Yeah, I was paying a lot for DirecTV. I called DirecTV to cancel which they lowered the bill like by half. I wanted to give streaming a chance though and signed up. 2 years later, my streaming bill is about double what it was. It likely will go up more. Ugh.
Williams & Blum pod - 8.1.21
- Thread starter cyman05
- Start date
Blum hit the nail on the head when he talked about level of interest in the sport for sure. I already only watch Green Bay games anymore for the NFL, seems like I’ll just be watching ISU games in the near future. Already watched a decent amount of the premier league, I’ll probably just watch that and either bundesliga or serie A. Sucks to lose your favorite sport.
Another way to think of it, if you're ISU/Packers fan -- Imagine if 8 teams broke away from NFL to form, I don't know, "Super NFL" or whatever -- Mainly big-market or "legendary" franchises such as Jets, Giants, Bears, Cowboys, maybe Philly and whichever pro team is located in L.A., et al ... how would fans of the other 24 react?
I know it isn't exactly the same thing nor am I'm guessing such a thing will occur. (Thought experiment.)
I’m also an Arsenal fan and I absolutely hated the idea of a super league. My Arsenal fandom is not as strong as my ISU/GB fandom but if the super league would’ve happened I would’ve just stopped watching or stopped being a fan. It would’ve ruined the spirit of the sport.
Is there any informed speculation out there about what ISU realistically thinks will happen to Cyclone Club donations and ticket sales in this new world without OU and UT? And perhaps without Iowa?**
Chris and Brent talked about having to live for the next few years in an unstable, less-than-desirable situation hoping things swing back our way. I can see fan support remaining high in hopes of impressing some new suitor.
But if the dust settles and the remaining 8 schools simply add two or four other AAC or MWC-caliber schools, I'm just not sure I see ISU fans making Big 12 donations and paying Big 12 ticket prices to watch that. The Cyclone Club was going to be re-indexed in 2021-22, and that got pushed back a year due to Covid. What happens to that now?
Everyone thinks of this in terms of lost TV revenue but everything else will surely suffer too.
**I mentioned Iowa here because in a new world of potentially unstable conferences or revenue maximization at all costs, it's not at all hard to imagine Iowa wanting to shift the series to more favorable terms for them - whether it's as simple as a bigger cut of the games, or playing the game in Iowa City more often, or even ending the series entirely so they can schedule a cupcake at home every year.
Chris and Brent talked about having to live for the next few years in an unstable, less-than-desirable situation hoping things swing back our way. I can see fan support remaining high in hopes of impressing some new suitor.
But if the dust settles and the remaining 8 schools simply add two or four other AAC or MWC-caliber schools, I'm just not sure I see ISU fans making Big 12 donations and paying Big 12 ticket prices to watch that. The Cyclone Club was going to be re-indexed in 2021-22, and that got pushed back a year due to Covid. What happens to that now?
Everyone thinks of this in terms of lost TV revenue but everything else will surely suffer too.
**I mentioned Iowa here because in a new world of potentially unstable conferences or revenue maximization at all costs, it's not at all hard to imagine Iowa wanting to shift the series to more favorable terms for them - whether it's as simple as a bigger cut of the games, or playing the game in Iowa City more often, or even ending the series entirely so they can schedule a cupcake at home every year.
ISU alum are one of the absolute worst alumni bases relative to donating to their school already.
We lack the upper crust ultra-wealthy big business exec alumni, as well as the next-best rich lawyer and doctor alumni tier. Our alumni overall are just not very rich compared to other AAU/P5 schools.
Those fans are already watching the SEC, which is why this is a dumb move on ESPN’s part, in terms of overall viewership. These dual moves to break apart the Big 12 are to prevent a streaming service from stealing their content, and to mitigate the cost of doing so (I.e. trying to get the whole conference into the AAC).
I was sort of thinking about the difference between college and pros. While there are a million differences that drive their individual models, it just strikes me odd that ALL of the pro leagues keep ADDING teams to their big leagues, college seems to be determined to subtract teams.
In 1960 there were 8 National League teams and 8 American League teams. There are 30 now, so almost double.
NFL merged with AFL and they added more teams since.
NHL adds teams
NBA adds teams...
Seems odd to me from an overall "popularity of the sport" to be eliminating teams from the big boy table.
Really? What does ISU do for outreach, to engage, alumni and their families?
For example, Iowa's annual Kid's Day at Kinnick is Aug 14.
When's ours?
Look up donations levels, your argument will keep us out of certain stratospheres; but we underperform versus peer institutions across P5. This FB program‘s trajectory and CFB state of affairs has moved passed the excuse stage.
Are you suggesting that the lack of a Tailgate Tour for one year explains why ISU alums don't donate to ISU? That certainly is a take.
What they said wasn’t wrong. That doesn’t mean we are very good at donating though. It just means that we have to take a different approach. We have to maximize what we can get from the more normal donors.
That means focusing on getting people started donating. There shouldn’t really be a $100 minimum to get going. Say someone isn’t a fanatic like you or me but they want to support the school. Maybe $100 is more than they want to do. Currently the message is kind of we don’t want your money. That mentality turns small donors away.
As others have said I think figuring out ways to encourage those who aren’t in Iowa would be helpful. We don’t want someone to not donate because they don’t see any benefits.
I also think certain people particularly those who do make decent money need to actually do their part and support the AD. I know for myself as a recent grad I’m contributing a fair amount. I’m also working to hopefully up that in the next few years. That said I’m a lowly business grad and don’t make near as much as some of the other majors.
I didn’t say they were wrong. I am suggesting, as are you, that the time is for solutions (and I’ll add not excuses). I may be out of touch, but most don’t have $0.274 a day to donate to the AD, that’s a barrier? If so, we are in trouble.
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