CAA Arms Race - Washington Post Article

[rufus]

The Post doesn't usually pay a lot of attention to FCS football. This article echoes Keeler's view on the arms race within the CAA. Some interesting views from UNH's AD on the possibility of adding Charlotte. Nothing concrete obviously.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/10/AR2009121003871.html

[appmaj]

Charlotte needs a team 1st...

[AAadict]

Good article. Thanks for posting. DE is in great shape for this race financially but fear we are getting away from what used to be a great family outing. I think four of us used to go to a game for under $70 (tix & park in Blue Lot) and it's already over $100 (plus an annual forced donation of $100+).
I'm not hurting for $ but there is a limit to my passion for FCS.

[yorkcountyUNHfan]

Nice find AA thanks.

I hope we continue to hear about some type of stadium up grades at UNH

[JMUNJ08]

Good article. Thanks for posting. DE is in great shape for this race financially but fear we are getting away from what used to be a great family outing. I think four of us used to go to a game for under $70 (tix & park in Blue Lot) and it's already over $100 (plus an annual forced donation of $100+).
I'm not hurting for $ but there is a limit to my passion for FCS.

I agree. You should see the club seats and suites for JMU. The prices are crazy IMO for 5 or 6 games a year. I am hoping for some cheap upper bowl tickets in 2011xthumbsupx

[Husky4Life]

Nice find AA thanks.

I hope we continue to hear about some type of stadium up grades at UNH

Throw down a sheet of Ice and you could build another Big House in Durham & fill it!!!

Nice find.

[SpiderSafety75]

I'm wondering what the prices will be at UR neat year. I've already had to spend a $100 with the Spider Club, but I do that most years anyway.

It's a good article. I wonder what impact ODU and GS will have, too. I don't think it's necessarily a good thing for UR - I have a feeling the league might look very different say, 8 years from now.

[mcveyrl]

I agree. You should see the club seats and suites for JMU. The prices are crazy IMO for 5 or 6 games a year. I am hoping for some cheap upper bowl tickets in 2011xthumbsupx

I told my wife I wanted club seats.

She asked me how all four of us were going to fit in one seat!

[GoneTribal]

I told my wife I wanted club seats.

She asked me how all four of us were going to fit in one seat!

xlolxxlolxxlolx

[JMUNJ08]

I told my wife I wanted club seats.

She asked me how all four of us were going to fit in one seat!

xpopcornx

[19Duke97]

I agree. You should see the club seats and suites for JMU. The prices are crazy IMO for 5 or 6 games a year. I am hoping for some cheap upper bowl tickets in 2011xthumbsupx

They can keep the club seats for businesses for all I care, football was meant to be watched in the elements with a beer and dog in hand. I'll see you in the upper deck xthumbsupx

[proasu89]

Good article. Thanks for posting. DE is in great shape for this race financially but fear we are getting away from what used to be a great family outing. I think four of us used to go to a game for under $70 (tix & park in Blue Lot) and it's already over $100 (plus an annual forced donation of $100+).
I'm not hurting for $ but there is a limit to my passion for FCS.

We here in Mountaineer land feel your pain but success and not standing still come at a price. I remember back to the days when tickets were under $20.00 and if someone wanted to join you they could walk up a get a ticket. I've caught myself a couple of times saying "why don't you go with us to the game", only to realize there were no tickets. There are a couple of sections in our stadium that do not require a donation to the Yosef Club. The rest of the season tickets require a minimum donation of $250.00. Sit between the 40's on either side and it's a $500.00 donation. Season tickets for the past two seasons have been $160.00 each. It's a good thing the wife enjoys ASU football as much as I do because we're out a grand before the season starts. We enjoy it but have decided to take it year by year and if it gets to be too much we'll scale back.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

First of all, any writer who parrots the line that Hofstra is going to "save" $4.5 million annually ought to read my blog posting, exposing that myth:

http://lehighfootballnation.blogspot.com/2009/12/still-mad-about-losing-hofstra-football.html

But the real interesting quote in here is:


To that point, Yeager said the disparity in the size of the schools might be the most pressing issue for the CAA's future. And it ties all the issues together -- the economics, the geography and the ability to build facilities.

That's a real interesting point. JMU can certainly do things with its huge enrollment and space to grow that Richmond and Villanova can't. There's a real pressure with large publics (JMU, ODU, UMass), small publics (Maine, UNH, URI) privates (Richmond, Villanova) and public/private mixes (William & Mary). How similar are all these schools, anyway?

It's not just the CAA that sees these pressures. The PL is going through this "who are we?" with its five core members and two very different affiliates. The question is whether these will end up as any meaningful realignment, or will the value of being a part of the CAA trump that.

Of course, completely ignored in the article 500lb elephant is the effect of men's basketball and how that affects things. Even if you're not a football powerhouse, there's value in staying in the CAA.

[mcveyrl]

They can keep the club seats for businesses for all I care, football was meant to be watched in the elements with a beer and dog in hand. I'll see you in the upper deck xthumbsupx

The club seats are one big section, there just happens to be a bar (club) and a patio with free food and drink the first three quarters. The suites have outside seating, too.

I would love to get club seats, but don't care that much about getting in a suite.

[19Duke97]

The club seats are one big section, there just happens to be a bar (club) and a patio with free food and drink the first three quarters. The suites have outside seating, too.

I would love to get club seats, but don't care that much about getting in a suite.

Either one is out of my practical price range. I could buy club if I really wanted them, but I can't justify it, I like hanging with the common people.

[mcveyrl]

Either one is out of my practical price range. I could buy club if I really wanted them, but I can't justify it, I like hanging with the common people.

I'm in the same boat. Well, kind of. I could probably get clubs for my wife and I, but couldn't justify it. I definitely couldn't get clubs for the whole fam.

I just want to stay on the lower deck.

[ThompsonThe]

UNC-Charlotte is a mystery to many about football, or if they should really have football.

[Bogus Megapardus]

Tickets to a Lafayette game are $13.00. Little kids are free - bring the family! Beautiful atmosphere, picturesque setting, about 13,000 seats. Just walk right up. Maroon Club membership is not required. I guess there is something to say about northeast football, after all!

[DFW HOYA]

Of course, completely ignored in the article 500lb elephant is the effect of men's basketball and how that affects things. Even if you're not a football powerhouse, there's value in staying in the CAA.

Much like the Big East, comprised of four former Eastern independents (Syr, Pitt, Rutgers, WV), two former Missouri Valley schools (Cincinnati, Louisville), a southern upstart (USF, started football in 1997), a former Yankee conference team (UConn), two I-AA's (Georgetown, Villanova), a former I-AA (St. John's), two eastern schools without any football (Seton Hall, Providence), two midwestern schools without any football (DePaul, Marquette), and a school in Indiana with its own football network (ND).

[19Duke97]

Tickets to a Lafayette game are $13.00. Little kids are free - bring the family! Beautiful atmosphere, picturesque setting, about 13,000 seats. Just walk right up. Maroon Club membership is not required. I guess there is something to say about northeast football, after all!

At nearly 50K/year for tuition room & board that's all most of could afford at Lafayette. xlolx. That's more than my 4 years at JMU combined by a nice margin.

[JMUNJ08]

At nearly 50K/year for tuition room & board that's all most of could afford at Lafayette. xlolx. That's more than my 4 years at JMU combined by a nice margin.

I think you are refering to in-state as I should know its not that low out of statexoopsx

[19Duke97]

I think you are refering to in-state as I should know its not that low out of statexoopsx

Note it said my tuition, but yeah instate is about 16K for T,R&B now from what I can tell. Ouf of state is certainly higher.

[elon77]

Something I find interesting along these lines is the President of ODU was on local radio last week and he said ODU football probably broke even this year. Now let's think about that, they had 7 home games and everyone of them was a sellout. That's 20,000 per game, if they just broke even how much money did most of the programs lose?

[ASU Tailgaiteer]

Tickets to a Lafayette game are $13.00. Little kids are free - bring the family! Beautiful atmosphere, picturesque setting, about 13,000 seats. Just walk right up. Maroon Club membership is not required. I guess there is something to say about northeast football, after all!

That's pretty much where ASU was in the early 90's. You could even find a nice patch of grass to park the car on and tailgate at within a 5 minute walk of the stadium. (We didn't go to homecoming games back then, because it was "too crowded")

Obviously, I wouldn't trade our success and facilities for yesteryear, but going to games has become a lot more complicated (especially when you have kids and don't know what their fall sports calendars are like when ASU tickets go on sale)

Again, not complaining, times have just changed.

[rufus]

Charlotte needs a team 1st...

Umm... done.

[jmufan999]

Something I find interesting along these lines is the President of ODU was on local radio last week and he said ODU football probably broke even this year. Now let's think about that, they had 7 home games and everyone of them was a sellout. That's 20,000 per game, if they just broke even how much money did most of the programs lose?

i see your point, but wouldn't we have to know what they were charging for tickets in order to give an accurate answer? what if tickets were only $7 for any seat in the house?

[jmufan999]

Something I find interesting along these lines is the President of ODU was on local radio last week and he said ODU football probably broke even this year. Now let's think about that, they had 7 home games and everyone of them was a sellout. That's 20,000 per game, if they just broke even how much money did most of the programs lose?

oh and also, tickets are only a portion of how the program can make money. donations are huge... they probably didn't get bombarded with donations in their first year. takes time.

[elon77]

i see your point, but wouldn't we have to know what they were charging for tickets in order to give an accurate answer? what if tickets were only $7 for any seat in the house?

All the seats were sold as season ticket packages no walk up tickets sold for any of the seven games. The only tickets offered on game days were the ones turned in by the visiting team and unused student tickets which were all snatched up pretty fast. Trust me there were no $7 tickets sold this year.