Ratings of I-AA Championship Games

[GannonFan]

Does anybody have any historical information on the Nielsen ratings for ESPN's coverage of the IAA championship games? Just curious as to how it does.

[DuckDuckGriz]

I would like to see that too. I remember the 1995 championship had alot of viewers because

1) It was played on a Saturday afternoon
2) It was on ESPN (not the Deuce)
3) Montana was beating the mighty Herd in front of the largest crowd to ever witness a I-AA championship (I think over 33,000)
4) It was a nail biter

Compare that to Montana's win in 2001 -- where the game was on a Friday night and the game wasn't real exciting unless you were a Griz fan.

That's just from personal observation. The games obviously more likely to be higher rated when they were played on Saturday.

[Retro]

I Don't buy the saturday afternoon argument being better for ratings! The simple fact is more people watch TV at night than during the day, especially on a saturday during the holiday season where most people are out shopping.

It all has to do on what the other networks are showing and if there are other college or pro football games on at the same time that take away viewers, whether it's a night game or day game...

If the game is on friday or saturday night and it's on ESPN, FOX or ABC and there are no other football games competing againest it, then the ratings will be excellent.

[eaglefan452]

I would think that a Saturday afternoon game would be better for attendence, not necessarily tv ratings. It may factor in though.

[FightinBluHen51]

I would think that a Saturday afternoon game would be better for attendence, not necessarily tv ratings. It may factor in though.


I think that that would help both. With a packed stadium, it would draw more viewers as they'd be interested to see what all the hub bub was about. JMHO though.

[FU97]

The NFL has Saturday games on the Saturday of the I-AA National Championship. No way can we compete with that.

[Hansel]

1.25 cable rating for 04

[eaglefan452]

I think that that would help both. With a packed stadium, it would draw more viewers as they'd be interested to see what all the hub bub was about. JMHO though.

Good point, but the ratings for championship games most likely consists of viewers from the two schools playing and a handful of I-AA fans that tune in.

[Retro]

The NFL has Saturday games on the Saturday of the I-AA National Championship. No way can we compete with that.

Last year, the NFL Saturday games didn't start until the week after the championship game if my memory is correct.

[putter]

1.25 cable rating for 04


And I believe that Silicon Valley bowl got a .77 rating and one other bowl received a .85 rating so the amount of people watching is not that bad.

[Pen Guin]

The 1994 play-off game between Alcorn and YSU held the largest viewing audience up to that time & for some to come, although I am not certain it still holds. The reason was that ABC & ESPN both covered it. They all were pumping Air McNair for the Heisman. They did real nice job & used former Penguin QB's (Jaworski and Stoudt) for color commentary. They both announced for ESPN at the time.


I understand where you are comming from Retro, but I still think that any Saturday college game is going to far out-draw a Friday match-up. Fans at the I-AA level are traditionally very much into prep ball & that is where they are on a Friday night. I can tell you this. HS ball is FAR more popular than college ball in Youngstown (as it probably is in most Central US states) & any Friday collegiate game would be a complete disaster. They hold the annual game between the two local Parochial powers at YSU's stadium, & it draws between 10k & 15k, most having no affiliation to either school. Casual fans do not know to look for a Friday game (at least before last year) and are usually out on a Friday night, which is much more likely than a man shopping for the Holidays. :cool: He is more likely to re-arrange Saturday's shopping than Friday's fun. It is for this reason that most non-Saturday I-AA openers are held on Thursday. High school owns Friday's and IA clubs own Saturdy's.

I think many people from Montana are a bit narrow-minded when it comes to the extent of their team's popularity. Montana & MSU are the two largest schools in the state. A state like Ohio has close to a dozen DI schools & most are IA. We have 8 cities with a larger population than the entire state of Montana, and only one of those ever even heard of YSU. (actually make that 1.2 cities, as Tressel is now in Columbus). Clearly the media attention is going to vary between the two states. That being said, only Notre Dame football can claim to be covered everywhere in the state, with the Buckeye's being a distant second.

A local broadcast of a YSU game has the potential of being seen by twice as many people as that entire broadcast by NBC (supposedly covering the entire state of Montana). Also, if you think a network anywhere {including Missoua} will ignore a USC Trajans game (if they carried them) for a Grizzly game, you are seriously mistaken. In fact, the delayed YSU games actually follow the high-school game of the week, which is far more popular ... and our fan base is just as large as yours. Also, a 100,000 watt TV station can be seen over several states out in the upper Midwest, where that same power barely punches its way out of the City of Youngstown. With that in mind ... clearly it is not too difficult to see a Grizzly game anywhere in the state of Montana ... assuming one of the local majors carries it. Sorry if that came out too negative, I am not trying to "rain on anyone's parade".

[eaglesrthe1]

Also, a 100,000 watt TV station can be seen over several states out in the upper Midwest, where that same power barely punches its way out of the City of Youngstown.

I didn't know that the laws of physics worked differently in Ohio, as opposed to the rest of the world. :D

[Retro]

Fans at the I-AA level are traditionally very much into prep ball & that is where they are on a Friday night

By the time we get to the December I-AA championship, all High School football is over with by 2-3 weeks at least!

[chattanoogamocs]

As someone who has attended 4 of the last 5 games...moving to Friday sucks.
(There are many things that people don't like to begin with, but then over time it grows on them...this is not one of those times :mad: )

I realize that TV is the almighty denominator, but quite frankly it is unfair to the fans of the paritcipating teams...and to the city that hosts it.

Honestly, ratings-wise, the difference between Friday night and Saturday day are not going to be huge (those who are interested in watching are going to watch), so why don't we cater to the people that travel (sometimes over a 1,000 miles) to cheer their teams...THAT should be priority one.

(just my highly biased opinion ;) )

[Baldy]

By the time we get to the December I-AA championship, all High School football is over with by 2-3 weeks at least!

Not in Georgia. All 5 Georgia HS classifications play the state champ games the Friday and Saturday of the I-AA National Championship game.

[putter]

Pen Guin,

I don't think we are narrow minded about our popularity at all. It is true that we only have 900,000 people in our state but it was not until about 1998 that all the Grizzly games were televised state wide so it was not like they don't have anything else to broadcast. The station that broadcasts it pre-empts the national college football game that is on there because of the popularity of the Griz. WE don't compete with any I-A's in our state but the school has done a good job promoting the Wash/Griz experience. I ran into Eddie DeBartilos daughter at a 49'ers game and she came right up to me after the game because I was wearing a Griz shirt. She had just flown in from Montana and got us down on the field to meet some players. We don't flaunt our popularity, just are proud of what had been built and sustained (YSU used to have that).

[charliej]

Friday night has always been the lowest pulling night for TV viewers.As someone pointed out, it's the regular night out for alot of folks,many of whom get paid on Friday.(learned this way back in media class)

I would think that ratings would be better on Sat.afternoon when you would likely pick up even a few IA viewers who,by this time of the year,are flipping on the set out of habit to see a game.

Another thing I think hurts is the venue.Watching the game from Chatty with the low/limited camera angles,and inability to get a good wide shot makes it look more like a HS game to the average viewer who just stumbles across it. JMO. ;)

[eaglefan452]

Not in Georgia. All 5 Georgia HS classifications play the state champ games the Friday and Saturday of the I-AA National Championship game.


Didn't they change that this year? I thought that the championship games were around Thanksgiving time or at least the first weekend in December. I may be mistaken though.

[Retro]

Not in Georgia. All 5 Georgia HS classifications play the state champ games the Friday and Saturday of the I-AA National Championship game.

Then someone needs rethink their priorities.. Everywhere i have lived, Alabama, Texas and Louisiana all end their regular season in early november and playoffs are done by early december.. I don't see the reason why they would drag it out so long.. It usually works like this, High schools end, then colleges end, then pros end... Usually by 3-4 weeks apart.

[Cocky]

Then someone needs rethink their priorities.. Everywhere i have lived, Alabama, Texas and Louisiana all end their regular season in early november and playoffs are done by early december.. I don't see the reason why they would drag it out so long.. It usually works like this, High schools end, then colleges end, then pros end... Usually by 3-4 weeks apart.

Alabama Championships were the week after Georgia's last year. We normally have them the first or second weekend of December. Georgia are normally the week after our championships.

Priorities are in order the Champ only plays 5 playoff games for a total of 15 games. This does not include the May game and the preseason game.

[McTailGator]

As someone who has attended 4 of the last 5 games...moving to Friday sucks.
(There are many things that people don't like to begin with, but then over time it grows on them...this is not one of those times :mad: )

I realize that TV is the almighty denominator, but quite frankly it is unfair to the fans of the paritcipating teams...and to the city that hosts it.

Honestly, ratings-wise, the difference between Friday night and Saturday day are not going to be huge (those who are interested in watching are going to watch), so why don't we cater to the people that travel (sometimes over a 1,000 miles) to cheer their teams...THAT should be priority one.

(just my highly biased opinion ;) )


I have to agree with you on that one, even though more McNeese fans went to Chatanooga in 2002 than went in 1997 (Saturday game), I know a lot of McNeese fans that made the 97 trip that couldn't make the 02 trip due to work and the 6 day notice.

We took about 6K in 97 and about 8.5K in 02. I bet we would have hit 10K had that 02 game been on a Saturday.

[Baldy]

Then someone needs rethink their priorities.. Everywhere i have lived, Alabama, Texas and Louisiana all end their regular season in early november and playoffs are done by early december.. I don't see the reason why they would drag it out so long.. It usually works like this, High schools end, then colleges end, then pros end... Usually by 3-4 weeks apart.

I believe 452 is correct. Schools in GA now start in early August and so does football. The way it works now, I believe, is that the GA Dome semis are held the week of Thanksgiving and the champ games the week after.

[Pen Guin]

Ohio play-off games go easily into December. There is also the North vs. South, East vs. West, and the Big-33 (OH vs PA).

As far as "the laws of physics", the fact that Ytown is an hour from Cleveland & an hour from Pittsburgh is why signals do not travel. There are even more powerful stations there. Then Akron & Canton have stations as well ... they are much closer. It is all population, that is what I meant. I was not insulting the Griz, sorry if it came out that way. I have been to wash-griz twice & had a great time on both occasions. I was just pointing out that other areas have competition for fans from other colleges.

Denise York (daughter of Edward Sr. & sister of Eddie DeBartolo) & her husband are from Youngstown and huge Penguin fans, so of course she would recognize the Griz. They own the 49ers now. They kicked Eddie Jr. and Carmen Policy out & then those two headed for the Browns. The York's bought the rights to an arena league team as well. The locals thought she would bring it to Ytown, but they are putting it in Frisco. The entire family are huge contributors to YSU, & YSU athletics. In fact, that large bubble sticking out of stambaugh stadium is the Debartolo club & they named a building after her late father.

[catbob]

I was just pointing out that other areas have competition for fans from other colleges.



Exactly the reason I believe Cat/Griz is about the biggest rivarly in IAA. It is the sporting event of the year in Montana by a LOT. Ohio has a lot of pro sports, more colleges, etc. Whereas every football fan in Montana will be at/watching Cat/Griz and cheering for one side. Because frankly, it's the super bowl of Montana.

[FightinBluHen51]

Friday night has always been the lowest pulling night for TV viewers.As someone pointed out, it's the regular night out for alot of folks,many of whom get paid on Friday.(learned this way back in media class)

I would think that ratings would be better on Sat.afternoon when you would likely pick up even a few IA viewers who,by this time of the year,are flipping on the set out of habit to see a game.

Another thing I think hurts is the venue.Watching the game from Chatty with the low/limited camera angles,and inability to get a good wide shot makes it look more like a HS game to the average viewer who just stumbles across it. JMO. ;)


Charlie, this is becoming a problem, as I seem to agree with you more often that disagree. I know this past year, I went out and didn't really care about tunning in to watch the JMU Montana matchup for the title but I did turn on the DIII title game the day after. I was out with friends on that Friday night but had there been more hype (not that this game wasn't a good match up or hyped inside our community of IAA) I perhaps woulda stayed in. If it had been on a Saturday night though, or Saturday afternoon, rest assured the TV woulda been on. Please don't feed me the crap that ESPN II and the ESPN family of networks couldn't have moved it over and broad cast it in HD as they certainly have the equipment and it's not like producing a football game in the same location and getting them to get their HD equipment there (which has sunk costs anyway) would cost them anything extra or that much more (would depend on where it was previously and time to get it there, that I understand).

I know we complain a lot about this sort of stuff and it's the same old same old everytime the topic comes up, but I have to wonder, what is it that the FANS can or could do? Probably nothing when you get down to it because we're talking about a TV network and a major one at that, and the ellietest NCAA which has mor epolotics than a corrupt washington party boss. :bang:

[Ronbo]

Exactly the reason I believe Cat/Griz is about the biggest rivarly in IAA. It is the sporting event of the year in Montana by a LOT. Ohio has a lot of pro sports, more colleges, etc. Whereas every football fan in Montana will be at/watching Cat/Griz and cheering for one side. Because frankly, it's the super bowl of Montana.

Yes, CatBob is correct. Every football fan in Montana watch the Griz/Cat game. 80% of them Griz fans and 20% Cat fans. :D :D :D :D :D

[SoCon48]

Can't say much in this discussion because "IF" Appalachian could draw 40,000 on a Saturday, it would still take a backseat in attendance and/or coverage to University of North Carolina, NC State, East Carolina, Wake Forest and sometimes even Duke all within driving distance and within the state of NC. :mad:

Some I-AA schools have it better within their state.

[GSU Eagle]

A Saturday game would bring more fans for the simple reason that they would have another day to get to the game. Doesn't it seem logical that more people would attend a 3 P.M. Saturday game than a 7 or 8 P.M. Friday night game?

[catbob]

I think Saturday would be a more viable option because the odds at least one of the teams playing won't be anywhere near Chatty.