people of that city, even if their favorite team is not playing.

This is why I hope they do a rotation. Certainly, Chicago should host more regularly than anyone else - but a Big Ten CCG would be a chance to bring a big college football game to a lot of northern venues that will never host a bowl game - giving the game a lot of exposure. This is an event that Chicago, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Green Bay (and I would think even New York and Philly) should be bidding for regularly.

 

[highwayman]

I think a rotation is the way to go as well. When it's in the same city year after year, it becomes less exciting for the locals. But if it were in a different city every year, it would still be exciting for the people of that city, even if their favorite team is not playing.

I really like the idea of Soldiers Field in Chicago for several reasons. Central to the Conference, a large metro population, Outdoors, a historic site, all the hotel space you could want.

I would rule out Indianapolis, its a dome.

Where would you recommend that would maintain the "collegiate feel of the game"? Any Big Ten championship is going to definitely be in a neutral NFL stadium. Lambeau Field is actually probably the closest you'll come to having a collegiate style of stadium. It's outdoors, all bleachers and has tradition.

I wouldn't be opposed to a rotating schedule among NFL cities within the Big Ten footprint. (Mpls, Green Bay, Chicago, Indianapolis, Michigan, Cleveland). I'd leave Pittsburgh out because it's the home stadium for a different BCS team and I'd leave Philly and Cincy out because although they are in Big Ten states they aren't really Big Ten markets.

Championship town with a Championship stadium coming from Championship teams with a Championship history. It is hard to argue against it .

This is why I hope they do a rotation. Certainly, Chicago should host more regularly than anyone else - but a Big Ten CCG would be a chance to bring a big college football game to a lot of northern venues that will never host a bowl game - giving the game a lot of exposure. This is an event that Chicago, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Green Bay (and I would think even New York and Philly) should be bidding for regularly.

I'm going to try and take this all on at once.

1) The Big Ten is never going to rotate this game on a yearly basis. You might see two sites, like the basketball tournament.
2) One of them is NOT going to be Green Bay. Too far north, too cold, in the middle of nowhere transportation-wise and not enough hotel space. I'm not trying to be anti-Packer, this is a fact. You have two sets of visiting fans coming in--not enough space.
3) The game will not be outdoors. As hard as that might be to stomach, this is a national TV event. The conference does not want a game in the middle of December played in 0 degree weather with snow. Think of how big of a joke the future NY Super Bowl is going to be.
4) The sites will be "centrally" located for travel purposes, or near a MAJOR air hub.
5) A new, state of the art stadium is required.
6) That leaves us two spots, and two spots only: Indianapolis and Detroit.

Simple as that. I have no doubts.

 

[howeda7]

I'm going to try and take this all on at once.

1) The Big Ten is never going to rotate this game on a yearly basis. You might see two sites, like the basketball tournament.
2) One of them is NOT going to be Green Bay. Too far north, too cold, in the middle of nowhere transportion-wise and not enough hotel space. I'm not trying to be anti-Packer, this is a fact. You have two sets of visiting fans coming in--not enough space.
3) The game will not be outdoors. As hard as that might be to stomach, this is a national TV event. The conference does not want a game in the middle of December played in 0 degree weather with snow. Think of how big of a joke the future NY Super Bowl is going to be.
4) The sites will be "centrally" located for travel purposes, or near a MAJOR air hub.
5) A new, state of the art stadium is required.
6) That leaves us two spots, and two spots only: Indianapolis and Detroit.

Simple as that. I have no doubts.

I tend to agree. While I personally think an outdoor game would be great and makes for good TV (remember that NE/Oakland play-off game) the suits will feel differently. Maturi has already all but said it will be played indoors.

Currently that pretty much limits it to Indy and Detroit. MSP can be in the mix, but only with a new Vikings stadium.

For those claiming the MSFC is 'sabotaging' efforts to bring events there, give me a break. They've had the NCAA there as recently as 2009. But it's hard to bid for events far in the future when you can't guarantee what is happening to the stadium. If the Vikings stay and rebuild on the site, you might be in the middle of construction when the event occurs. If they leave, the Dome may be shuttered in sort order. Therefore, they're pretty much limited to bidding on events that are no more then 2 years out. They tried to get another Final Four, but the age of the builing combined with uncertainty of it made the NCAA say no thanks. I can almost guarantee that if a new stadium is built they will get a Final Four within the first 10 years. Hopefully the Big 10 doesn't lock into any long-term arrangements with Indy and/or Detroit and will allow MSP to get into the rotation once the stadium is built.

 

[GopherGod]

I'm going to try and take this all on at once.

1) The Big Ten is never going to rotate this game on a yearly basis. You might see two sites, like the basketball tournament.
2) One of them is NOT going to be Green Bay. Too far north, too cold, in the middle of nowhere transportion-wise and not enough hotel space. I'm not trying to be anti-Packer, this is a fact. You have two sets of visiting fans coming in--not enough space.
3) The game will not be outdoors. As hard as that might be to stomach, this is a national TV event. The conference does not want a game in the middle of December played in 0 degree weather with snow. Think of how big of a joke the future NY Super Bowl is going to be.
4) The sites will be "centrally" located for travel purposes, or near a MAJOR air hub.
5) A new, state of the art stadium is required.
6) That leaves us two spots, and two spots only: Indianapolis and Detroit.

Simple as that. I have no doubts.

I agree with you that I think it is unlikely that this game will be played outdoors. I would love to hear the Big 10 coaches opinions on this but I would imagine that more than a few of them are not going to want the biggest game in the conference on national television to be played in a blizzard. Recruits nationwide are going to be watching this game and you don't want possibly their first exposure with the Big 10 to be a blizzard, especially with our southern recruits.

 

[Art Vandelay]

I really like the idea of Soldiers Field in Chicago for several reasons. Central to the Conference, a large metro population, Outdoors, a historic site, all the hotel space you could want.

I would rule out Indianapolis, its a dome.

Lucas Oil Stadium has a retractable roof.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

I'm going to try and take this all on at once.

1) The Big Ten is never going to rotate this game on a yearly basis. You might see two sites, like the basketball tournament.
2) One of them is NOT going to be Green Bay. Too far north, too cold, in the middle of nowhere transportion-wise and not enough hotel space. I'm not trying to be anti-Packer, this is a fact. You have two sets of visiting fans coming in--not enough space.
3) The game will not be outdoors. As hard as that might be to stomach, this is a national TV event. The conference does not want a game in the middle of December played in 0 degree weather with snow. Think of how big of a joke the future NY Super Bowl is going to be.
4) The sites will be "centrally" located for travel purposes, or near a MAJOR air hub.
5) A new, state of the art stadium is required.
6) That leaves us two spots, and two spots only: Indianapolis and Detroit.

Simple as that. I have no doubts.

I agree that GB will not happen. I disagree about CHicago though. It's the biggest city in the Midwest, the HQ of the conference, has the most corporate $$ and weather wise we're talking about the first week of December, not the middle of January. Big Ten teams will be playing outdoor home games just 7 days prior. It's hardly a guarantee that it will be 0 degrees and snowing.

 

[GopherGod]

I agree that GB will not happen. I disagree about CHicago though. It's the biggest city in the Midwest, the HQ of the conference, has the most corporate $$ and weather wise we're talking about the first week of December, not the middle of January. Big Ten teams will be playing outdoor home games just 7 days prior. It's hardly a guarantee that it will be 0 degrees and snowing.

Agreed, but why would the conference even want to risk it? I would love watching a game at Soldier regardless of the temp, but doubt the conference and many of the coaches will see it that way.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

Agreed, but why would the conference even want to risk it? I would love watching a game at Soldier regardless of the temp, but doubt the conference and many of the coaches will see it that way.

Would bad weather really affect the television audience? At most it would affect the attendence but most of the money from a conference championship game will come from media rights.

 

[GopherGod]

Would bad weather really affect the television audience? At most it would affect the attendence but most of the money from a conference championship game will come from media rights.

Bad weather could potentially have a negative impact on recruiting for these schools however, which is why I think that more than a few coaches would be opposed to having it outdoors. If you are a coach in the Big 10 and already have to fight the perception and negative recruiting from southern programs about the weather here are you going to want a southern recruit to possibly see the teams playing in a snowstorm? In regards to the possible economic impacts of bad weather to the conference, I don't know. I do know however that the possibility of bad weather was one of the main issues cited by the Big 12 conference when they started campaigning to move their conference championship game permanently to Dallas.

 

[Section2]

I don't disagree with the reasoning in this thread, but I think it will be a mistake to play indoors. I don't know why there would be a big dollar difference. This is early december not january. A snow game would be great for recruits, it doesn't get any more fun and cool looking than snow games.

 

[Section2]

Bad weather could potentially have a negative impact on recruiting for these schools however, which is why I think that more than a few coaches would be opposed to having it outdoors. If you are a coach in the Big 10 and already have to fight the perception and negative recruiting from southern programs about the weather here are you going to want a southern recruit to possibly see the teams playing in a snowstorm? In regards to the possible economic impacts of bad weather to the conference, I don't know. I do know however that the possibility of bad weather was one of the main issues cited by the Big 12 conference when they started campaigning to move their conference championship game permanently to Dallas.

We play half our games in crisp to cold weather. We can't hide what we are, let's celebrate it and enjoy fall weather in the midwest.

 

[Unregistered User]

Good point about the recruiting angle. I had not thought of that.

And there is a big difference between the fabulous fall days in Minnesota and mid December in Chicago.

 

[jovs]

We play half our games in crisp to cold weather. We can't hide what we are, let's celebrate it and enjoy fall weather in the midwest.

I would agree with you if the game was scheduled for late October or early November. Hosting the game outdoors in Mid December in Green Bay or Chicago for that matter is a risk at best. It could be perfect 40 degree weather or it could be 0 degrees. This is a huge difference that would impact perception and i believe utlimately recruiting for the Big Ten.

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

Good point about the recruiting angle. I had not thought of that.

And there is a big difference between the fabulous fall days in Minnesota and mid December in Chicago.

The latest the game will be is December 7th

Average and Records on Chicago

 

[RodentRampage]

If we're going to hold a game in the sterile confines of a dome, it might as well be the Metrodome. Almost as good as the Metrobowl! If we're going to avoid an outdoor game because of the weather, there's no place in the Big Ten states that we can count on to have good weather.