Where do you think our Notre Dame Game on 11/3/18 will be played?
- Thread starter Turk
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Not Soldier Field...to my knowledge we don't have a business relationship there and no need to since we'll be playing the Illini there with some regularity over the next few years. Besides that, we have a perfectly good stadium in Wrigleyville where we do have a business relationship, and another perfectly good stadium in Evanston.
If Wrigley's re-do is finished then maybe there but my bet is Ryan Field with a different game scheduled for Wrigley. The real question however might be, will TSISB pull a Vanderbilt.
They're either going to try to bully us into moving the game to Soldier Field/Wrigley or walk away from the game and give us the buyout. I think it would be a huge mistake to play it on a neutral site as it will be 90% their fans as well as being marketed by the media as their home game. I think Wrigley would be just as bad.
That leaves Notre Dame walking away from the game. It makes no financial sense for them to play us in Evanston. They seat 80,000 and let's say they average 85 bucks a tickets, and they'll sell out no matter what. That's 6.8 million a home game plus the revenue from concessions, box seats, and the TV deal... Yes, it costs money to put on a game, but it also costs money to travel. Let's make assume (poorly) that the cost to put on a game vs traveling to a game is negated by the concessions, box seats, and TV deal (which I'm definitely under counting). Let's say the buyout is 3 million which would make sense in my mind. NU would sell 47,000 tickets at 85 for 3.995 million if they play Notre Dame. If we sell 22,000 tickets the replacement game, call it Western Michigan, at 40 a head, we'll make 880,800. The difference... about 3 million in ticket revenue.
I have Notre Dame sacrificing at least 3.8 million to play us in Evanston. Additionally, as we've proven, Notre Dame is no guaranteed win over NU. They have nothing to gain by playing us and will lose money in the deal. Not gonna happen. I just hope the buyout is gigantic.
I do not think the game will be played. Notre Dame will back out. They are in a no-win situation and have not beaten us in more than 20 years.
If we can't fill Wrigley effing Field with Cats fans for a game against Notre Dumb...
I don't think the 2ndary market even comes into play, unless there is open availability for season tix. What you do is offer season tix first to existing ST holders, then former, then single game ticket buyers, etc. Pretty sure ST holders will USE those tix and wear purple
Unless there are some rules against restricting the sale, we gotta be able to fill Wrigley with Cats fans
Why play in Wrigley when Ryan is larger and will also sell out? Makes no sense. What am I missing???
The game will be played as scheduled in Evanston. ND's road schedule is set for 2018: @VT, @Navy (San Diego), @NU, @Wake Forest, @USC. They currently need to add one home game and the "Shamrock Series" neutral site game. Why would they cancel the NU game and leave themselves scrambling to find another road opponent? Oh right, because the program that regularly schedules teams like Texas, Florida State, Ohio State, Georgia, USC, Michigan State, Stanford, etc., is afraid to play Northwestern.
Playing ND at Wrigley makes it a national game of interest, plain and simple. Sports media on the coasts do not look at this game if it's at Ryan Field, but suddenly there's novelty coverage because it's at a ball park. Like it or not, that's the way it is. Of course, NU has consistently choked, and choked badly, anytime we have a game where we've attracted a wider scope interest, and for that reason alone I'd rather we play it in Evanston.
What Sheff said, and you can charge a premium on Wrigley tickets. I forget what the prices were, but weren't the "preferred section" or equivalent of 50 yard line seats have a face value of 150. They would be far less at Ryan Field.
The issue is that we've had a Wrigley game and most NU fans had a terrible time when you add in the result of the actual game, bad sight lines... Many of us will buy tickets, but how many of us can resist not selling tickets for 2, 3 or 4 times face value.
Additionally, lots of us have very good friends and family members that are Notre Dame fans. Serious question, do you think I'm not going to take my dad to the game? If I'm allowed to buy 4 tickets, they'll be going to myself, my dad, my brother and my uncle. I'll be the only one not in blue and gold.
No guaranteed win? It's a guaranteed loss! They haven't beaten us since 1994, before many of the current players were even born!
Does Notre Dame have a history of pulling Vanderbilts? I've seen no actual evidence that they won't hold up their end of the deal.
I disagree. ND is ALWAYS a national game of interest irrespective of who they are playing. After all, they have their own TV network. And the East Coast is a HUGE ND market, again irrespective of who or where they play. If NU does anything but play in Ryan Field they are crazy, and missing the opportunity for TV eyeballs on their home pitch.
Purple Pricing will help the revenue offset. And don't forget, NU doesn't play in Wrigley for free, they pay for the privilege. No such cost for playing in Ryan.
Are e talking about the same nd team that regularly schedule Army, Navy, Air Force and have powerhouses like U Mass, Temple and Wake Forest on their schedule this season.
I'd say that Wrigley is the difference between "getting a mention" vs. "getting a segment" on a show like College GameDay. Of course it will also be a November game, so how each team is faring will also impact the coverage, and if either or both teams are ranked, then I would agree it will make news regardless of the venue...but regardless, Wrigley as the venue changes things for all parties involved and for the media.
As for the cost of playing at Wrigley...our last game there was sponsored by AllState, which I recall covered all of NU's extraneous costs of playing away from Ryan Field (at least according to reports). Without knowing the particulars, I also have to believe that playing a game at Wrigley positively impacts season ticket sales. Anecdotally, I know firsthand of several NU alums who do not regularly attend games, but fell for the marketing and bought season tickets in 2010 because they thought they needed to in order to get access to Wrigley tickets. I'm sure there will be ND fans who do the same.
All things being equal, I would prefer playing the game in Evanston, but as a fan I do also enjoy that everyone I know in the area is suddenly interested in Northwestern football for a week. The system works.
Bingo!
I also don't find any evidence that they would keep mega programs on their schedule but cancel us because they are afraid of us. The reality of the situation is that Chicago is a recruiting hotbed for Notre Dame, and has every reason in the world to keep this game. I happen to think they are looking forward to it, if anything.
IMO, it moves to Wrigley, though, due to the extra cash cow of playing there. Sure, Ryan has more seats, but the Wrigley seats will run about a buck fifty [$150] which will really rake it in for NU. The only possible alternative would be to run purple pricing plans if the game is played at Ryan. IMO, it will be up to Fitz and although I'd love the game to be played at Ryan, I think he would rather make this game a National scene to help build the program. Thorson will be a Senior and the team, on paper, has a lot of potential in 2018.
If he is in the NFL by then, then that will only mean that he developed beyond his time, and that we had great seasons. I can live with that!
To my point about a game vs us as not a guaranteed win, those games are. While Navy has given them some trouble recently winning 3 of the last 8, Notre Dame won 43 in a row before that and is 75-12-1 in the series. That's a guaranteed win so it's worth them playing. Texas, Oklahoma, FSU are games where Notre Dame gets a push for winning it. When Northwestern beat Notre Dame, it was noticed. Who would've noticed if Notre Dame beat Northwestern? Not a lot of people. They were ranked 16th going into the game. Think they would've gotten past 15 with a win? Where were they the next week? Out of the rankings.
They gain nothing with a win other than the ticket revenue and a W. If that's all you're going to get, Umass is the better choice for them because it's a near guarantee.
You'd sell more season tickets, hopefully to Cat fans but if not, then ND fans. It will be like NEB's first year or our other Wrigley year when people bought ST's just for that game and then sold the rest of the tix
Wrigley is not really a cash cow for NU. By the time all the extra costs are included NU probably loses money on it. THe game would be sold out at Ryan and it holds more and there would be no extra expense vs another home game. It would likely raise ST prices for that year or at least increase the ST base. Extra tickets outside the ST base would likely be sold through dynamic pricing. At Wrigley, it is an extra cost for ST holders, and lots of extra hidden costs. Just not enough seats available to pay off for ND. If it goes anywhere other than Ryan, it would likely go to SF as it holds an extra 23k fans. There would still be extra cost, it would likely be seen as more of a home game for ND so overall, I don't see it as being a real plus for NU at SF.
You know fans of other teams put Northwestern squarely in that group of "powerhouses," right?
And you are correct: ND does not play top-10 opponents every week. But they still play one of the toughest schedules in the country every year. To suggest that they are somehow afraid of playing NU is lunacy.
The reason for the annual ND-Navy game has nothing to do with the ease of winning.
I always believed that there was a secret plan to move last year's game to Wrigley in exchange for NU relieving ND of their 2018 game commitment. I could not understand why ND would agree to play in Evanston and figured they would threaten to drop the 2018 game leaving Phillips to negotiate the 2014 game move to Wrigley as consolation. Then Wrigley wasn't ready so we went to SB and won the game of the year.
I truly hope the game stays in Evanston. You pull the Wrigley option when you are playing a mediocre opponent like the Illin's. By the way, I got the $75 tickets and sat in the 500 section up first base line at Wrigley and had awesome views. File that away for the upcoming Purdue game at Wrigley.
I truly hope the game stays in Evanston. You pull the Wrigley option when you are playing a mediocre opponent like the Illin's. By the way, I got the $75 tickets and sat in the 500 section up first base line at Wrigley and had awesome views. File that away for the upcoming Purdue game at Wrigley.
Then what is the reason and please don't start with well the navy and nd have connections since WWII.
Sorry to disappoint you, but that is exactly the reason. ND will never back out of that series.
I believe it will be played at Ryan ,if it is played at all. I had a conversation with Fitz years ago and lamented about ND not being on the schedule. He said NU v ND would only occur with a home and home series. He stated simply the game would be played in Evanston
But it's not really up to Notre Dame from a metaphysical standpoint. NBC would much rather showcase a game in the nation's second largest television market v. one (W. Mass.) that barely cracks the top 100. I'm sure the fan base would prefer playing what should be a solid-to-good B1G team in the backyard of much of its alumni who can attend the game v. what many folks mistake as a DIII school, and the greater interest translating into higher revenue. Plus, interest in the 2018 game will benefit from momentum produced by the thrilling outcome of last year's match up - much as that game rode on the coattails of the 1995 contest.
The downside? ND may lose the game. But that's nothing new. And there are no refunds.
why would NBC want a game at Ryan field which would be on BTN or ESPN or maybe ABC rather than a game they can actually broadcast regardless of the opponent?
No Notre Dame game will ever fall to BTN, I can promise you that. You're right that NBC has no say in a ND road game, but the Irish do need to play some road games. I actually think the game last year was in more danger of being canceled because of ND's schedule realignment due to their ACC deal. By 2018 that will no longer be a problem.
I didn't write the post you quoted, btw.
Alright and what are the reasons that play Army? Air Force? Purdue rather then MSU? Get over it. They do not play the toughest schedule in the country. Also, when are they going to replace those awful, wooden, 1940 seats?
The Navy and their V12 program (similar to ROTC) basically saved ND. With the war and ND being all male at the time, ND was in big time trouble and was saved by the influx of students and cash. My dad was part of that program. .
Okay, this is my take on the whole matter:
The ABC broadcast - I doubt this game is confined to ESPN alone - is essentially a free, four hour commercial promoting NBC's exclusive telecasts of Notre Dame home games. If the game is featured on ESPN gameday, then it's simply gravy to NBC. Moreover, since Notre Dame is NBC's exclusive college football product, the network has an ongoing concern to ensure the program's popularity throughout the season, whether strengthening the interest of existing ND watchers or attracting new fans/eyeballs. On the flip side, since NBC does not broadcast other college football games other than ND, it has already conceded the college football audience to other networks during away games, and therefore ratings derived from reruns of Heidi or whatever alternative programming NBC offers is not influenced by the popularity of the match up.
Given the limited number of college football games, further reduced by away games outside of its contractual agreement with Notre Dame, the television ratings for each and every game are absolutely crucial for the rates NBC can charge its advertisers. Broadcast networks don't have this problem with football conferences since the volume of conference games usually allows for interesting match ups scheduled weekly. Every game counts in the NBC/Notre Dame relationship . . . including the games that NBC does not broadcast.
As mentioned earlier, Northwestern is located in the nation's second largest media market - this, in addition to the centralized location, is a big reason why the B1G is headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge and not Columbus or some other place. Parenthetically, I believe Northwestern is only program physically located in the largest college football media market, as the NYC market, the largest, features no competitive college football programs within its broadcasting jurisdiction. Northwestern's B1G membership ensures that B1G fans . . and rivals . . . tune into the game (I only watch Notre Dame if they're losing the game and I doubt I'm the only one). Moreover, as a private, academic focused college that has defeated ND in thrilling fashion in the past two games, NU is the ideal underdog for all the ND haters to tune in and cheer on.
A game against MAC Conference also-ran UMass promises only weak ratings and eyeballs gravitating to alternative college programs or other pursuits. NBC does not want this.
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Because they like to schedule the service academies. And while Army has struggled lately, Air Force and Navy are hardly pushovers.
Because Purdue is in Indiana and they've played 86 times. However, they are dropping the Purdue series as a result of their scheduling agreement with the ACC.
Also, what do you mean "rather than MSU?" Last year was the first time in 53 years they didn't play MSU and they have them right back on the schedule in 2016.
This year will be their easiest schedule in a while, and it will still include Texas, Georgia Tech, Clemson, USC, and Stanford, plus four other ACC games. It may not be *the* toughest schedule in the country but it's absolutely not easy.
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