The Meadowlands Game - Success or Failure?

[snowycuse]

Failure.

Moving a marquee game from the Dome is what the issue was. I am fine with the Notre Dame series because you probably do not get them without agreeing to it and its an automatic National TV audience each game. I am also fine with the Penn State series as it is currently set up H-N-A which is how Meadowlands games should be. Taking the USC game and moving it without any pay-off for home fans is only a deal someone like Gross makes as he does not care about the CNY fan.

I was a proponent of a NYC game long before Gross came into the picture, it makes sense on a number of levels, but the way this particular game went down was very wrong.

 

[rrlbees]

Good post, good points. Question for you, TN--do you think that this was a decent "compromise" in order to further establish our metro area presence for recruiting, etc.?.

Recruiting who? We get plenty of NYC kids now. Almost everyone we want. Except for that 1 star like Ishag we miss each year. Are we doing this for 1 more kid? Or as to recruiting, are we doing it for NJ kids? The area that many here think we don't need. Giving up home field advantage isn't worth it for another NYC kid.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

[RF2044]

Recruiting who? We get plenty of NYC kids now. Almost everyone we want. Except for that 1 star like Ishag we miss each year. Are we doing this for 1 more kid? Or as to recruiting, are we doing it for NJ kids? The area that many here think we don't need. Giving up home field advantage isn't worth it for another NYC kid.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

I can think of one high profile NYC kid we're recruiting that today's game might have left an impression on.

It was also reported that 40 high school metro prospects attended to today's game [have no idea whether they are from NYC, LI, NJ, whatever].

Don't know whether today's game will impact this year's class of 2013 recruiting, or whether it lays a successful foundation for down the road. Either way, I don't see playing today's game as bad in any way shape or form in terms of affirming our NYC metro presence from a recruiting standpoint.

Giving up home field advantage / screwing over CNY ticket holders is a completely different topic. Wonder if trading a home game for this opportunity would have happened with any other AD than Gross with any other team but USC.

 

[CuyahogaCuse]

Completely agree--let me restate [just reread my post above, and I didn't make my point clear]: was this a good trade off THIS YEAR, given that attendance overall is down, given the importance to the NYC metro area on many fronts, etc?

My dad is a season ticket holder--hate to see him lose out on the opportunity to see this game at home [although he traveled down to NJ for the game]. Very important to get these type of marquee opponents at home, no argument there. I just meant that this year, was it a good idea? Hard to say--I don't know that we necessarily would have "won" per some threads tonight if this game is at the Dome, but I do think it might have given us an advantage.

Hopefully, we'll be in a position 2-3 years down the road where the prospect of giving up this kind of game is unattractive, given that the fair weather fans have returned and we are again packing the Dome.

Interesting question about THIS YEAR ...

None of us can change the past, so yes, given where we were, I would say that yes, for recruiting, for the money, for the NYC influence, yes I suppose the trade off this year was worth it. But only barely.

What I can say is that last week in a 95F Dome, about 30K saw an amazing performance of a rejuvenated team. They were loud and they were into it. I'll bet 45-49K would have been in the Dome today and home field would have been worth 3-7 points. We lost by 13. So do we get the W in the Dome in a program changing win that convinces recruits to come our way? Perhaps not.

But when history looks back at the two game USC series, despite the two losses, I'll remember that our future changed on the morning of the game last year in the Coliseum, when the ACC announcement was made. Hopefully, the return game is a footnote on the path to a bright future where we not only compete, but win games against BCS OOC opponents with frequency like we used to - at home. If today's game gets us the next impact recruit to help us get there, then so be it.

Let's play Penn State and then let's be done with it.

On to Stony Brook.

 

[CuseIsGodsTeam]

I would like to have Syracuse play in the Meadowlands every year and alternate home and away with Army so the NYC metro folks can enjoy the 'Cuse some more.

 

[rrlbees]

I can think of one high profile NYC kid we're recruiting that today's game might have left an impression on.

It was also reported that 40 high school metro prospects attended to today's game [have no idea whether they are from NYC, LI, NJ, whatever].

Don't know whether today's game will impact this year's class of 2013 recruiting, or whether it lays a successful foundation for down the road. Either way, I don't see playing today's game as bad in any way shape or form in terms of affirming our NYC metro presence from a recruiting standpoint.

Giving up home field advantage / screwing over CNY ticket holders is a completely different topic. Wonder if trading a home game for this opportunity would have happened with any other AD than Gross with any other team but USC.

You can think of 1 high profile kid. That's my point. Nit worth it for any one kid. As to the 40 kids today. We probably don't even offer 37 of them.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

[RF2044]

You can think of 1 high profile kid. That's my point. Nit worth it for any one kid. As to the 40 kids today. We probably don't even offer 37 of them.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

No way of knowing that--maybe they aren't all class of 2013 prospects. I don't know for sure. You don't either.

But let's not pretend that this was about recruiting one kid--this was all Gross, appeasing the elite program he has ties to. Direct your ire toward him, not at me for searching for any prospective silver lining to playing today's game where it was played. Again, I don't see a downside from a recruiting perspective given how we are looking to enhance our presence in the metro, but I agree 100% that it isn't so great from other perspectives including how it impacted home fans. I think I've stated that repeatedly.

 

[rrlbees]

No way of knowing that--maybe they aren't all class of 2013 prospects. I don't know for sure. You don't either.

But let's not pretend that this was about recruiting one kid--this was all Gross, appeasing the elite program he has ties to. Direct your ire toward him, not at me for searching for any prospective silver lining to playing today's game where it was played. Again, I don't see a downside from a recruiting perspective given how we are looking to enhance our presence in the metro, but I agree 100% that it isn't so great from other perspectives including how it impacted home fans. I think I've stated that repeatedly.

I didn't direct my ire toward you. You said the same as I did. The rare 1 kid. NYC is not a recruiting hotbed. As to the 40, yes I don't know specifically who they are. Nut we don't offer that many kids in NYC in any 1 or 2 or 3 or even 4 years. I am sure it is like when we have 30-40 kids at the dome. Moat don't get offered. Its goodwill as much as anything.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

[llandz]

No way is this game a National TV game if it was played in Syracuse. Regional coverage at best, if on tv at all. That is why it was important to recruiting. This team was exposed to a national audience today, and they played well. That will help recruiting in the areas further away from NY. Yes we have other nationl tv games scheduled for the dome, but none of this magnitude. Why did Notre Dame play in Dublin, and why did Michigan and Alabama play at Cowboy stadium? Because those games build hype from a tv perspective, and it is exciting for the players to play in famous venues and stadiums. This is becoming the new thing in college football, and lots of high school players saw us on national tv today, and know we played in the stadium that the NY Giants, and NY Jets play in. That has a huge allure to today's young players.

 

[Czar]

No way is this game a National TV game if it was played in Syracuse. Regional coverage at best, if on tv at all. That is why it was important to recruiting. This team was exposed to a national audience today, and they played well. That will help recruiting in the areas further away from NY. Yes we have other nationl tv games scheduled for the dome, but none of this magnitude. Why did Notre Dame play in Dublin, and why did Michigan and Alabama play at Cowboy stadium? Because those games build hype from a tv perspective, and it is exciting for the players to play in famous venues and stadiums. This is becoming the new thing in college football, and lots of high school players saw us on national tv today, and know we played in the stadium that the NY Giants, and NY Jets play in. That has a huge allure to today's young players.

It would have been on National TV...

 

[GoSU96]

Now that it's over, how does everyone feel about this game? With the amount of controversy that led up to this game, I'm curious to see if you all think moving this game was a success or not.

I was a proponent of having this game in the Meadowlands. But now that its over, I'm not so sure the benefit was worth giving up the game. It was clear that the Meadowlands were only 1/2 full and that the crowd was split 50/50 at that.

The press that we'd received going into the game was due to us playing USC...and not because we were playing in the Meadowlands. I feel we would've had the same press whether it was at the dome or in Jersey...

I would be happy to see this continue every other year. Make sure it on years with at least six home games. Other than the weather, it was well done. I can see based on the turnout if both parties said screw it, but that would be too bad.

 

[kcsu]

It was a great move by Syracuse. We had no idea that we would have tcu crap out on us and be down to 5 games when this was set up. The exposure is much greater in NYC than it would have been in Syracuse. It is much better for recruiting not even worth comparing. Add in 5m and this is a very good move.

 

[Ozcuse]

I would like to have Syracuse play in the Meadowlands every year and alternate home and away with Army so the NYC metro folks can enjoy the 'Cuse some more.

I hope this was a sarcastic joke.

We should not be catering to 5-10k NYC metro fans. They don't show up as evidenced yesterday.

What is stopping the NYC fans from enjoying the Cuse at the Dome?

Should we move graduation to NYC next so parents from NYC can enjoy it?

Seriously people.

 

[Ozcuse]

Can someone show any scrap of proof that SU received $5M for this game?

 

[Crusty]

The SU fan base sucks. If they supported the team it would not be necessary to play in the Metlife Stadium.

 

[Crusty]

I hope this was a sarcastic joke.

We should not be catering to 5-10k NYC metro fans. They don't show up as evidenced yesterday.

What is stopping the NYC fans from enjoying the Cuse at the Dome?

Should we move graduation to NYC next so parents from NYC can enjoy it?

Seriously people.

Ugh how about 5 hours? That also cuts both ways.

 

[JoeSU]

I think that it was a success for two reasons.

1) You can't pass up the money especially when we a) might not make a bowl and b) might lose money on ticket commitments for a lower-tier bowl.

I was under the impression that the BE splits bowl revenue among all members.

 

[OttoForLife]

That there is a problem.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

Yes. A marketing problem, if you ask me (and one not solved with taxi top ads or signage in Time Square or Yankee Stadium).

 

[chakka3421]

I guess the question to ask the doctor is where this $5 million is going - better see some upgrades to upgrading the football facilities.

 

[Orangetradition44]

If this was just a special, kickoff classic type game every 4 years, I'd be fine with it. It's the extended nature if the deal that bothers me.

I will say, having attended the game, I was impressed with the way we were treated like the home team. ALL the ads around the stadium signage were SU. The MetLife sign flashed ORANGE. Even the crowd shots were predominately Syracuse. It just seemed like a great showcase for our program. But why do it every year and never bring a top flight program into the Dome again... That's we're the concept loses me.

Good post, good points. Question for you, TN--do you think that this was a decent "compromise" in order to further establish our metro area presence for recruiting, etc.? Does that outweigh giving up home field?

I don't see this being a good move for us down the road--when we establish ourselves as a better team. Don't like giving up the home game, losing the revenue of having the extra home game, etc. but we aren't drawing well at home right now, so I'm torn about whether this was a bad move.

u

 

[JPS]

Why is this so hard for everyone to swallow? NYC market is part of the deal. That includes branding the Syracuse name in the city: Yankee Stadium, Times Square, billboards, the whole thing. There will be 10 more games played thru 2038.

Whether you agree or like it, its the path forward. Dr Gross Is changing the culture on many levels. We got out of the big east, the team is progressing, and all sports at SU have more emphasis on competing at the highest level.

Don't know the impact this "new yorks team" has had. But I know there are other schools wishing they were in the ACC next year.

 

[Orangetradition44]

RF... I think in isolation this was a good thing, for this year. In fact, I think it would be hard to argue otherwise.

Completely agree--let me restate [just reread my post above, and I didn't make my point clear]: was this a good trade off THIS YEAR, given that attendance overall is down, given the importance to the NYC metro area on many fronts, etc?

My dad is a season ticket holder--hate to see him lose out on the opportunity to see this game at home [although he traveled down to NJ for the game]. Very important to get these type of marquee opponents at home, no argument there. I just meant that this year, was it a good idea? Hard to say--I don't know that we necessarily would have "won" per some threads tonight if this game is at the Dome, but I do think it might have given us an advantage.

Hopefully, we'll be in a position 2-3 years down the road where the prospect of giving up this kind of game is unattractive, given that the fair weather fans have returned and we are again packing the Dome.

 

[Bayside44]

IF we draw 40K can we play it at CitiField?

Otherwise I am with Scooch, get ND and PSU, and we cut the deal when we were in a bad conference. We're now going to a good conference where the OOC thing isn't going to matter that much. It looked like a lacrosse crowd on TV.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Smashing Success!

No way USC plays SU in the dome. No way.

USC has a large alumni community in the metro area as do most large state schools, plus USC has fans all over that never went to school there and who have never even been to southern california, and those who did travel did so at least in part to spend time in the NYC area. I went to the game last year at the coliseum, and SU had an impressive turn out. The SU alumni in California were excited to see SU play, and I saw that today at MetLife Stadium with USC alumni.

I hope the folks at MetLife allow SU to play more games at the stadium.

THEY HAD ALREADY AGREED TO DO SO. Epic Fail on your part. One day ban.

 

[IthacaMatt]

That there is a problem.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

Yeah, it's not like NYC is more than a 4 hour drive away.