App vs ECU getting bumped

[booneboy92]

I don't know what schools like UNC or USC (when they played in Charlotte on Thursday) have done in the past, but I think a Thursday night, neutral site game definitely warrants academic scheduling changes (i.e. cancelling classes), especially for ECU students. UTK did it when we played them at home. The admins at both institutions have more than enough time to plan for this!

They cancelled for the Basketball Game last night, feel certain they'll do the same for football.

Seriously?!... for a home b’ball game?! I hope you’re being sarcastic! What I was getting at was cancelling in order for students to be able to get to Charlotte in time to tailgate, etc. before the game. I’m not condoning shutting school down for on campus home games (although it would help with the logistics like parking/tailgating for one weeknight home football game a season). For this thread though, I’m just trying to promote student attendance at a neutral site, on a weeknight. If they did indeed cancel yesterday, are you sure it wasn’t weather related, and not for the b’ball game? I’m not showing preferential treatment for football. There’s just a lot more to consider (number of attendees, etc.) than for b’ball games...

[asucrutch23]

For any season ticket holders worried about the price, remember this game will be part of our season ticket package (and contractually ECU's as well, interestingly). If you already buy season tickets, you'll have them for this game.

So, there'll be 7 games included in the 2021 season ticket package? If so, I'd expect the cost to be increased unless we're being tossed a bone...

Yeah it'll be higher. They're not going to keep season tickets at the same cost with an extra game. I'm just saying for people who already buy season tickets, the ECU game will be included, likely at a lower cost than is listed on the game contract.

[Yosef84]

I don't know what schools like UNC or USC (when they played in Charlotte on Thursday) have done in the past, but I think a Thursday night, neutral site game definitely warrants academic scheduling changes (i.e. cancelling classes), especially for ECU students. UTK did it when we played them at home. The admins at both institutions have more than enough time to plan for this!

They cancelled for the Basketball Game last night, feel certain they'll do the same for football.

Seriously?!... for a home b’ball game?! I hope you’re being sarcastic! What I was getting at was cancelling in order for students to be able to get to Charlotte in time to tailgate, etc. before the game. I’m not condoning shutting school down for on campus home games (although it would help with the logistics like parking/tailgating for one weeknight home football game a season). For this thread though, I’m just trying to promote student attendance at a neutral site, on a weeknight. If they did indeed cancel yesterday, are you sure it wasn’t weather related, and not for the b’ball game? I’m not showing preferential treatment for football. There’s just a lot more to consider (number of attendees, etc.) than for b’ball games...

There is a lot more justification for cancelling for an ON campus event like a week night football game than for an off campus event. On campus events cause major logistical challenges for traffic and parking whereas cancelling purely to allow students to travel and attend is kind of a hard sell to the academic side. I'm sure plenty of professors will make allowances.

[AppinVA]

I’m all for cancelling for on-campus events, but I’d need a lot more convincing to be in favor of cancelling class for an event two hours away.

[mike87]

I was actually taking a jab at them canceling some classes for 3" of snow yesterday. They didn't cancel for a basketball game.

[bcoach]

Play games in the stadium of the home team on Saturdays. Problem solved.

[booneboy92]

I was actually taking a jab at them canceling some classes for 3" of snow yesterday. They didn't cancel for a basketball game.

Lol... I’m with ya all the way man! In my 4.5 years, the only weather that disrupted classes was Hurricane Hugo... and we had boocoos more snow and ice back then!

[booneboy92]

I’m all for cancelling for on-campus events, but I’d need a lot more convincing to be in favor of cancelling class for an event two hours away.

I guess I’m looking at this game a little differently than most away from Boone... 1st of the season, renewed rivalry, NFL stadium... Now that it’s been moved to Thursday, with attendance sure to suffer, I just think both schools should do everything they can to put butts in seats.
Obviously it will be a tougher trip to make from Greenville than Boone. Also, I agree with the post that some (hopefully most) profs will show mercy...

[AppinVA]

I’m all for cancelling for on-campus events, but I’d need a lot more convincing to be in favor of cancelling class for an event two hours away.

I guess I’m looking at this game a little differently than most away from Boone... 1st of the season, renewed rivalry, NFL stadium... Now that it’s been moved to Thursday, with attendance sure to suffer, I just think both schools should do everything they can to put butts in seats.
Obviously it will be a tougher trip to make from Greenville than Boone. Also, I agree with the post that some (hopefully most) profs will show mercy...

Don’t get me wrong. If I had a class at that time, my butt would be in Charlotte — and I’d drop any professor whose syllabus showed anything other than having regular class that night — but that would and should be my decision.

[NewApp]

Amen, Appin V.

[t4pizza]

I didn't like the idea of this game in the Panthers stadium when it was announced simply because I would rather watch App at the Rock if I am going to have to travel from Florida to NC. Now, I really don't like this idea. I would be surprised if the stadium is anywhere close to capacity, especially if ECU has another crap year next year with nothing to look forward to the next season. No way those Pirates are going to want to come to Charlotte to see App kick their butts, especially on a Thursday night. We should just play this game at the Rock. I am still really disappointed in the contract that we signed that didn't appropriately protect our interests (from what I have been informed of to this point in time). The other teams that Clemson and UGA are paying get million plus dollar buyouts and we get moved to Thursday night. Yeah, it sure sounds like we screwed that contract negotiations up a bit.

[Rick83]

I really don't understand the negativity surrounding this special game in Charlotte. I can easily make this game and it's also in the epicenter of our alumni base...so that's going to true for lots of others as well. Playing a 7th regular season home game in Boone on Labor Day weekend no less (meaning the students would most likely be gone) would not be a well attended game either. I'd much rather have this game in Charlotte than playing some other team on the road that I can't easily get to or postponing this first game in our 4 game series with ECU way down the road...
The move to Thursday night isn't great but the bright side is that it'll be cooler and it might get picked up for national TV.
I imagine that this game being played in the Panther's stadium has been discussed by recruiters as a big positive, fun thing to do.
As for the contract, I've not read it and I've never tried to schedule a football season with all of its moving parts, but my perception is that this was a special game that involves other parties (the Charlotte Sports Council and BofA Stadium) so it wasn't just a deal between us and ECU like is normally the case. It was a privilege and special treat to play the game at BofA and we had little to no power over those other groups. I considered it an honor and recognition of what our program has become that the Charlotte and BofA people even considered us for this...that's how I see it.

[t4pizza]

Just because we may not have the same strength at the negotiating table is no reason not to insure that we don't get screwed by having the game moved. Clearly the stadium wanted us to play there (recognized that they could make some money) or they wouldn't have agreed to it in the first place. You can't ever go into negotiations thinking that you are getting a gift just for being allowed to sit at the same table, when you do that you get screwed (not saying that is what happened here, I am talking about in general). There really is no reason I can think of that we wouldn't have protected ourselves better other than lack of experience in dealing with third party locations for games and all the unknowns that come from that situation. Hopefully it is a big learning experience and it doesn't happen again.

[mike87]

Is it rare that a couple G5's get a game in a NFL stadium? Before i sign on to the "we got screwed" chorus, which is where I want to go with this, I'm curious if we should have higher expectations.

[Mjohn1988]

I didn't like the idea of this game in the Panthers stadium when it was announced simply because I would rather watch App at the Rock if I am going to have to travel from Florida to NC. Now, I really don't like this idea. I would be surprised if the stadium is anywhere close to capacity, especially if ECU has another crap year next year with nothing to look forward to the next season. No way those Pirates are going to want to come to Charlotte to see App kick their butts, especially on a Thursday night. We should just play this game at the Rock. I am still really disappointed in the contract that we signed that didn't appropriately protect our interests (from what I have been informed of to this point in time). The other teams that Clemson and UGA are paying get million plus dollar buyouts and we get moved to Thursday night. Yeah, it sure sounds like we screwed that contract negotiations up a bit.

Both schools have a lot of fans in and around Charlotte. The attendance will have a lot to do with how each team does in 2020. I expect the game to be well attended. We should play all the N.C. schools we can, in any stadium we can get. I’m a big fan of this game.

[NewApp]

I didn't like the idea of this game in the Panthers stadium when it was announced simply because I would rather watch App at the Rock if I am going to have to travel from Florida to NC. Now, I really don't like this idea. I would be surprised if the stadium is anywhere close to capacity, especially if ECU has another crap year next year with nothing to look forward to the next season. No way those Pirates are going to want to come to Charlotte to see App kick their butts, especially on a Thursday night. We should just play this game at the Rock. I am still really disappointed in the contract that we signed that didn't appropriately protect our interests (from what I have been informed of to this point in time). The other teams that Clemson and UGA are paying get million plus dollar buyouts and we get moved to Thursday night. Yeah, it sure sounds like we screwed that contract negotiations up a bit.

Both schools have a lot of fans in and around Charlotte. The attendance will have a lot to do with how each team does in 2020. I expect the game to be well attended. We should play all the N.C. schools we can, in any stadium we can get. I’m a big fan of this game.

Depends on what you mean by "well attended." It's a big stadium of course. You can expect the TV shots of the stands to be aimed low.

[Rick83]

Just because we may not have the same strength at the negotiating table is no reason not to insure that we don't get screwed by having the game moved. Clearly the stadium wanted us to play there (recognized that they could make some money) or they wouldn't have agreed to it in the first place. You can't ever go into negotiations thinking that you are getting a gift just for being allowed to sit at the same table, when you do that you get screwed (not saying that is what happened here, I am talking about in general). There really is no reason I can think of that we wouldn't have protected ourselves better other than lack of experience in dealing with third party locations for games and all the unknowns that come from that situation. Hopefully it is a big learning experience and it doesn't happen again.

My understanding is that there was a $500K cancellation fee that we would be due if the Charlotte Sports Foundation cancelled the game.
Unless you were in the room and engaged in the back and forth discussions there is no way to know if a better deal was attainable. I have been in plenty of negotiations where the other party simply just walked away. And also, I've been the one to walk unless the overall package put my company in a better position. The Charlotte Sports Foundation has many options available for them for their annual college football kick-off game. I still consider it an honor to have received the invitation from them. This past year it was North Carolina vs South Carolina, this coming year I believe it's Wake Forest vs. Notre Dame.

We are lucky to have Doug Gillin, and although he's not perfect, I would stack him up against any other AD in the G5 world and let's throw some P5 ADs in their as well.
This ECU game in Charlotte (which is home to a ton of ECU fans as well) is our money game for 2021 since we are the designated home team and consequently will receive the bulk of the ticket sale revenue (and any TV which would probably fall under the Sun Belt revenue sharing agreement). We have to play at Miami as the return game for the H&H for when they came to Boone. So, our other option would have been to do another P5 money road game. I much prefer this type of game to another P5 road game especially in a year that's going to have a lot of newbies on offense.
So, I will maintain my excitement for this opportunity to see our Mountaineers play in an NFL stadium.

[t4pizza]

You are right, I wasn't in the meetings but if we allowed for the sums of money that we were due to receive based on a cancellation (changing the date is a cancellation of the original date) to be awarded to the other team than we did not protect our interests. I am glad we are playing the game, I would rather it be on Saturday and I would rather it be at the Rock but neither of those personal feelings of mine matter at all. I do not think that being allowed to play at the Panther's stadium is a big enough deal that it makes it justifiable to not protect your own pecuniary interests. Having this game moved from Saturday to Thursday night will effect our pecuniary interests because the crowd will not be as large. If we can't protect our pecuniary interests in contracts than I don't think we should sign them. Again, hopefully the lessons have been learned and we won't have this issue in the future (or there really isn't an issue because we are getting financial compensation that hasn't been reported yet).

[Mjohn1988]

I didn't like the idea of this game in the Panthers stadium when it was announced simply because I would rather watch App at the Rock if I am going to have to travel from Florida to NC. Now, I really don't like this idea. I would be surprised if the stadium is anywhere close to capacity, especially if ECU has another crap year next year with nothing to look forward to the next season. No way those Pirates are going to want to come to Charlotte to see App kick their butts, especially on a Thursday night. We should just play this game at the Rock. I am still really disappointed in the contract that we signed that didn't appropriately protect our interests (from what I have been informed of to this point in time). The other teams that Clemson and UGA are paying get million plus dollar buyouts and we get moved to Thursday night. Yeah, it sure sounds like we screwed that contract negotiations up a bit.

Both schools have a lot of fans in and around Charlotte. The attendance will have a lot to do with how each team does in 2020. I expect the game to be well attended. We should play all the N.C. schools we can, in any stadium we can get. I’m a big fan of this game.

Depends on what you mean by "well attended." It's a big stadium of course. You can expect the TV shots of the stands to be aimed low.

If we can keep thing rolling and ECU can improve I’m thinking 50 to 60 thousand. That said the game will need to be advertised well. There are many many folks who would go to this game who have no clue it’s scheduled.

[Rick83]

You are right, I wasn't in the meetings but if we allowed for the sums of money that we were due to receive based on a cancellation (changing the date is a cancellation of the original date) to be awarded to the other team than we did not protect our interests. I am glad we are playing the game, I would rather it be on Saturday and I would rather it be at the Rock but neither of those personal feelings of mine matter at all. I do not think that being allowed to play at the Panther's stadium is a big enough deal that it makes it justifiable to not protect your own pecuniary interests. Having this game moved from Saturday to Thursday night will effect our pecuniary interests because the crowd will not be as large. If we can't protect our pecuniary interests in contracts than I don't think we should sign them. Again, hopefully the lessons have been learned and we won't have this issue in the future (or there really isn't an issue because we are getting financial compensation that hasn't been reported yet).

Our contract with ECU was a separate deal as part of a 4 game series...so again you have to look at the entire package. Also, Charlotte/Meck has the largest concentration of App grads, I believe, and the idea of this game was to bring an opportunity for grads that might not be driving up the mountain regularly, or at all, to see the team play in their backyard.
Finally, we still have our 6 regular season home games in Boone, and we're likely to challenge again for the championship game so, if this game was moved to Boone, that's potentially 8 games to ask people to drive up to Boone for. I would absolutely do that, but a lot wouldn't. So this game in Charlotte is kind of an "out-reach" opportunity for casual fans to get engaged in the program.
If we moved the game to Boone, on a holiday weekend, with 6 other games and maybe 7, to get up the mountain for...I'm not sure we'd net as much as we will in Charlotte, who's also going to draw a ton of ECU fans in the area....we get the bulk of the net proceeds from the ticket sales. The other alternative would be to push this "home" game to Boone down the road 5 to 10 years later and then try to book a P5 road money game.
I think this game is going to be awesome, would prefer Saturday, but I'll take Thursday night.