Game times

[2006Grad]

There has been a lot of talk about the start times for the BG Home games, which got me to thinking, What the schedules for the other MAC schools looked like. I used military time to keep it consistent. (Also put NIU in central time to show relevance to other schools)

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Couple of take aways:
1. BG does have the earliest start times
2. It sucks to be an EMU fan
3. WMU knew they had a great product and showcased it
4. Only ONE home Saturday game the entire month of November
5. I didn't include other games played on any other day. Many schools did a Friday night early in the season and clearly we all played some week day games.

Thought?

[Lord_Byron]

This is good, and an interesting way to look at it, and it's nice to see something different.

I think you need to add a standard deviation. That would show how much the start times vary. For example, although NIU has a later start time than us, it's the same for all their games.

Having a consistent start time on Saturday is important for planning gameday activities like tailgating.

[Beaker]

Nice work on compiling that information. Good stuff. It would be nice to know if there's a correlation between attendance numbers and start times? I'm talking actual butts in seats. It would be hard to make a conclusive determination on that, since we all know that actual attendance rarely resembles the announced figures.

[Class of 61]

So, if i read this correctly , BG played HALF of the noon start games? As someone who has to drive 2+ hrs to campus, this is Stupid! And i don't care if it's TV driven or not. As a result of the worst home schedule in yrs., we did less tailgating than whenever! ( Not that TV folks care about fans in seats or tailgating.)

[2006Grad]

It would be interesting to hear the AD address how they pick times for Saturday games, whether it's tv related, avoiding other events, league requested. There has to be a rhyme or reason to starting at noon that frequently. Because like many of you I hate it! My tailgating rule of thumb is that I need 6 hours of tailgating and starting at 6 am is rough. Noon games have to cut into attendance both from a lack of alumni coming to town and the college kids sleeping.

[MarkL]

Add to that, anybody know the last Saturday November home game we've had? 2012 vs Kent State. 4 freaking years without a home game in November. The best way to drive away your fan base is to make it difficult to attend games.

[gmartin]

So, if i read this correctly , BG played HALF of the noon start games? As someone who has to drive 2+ hrs to campus, this is Stupid! And i don't care if it's TV driven or not. As a result of the worst home schedule in yrs., we did less tailgating than whenever! ( Not that TV folks care about fans in seats or tailgating.)

68% of Big 10 games started this year at noon.
72% of Big 12 games started at 11am CT

I'm sure many of those fans live 2 hours away. I don't mind noon start times. Just start every home game the same time and stick too it!!!

[cameron]

WMU played on Saturday, November 19th at home as well.

Remember, College Gameday from Kalamazoo?

[2006Grad]

Added the Nov 19th game Western had at home to the table: