Just interesting

I feel bad for the MAC teams rarely getting to play at home on a Saturday. I love my Saturday home games.

BUTCH1991 wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 07, 2026 12:20 pm

I feel bad for the MAC teams rarely getting to play at home on a Saturday. I love my Saturday home games.

If were not for weekday games, some of these teams would never be on television.

I’ll trade a lower TV payout to have more Saturday games.

If you are a non Power 2 and you don't have weeknight games....it is probably a sign of not being a very popular brand/program. IT IS A CURSE AND A COMPLIMENT TO BE ON WEEKNIGHT GAMES.

Interesting how ODU, the new darling of the SBC, only drew one non-Saturday game this season.

La Tech only has Saturday games. I guess they want to keep a low profile during their first year returning to the Sunbelt.

Bootsy wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 09, 2026 5:01 pm

Interesting how ODU, the new darling of the SBC, only drew one non-Saturday game this season.

They're getting special treatment?

AppKing21 wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 09, 2026 10:24 pm

Bootsy wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 09, 2026 5:01 pm

Interesting how ODU, the new darling of the SBC, only drew one non-Saturday game this season.

They're getting special treatment?

I mean, sure, ODU has only one non-Saturday game, but that's also true for six other SBC teams. So it's a stretch to say one team is being singled out. If anything, it's probably a compliment to our ability to draw eyeballs that we have more non-Saturday games: two of the three (JMU and Coastal) are on ESPN2/ESPNU, which is likely why they got flexed to Thurs/Fri.

It also bears mentioning that only one of our non-Saturday games (vs JMU, Thursday, Oct. 22) is at home, leaving us five home Saturdays. (Plus we don't leave the Carolinas until Halloween.)

Does that lower level ESPN Thursday night “exposure” really matter anymore? We used to think it was really important from a recruiting standpoint but is that really a thing anymore?

On average how much money do we make for a sold out Saturday home game versus some TV revenue from a Thursday night game at Coastal?

Bigdaddyg1 wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 11, 2026 7:46 am

Does that lower level ESPN Thursday night “exposure” really matter anymore? We used to think it was really important from a recruiting standpoint but is that really a thing anymore?

On average how much money do we make for a sold out Saturday home game versus some TV revenue from a Thursday night game at Coastal?

Problem is consistently getting your butt kicked on national TV. Let that keep happening and at least we’ll get all Saturday games back.

Bigdaddyg1 wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 11, 2026 7:46 am

Does that lower level ESPN Thursday night “exposure” really matter anymore? We used to think it was really important from a recruiting standpoint but is that really a thing anymore?

On average how much money do we make for a sold out Saturday home game versus some TV revenue from a Thursday night game at Coastal?

To be clear, I'm not advocating for non-Saturday games. I'm just saying I understand how we sometimes might get pulled into a couple more than, say, ULM.

We generally still pull 30k+ for home weekday games. For comparison, when we traveled to JMU last year, in the midst of their historic run, on a Saturday, their announced attendance was just over 25K. The game before, we'd played GaSo in Boone on a Thursday (in a season that was already disappointing) and had an announced attendance of almost 32K. So if I'm the Sun Belt brass, and I'm looking to pop some games onto weeknights, I'd prefer to put teams there who have known brands and a history of filling stadiums.

Plus, again, only one of the three is a home game (a Thurs vs. JMU, so it'll sell). Another of the three (vs. So. Al.) is the Friday after Thanksgiving, the most weekday-heavy week of the season. The third is a Friday night at Coastal.

What I care way more about than any of that is how much do I care about the match-ups and how far are we traveling for the games. Nine of our 12 games are in the Carolinas. Two more (Marshall and GaSo) are within a reasonable geographic distance for big chunks of our fanbase. Only the South Al game is far, and if you really wanted to get to Mobile to see it, there are worse times to put it than the Friday of one of the most widely available long weekends of the year.
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So no, I don't prefer weekday games. But I do understand them, and I don't take it as a slight that we have some.

AppinVA wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 07, 2026 5:13 pm

I’ll trade a lower TV payout to have more Saturday games.

This is the core issue of how college sports have changed: No longer an athletic event that's televised, they're now TV programming that's staged on college campuses.

If you can attend, great. If not, the school knows they'll make more money from ESPN than they would from our ticket sales. And maximizing revenue is now the sole purpose of college athletics.

EastHallApp wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 12, 2026 9:59 am

AppinVA wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 07, 2026 5:13 pm

I’ll trade a lower TV payout to have more Saturday games.

This is the core issue of how college sports have changed: No longer an athletic event that's televised, they're now TV programming that's staged on college campuses.

If you can attend, great. If not, the school knows they'll make more money from ESPN than they would from our ticket sales. And maximizing revenue is now the sole purpose of college athletics.

I think at sbc levels we make more $$ at ticket sales+ concessions. If we made legacy aac money than it’s more on the tv side.

Bigdaddyg1 wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 11, 2026 7:46 am

Does that lower level ESPN Thursday night “exposure” really matter anymore? We used to think it was really important from a recruiting standpoint but is that really a thing anymore?

On average how much money do we make for a sold out Saturday home game versus some TV revenue from a Thursday night game at Coastal?

Still recruiting. Unfortunately, in quite the opposite way - more exposure for your players to be seen and poached!

So does anyone know if we have a choice on weeknight games? If ESPN wants to broadcast one of our games on a Thursday can we say no? Many years ago I think you could. Not sure about today.

appfanz wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 13, 2026 3:40 pm

So does anyone know if we have a choice on weeknight games? If ESPN wants to broadcast one of our games on a Thursday can we say no? Many years ago I think you could. Not sure about today.

Not sure if we could say no, but would doubt it. And I don’t think we would even if we could.

If Appalachian State football is a form of promotion, we should take all ESPN and ESPN2 weeknight games. Where I get frustrated is weeknight games for ESPNU. I don't think those are worth losing a Saturday game. Also I am not a big fan of 12:00 Saturday for ESPNU but at least you get Appalachian State mentioned many times in College gameday and a ton of people watch College gameday.

AppSt91 wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 11, 2026 8:11 am

Bigdaddyg1 wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 11, 2026 7:46 am

Does that lower level ESPN Thursday night “exposure” really matter anymore? We used to think it was really important from a recruiting standpoint but is that really a thing anymore?

On average how much money do we make for a sold out Saturday home game versus some TV revenue from a Thursday night game at Coastal?

Problem is consistently getting your butt kicked on national TV. Let that keep happening and at least we’ll get all Saturday games back.

I’m trying to remember a recent televised game that App won…maybe the CURE Bowl?

Its been a while.