2018 NC NOT in KC??

[boatcapt]

Re: 2018 NC NOT in KC??

Well...The NCAA did select KC so they do bare some of the blame.

[JR Chaney]

Re: 2018 NC NOT in KC??

[Wildcat Khan]

Re: 2018 NC NOT in KC??

The Tacoma Dome. Indoors. Hosted IAA games in the 80s.

I was thinking that too and it is where CWU won its NAIA national title and hosts the state finals for HS's. I was thinking of it more though as a knock on WWU dropping football!

[spidermac]

Re: 2018 NC NOT in KC??

Okay, whoever said Texas is right...Texas will draw football fans...the City of Frisco has hosted the FCS championship game since 2011 or 2012...and they have their new Frisco Bowl, SMU got their teeth kicked in by someone last year...

Texas has HS venues that put some FCS venues to shame...Allen Eagle Stadium, the new palace (not what they really call it) in McKinney, the Katy ISD thing, and of course, who can forget the Star...a completely incredible venue, that holds 12K fans, and it is climate controlled...who cares if it is raining that day in December, I am going from the parking garage to my seat...along with a big stupid tray of nachos and a Dr. Pepper in a Dak Prescot cup...

Football, any kind of football is king in Texas...give the natives a game to watch and they will come watch it...if I had a vote, I would go with Frisco, and probably the Star over Toyota, they are about 5 miles away from each other on the Dallas North Tollway, and figure 30 minutes from DFW, about the same from Dallas Love Field. But lots of stuff to do in the DFW area, all you non-Texans could go to the stockyards in FT. Worth, get some boots, then take a tour of the Star or Jerry World, eat at any kind of restaurant you want to, catch the Cowboys on Sunday, and fly back home.

[BearcatDude]

Re: 2018 NC NOT in KC??

Heck, thanks NCAA (fill in your favorite acronym). Geesh, at this short of a notice, they might as well take it back to Florence. At least we know they could handle it. But at this short of a notice, stadium and/or city budgets have been set.

[KleShreen]

Re: 2018 NC NOT in KC??

I think this is way to complex for the NCAA, but you need to look at this game and the attendance around it as a series of small bites. There is no silver bullet solution that is going to "fix" attendance in one fell swoop so you have to do/pick things/locations that move the needle in small increments and hope that at the end of the day you do enough of those things to the point the needle has moved significantly. Things I would think would cater to pockets of potential fans:

Must haves:

1. Location - You need a location that is easily accessible to most of the country. Interstates are a must and all major and discount airlines need to fly there from multiple locations.

2. The Game Outside the Game - A destination location that gives attendees something to do outside of the game. The more things the area has, the better. Need to give fans an excuse to attend outside of the game itself.

3. Weather - Some football diehards love football in the rain, sleet and snow...But you are playing to a larger audience if the game is played were the weather is warm and sunny.

4. Experienced Tourist Board - An experienced and engaged tourist board can be incredibly helpful in marketing the game and enlisting local sponsors. Tourist locations live on "discounts" and the tourist board can/will market your event to the local community which will result in all manner of cost saving discounts on everything from hotel rooms to tourist attractions to dining.

I know it is outside of the NCAA's way of doing business, but they need to approach this whole process differently. Instead of simply asking all interested locations to bid on the game and picking the highest bidder, they need to select several locations were they think the game should be, do site visits to meet with local officials, view the venues and get a gauge of what the city can do for the NCAA. It can be argued that this game draws over 10,000 out of towners to a particular city. That's not small potatoes even to the most seasoned tourist location. Cities like Orlando, Vagas and San Antonio (Etc) would probably do quite a bit to get the event and the $'s that the fans bring. NCAA is approaching this like they are asking people to bid on a porta potty contract when they should be approaching it as we have this MILLION DOLLAR plus nugget of gold we want to give to the city that can do the most for us and our fans.

Not specifically picking on you, but your post is just the most recent to mention it. I don't understand the airport access argument. We went through this when locations were changing last time. How many people who attend the D2 title game are actually flying in for it? The player's parents sometimes, and maybe some straggler fans? I mean we get 5,000 people at these games, the overwhelming majority of which are driving there. I don't think being near an airport hub makes a difference at all. That is appealing to what, less than a thousand people for each game? And that is being generous, I think. If people are driving there, which I believe most do, then they're going to be there regardless of what kind of interstate system is around. Alright, rant over. Haha.

[gsutiger2002]

Re: 2018 NC NOT in KC??

Heck, thanks NCAA (fill in your favorite acronym). Geesh, at this short of a notice, they might as well take it back to Florence. At least we know they could handle it. But at this short of a notice, stadium and/or city budgets have been set.

[CALUPA69]

Re: 2018 NC NOT in KC??

Don't know why Finley Stadium in Chattanooga isn't considered. It is a football field, it is in a centrally located moderate weather city and it hosted the the FCS championship from '97-09. If Dallas hadn't decided to go all in, the game would likely still be there. I'm confused.

[BearcatDude]

Re: 2018 NC NOT in KC??

https://youtu.be/kaJL052qt2s

[BearcatDude]

Re: 2018 NC NOT in KC??

I don't get the bashing. My experience with the MIAA is they ARE passionate about football and the chance of bigger crowds was more likely. So, the only folks to be mad at is Sporting KC. They suck, and have created a ridiculous situation.

+1

[boatcapt]

Re: 2018 NC NOT in KC??

I think this is way to complex for the NCAA, but you need to look at this game and the attendance around it as a series of small bites. There is no silver bullet solution that is going to "fix" attendance in one fell swoop so you have to do/pick things/locations that move the needle in small increments and hope that at the end of the day you do enough of those things to the point the needle has moved significantly. Things I would think would cater to pockets of potential fans:

Must haves:

1. Location - You need a location that is easily accessible to most of the country. Interstates are a must and all major and discount airlines need to fly there from multiple locations.

2. The Game Outside the Game - A destination location that gives attendees something to do outside of the game. The more things the area has, the better. Need to give fans an excuse to attend outside of the game itself.

3. Weather - Some football diehards love football in the rain, sleet and snow...But you are playing to a larger audience if the game is played were the weather is warm and sunny.

4. Experienced Tourist Board - An experienced and engaged tourist board can be incredibly helpful in marketing the game and enlisting local sponsors. Tourist locations live on "discounts" and the tourist board can/will market your event to the local community which will result in all manner of cost saving discounts on everything from hotel rooms to tourist attractions to dining.

I know it is outside of the NCAA's way of doing business, but they need to approach this whole process differently. Instead of simply asking all interested locations to bid on the game and picking the highest bidder, they need to select several locations were they think the game should be, do site visits to meet with local officials, view the venues and get a gauge of what the city can do for the NCAA. It can be argued that this game draws over 10,000 out of towners to a particular city. That's not small potatoes even to the most seasoned tourist location. Cities like Orlando, Vagas and San Antonio (Etc) would probably do quite a bit to get the event and the $'s that the fans bring. NCAA is approaching this like they are asking people to bid on a porta potty contract when they should be approaching it as we have this MILLION DOLLAR plus nugget of gold we want to give to the city that can do the most for us and our fans.

[UNA_Texan]

Re: 2018 NC NOT in KC??

Reviews are mixed but from someone who's been to both, KC does offer a lot more things to do for the weekend. Add in drive from the airport is greatly less than it was in Alabama. The attendance thing I never understood it's always going to matter who's playing. The stadium was world class, sadly the management for said stadium is apparently world class ******** as well.

There isn't going to be a perfect location. I liked Alabama, I think KC was a step up. I didn't think it was perfect. I don't mind the whole weather thing, I like games played in crappy weather from time to time. That being said if I'm picking the perfect place for a D2 game I'm going with Galveston or Corpus Christi in Texas.

[whodat]

Re: 2018 NC NOT in KC??

Reviews are mixed but from someone who's been to both, KC does offer a lot more things to do for the weekend. Add in drive from the airport is greatly less than it was in Alabama. The attendance thing I never understood it's always going to matter who's playing. The stadium was world class, sadly the management for said stadium is apparently world class ******** as well.

There isn't going to be a perfect location. I liked Alabama, I think KC was a step up. I didn't think it was perfect. I don't mind the whole weather thing, I like games played in crappy weather from time to time. That being said if I'm picking the perfect place for a D2 game I'm going with Galveston or Corpus Christi in Texas.

I don't get the bashing. My experience with the MIAA is they ARE passionate about football and the chance of bigger crowds was more likely. So, the only folks to be mad at is Sporting KC. They suck, and have created a ridiculous situation.

[JR Chaney]

Re: 2018 NC NOT in KC??

We were preached to about how the KC/MIAA sports fans were football sophisticates and would turn out in huge numbers to watch the championship because they knew good football. Several knowledgeable posters said that moving the game to KC would insure 10K+ crowds every year even if there was no local team in the game. The KC advocates beat the drum unmercifully that KC was THE answer and NO other place could compare. It was the perfect mix of world class stadium, incredible amounts of "tourist" events and diversions away from football, rabid knowledgeable local football fans that would attend in droves, a virtually unlimited number of hotel rooms and all coupled with almost instant access via plane, train and automobile from every point in the US. In short, it was DII Championship nirvana and once the game was moved from the hinterlands of gapped tooth Alabama, the rest of DII nation would understand and bow to the superior wisdom and knowledge of the KC mafia.

Well, we are four years into the "KC as the center of the DII football universe" and being kind, let's just say the reviews are a little mixed...AND we are looking for another venue.

Reviews are mixed but from someone who's been to both, KC does offer a lot more things to do for the weekend. Add in drive from the airport is greatly less than it was in Alabama. The attendance thing I never understood it's always going to matter who's playing. The stadium was world class, sadly the management for said stadium is apparently world class ******** as well.

There isn't going to be a perfect location. I liked Alabama, I think KC was a step up. I didn't think it was perfect. I don't mind the whole weather thing, I like games played in crappy weather from time to time. That being said if I'm picking the perfect place for a D2 game I'm going with Galveston or Corpus Christi in Texas.

[boatcapt]

Re: 2018 NC NOT in KC??

We were preached to about how the KC/MIAA sports fans were football sophisticates and would turn out in huge numbers to watch the championship because they knew good football. Several knowledgeable posters said that moving the game to KC would insure 10K+ crowds every year even if there was no local team in the game. The KC advocates beat the drum unmercifully that KC was THE answer and NO other place could compare. It was the perfect mix of world class stadium, incredible amounts of "tourist" events and diversions away from football, rabid knowledgeable local football fans that would attend in droves, a virtually unlimited number of hotel rooms and all coupled with almost instant access via plane, train and automobile from every point in the US. In short, it was DII Championship nirvana and once the game was moved from the hinterlands of gapped tooth Alabama, the rest of DII nation would understand and bow to the superior wisdom and knowledge of the KC mafia.

Well, we are four years into the "KC as the center of the DII football universe" and being kind, let's just say the reviews are a little mixed...AND we are looking for another venue.