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Topic: Long-term impact of COVID on CFB

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medinabuckeye1

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Long-term impact of COVID on CFB
« on: July 08, 2020, 10:05:43 AM »
What will it be?  

Cincydawg

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Re: Long-term impact of COVID on CFB
« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2020, 10:11:49 AM »
A lost season almost certainly.  Lost records, eligibility, no NC for the year, etc.

We might all need to carry certification of vaccination to attend future games.  

Recruiting, wow, who can predict that impact?  

Any freshmen this year would be able to be drafted after their second year playing.

I don't know what they do for seniors and eligibility, likely give them a pass even if they have no RS left.

The NFL draft next year will be .... a crap shoot ... ha.

Some fans will find other hobbies to entertain themselves and it could take a while for eyeballs to return.

We all may get even more used to "working at home" which could mean watching at home instead of attending games.

It may take a decade to feel normal.

medinabuckeye1

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Re: Long-term impact of COVID on CFB
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2020, 10:19:33 AM »
My guess is that the long-term impact of COVID on CFB will be to dramatically accelerate the pre-existing issue that it was already becoming increasingly difficult for teams to sell tickets.  

When I was a kid, Ohio State tickets were like GOLD.  If somebody offered you tickets to an Ohio State game, you took them without hesitating because they were near-impossible to get.  Going to the 'Shoe was special even if the opponent was Directional U.  

For many years I shared season tickets with my Dad and my brother.  We had two tickets to each home game and approximately rotated between Dad and I, Dad and brother, brother and I, brother and a friend, or a friend and I going to the games.  I haven't had that for a while now and I DO miss it when Ohio State has a BIG home game but to be perfectly honest I don't really miss the 4 hour (plus traffic) round-trip and associated hassles to go to Columbus and watch the Buckeyes pound the snot out of some hopeless opponent only there because their AD needed to pay the bills.  

Nearly all games are now televised and television is much better than it used to be.  My dad used to listen to games on the radio or watch on a B&W TV.  I used to watch on non-HD.  Now all the games are on HDTV and the view from my recliner is actually better than the view from my old upper-deck seat.  

I still like to go once in a while because the atmosphere of being there, especially for a BIG game is always amazing but if I ever go to the 'Shoe for another early-season creampuff game it is probably only going to be because I am taking my family.  

I'm not the only former season ticket holder on this board either.  I know that @847badgerfan has done the same thing and I think our resident Longhorn has as well.  

My guess here is that CFB is going to be either cancelled or significantly disrupted for the 2020 season and a LOT of the ticket-buyers up through 2019 will not come back when CFB and everything else (hopefully) returns to normal in 2021.  

I also think that we ARE going to an 8-team CFP in the very near future.  My best guess is that the combination of increased difficulty selling tickets and decreased pressure to "never schedule a loss" (due to an 8-team playoff) will substantially improve future schedules for us as fans.  If Ohio State can't fill the 'Shoe for a game against Kent State and Bama can't fill Bryant-Denny for a game against Western Carolina then it seems like the obvious solution is for tOSU and Bama to play a H&H which would obviously pack fans into the 'Shoe one year and Bryant-Denny the next (or vice-versa).  

Cincydawg

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Re: Long-term impact of COVID on CFB
« Reply #3 on: July 08, 2020, 10:21:48 AM »
So, if there is no season, and current year seniors are given another year, do they expand roster limits?

Teams have ca. 25 freshmen coming in, and they won't have 20+ seniors going out.

medinabuckeye1

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Re: Long-term impact of COVID on CFB
« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2020, 10:41:39 AM »
So, if there is no season, and current year seniors are given another year, do they expand roster limits?

Teams have ca. 25 freshmen coming in, and they won't have 20+ seniors going out.
They'll have to but the long-term question is what about next year and beyond.  

First, do you give an extra year to everybody or only the Seniors?  If you give everybody an extra year then the roster-limit expansion would have to last until the 2020 freshman run out of eligibility.  Otherwise you just push the problem down the road a year.  

847badgerfan

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Re: Long-term impact of COVID on CFB
« Reply #5 on: July 08, 2020, 10:46:59 AM »
I'd think the seniors-to-be will be SOL, unfortunately, and I think it will be an NCAA mandate.

Lots of schools are losing money with 85 players on their rosters. Having 105-110 would kill some programs.
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medinabuckeye1

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Re: Long-term impact of COVID on CFB
« Reply #6 on: July 08, 2020, 10:50:11 AM »
I'd think the seniors-to-be will be SOL, unfortunately, and I think it will be an NCAA mandate.

Lots of schools are losing money with 85 players on their rosters. Having 105-110 would kill some programs.
I hadn't thought about that but you are right.  

These are short-term issues though.  I'm more interested in this thread in what people think the long-term impact will be.  

847badgerfan

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Re: Long-term impact of COVID on CFB
« Reply #7 on: July 08, 2020, 10:52:46 AM »
I'm not the only former season ticket holder on this board either.  I know that @847badgerfan has done the same thing and I think our resident Longhorn has as well.    
Yep, UTee and I both let our tickets go, for similar reasons.

Here is another problem. Students. That is the future, unfortunately, and the future MIGHT show up by the start of the 2nd quarter, or even later. I see it all over the country.

And then, as an example in Madison, unless the game is close or it's against a blue blood or Minnie or Iowa, the student section empties out after Jump Around.

This does not bode well for future attendance. Kids show up to be seen, not to watch.
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847badgerfan

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Re: Long-term impact of COVID on CFB
« Reply #8 on: July 08, 2020, 10:54:25 AM »
I hadn't thought about that but you are right. 

These are short-term issues though.  I'm more interested in this thread in what people think the long-term impact will be. 
Well, for those seniors who will miss out, the long-term impact is HUGE.

As for the Virus impact? Until we see a vaccine, or somehow get herd immunity going, I don't think we see football.
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Entropy

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Re: Long-term impact of COVID on CFB
« Reply #9 on: July 08, 2020, 11:04:34 AM »
I'm an ex-season ticket holder as well.   But mine is less about TV and more about UNL clearly was indifferent regarding my donations.  So I chose to go elsewhere with my money and watch from home... when I can. 

medinabuckeye1

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Re: Long-term impact of COVID on CFB
« Reply #10 on: July 08, 2020, 11:06:26 AM »
Well, for those seniors who will miss out, the long-term impact is HUGE.

As for the Virus impact? Until we see a vaccine, or somehow get herd immunity going, I don't think we see football.
Agreed on both points.  

medinabuckeye1

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Re: Long-term impact of COVID on CFB
« Reply #11 on: July 08, 2020, 11:06:54 AM »
Yep, UTee and I both let our tickets go, for similar reasons.

Here is another problem. Students. That is the future, unfortunately, and the future MIGHT show up by the start of the 2nd quarter, or even later. I see it all over the country.

And then, as an example in Madison, unless the game is close or it's against a blue blood or Minnie or Iowa, the student section empties out after Jump Around.

This does not bode well for future attendance. Kids show up to be seen, not to watch.
I agree with all of this and we've discussed it before.  

Assuming the 2020 season is cancelled or played without fans, do you think that will accelerate the trend toward people doing what you, UTee, and I have already done?  

I do.  People are creatures of habit.  A lot of season ticket holders buy them every year out of habit and if that habit is broken by unavailability inn 2020 then I think it is likely that a LOT of them will not return to their previous habit in 2021 even if everything is back to pre-COVID normal.  

Entropy

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Re: Long-term impact of COVID on CFB
« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2020, 11:12:12 AM »
There will also be political reactions when it comes to renewals.   Our current culture can't separate them so some will cancel because the answer doesn't fit their political views.   Playing games without fans might have the biggest impact as the middle road seems to be hated by both sides.  jmo

medinabuckeye1

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Re: Long-term impact of COVID on CFB
« Reply #13 on: July 08, 2020, 11:16:01 AM »
I'm an ex-season ticket holder as well.  But mine is less about TV and more about UNL clearly was indifferent regarding my donations.  So I chose to go elsewhere with my money and watch from home... when I can.
I found the last three words of your post very interesting.  

I think that your reason for dropping season tickets isn't substantially different from mine, @847badgerfan 's, or @utee94 's.  I'm not even sure how much the schools care.  Ticket and donation revenue is obviously important but most of the money comes from TV anyway.  That is where your statement that you now watch UNL's games "when you can" is potentially very interesting and potentially devastating to CFB revenues.  

I don't know about Badge and Utee but even after dropping season tickets, my school's games are still "appointment viewing".  If Ohio State is playing and I'm not watching it is almost always because a very close relative was born, hospitalized, died, or got married (inconsiderately on  CFB Saturday).  Otherwise, I'm watching the game.  

Maybe you mean the same thing by your statement but I didn't read it that way.  I read it as "I like to watch but if the lawn needs mowed . . ."  For you to drop from a season ticket holder attending all the home games and presumably watching all of the road games on TV to something more like a "casual" fan is a MUCH bigger step.  

 

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