C-USA stinks
- Thread starter FiliUTEP
- Start date
Natalicio took over the stadium from the county by eminent domain, earning my eternal respect. UTEP has no control over the teams that play in the annual Sun Bowl Football Game. Many have suggested that the powers that be of the Sun Bowl Association partner with UTEP to offer a Sun Bowl spot to a new conference if UTEP gains admission. The Sun Bowl seems to prefer to take the, say, 19th place PAC 10 team than a top team from, say, the MWC, and always refuse.
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Its 50+ year relationship with CBS that is at play here. That partnership gives El Paso a yearly 3 to 4 hour commercial on national TV when many people are off work. The City wants to max out any benefit from the game. The last place team from both the PAC and the ACC have more $$ clout that the first place team in any G5 league. CBS isn't going to broadcast a game with 200 Fresno St. fans in attendance. But ASU will bring 15 - 20 K along with their hotel/motel tax revenue.
I am old enough (52 years) to remember when cable TV was a new thing. Those who had it were envied by their school mates, as a minority of households had cable. Even as it grew in popularity, and cable only networks like ESPN and CNN were born, there were still a large number of households that didn't have access to cable programming. I those days having the game on a broadcast network meant something. Times have changed, however.
Look at the lineup of bowl games that are broadcast on ESPN. The National Championship Game, the Semifinal games, most of the traditional Nee Years Day games, and a host of other bowl games that are bigger than the Sun Bowl. If these bigger, more prestigious games aren't on a broadcast network, why do people in El Paso still think that being on CBS adds prestige. The answer is that they're living in the past.
There's no fool like an old fool. CBS is the second most watched network in the US. Far higher viewership than ESPN. https://www.indiewire.com/2018/12/n...els-espn-cnn-fox-news-cbs-nbc-abc-1202030597/
Last year 11 bowl games on ESPN had higher ratings than the Sun Bowl. These are all non new years six bowls. No body is turning in to CBS to watch the Sun Bowl.
Kudos, that's hilarious. Great job
This is not an apples to apples comparison. CBS broadcasts a variety of programs and specials, including ratings winners like 60 Minutes, Big Brother, and NCIS. They carry other original scripted, reality, and news shows, as well as sports, seasonal specials, and movies. ESPN carries sports, repetitious sports news programs, and sports talk shows. Of course CBS has a higher overall viewership than ESPN.
The real question is whether or not having the Sun Bowl broadcast on CBS results in more viewers than it would get if the game was on ESPN instead. There really is no way to know for sure, but I don't think that the evidence supports the idea that being on CBS is beneficial anymore. Here are the TV ratings for this past bowl season:
www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-football-tv-ratings/
Notice that among the bowl games broadcast on ESPN that had a higher viewership than the Sun Bowl are the Pinstripe, San Francisco, Texas, Cactus, Detroit, and Military. These are hardly bowls with more name recognition than the Sun, yet not being on a broadcast network doesn't seem to have hurt them one iota.
If being on a broadcast network was still seen as being preferable to being on ESPN, there is no way that the National Championship Game and the Orange, Cotton, Rose, Sugar, and Fiesta Bowls wouldn't be divided up between ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox. The NCAA and the respective bowl committees would make sure of it. They're obviously completely happy being on ESPN. I personally don't think it would hurt the Sun Bowl to lose CBS if they could find their way to ESPN.
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Or on any other network. Everyone has cable these days. Or at least enough that we don't need to worry about being on CBS anymore.
What it comes down to is this: Put on a compelling game and people will tune in. CBS, ESPN, Oprah Winfrey Network.
People don't seem to give a rat's patootie about watching the PAC-12 19th place team vs the ACC 27th place team. I'd rather watch an MWC member BYU vs Big-12 Oklahoma State. Those are schools I know about and have cared about as a lifelong UTEP fan. I don't give a crap about an ACC school. Or a Big-10 school. Or a C-USA school at this point.
A lot of people are starting to get rid of cable these days. I haven't had cable for 3 years, everything I need is online. I do find myself watch more network TV these days now that I think about it. Just a thought
Most people that are cutting off cable are doing it in favor of streaming services. Most networks these days -- mainstream networks like CBS and cable networks like ESPN -- have streaming options available. Fewer are those cutting cable and going back to antenna than those cutting cable and going to streaming services.
The Sun Bowl should get together with all of the G5 commissioners and become the site of the G5 championship.
Last year that would have been UCF vs Fresno. Not a compelling game but at least it would have some relevance
Last year that would have been UCF vs Fresno. Not a compelling game but at least it would have some relevance
We are definitely not on the MW radar. Interesting words by Thompson at the Media Day.
https://mwwire.com/2019/07/25/is-contraction-the-answer-to-mountain-west-survival/
https://mwwire.com/2019/07/25/is-contraction-the-answer-to-mountain-west-survival/
So the MW is looking at a more regional contracted conference. What would it look like if we started a regional conference?
UTEP
NMSU
UTSA
RICE
TEXAS STATE
NORTH TEXAS
ULM
ULL
LOUISIANA TECH
TULSA
UTEP
NMSU
UTSA
RICE
TEXAS STATE
NORTH TEXAS
ULM
ULL
LOUISIANA TECH
TULSA
Possible except for Tulsa. There is no way in hell they leave the American. I do think C-USA and Sunbelt schools from the west and east could merge to make more regional conferences.
As stated above, Tulsa isn’t leaving the American, however I like the hypothetical conference you came up with. We could continue/develop some really strong rivalries. We aren’t getting into the MW. The difference between CUSA and the Sunbelt is negligible at this point. I hope some kind of regional realignment happens. Our situation in the current CUSA is underwhelming imo.
