norcalewfan said:
EWURanger said:
Vic E. Wallace said:
EWURanger,
Sorry, I must disagree with you about scoreboard Funds. I know for a fact, Mark Hughes have been getting funds for the above mention subject. What I have heard, there is a possibility of attempting to secure the UW Scoreboard. Cost for a new one will cost an ARM/LEG :lol: Due to the bidget cuts over the State, Mark have utilized trips to secure funds. I know he is working his rear end off securing Funds.
:clap: Lets hope it comes in very soon, probarbly not until after this season, hope I am wrong.
Vic, my points shouldn't be taken as a slight on anyone in the AD. I wasn't saying that people aren't working diligently to make things happen - I'm sure they are.
That said, I still maintain that "we" do a poor job of generating support for capital campaign projects. It's not enough that just the people that are "in the know" on these issues know what's going on. Some of the most die-hard EWU fans/alums are on this site, and if I had to guess maybe half of us knew anything about the scoreboard project. What does that tell me? It tells me that the majority of casual fans/alums know nothing about it at all! There's been nothing about it on goeags.com, no e-mails, nothing. I think you see my point.
IMO, the University/AD has a much broader "potential" fan base than I think they realize. They just need to come up with some creative ways to tap into some of that potential. Sure, promotional ads and the like are a great start, but it's going to take more than that. A good example of a capital campaign project is what MSU did with their EZ project.
Unlike the 22 FBS programs that netted an average profit of approximately $7.4 million last year with larger television rights contracts, higher priced tickets, memorabilia and alcohol sales, Eastern Washington, along with (I suspect) most other FCS football programs must rely on school supported subsidies and fan support in order to improve facilities and grow their programs.
Craig Haley, FCS Executive Director asserts in an article published on June 15 (see link below) on sportsnetwork.com that "the numbers continue to point to the fact that revenue-producing college athletics should be handled like a business." He points to many FCS schools that successfully narrowed the revenue gap by developing "effective ways to promote and brand themselves, and draw fan interest."
While I'm not familiar with the EWU A.D. or marketing programs; from what I've read here, they seem to be doing a good job. I still thought it was an instuctive read...besides, there's not a hell-of-a-lot to talk about before the second week in August.
http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/...ork&page=cfoot2/news/newstest.aspx?id=4411626
Indeed. They should have called the 22 schools mentioned in the article "BCS" schools, because no one outside of the big time conferences turn a profit. This is true for virtually all of the lower end FBS schools and most likely all of FCS, save perhaps Montana and App State.
I'd like to see Eastern come up with some sort of lasting traditions in conjunction with game day. They have started to do "military appreciation" day, which I thought was really cool. I liked the idea in the article about the raffling off a car (or whatever) - great idea. The Freshman run thing was a good idea as well, but basically anything that will contribute to generating more interest in game day and getting more butts in seats is really important. I've seen it said before, and believe it more now than ever, that the majority of people that go to college football games are there for the gameday experience more than anything else. There's a lot more to it than simply having an awesome on the field product (which EWU has). Montana could probably have a few sub-par seasons and still have awesome crowds, because they put on a really good show there at WA-Griz.
The other side is that facility improvements are required to keep up with the rest of the FCS in that regard - hell, even the rest of the conference. O
ur facilities are not on par with the quality of our football team - they are basically on the level of ISU, UNC, and SUU - all programs that we are arguably well ahead of in terms of the competitive aspect. Even if it's little things like concessions improvements, etc. that would go a long way. Eastern had a crowd of close to 12k against UM last year, and it was apparent that the support systems at Roos were not equipped to handle a big crowd. They need to expand the upper parking lot - not just for athletics events, but for students and what not in general.
The alcohol ban doesn't help - but it's my understanding that this is a state law and there's not much the University can really do about it. I remember when we used to play at Joe Albi there was a really nice beer garden that overlooked the playing field. That might be a good idea for Roos. :twocents:
I know there are a lot of ideas floating around there that are largely incumbent upon financial support. I'd just like to hear what some of them are..........as in "this is what we are thinking, and this is how much it's going to cost...." And then start getting the capital campaign going to start working towards it, however long it may take. Maybe having a few more high profile players over the next few years wouldn't hurt.
I know any sort of athletics projects right now are a touchy subject.....just look at last summer when we did something relatively minute like put in Field Turf. People were whining about why we were spending money on athletics when most of them never even bothered to find out that it was all privately funded. Athletics are a very important part of any Division I university, and to a large extent you are only going to get out of it what you put into it.
.
