UMass Football first FBS season

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RF1
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UMass Football first FBS season

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The inaugural season of UMass FBS football is now in the books with today's loss at Gillette Stadium to Central Michigan 42-21. The Minutemen finished the season at 1-11 overall and 1-7 in the MAC. A crowd of 6,385 witnessed the loss at the 68,756 seat facility. It was the smallest crowd for a UMass football game in several years. For the season, UMass drew 54,505 for an average of 10,901. The 2012 attendance numbers were actually a 15% decrease from the last FCS season for UMass as they drew 64,030 (average 12,806) for the same number of games in 2011.


UMASS ATTENDANCE
Indiana 16,304
Ohio U 8,321
Bowling Green 10,846
Buffalo 12,649
Central Michigan 6,385
2012 Total 54,505
2012 Average 10,901

2011 Total 64,030
2011 Average 12,806

UMASS 2012 RECORD
Overall 1-11
MAC 1-7


Low attendance means UMass football program $700,000 short of expectation, says AD John McCutcheon
By Harry Plumer
November 22, 2012 at 2:27 PM
The Springfield Republican

http://www.masslive.com/umassfootball/i ... s_foo.html
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Ramulous
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

Unread post by Ramulous »

UMass will be one of the big losers in the transition to BCS football.....I have to believe they were hoping to someday join the big east....but all the conferences except for the big 4 (maybe the ACC also if they don't fall apart) are going to be on the outside looking in when it comes time to get to a major bowl.

When the big east had a seat at the big money table it may have been a good gamble.

With the big east being relegated to the kiddie table I am not so sure the money will be big enough for UMass and these schools in the kiddie conferences.

Maybe they abandon these plans and revert back to big time high school football like URI plays or abandon football altogether.

I remember UConn going to one of these also-ran bowl exhibition games which mean nothing and losing a ton of money by having to buy a minimum guarantee of tickets and then eating them.

Football and its minimum scholarship requirements are a killer to the majority of schools in that they wreak Title IX havoc which cost major dollars.

If you aren't on the radar of the big 4 or 5 conferences why make a stupid investment.

Will be interesting to see if a school like Georgetown, which feels that basketball-only TV money is insufficient to them, will try to go big time football and land in one of the big 5.
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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Uconn won the big east & played in at least one bcs bowl. They have not been sorry to move up to 1- A.

They do not have a prayer of joining acc without fb.
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

Unread post by ramster »

$700,000 is peanuts in the big picture of big time football, just ask Maryland with the $50,000,000 penalty just to leave the ACC.
UMASS is rolling the dice with this, will take time. BC, Uconn are D1 for sure in the future, why shouldn't UMASS try to keep up with the BC and UCONN Programs? If they don't they end up dying on the vine and for sure having a future in Division 2 Football, ie Maine, URI, New Hampshire, etc.
Right now it seems like a losing proposition for UMASS but that could change in a few years, especially if there is big time realignment of many conferences .
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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rhodyrudder wrote:Uconn won the big east & played in at least one bcs bowl. They have not been sorry to move up to 1- A.

They do not have a prayer of joining acc without fb.
UConn lost $1.8 million playing in the Fiesta Bowl. It cost them $4.2m to play, and the payout was $2.5m.

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Repo ... 038914.php
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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In light of this ctpost article....it seems more profitable for UConn to stay away from bowl games and just take your cut from big east bowl money that other teams earn...
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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EasyEdBrown wrote:
rhodyrudder wrote:Uconn won the big east & played in at least one bcs bowl. They have not been sorry to move up to 1- A.

They do not have a prayer of joining acc without fb.
UConn lost $1.8 million playing in the Fiesta Bowl. It cost them $4.2m to play, and the payout was $2.5m.

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Repo ... 038914.php

Read the article you cite. UConn received an additional $3.8M from the Big East.
They did not lose money on fb after winning the BE and playing in the Fiesta Bowl.
I guarantee it.
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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They would have gotten that if they went to the Tampax Bowl though just by being in the Big East.

They lost money going to the Fiesta Bowl, not by being in the Big East.
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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If NCSU and VT move to the SEC, then there will be room in the ACC for Uconn and Cinncy, it is only a matter of time. The question is what happens to the Umass and Temple, both play in Pro sports media markets? I remember Bill Reynolds saying how Uconn move to 1-A football was a big mistake, now it may save Uconn. Other schools should learn from Uconn.
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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Enthusiasm gap for UMass
Empty seats at Gillette, high costs mar move to elite competition
By Bob Hohler
Boston Globe / December 11, 2012

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/f ... story.html
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Committee on FBS Football at UMass to give interim report Tuesday
By Harry Plumer
December 10, 2012
Springfield Republican

http://www.masslive.com/umassfootball/i ... mitte.html
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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Breaking down what the UMass Faculty Senate discussion on FBS football really meant
Harry Plumer
December 11, 2012
Springfield Republican

http://www.masslive.com/umassfootball/i ... meant.html
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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Reading Kmac in Projo, it says that the Group of 5 (Big East football, MAC,Mountain West, Sunbelt, and CUSA) will share $86.25 million on the football tv contracts.
How much will Umass Get? Plus, Umass will bring in a lot more money when their team improves and ticket sales increase. No one said this would be easy.
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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I have a different take, OB. UMass's move to FBS was hair brained and may end up bankrupting their athletic department. In theory it made some sense, but the execution couldn't have been worse and I don't know how they could have done it better.

This is a school in a region that couldn't care less about college football that joined a lousy conference filled with other programs that casual sports fans in this area have never heard of. They are playing "home" games 2 hours away from campus with no realistic chance of ever building a competitive stadium on campus. Boston College has a pretty good history and tradition (at least they have "mattered" before) and they play in the metro-Boston area and in a BCS conference with household-name programs, and they can't sell out their tiny (by CFB standards) stadium.

I see no scenario in which this works for UMass. Whether it even worked for UConn is debatable, but at least it hasn't been a complete disaster. But they had a BCS conference to play in, national name-brand recognition, and sufficient resources. UMass doesn't have any of those. It was a worthwhile gamble to try to get on the football train before it left the station, but if they want to be playing any sport at a respectable level in 5 or 10 years they should get out now.
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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Agree with True Point in all regards. UMass is shooting itself in the foot if they continue to try and make a success out of this move.

That TV money is a pittance compared to what the program needs to build and maintain at the new higher level. Conference realignment isn't going to benefit them either.

A combination of bad timing and shortsightedness. UMass isn't UConn. Even UConn's FB program could be doomed if they don't get in the ACC.
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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Just read the UMass article. Expenses of 10 mil a year, revenue of 2 mil a year. 8 mil down the drain. Wow.

I know URI loses money on football too, but not that much. Neither school can afford it.
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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Per the Masslive Springfield Republican article:


the Committee estimated expenses at $10,190,444 (including infrastructure capital annual payments). It then subtracted the revenue generated by the program (ticket sales, guarantees, donations, etc.) of $1,969,983 to obtain what it believes is figure spent by the University and state in support of the football program: $8,220,461
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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If you are not in the Big 64 of BCS football you will lose money big time...even the ACC may be doomed....I've read scenarios where the ACC schools like NC, VA, Clemson, FSU etc end up in the Big 10 or Big 12 leaving the ACC as the Big East 2.0 and the big east as C-USA 2.0...all outside the top 64 and fighting for the bone the Big 64 throws them...
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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This was doomed from the beginning. You take a successful 1-AA program with a decent fan base for that level and try to jump up a level. You move the home games two hours away, far from the Western Mass. fans to a region that cares little about the program (when was the last time in Boston or points south that you saw anyone with UMASS gear?).
You end up in a non-BCS program whose teams have no national appeal. And you wonder why no one goes to the games? What a disaster.
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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Good article in NYTIMES
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/sport ... d=all&_r=0

“The purpose of F.B.S. football is to brand the university — it gives us exposure in places we could never go before,” said Donner, who added that Buffalo, part of the State University of New York system, had had an increase in out-of-state students attending since 1999.

“It has had positive impact even if the road to consistent winning is a long one,” Donner said. “And I know our alumni want us competing at the highest possible level.”

John Lombardi is a past president at UMass and was also the president at Florida and Louisiana State, two F.B.S. football powers. In Lombardi’s view, the recent rush of lesser football programs toward college football’s holy grail is more of an indication that F.C.S. football, the old Division I-AA, does not work.

“Everyone in I-AA loses money and doesn’t get much for it,” Lombardi said. “But even a crummy team in I-A football has higher visibility than a great team in I-AA. So while there are more costs to move up, the universities think that maybe they’ll at least get something for it.

“Of course, it’s an illusion that you can make money moving up. What they’re really trying to do is align themselves with the better-known institutions.”

But Lombardi sees a brewing quandary.

“The number of F.B.S.-level football teams is already too large to be sustainable,” he said. “And the teams at the top are a very strong, organized group. As more schools join at the bottom, it’s going to force the N.C.A.A. to restructure. They’ll have to start putting F.B.S. teams into categories.

“So there will be a second tier again, and that’s certainly not what a lot of these people joining now had in mind. What happens then?”
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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That last point is the best point.
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

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So, we end up with 4 (16 team super conferences), or maybe 5. So that is anywhere from 64-80 teams. That bunch will make money in football because of TV, the other 55-71 teams in the FBS will not. In that bunch maybe only 25 teams could be a national championship contender, the rest go along for the ride. Will teams like Northwestern, Vandy, Washington State, Iowa State ever been in National Championship contention, not to take anything away from those teams, but I doubt it, but I rather be in their shoes than were URI is. On the other hand look at the success of Boise State. Would we ever hear anything about Boise State were it not for their football Program, or Utah State, or TCU. Still I think there is something desirable to be in a situation like a Delaware or a Montana State where you can have 15,000-20,000 at a home game on a nice fall afternoon playing football, listen to your Marching Band and tailgate with alumni and friends, that is not crazy like the FBS level of the Ohio State and Alabama where football runs those Universities and values take a second fiddle to winning.
The other issues is , where does is say these programs have to make money? I don't think any sport at URI makes money, even basketball when you consider the cost of the Ryan Center, but would anyone ever want to go back to the URI Pre Ryan Center. The Ryan Center has added value to the University even though I do not believe it makes money. Even Umass spends only 4% of its budget on Athletics. Uconn, even if they don't get into a super conference, has received national attention from football and basketball. Schools need to have a national presence today, especially as state support decreases. Notre Dame realized that 90 years ago to their credit.
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Re: UMass Football first FBS season

Unread post by Ramblinrose »

Speaking of the Ryan Center, are there concerts there anymore? Anything besides basketball? It was billed as a place to rival the Dunk. But I get the idea it's mostly empty.
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