VCU TV TIME?

[myrtlebeachramfan]

Last year seems like VCU got shut out of Major TV coverage. ESPNU 2x plus bracketbuster. I appreciate being able to watch all home games on VCUAthletics but....

Is there anything that we as fans can do to help boost the coverage for OOState viewers?
Northeastern was on ESPN networks 7x.
Noticed ODU was on ESPN network 1x / fox sports 1x and tourney championship.

Is it location? Bias? Who we play? (some ESPN coverage was not CAA but who the CAA was playing)

OR Do I need to just get DISH Network........

 

[districtballer]

Last year seems like VCU got shut out of Major TV coverage. ESPNU 2x plus bracketbuster. I appreciate being able to watch all home games on VCUAthletics but....

Is there anything that we as fans can do to help boost the coverage for OOState viewers?
Northeastern was on ESPN networks 7x.
Noticed ODU was on ESPN network 1x / fox sports 1x and tourney championship.

Is it location? Bias? Who we play? (some ESPN coverage was not CAA but who the CAA was playing)

OR Do I need to just get DISH Network........

I think the CAA office schedules games with ESPN based on who they think should be a the top of the league next year. VCU wasn't so the CAA was smart and had the foresight to give us less games. The conference wants to showcase the leagues top teams nationally. VCU had a decent number of comcast games that have regional coverage along the eastern seaboard for the most part. Hopefully we'll get more exposure this upcoming season.

 

[VCU MJ]

Yeah but that isn't all of it. Weren't we preseason 3rd pick last year? That's good enought to get us more/better TV spots than we got. I think last years allocation of TV spots by the league was somewhat political. They had secured us a good and growing number of games for the preceeding 3 years, because we were good. Last year I think they spread the wealth alittle bit to dial down the preception of favoritism towards VCU and to try to grow some more 'brands' for the Association. Think about it, the VCU vs OK game wasn't scheduled to be televised?!?! That was an awsome game, and should have been seen by more people. It was good for VCU and the CAA. In defence of the CAA more teams played good and TV worthy schedules, and I guess there is only so much pie to go around.

 

[GboroRam]

One of the biggest things is market size. Obviously Northeastern being in Boston is going to have a much larger potential number of viewers. Not that many fans in Boston care about NE basketball.

 

[YouveBeenRammed]

One of the biggest things is market size. Obviously Northeastern being in Boston is going to have a much larger potential number of viewers. Not that many fans in Boston care about NE basketball.

In the unlikely scenario the Northeastern fields a phenomenally talented team, the kick the crap out of everyone and are ranked in the top 25. Husky mania would sweep through Boston and they would reach that potential you speak of. However, without seeing the numbers (which I would love to see) I highly doubt that more viewers from Boston watch Husky games on TV than viewers from the Richmond market watching the Rams on TV.

Once again would love to see those numbers. Attendance and ratings are usually correlated.

 

[Rambler]

Most of the George Mason games were televised. I believe MASN picked up most of the games that were not selected by the league office to be on ESPN, Comcast, etc. When I attended VCU in the early to mid 90's (Metro years), our games were televised by Raycom on a major network channel. With all of the new sports networks, satellites, etc, it seems we should be able to do better than getting a handful of games on Comcast.

 

[GboroRam]

One of the biggest things is market size. Obviously Northeastern being in Boston is going to have a much larger potential number of viewers. Not that many fans in Boston care about NE basketball.

In the unlikely scenario the Northeastern fields a phenomenally talented team, the kick the crap out of everyone and are ranked in the top 25. Husky mania would sweep through Boston and they would reach that potential you speak of. However, without seeing the numbers (which I would love to see) I highly doubt that more viewers from Boston watch Husky games on TV than viewers from the Richmond market watching the Rams on TV.

Once again would love to see those numbers. Attendance and ratings are usually correlated.

Its the potential. If you ask a national advertiser that they can bee seen in the Boston area or the Richmond market for a CAA televised basketball game, they are going to choose Boston 99% of the time, money talks. The difference between viewers of VCU vs. NE is minor in the scheme of things. Thats one of the reasons the CAA took NE, Drexel, Ga State, and Hofstra, for the large markets they are in. The increase in exposure is huge for tv.

 

[YouveBeenRammed]

Thats one of the reasons the CAA took NE, Drexel, Ga State, and Hofstra, for the large markets they are in. The increase in exposure is huge for tv.

And it hasn't worked out too well for the CAA. Those city's residents are completely apathetic when it comes to those schools. Yes those markets are huge, but the bottom line is do you prefer tapping into a larger portion of the Richmond market or a teeny, tiny, wee, small, microscopic portion of a mega market?

Richmond supports VCU, there's a great relationship there. Yes, Richmond is a smaller metro than above mentioned cities. But I doubt that it is used as a selling point very often. Why advertise in Boston if no one is watching?

Plus on national television VCU has far more appeal than any of those teams. If it's not Northeastern hockey in Boston people aren't watching. Once again I would love to see the numbers for a comparision, but like I said I would put my money on the fact that VCU games would attract more viewers (by head count, not just percentage wise) in the Richmond market than Northeastern would in the Boston market. Which says a lot b/c the metro area has about 4 million more people than Richmond.

 

[GboroRam]

Thats one of the reasons the CAA took NE, Drexel, Ga State, and Hofstra, for the large markets they are in. The increase in exposure is huge for tv.

And it hasn't worked out too well for the CAA. Those city's residents are completely apathetic when it comes to those schools. Yes those markets are huge, but the bottom line is do you prefer tapping into a larger portion of the Richmond market or a teeny, tiny, wee, small, microscopic portion of a mega market?

Richmond supports VCU, there's a great relationship there. Yes, Richmond is a smaller metro than above mentioned cities. But I doubt that it is used as a selling point very often. Why advertise in Boston if no one is watching?

Plus on national television VCU has far more appeal than any of those teams. If it's not Northeastern hockey in Boston people aren't watching. Once again I would love to see the numbers for a comparision, but like I said I would put my money on the fact that VCU games would attract more viewers (by head count, not just percentage wise) in the Richmond market than Northeastern would in the Boston market. Which says a lot b/c the metro area has about 4 million more people than Richmond.

I agree that more people would watch a VCU game in Richmond then a NE game in Boston, i was never arguing that. Thats not my point. I am simply stating one of the main reasons why NE gets tv time. I am saying advertisers are going to flock to the large markets when they are on tv, when there are similar viewership. I hate to say but the difference in national draw between the 2 is not huge in the big picture. Lets say the VCU game will draw 50,000 viewers (with a potential of 1.5 million local viewers), while the NE game draws 20,000 viewers (with the potential of 4 million local viewers). The potential will attract the media buyers when the difference in negligilbe.

 

[YouveBeenRammed]

Thats one of the reasons the CAA took NE, Drexel, Ga State, and Hofstra, for the large markets they are in. The increase in exposure is huge for tv.

And it hasn't worked out too well for the CAA. Those city's residents are completely apathetic when it comes to those schools. Yes those markets are huge, but the bottom line is do you prefer tapping into a larger portion of the Richmond market or a teeny, tiny, wee, small, microscopic portion of a mega market?

Richmond supports VCU, there's a great relationship there. Yes, Richmond is a smaller metro than above mentioned cities. But I doubt that it is used as a selling point very often. Why advertise in Boston if no one is watching?

Plus on national television VCU has far more appeal than any of those teams. If it's not Northeastern hockey in Boston people aren't watching. Once again I would love to see the numbers for a comparision, but like I said I would put my money on the fact that VCU games would attract more viewers (by head count, not just percentage wise) in the Richmond market than Northeastern would in the Boston market. Which says a lot b/c the metro area has about 4 million more people than Richmond.

I agree that more people would watch a VCU game in Richmond then a NE game in Boston, i was never arguing that. Thats not my point. I am simply stating one of the main reasons why NE gets tv time. I am saying advertisers are going to flock to the large markets when they are on tv, when there are similar viewership. I hate to say but the difference in national draw between the 2 is not huge in the big picture. Lets say the VCU game will draw 50,000 viewers (with a potential of 1.5 million local viewers), while the NE game draws 20,000 viewers (with the potential of 4 million local viewers). The potential will attract the media buyers when the difference in negligilbe.

I understand your argument, but I think the markets argument is unfounded. There are so many other factors. Ultimately I think at the end of the day a CAA sponsor would prefer to advertise in the Richmond market for a variety of reasons. It is advertising with the CAA for a reason after all and Richmond is CAA territory.

I just have a real hard time buying the "larger market" argument especially in the realm of college athletics. Advertising in college sports is MUCH, MUCH more about the teams.

 

[GboroRam]

I think you are right about the teams being important, if it were a team with a national following (hate to say it but UNC, Texas, UK etc.), we are not there yet. Those advertisers on ESPN2 arent CAA sponsors for the most part. They could care less if it was VCU, or UR for the Richmond market or Northeastern or Boston U, in the Boston market (mmm boston market), as long as they get the bigger market covered. Thats just the way the business works.

We obviously are on different pages. Agree to disagree. I wish VCU games were on the national channels more, otherwise I have to watch them online.

 

[YouveBeenRammed]

I think you are right about the teams being important, if it were a team with a national following (hate to say it but UNC, Texas, UK etc.), we are not there yet. Those advertisers on ESPN2 arent CAA sponsors for the most part. They could care less if it was VCU, or UR for the Richmond market or Northeastern or Boston U, in the Boston market (mmm boston market), as long as they get the bigger market covered. Thats just the way the business works.

We obviously are on different pages. Agree to disagree. I wish VCU games were on the national channels more, otherwise I have to watch them online.

I've ranted on about this, I think on the off topic boards. But my basic argument when all is said and done is that in college sports, markets are not nearly as important as the team. I know I struggled to get there, making many more, distracted arguments.

Ultimately I don't believe Northeastern would get picked over VCU, whether it be for a regionally televised game or Nationally televised game because the market the teams are in. Regional (CSN) games are usually picked for matchups and ESPN game(s) have been picked for matchups and implications. Our game with ODU got the shaft for Northeastern and Mason because what was stake (at the time of selection) in the conference standings.

But yes, I agree to disagree

 

[major ram]

NU blew it because they started so slow and sucked in their OOC. This was their year. Major FAIL.Networks have to anticipate (ie guess) the best CAA teams. Just didnt work out. They need to stay with the consistent winners and that is basically VCU

 

[districtballer]

I don't see how VCU finishing 5th in the CAA helps your argument though. The 3 years prior to that? Sure. We also had one of the best players in our history happen to bloom during that time period too. They correctly predicted a drop-off after Eric left and we fell back to the pack. I know many don't want to see it that way, but it's what everyone else in the CAA and across the nation will think about VCU's performance this year. ESPN anticipated it and gave us less games. We have to admit we are all horribly biased on this one. When it comes to national television, VCU is not a program with national cache. Mason isn't really either, but they have the most of any team in our conference which is why they get the most games year in and year out despite not having won a post-season tournament game in any type of post-season since the Final Four. The rest of the teams will be picked based on matchups and who is predicted to finish where with markets playing a smaller consideration IMO. When it comes to mids on national TV, they assume they aren't getting as much following anyway so it boils down more to matchups and trying to sell as much of an intriguing storyline as possible (see Akron vs. VCU Bracketbuster matchup). VCU has to earn national TV time; we didn't the past year. I do hope that changes and we show we deserve it in the years ahead.

 

[ramtastic83]

. When it comes to mids on national TV, they assume they aren't getting as much following anyway so it boils down more to matchups and trying to sell as much of an intriguing storyline as possible (see Akron vs. VCU Bracketbuster matchup).

are you telling us the the OU/VCU was not a intriguing matchup??? with the home record at the STU and OU being a "national powerhouse" (we all know how that turned out) wasnt a good story that VCUand OU had to split the bill to get it televised