Monday, May 16, 2011

Can BC benefit from the NFL lockout?

With the latest court rulings, it looks like the NFL owners now have the upperhand in their labor negotiations. If the rumors and posturing is to be believed, the NFL might not actually play games until November. If this happens, being located in a "Pro Market" becomes a huge opportunity for a school like BC. Of course with BC's luck, if the Patriots are not playing, the Red Sox will likely have a deep run into the postseason and get of the fan and media attention. BC is also hamstrung by ACC schedules and limited marketing budgets, but here are some simple things BC can do to take advantage of any NFL void. Add your thoughts in the comments sections.


1. Create a lockout ticket package.
BC has four home games before October 2. It is fair to call most of them undesirable to non-BC fans. Ironically the game early home game with most appeal to Patriots fans might be UMass. But regardless of how good or bad these opponents are, it is still live football. Maybe BC could package a the four games at the "price of one NFL ticket" or some other gimmick.


2. Unprecedented media access.
The media will get bored talking labor over and over. To get attention BC needs to be much more open with its media. Let the practices be wide open. Get the talk stations over to campus for live broadcasts. Have a "wrap up" show Sundays in place of the normal NFL preview shows. Of course this opens BC to criticism and armchair quarterbacking -- which the folks in the Yawkey complex hate -- but the added attention is worth the few callers who might say "Spaz sucks."


3. Move the UMass game to a Sunday and get it on NESN or local TV.
This is the most risky proposition. If BC moves games it runs the risk of the lockout ending and going head to head with the NFL. Of all the games to move, UMass makes the most sense. It is easy travel for UMass. It has a local tie. The Boston media would eat it up. Even if the game is lopsided, it would be an unprecedented showcase for both programs.

7 comments:

Scott said...

College ball will get a nice boost in coverage, but the three big decisions have set the playing field so the parties have to settle.
- American needle ensures the NFL teams have to compete for salaries.
- dotie's injunction ensure the owners can't access a $4b advance on their next tv contract to keep them flush during the lockout. They're aren't starving, but not earning either.
- the 8th will allow the NFL to negotiate ( and lockout) by group decision, meaning the players gained nothing by decertifying the union.

Thevonly sensible path is a new cba

eagle1331 said...

When I canceled my season tickets this is the one thing that made me second guess myself. BC has a huge opportunity to finally make some inroads (IMO) with Boston sports fans if the lockout occurs into the season. If BC was the only football game in town on top of HS it would create more demand, better resale value (or in some cases A resale value) when I can't drive from NJ, and may hook people on making tix less available next year. I went ahead with my cancellation, however, because I know they will blow it.

mod34b said...

While the NFl owners, and players (and union) are jousting now, I bet there is over an 80% chance we will see the NFL playing ball sometime in September.

So I do not think this is a real opportunity for BC to gain a little local interest. Other things are needed -- better game-day experience, consistently better team, team vying for championships...

D-Murph said...

all those Pats fans wil be really disappointed when they realize that they cant buy booze inside Alumni...

William said...

Or tailgate....

That being said ATL, if they have the game on a Sunday and the NFL is on, I'll pass on the BC game. Yes it's that bad.

Savi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ry said...

It's been awhile since the Pats began their recent string of success...what was attendance like for Pats games before that? My hunch is that no matter how starved for football Boston-area fans are, it's going to take more than a ticket deal to get people to show up. I don't think we have a team that is going to elicit any excitement from your run of the mill non-BC New England sports fan.