MEAC commissioner is aiming to revive the Heritage Bowl


Originally posted by Lewis
I know for me, the last year we had to play a 3rd place Hampton team THAT WE HAD ALREADY BEATEN THAT YEAR (We beat them in the Circle City Classic) really put a dent in the game. I know we should have won the game and I am not making excuses for losing. But in the big picture, how much interest can a game have with a Conference Champ playing a 3rd place team they already beat. (and the game is set up that way) I said a long time ago, we should say f*(&^k the MEAC and make the oppenent in the Heratige bowl the highest rank team we could find that make sense. For example, last year invite Tuskegee, or the last PWC that got left out of the playoffs that is located in the south or east (don't invite no montana states, if they ain't gonna bring no fans.) I woulda been told the meac to keep thier 3 place team. If not, we should have been lobbying for the other spot in the New Orleans bowl.
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And thats excatly why pete said he wouldn't participate anymore because the MEAC would not send their best and it did us nothing we invested everything and they sold out to get a pat on the back because theysure as h@ll didn't make any money.
Hell every the champion of the playoffs tells how they barely break even and more times then done they lose.
Remember they did this after campaigning for the damn bowl, a couple of years we had to play famu and scstate twice in the same year even though we beat them it was exciting because they were 1 & 2 at the time.
Now to think sending three schools to the playoffs is better atleast be honest enough to say why you felthat way because I know your not going to sit here on this board and tel us you made money.
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
HURRAY to the MEAC President!! HURRAY I SAY!

Way to step in with a bold proposal there MEAC Commish! GOOD $HIT!!!:jump:

Now DAS what I'm talkin' bout. This is the only scenario where I would forego my pro-playoffs position, but you GOT to have THE BEST from the MEAC going up against the SWAC champ,,, not MEAC also-rans.

The Commish steps up in a HUUUUGE way to put this to rest with a proposal on the table to take the MEAC OUT of the playoff pool,,,, JUST FOR A HERITAGE BOWL MATCH-UP.

It seems to me this should be a no-brainer between MEAC and SWAC brass. This deal should get done ASAP. :nod2:
 



Re: HURRAY to the MEAC President!! HURRAY I SAY!

Originally posted by Bartram
Way to step in with a bold proposal there MEAC Commish! GOOD $HIT!!!:jump:

Now DAS what I'm talkin' bout. This is the only scenario where I would forego my pro-playoffs position, but you GOT to have THE BEST from the MEAC going up against the SWAC champ,,, not MEAC also-rans.

The Commish steps up in a HUUUUGE way to put this to rest with a proposal on the table to take the MEAC OUT of the playoff pool,,,, JUST FOR A HERITAGE BOWL MATCH-UP.

It seems to me this should be a no-brainer between MEAC and SWAC brass. This deal should get done ASAP. :nod2:
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ok what proposal
 
JR you're correct...I had my dates off because a few different sites reported two games in 94 and no game in 92. Good Catch!!

91 - ASU vs NCA&T (Miami, FL) --   7,724
92 - Gram vs FAM (Tallahassee, FL) --   11,273
93 - SU vs SCState (Atl) --   over 35K
94 - Gram vs SCState (Atl) --   22,179
95 - SU vs FAM (ATL) --   25, 164
------------------------------------
96 - SU vs HoU (atl) --   18 ,126
97 - SU vs ScState (atl) --   32,029
98 - SU vs BCC (atl) --   32, 955
99 - SU vs Hampton (atl) --   29,000

Just by looking at the numbers it's pretty obvious that there is relativly little relation between the MEAC sending their top team and the amount of butts put in the seats (this is assuming you consider attendance relates directly to money made). 3 of the 4 highest attended Heritage Bowls were AFTER the MEAC stopped sending it's top team.

I guess my point is if the amount of money made by the game had nothing to do with who the MEAC sent and the SWAC keeps complaining about playing the best...WHY NOT go to the playoffs and play the best and still keep the Heritage Bowl?
 
ROB
The networks are only going to shell out the money if the can sell the time. The reason that the Super Bowl ad slots are so big is that you get a huge audience to advertise to at ONE TIME. That's why ad dollars aren't as great for the NBA and MLB. Besides, they are already getting the same dollars without having to play more games. Remember, the dollars that are quoted areGROSS numbers, not NET numbers. So if they can make close to the same amount of money without playing as many road games then they come out ahead.

VENOM
To explain my previous post, the difference is between making SOME money with your own system and making NO money but with a Nat'l Title that no one cares about. That's about as simply as I can state it.
 
The Hertiage Bowl was canceled do to decline in attendance. NBC did not renew the contract because it was not making enough money. Ideally you would like for your fans to travel and make it to the game; however, its been said already many can't afford to go. SU will always bring a crowd;however, other schools will not. That is why it is imporatnt to have the support of the host city. If you have the support of the host city to come out and embrace the event, it does not matter who plays. If 25,000-30,000 of the host residents come out every year that is all you need. Throw in the 10,000 fans from the two schools that are playing, you have 35,000-45,000 in attendance.

This is how the white schools do it. They will bring some fans because they have more alumni and students; however, many of the fans are from the host city.

I would like to see the Hertiage Bowl comeback. I think the SWAC has done well in having the SCG. Attendance has been good and I think with more years to come it will increase. I have made it my plan to go no matter what schoo;s are playing. I want to support the game. I think more people in Birmingham need to support it. I am not sure what the payout is for the participating schoo;s but I am sure that they are getting something.
 
to your points,,

The Hertiage Bowl was canceled do to decline in attendance.
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I think the points raised in the article address this issue; when you got the 2nd or 3rd runner-up of the MEAC going up against the SWAC champ, that's kinda anti-climatic.

Ideally you would like for your fans to travel and make it to the game; however, its been said already many can't afford to go. SU will always bring a crowd;however, other schools will not.
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I don't know about that; perhaps other schools don't have as strong and active of an alumni, but not being able to afford it? maybe from a student standpoint, but overall that can't be a legit excuse.
 
Originally posted by Venom Skywalker
JR you're correct...I had my dates off because a few different sites reported two games in 94 and no game in 92. Good Catch!!

91 - ASU vs NCA&T (Miami, FL) --   7,724
92 - Gram vs FAM (Tallahassee, FL) --   11,273
93 - SU vs SCState (Atl) --   over 35K
94 - Gram vs SCState (Atl) --   22,179
95 - SU vs FAM (ATL) --   25, 164
------------------------------------
96 - SU vs HoU (atl) --   18 ,126
97 - SU vs ScState (atl) --   32,029
98 - SU vs BCC (atl) --   32, 955
99 - SU vs Hampton (atl) --   29,000

Just by looking at the numbers it's pretty obvious that there is relativly little relation between the MEAC sending their top team and the amount of butts put in the seats (this is assuming you consider attendance relates directly to money made). 3 of the 4 highest attended Heritage Bowls were AFTER the MEAC stopped sending it's top team.

I guess my point is if the amount of money made by the game had nothing to do with who the MEAC sent and the SWAC keeps complaining about playing the best...WHY NOT go to the playoffs and play the best and still keep the Heritage Bowl?
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Your hypothesis is incorrect. The first piece of information that has been not stated is several weeks before the 95 Heritage Bowl FAMU and SU played in front of 40,000 + in the GA. Dome dubbed The Budweiser Classic. The Heritage Bowl 95 pitted the same teams in the same venue a few weeks later. Next, you neglected to state that the 95 second game was the 1st nationally televised game which impacted attendance also. In fact the 95 matchups between FAM were pretty healthy. If you average the two games in a matter of weeks apart the average was 33,000 fans and along with a nationally televised game (ESPN2). Finally, the poor planning of the final Heritage Bowl hurt the numbers. It is totally asinine to schedule a bowl game one week after a conference championship. I am incline to believe that some on the planning committe did not have a half of brain. One week prior to this S.U./HAMP game The Jaguar nation played in front of 47K + in Birmingham. Then you expect the Nation to travel to Atlanta the following week to play against a 3rd rate team that we trounced a few weeks before. Some say "but it was on national t.v." Hell the two weeks/games before that game were nationally televised game also. The aforementioned are the facts. The MEAC hot pursuit of approval from remedial PWC was the catalyst for ending the Heritage Bowl. Something is in fact wrong with your thought process when you aspire to play in Idaho or Montana as opposed to on NBC/ESPN in Atlanta, GA. If this is what a so called elitist education does for you, I personally dont want any part of it.
 
One thing on the Heritage Bowl is that it use to be scheduled between Christmas and New Years. I went to the SC State-Grambling game (with two conference champs) in '94 and the FAMU-Southern game in '95. (I think JSU won the SWAC that year.) I also saw the Howard-SU game, which pitted two second place conference teams, in '96 and the SU-SC State game in '97. I believe that all of those game were between Christmas and New Year's Day and were televised nationally by ESPN or ESPN2.
 
MHURD
We know that attendance was the reason the game was cancelled. The question is, why was there a decline in attendance?
 
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