Wildhack Presser 2025-26 Season Opener

[rocklloyd]

i like friday games, but man are they are rush to get to. Basically moving as fast as we can to get home, get out of house, get up to dome by kick time. I do love the friday atmosphere, but there is a "price" to pay. I fully get some can't make it. I don't like any other day mid-week, i'm old have have to get to bed.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

The Iowa game in the Dome in 2006 was a good atmosphere, they brought a lot of fans. Fun game except for that 8 play finale/fiasco.

I hope it's Rutgers or Maryland for the proximity, although I'm not sure I can return to College Park after that last nightmare.

Agree that Nebraska would be great.

Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State, Illinois, Minnesota and even Northwestern to me are like the plain donuts in the variety pack.

If Northwestern is early season and you can make a fun Chicago late summer/Wrigley Field trip as I did in 2008 and 2013, then those terms are acceptable. The Northwestern Dome games in 2009 and 2012 were surprisingly entertaining on the field.

Agree about the donut teams. Although we haven't tried the Michigan State donut in a long time. I found it odd that we have played them so many times, although half of those were in the 1930s.

Northwestern becomes less interesting if they continue to stink. They were a fun team for awhile.

I guess UCLA is ok, since we get to play in the Rose Bowl. I had a lot of fun despite the game when we played at Washington. But again so much travel for the team is a killer.

Really Nebraska is the only realistic buzz game IMO.

 

[JRHEETER]

I think most people can make the Friday night game after work but it kills tailgating. Then again SU is good at killing the tailgate culture so why not?

I don't think Thursday does well. ESPN has gone away from good TH night matchups because of the NFL. Would a random SU game on a TH really draw better than on a Tier 3 Saturday slot?

For TH or to be worth $, it has to be a decent matchup to get a TV slot. You can't play Wake, a random G5, or an FCS. Those will all get stuck on the ACCN.

We know ABC is best and then ESPN, but what about the CW? Is that better than ACCN? Better than TH or ? And what of streaming? Does that simply not get counted toward the ACC TV bonus payout? What about the RSN games? Do those count? If the later two are not counted, then having a bad game on TV midweek lowers our avg rating.

I am sure that JW knows what is best to get SU the highest TV bonus. But are we splitting hairs here? If all of this is only getting SU 7th instead of 10th, is it really worth it? Especially when you take into account the costs (less fans in attendance, etc).


At the end of the day winning is going to do the most for SU to maximize the ACC TV bonus.

Yup, I think we are on the same page here.

Building a perennial top 25 team will increase not only people attending in person (Which brings a whole bunch of extra revenue to Cuse) but also viewers at home because we have become a brand.

Going on a thursday night against NFL will not draw a lot of viewers as you stated. Most sports are going against going head to head with the NFL because they always lose and lose significantly.

And Cuse is good at killing the tailgate culture which is sad. Tailgate culture is what builds a strong fan dedicated fanbase. Its no coincidence that the teams with the most dedicated fans also have the best tailgating culture. (Virginia Tech comes to mind here)



JUST WIN BABY!

 

[HRE Otto IV]

I think most people can make the Friday night game after work but it kills tailgating. Then again SU is good at killing the tailgate culture so why not?

I don't think Thursday does well. ESPN has gone away from good TH night matchups because of the NFL. Would a random SU game on a TH really draw better than on a Tier 3 Saturday slot?

For TH or to be worth $, it has to be a decent matchup to get a TV slot. You can't play Wake, a random G5, or an FCS. Those will all get stuck on the ACCN.

We know ABC is best and then ESPN, but what about the CW? Is that better than ACCN? Better than TH or ? And what of streaming? Does that simply not get counted toward the ACC TV bonus payout? What about the RSN games? Do those count? If the later two are not counted, then having a bad game on TV midweek lowers our avg rating.

I am sure that JW knows what is best to get SU the highest TV bonus. But are we splitting hairs here? If all of this is only getting SU 7th instead of 10th, is it really worth it? Especially when you take into account the costs (less fans in attendance, etc).


At the end of the day winning is going to do the most for SU to maximize the ACC TV bonus.

It is funny that I used the letter after E as an abbreviation for Friday and it gets censored.

 

[Chip]

Agree about the donut teams. Although we haven't tried the Michigan State donut in a long time. I found it odd that we have played them so many times, although half of those were in the 1930s.

Northwestern becomes less interesting if they continue to stink. They were a fun team for awhile.

I guess UCLA is ok, since we get to play in the Rose Bowl. I had a lot of fun despite the game when we played at Washington. But again so much travel for the team is a killer.

Really Nebraska is the only realistic buzz game IMO.

If life allows me to take the road trip, I'd love to visit Madison, WI. Heard great things. Also preferably an early to mid September game for weather reasons.

 

[baggerbob]

The Iowa game in the Dome in 2006 was a good atmosphere, they brought a lot of fans. Fun game except for that 8 play finale/fiasco.

I hope it's Rutgers or Maryland for the proximity, although I'm not sure I can return to College Park after that last nightmare.

Agree that Nebraska would be great.

Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State, Illinois, Minnesota and even Northwestern to me are like the plain donuts in the variety pack.

If Northwestern is early season and you can make a fun Chicago late summer/Wrigley Field trip as I did in 2008 and 2013, then those terms are acceptable. The Northwestern Dome games in 2009 and 2012 were surprisingly entertaining on the field.

Some people don't like it but TV ratings with the new incentive in the reworked contract are important. And Fran wants to get in the playoffs , so if you play an outside game against the Big. It needs to be one of the big 3, Penn St, Ohio St, or Michigan. Just not in the years where we get Notre Dame.

 

[UnknownOrange]

Exactly, much better than my rage typing before.

jrHEATED

 

[kcsu]

If life allows me to take the road trip, I'd love to visit Madison, WI. Heard great things. Also preferably an early to mid September game for weather reasons.

Mad town is a bucket list spot for sure

 

[OburgOrange]

i like friday games, but man are they are rush to get to. Basically moving as fast as we can to get home, get out of house, get up to dome by kick time. I do love the friday atmosphere, but there is a "price" to pay. I fully get some can't make it. I don't like any other day mid-week, i'm old have have to get to bed.

And many people drive an hour plus to get to games. I was one of them. Drove over 2 hours to get to a home game. If it was on a Friday night, or week night, I wasn’t going. Used to piss me off.

 

[upperdeck]

Su has the numbers. How many people are driving more than 50-60 miles is probably pretty small in the grand scheme. I would think many schools have larger numbers driving further than we do,

 

[OburgOrange]

Su has the numbers. How many people are driving more than 50-60 miles is probably pretty small in the grand scheme. I would think many schools have larger numbers driving further than we do,

And yet they did caravans to Rochester, Binghamton, and ? … to drum up fan support to attend games

 

[upperdeck]

perhaps because the numbers are small coming from the bigger areas 1 hr away,

 

[Rufus_13th]

The Iowa game in the Dome in 2006 was a good atmosphere, they brought a lot of fans. Fun game except for that 8 play finale/fiasco.

I hope it's Rutgers or Maryland for the proximity, although I'm not sure I can return to College Park after that last nightmare.

Agree that Nebraska would be great.

Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State, Illinois, Minnesota and even Northwestern to me are like the plain donuts in the variety pack.

If Northwestern is early season and you can make a fun Chicago late summer/Wrigley Field trip as I did in 2008 and 2013, then those terms are acceptable. The Northwestern Dome games in 2009 and 2012 were surprisingly entertaining on the field.

That was my first CFB game. Devastating loss. I do remember how awesome the crowd was. Seeing a huge stadium of Orange then the corner of Yellow and Black. Nothing like I experienced at pro games, in any sport my whole life. Instantly hooked.

 

[PhatOrange]

Love Friday night games. Hope it happens.

 

[FireballPhil]

The Iowa game in the Dome in 2006 was a good atmosphere, they brought a lot of fans. Fun game except for that 8 play finale/fiasco.

I hope it's Rutgers or Maryland for the proximity, although I'm not sure I can return to College Park after that last nightmare.

Agree that Nebraska would be great.

Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State, Illinois, Minnesota and even Northwestern to me are like the plain donuts in the variety pack.

If Northwestern is early season and you can make a fun Chicago late summer/Wrigley Field trip as I did in 2008 and 2013, then those terms are acceptable. The Northwestern Dome games in 2009 and 2012 were surprisingly entertaining on the field.

I want Iowa, only a 90 minute drive for me!

 

[Nick44]

I want UCLA, followed by Michigan State but I fear it’s Rutgers.

 

[SanDiegoCuse]

Washington(wife is an alum), Oregon, UCLA or USC. It’ll probably be Rutgers or Northwestern. We have relatives who are Iowa season ticket holders so that would be fun.

 

[CNYGuy]

Friday is tough because it’s hard for people to take the afternoon or whatever to attend a game.

For example someone like myself who has a wife who teaches, a 3 year old and helps set up the fine mess tailgate, on top of driving an hour plus to the game, makes Friday nights or week nights almost impossible.

That is part of the reason I do not have basketball season tickets. Which is why I would say I would drop my 10 tickets. Because it would become too much.

I’m sure that I am not the only one in a similar situation that would take a long hard look at having seasons.

To me it sounds like Wildhack is exploring the option of Thursday and Wednesday night games since he specifically states “week day” games.

Again, if you schedule 7 home games in one season, two Friday night games is not the end of the world. But for example this season, with 6 home games and 2 Friday games it makes it incredibly difficult.

I think the headline is a bit of click bait after reading it.

“more weekday games” - but he specifically says they won’t do more than they did this year. To me that’s 1 thur/Fri (ACC doesn’t have a slot any other day), maybe 2 per year… which is pretty much what we’ve done every year, right?

 

[Cusefan95]

Friday is tough because it’s hard for people to take the afternoon or whatever to attend a game.

For example someone like myself who has a wife who teaches, a 3 year old and helps set up the fine mess tailgate, on top of driving an hour plus to the game, makes Friday nights or week nights almost impossible.

That is part of the reason I do not have basketball season tickets. Which is why I would say I would drop my 10 tickets. Because it would become too much.

I’m sure that I am not the only one in a similar situation that would take a long hard look at having seasons.

To me it sounds like Wildhack is exploring the option of Thursday and Wednesday night games since he specifically states “week day” games.

Again, if you schedule 7 home games in one season, two Friday night games is not the end of the world. But for example this season, with 6 home games and 2 Friday games it makes it incredibly difficult.

Back in the 90s, Syracuse used to run advertisements for season tickets in Binghamton. I can’t see that having any value if 1/3 of the games are hard to impossible for those fans to attend. TV is driving this shift to more Friday night games, and it is going to reduce the pool of possible season ticket holders…but I think it’s probably not huge and Syracuse hasn’t attempted marketing to non-local fans in 25 years anyway.

TL;DR version - Syracuse thinks (and likely has data to support) that alienating fans like you and me is more than offset by the benefits of playing Friday night games.

I do think 2/7 is different than 2/6, and a seven game home slate would be a huge help.

 

[CNYGuy]

Back in the 90s, Syracuse used to run advertisements for season tickets in Binghamton. I can’t see that having any value if 1/3 of the games are hard to impossible for those fans to attend. TV is driving this shift to more Friday night games, and it is going to reduce the pool of possible season ticket holders…but I think it’s probably not huge and Syracuse hasn’t attempted marketing to non-local fans in 25 years anyway.

TL;DR version - Syracuse thinks (and likely has data to support) that alienating fans like you and me is more than offset by the benefits of playing Friday night games.

I do think 2/7 is different than 2/6, and a seven game home slate would be a huge help.

They also might not be home (although that's how the schedule worked out in 2025).

2024 we had 3 (1 home, 2 road)
2023 we had 2 (1 home, 1 road)
2022 we had 1 (home)
2021 we had 2 (home)

I just don't see SU or the ACC going full MACtion and this is probably much to do about nothing since we've been doing this for years.

 

[Cusetown23]

I want UCLA, followed by Michigan State but I fear it’s Rutgers.

Michigan State would be nice. 5 miles away

 

[Cusefan95]

Mad town is a bucket list spot for sure

I lived in Wisconsin for several years, and even went to a few Badgers games. Yet somehow I feel like I missed out on some part of it when I hear people say Madison is a bucket list spot. I guess I’m glad I can cross it off my bucket list - I’m just not entirely sure why it needed to be there in the first place.

(My kids were born in Wisconsin; we went back there this summer to visit friends and vacation. They now think Wisconsin is the coolest place on earth and are baffled why we left. So I’m open to the possibility that this is a me problem and that I’m simply incapable of appreciating good things).

 

[OrangeXtreme]