http://blog.syracuse.com/orangefootball/...d_a_n.html



Do any Syracuse fans hear anything from sources other than this blog?

A SU fan posted this about a month ago on another board. It was more of a rumor then, and it was eventually discussed on this board. I had hoped it was not true, but it seems to be picking up some steam now.

its not a bad move for the cuse right now

So basically Notre Dame would not have to go to the Carrier Dome at all? Wow! I bet the Irish can't wait to sign a deal like that. Again, props to Rutgers for insisting on playing there home games at home when dealing with ND

As for rumors, I read the other day that syracuse and temple are renewing there football series as well

Jackson

Sec has been ripping on ND. They noticed that ND only offering games with schools who stadium is smaller than theirs. The is a reason why schools like Texas, OK, Tenn. and ALA of the world arent going for this. They arent going to lose money from home games with ND to play in a NFL stadium either. That is why ND is scheduling these types of games. They are the only ones who will go for it.

Another big plus for the Irish in this deal is the fact that they get to play a BCS opponent they are sure to beat. As pathetic as the Orange have been lately, even the fat man should be able to beat 'em. It wouldn't matter where they play...

bitcruncher Wrote:Another big plus for the Irish in this deal is the fact that they get to play a BCS opponent they are sure to beat. As pathetic as the Orange have been lately, even the fat man should be able to beat 'em. It wouldn't matter where they play...

Ask the sponsors who have retail shops in their stadium if they like this idea. Vendors do care about this. Are they going to get in on any merchandise sold at the NFL stadium? Food vendors cant be happy either. You are also causing a burden on your fans with the travel cost. That doesnt include you local hotels and motels who wants that money to help drive the local economy too.

I wonder what NBC thinks about this? I dont think they are thrilled with the schools ND have line up. I dont see ND vs Baylor has a "Cant miss TV either".

gdayre Wrote:I wonder what NBC thinks about this? I dont think they are thrilled with the schools ND have line up. I dont see ND vs Baylor has a "Cant miss TV either".

Wonder if ND is pushing for ALL 10 games to be shown on NBC...or will 'Cuse be allowed to help out their Big East TV Contract for the 5 games in new Giants Stadium?

I wouldn't be surprised if any contract calls for ALL 10 games to be shown on NBC...as officially in the contract, they could call the games in Giants Stadium as "neutral site"...with NBC kicking in the extra $$$$.

KnightLight Wrote:

gdayre Wrote:I wonder what NBC thinks about this? I dont think they are thrilled with the schools ND have line up. I dont see ND vs Baylor has a "Cant miss TV either".

Wonder if ND is pushing for ALL 10 games to be shown on NBC...or will 'Cuse be allowed to help out their Big East TV Contract for the 5 games in new Giants Stadium?

I wouldn't be surprised if any contract calls for ALL 10 games to be shown on NBC...as officially in the contract, they could call the games in Giants Stadium as "neutral site"...with NBC kicking in the extra $$$$.

If the Big East TV contract has the same language that the Big 12 one does, only the games in South Bend will be on NBC. The Big 12 contract states that any neutral site game involving a Big 12 team played in a Big 12 state must be televised by a Big 12 TV partner (ABC or FSN; Versus & ESPN get games through sublicensing). This is why the game Baylor was to play at the new Texas Stadium against ND was moved from Dallas to New Orleans.

Since Giants Stadium is in NJ, it would be considered Big East territory for TV purposes.

Where the Big East could lose out in this type of language is the games UConn would play at Gillette Stadium since MA is not a Big East state. I suppose something would have to be drawn up by the lawyers in the series contract to allow ABC/ESPN to have rights to the games designated as UConn home games.

gdayre Wrote:I wonder what NBC thinks about this? I dont think they are thrilled with the schools ND have line up. I dont see ND vs Baylor has a "Cant miss TV either".

It is if they can schedule the game at night in primetime. That's something they can't do with the South Bend home games and these neutral site games were being targeted as games NBC could air at night.

Donnie Webb has more on the SU/ND series at:

http://www.syracuse.com/orangefootball


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A few more details about the prospect of a 10-year series with Notre Dame
Posted by Donnie Webb August 07, 2008 9:25AM

A few more details emerged this morning about what looks like an impending 10-game contract with Syracuse to play Notre Dame in football. The deal in discussion means that Syracuse will play five games in South Bend and move its five "home" games to Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.
- The five designated "home" games for Syracuse against Notre Dame that will be moved to the Meadowlands/Giants Stadium will only be slotted in years the Orange has at least six other home games lined up at the Carrier Dome.

- The Orange likes the deal because it wants to serve its alumni base in New York City along with its desire to have a larger presence in Gotham. The school is serious about being "New York's College Team." This is not new for a school that played - and defeated - Notre Dame in football at Yankee Stadium in 1963.

- Who gets 10-year deals to play Notre Dame? The prospect of playing the Irish is too good to pass. A game with Notre Dame means it'll be an event, whether it's on NBC or in the largest media market in the world. There's a prestige factor that helps recruiting and marketing. The game has cachet. Why not? Plus, you know deep down, Syracuse probably loves the idea of playing a "home" game in Rutgers' backyard.

- The current series ends this season with Syracuse's trip to South Bend Nov. 22. The new series could start in 2010, 2011 or 2012. One potential issue is that Syracuse may be thinking about moving another team off the schedule to accommodate adding Notre Dame. One candidate might be Virginia Tech. Another one is Georgia Tech. The Hokies are scheduled to visit the Carrier Dome in 2010. The return game to Blacksburg is 2011. Personally, I'd hate to see SU lose that series, which sometimes happens when trying to move one game. Some of the best games in my tenure covering the Orange involved the Hokies. Of course, there were some real, real ugly losses in that series, too. Georgia Tech comes on the schedule in 2015. Something tells me the series with the Yellow Jackets won't happen.

- Here's another guess, but based on the Big East schedule in which Syracuse gets four league home games in odd years - 2009, 2011, 2013, etc. - the designated home game for SU against ND would probably go in odd years, too. That's why the Georgia Tech game looks iffy and why SU might be considering what to do about the Virginia Tech game in Blacksburg in 2011.

- Again, using 2011 as a jumping off point, the schedule is way too ambitious. The Orange has non-conference games at Southern Cal, at Boston College, at Virginia Tech and a home game against Wake Forest. Throw in Notre Dame and something's got to give.

- No decision, yet, on whether the "home" games with Notre Dame will be included as part of a season ticket package or sold separately. Given all the ticket packages in place now, you've got to figure there will be an option that will include the Irish.

- Syracuse is actively talking with Army about a series. In a perfect world, the Orange would love to have Army, Boston College and Notre Dame as non-conference opponents every year. The school schedulers seem to be working in that direction. The Eagles return to the schedule in 2010 as part of an eight-game series.

- The Notre Dame deal opened when Rutgers nixed a similar offer. The Scarlet Knights told the Irish they had no interest in moving any of games off the Rutgers campus, even to nearby Giants Stadium. Rutgers may have stood up to the Irish, but Notre Dame still got its way and delivered Syracuse to the region in the process.

- So, what do you think?

- Donnie Webb
dwebb@syracuse.com


Tags: Notre Dame, Rutgers, Syracuse

gdayre Wrote:

bitcruncher Wrote:Another big plus for the Irish in this deal is the fact that they get to play a BCS opponent they are sure to beat. As pathetic as the Orange have been lately, even the fat man should be able to beat 'em. It wouldn't matter where they play...

Ask the sponsors who have retail shops in their stadium if they like this idea. Vendors do care about this. Are they going to get in on any merchandise sold at the NFL stadium? Food vendors cant be happy either. You are also causing a burden on your fans with the travel cost. That doesnt include you local hotels and motels who wants that money to help drive the local economy too.

So? I said nothing about concessions, or any of the other things associated with the scheduling of the game. I only talked about Notre Dame's chances of winning the game against Syracuse. They can win this game without much trouble no matter where they play.

That was all I said, and it's all that I care to talk about. Anything else associated with Notre Dame is relegated to nonessential information to me. I could care less about the strongarm tactics the Irish use to schedule their games. Screw 'em...

So is this (potential) deal ND/UConn part 2?

If Syracuse doesn't improve in football, they may not win a game in 2011. Hopefully, GRob will be gone, and the Orange will actually be able to recruit some talent...

texasorange Wrote:- The Notre Dame deal opened when Rutgers nixed a similar offer. The Scarlet Knights told the Irish they had no interest in moving any of games off the Rutgers campus, even to nearby Giants Stadium. Rutgers may have stood up to the Irish, but Notre Dame still got its way and delivered Syracuse to the region in the process.

That's all ND wanted (play some games in the NYC area).

If these deal comes to fruition, that last sentence says it all.

bitcruncher Wrote:Another big plus for the Irish in this deal is the fact that they get to play a BCS opponent they are sure to beat. As pathetic as the Orange have been lately, even the fat man should be able to beat 'em. It wouldn't matter where they play...

Agreed. They would not dare sign a ten year deal right now with WVU.

I decided to wait a while before responding to this topic, mainly because I am of two minds about it.

Obviously, as a Syracuse fan, I'm not thrilled with the idea that our fortunes have fallen so low that this scheduling arrangement is actually attractive enough to consider.

But as a fan closer to NYC than to Syracuse, it is an easier game for me to get to and I will attend each game if the deal is indeed done.

So the minuses:

1. Syracuse, a team with a proud history, looks bush-league for consenting to a series where none of the "home" games will be played at the Dome.

2. Will season tickets include this "neutral site" game or will it be a separate package?

3. How, in the future, does Dr. Gross tell Southern California, Penn State, Texas, Michigan, and Ohio State, "Sorry, we won't play you at Giants Stadium, you'll have to play us at the Dome." Will we ever see big-time OOC BCS programs at the Dome again if we agree to this deal as is?

4. What does Rutgers feel about Syracuse playing in their home state and the Big East actually wanting to see it happen? Granted, the Scarlet Knights had a chance to do the same thing, but isn't having both this series and the UConn series (with at least one game at the Meadowlands) kind of undercutting them? - Now as a Syracuse fan this isn't a big deal for me, but as a Big East fan, is this healthy for a conference that is already shaky in terms of unity?


Plusses:

1) NYC, Philly, and DC alums can get to the ND games at Giants Stadium fairly easy. And let's face it, that is where our monied alum reside.

2) National TV exposure on Saturday. Let's face it, the fortunes of Syracuse of late and the trend for the immediate future isn't good for many Saturday national TV games. This series provides at least one such game for 10 years.

3) Recruiting, particularly Jersey recruiting, could see improvement especially since it appears that the aim is to have the neutral site game in the years in which Syracuse plays 4 Big East teams at home. This means that Syracuse will be playing Rutgers in Jersey one year, followed by playing ND in Jersey the next year. Unlike our BC series where we apparently will play both UConn and BC at home the same years and away the same years.

4) Since Dr. Gross' arrival, he has been trying to market Syracuse as New York's College Team, not just CNY's, but the entire state's. His focus has been primarily on New York City. But while playing at MSG in pre-season bb tourneys, @St. John's, and the Big East tourney has helped grow a Syracuse bb fanbase in NYC, the same opportunities haven't been there in terms of football. This series might eventually provide that connection as well.

5) In order for Big East football to not only survive, but thrive, it must somehow continue to get the attention of the NYC market. The recent success of Rutgers and UConn has helped with this. But NYC is still a pro town, yet when it comes to college football the Irish are the favorites. In addition to Rutgers' continuing success, having two Big East teams with significant name recognition in bb in NYC play against ND in football on a regular basis will likely raise the profile of Big East football in that market.


Taking all of the above into account, I can see why Dr. Gross was enthusiastic about the deal. I'm just surprised ND was interested in this series enough to commit to a 10 year deal.

Any thoughts on that, TerryD?

Cheers,
Neil

omnicarrier Wrote:Taking all of the above into account, I can see why Dr. Gross was enthusiastic about the deal. I'm just surprised ND was interested in this series enough to commit to a 10 year deal.

Cheers,
Neil

I'm not surprised at all...as instead of ND playing at Syracuse and receiving just 5,000 tix...they can play a neutral site game in Giants Stadium (Cuse can be called the home team) but I'm sure the contract will state that ND gets 35,000 or 40,000 seats in the new 82,000 seat Giant Stadium opening up in a few years.

ND basically avoids playing "another" road game...as the game will be neutral at best (maybe even a ND type home game if Cuse is still suffering).

This fits ND's goal of having just 4 true road games per year (7 home game and 1 FAVORABLE ND neutral site game where ND might even up with a majority of fans in the stands come game day).

KnightLight Wrote:

omnicarrier Wrote:Taking all of the above into account, I can see why Dr. Gross was enthusiastic about the deal. I'm just surprised ND was interested in this series enough to commit to a 10 year deal.

Cheers,
Neil

I'm not surprised at all...as instead of ND playing at Syracuse and receiving just 5,000 tix...they can play a neutral site game in Giants Stadium (Cuse can be called the home team) but I'm sure the contract will state that ND gets 35,000 or 40,000 seats in the new 82,000 seat Giant Stadium opening up in a few years.

ND basically avoids playing "another" road game...as the game will be neutral at best (maybe even a ND type home game if Cuse is still suffering).

This fits ND's goal of having just 4 true road games per year (7 home game and 1 FAVORABLE ND neutral site game where ND might even up with a majority of fans in the stands come game day).

Sorry, should have been more specific.

I understand why ND wants to play at Giants Stadium. But ND could play LOTS of teams there and have a sell-out or near sell-out. It doesn't have to settle on 1 team and then commit to playing that 1 team for 10 years.

ND fans like to see variety in their schedule. They tend to hate seeing the same teams over and over again. They accept the fact that Navy and USC will always be there. But for the other games, they like to see teams rotate in and out. Otherwise the schedule has too much of a conference look to it.

And it's not as though there is a lot of football history between SU and ND. When we play them this year that will make a grand total of 6 times the schools have played each other in over a 100 years.

So why does ND want this series with Syracuse specifically?

Cheers,
Neil