Good morning,
Hope all of you got through the storm ok. I know some on this board aren't from Lafayette.
There is good news here.
If the mothership believes your product has value, there is a chance your game will be flexed to a different time, with notice given 12 days before.
Before the new contract with ESPN (it's a Sun Belt contract, not a UL contract), when all we could hope for was a weeknight game, we originally were excited to be on TV. (This was before the PLUS).
But as we got more success, we had more and more weeknight games, and sometimes as many as two of our home games. We started to be less happy. But weeknight games and Saturday games at less than ideal times are tied to your success as a program. Case in point.we have only one weeknight game and it's on the road. If we were coming off an eight or nine win season, we'd have more weeknight games. And, more flexed games on Saturday, perhaps.
But the mothership still feels we have some value, and playing a program that has value has made this game desirable. We don't have to like it.
I think the question about this particular game's attendance will depend more on whether we get anything close to the student support we got for game one. IMO, that time really makes it less desirable for those folks, especially as it relates to pregame. Again, it's my opinion.
Linear television is directly tied to value according to ESPN. If we become what we were before and at the end of Hud, we won't have to worry about kickoff times. Or days of the week. We'll be able to play whenever we like. (I was told Wake has asked for a 3:30 EDT kickoff for the following week. The ACC Network/ESPN will make that decision on Monday, according to the twelve day window.
Just FYI, it was announced an hour ago that all south end zone seats for the Tulane game are sold out.
OK, have a great day. I'll go back to my cave now.
Blessings to all of you.