cincibuck
You kids stay off my lawn!
I've often thought of writing to Delaney and the Big Ten Ads regarding the failure to capitalize on the presence of Chicago in the heart of conference territory. If I were to write such a letter I think it would go like this. Like minded readers are encouraged to add ideas and thoughts:
Sirs, I was in Chicago for the Northwestern - Ohio State game and couldn't help but notice the energy created by the game. There was an interest and spirit in college football all over the town, and for once it wasn't for a team based in South Bend, but right there in the Greater Chicago area. Everywhere we went that weekend we saw evidence of a new claim: Northwestern, Chicago's Big Ten Team!
That led me to a contention I have long held, that the Big Ten fails to compete for the largest market in Big Ten territory. Failing to make the connection to the capital city in Big Ten territory makes no sense in the effort to promote Big Ten sports.
Ignoring Chicago, and shifting attention to Indianapolis, a city smaller - with a smaller media market- than several other cities within the Big Ten to include Columbus, Detroit, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Cleveland makes no commercial sense in a battle for market. It puts two of your premier money making events, the conference championships, into a much smaller spotlight. And in the case of football, into a venue limited in seating and not designed to best accommodate the game.
At a time when Big Ten schools are trying to recruit nationally, you play your big events in a small market, while the SEC moves theirs to Atlanta or New Orleans and the Pac 12 to Los Angeles and San Francisco. The difference is glaring.
By playing your football CCG in an arena, you add to the notion that football can't be played outdoors in cold weather. This in a region where several teams, Packers, Bears, Browns, Steelers and Bengals prove that it can - and that fans will show up.
Add to this the ban against November night games, further creating the notion that it's too cold for football, and you intentionally create the notion within the minds of prospects that they should chose sunbelt schools.
Now, with a Big Ten alum, Rahm Emanuel in the Chicago mayor's office, with Northwestern making a play to create a connection to the city, with Notre Dame aligning itself with the ACC, isn't it time for the Big Ten to adopt Chicago as its base? Play the CCG in Soldier Field, a real football venue. Play the basketball tournament in Chicago as you did originally. Seek support from the Chicago Chamber of Commerce to make Chicago a venue for the playoff series. After all, if this is to be a national championship, shouldn't all teams, not just Big Ten teams, have to leave the comfort of their region to be a national champion?
Stop sending money to California, Florida, Arizona and Texas. Stop making every bowl game an away event for Big Ten teams and their fans. Make the other guy travel once in a while. Stop supporting the notion that all bowl games must be played in the South. Put the Big Ten squarely in the midst of the Midwest's greatest media market.
Sincerely,
Cincibuck
Sirs, I was in Chicago for the Northwestern - Ohio State game and couldn't help but notice the energy created by the game. There was an interest and spirit in college football all over the town, and for once it wasn't for a team based in South Bend, but right there in the Greater Chicago area. Everywhere we went that weekend we saw evidence of a new claim: Northwestern, Chicago's Big Ten Team!
That led me to a contention I have long held, that the Big Ten fails to compete for the largest market in Big Ten territory. Failing to make the connection to the capital city in Big Ten territory makes no sense in the effort to promote Big Ten sports.
Ignoring Chicago, and shifting attention to Indianapolis, a city smaller - with a smaller media market- than several other cities within the Big Ten to include Columbus, Detroit, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Cleveland makes no commercial sense in a battle for market. It puts two of your premier money making events, the conference championships, into a much smaller spotlight. And in the case of football, into a venue limited in seating and not designed to best accommodate the game.
At a time when Big Ten schools are trying to recruit nationally, you play your big events in a small market, while the SEC moves theirs to Atlanta or New Orleans and the Pac 12 to Los Angeles and San Francisco. The difference is glaring.
By playing your football CCG in an arena, you add to the notion that football can't be played outdoors in cold weather. This in a region where several teams, Packers, Bears, Browns, Steelers and Bengals prove that it can - and that fans will show up.
Add to this the ban against November night games, further creating the notion that it's too cold for football, and you intentionally create the notion within the minds of prospects that they should chose sunbelt schools.
Now, with a Big Ten alum, Rahm Emanuel in the Chicago mayor's office, with Northwestern making a play to create a connection to the city, with Notre Dame aligning itself with the ACC, isn't it time for the Big Ten to adopt Chicago as its base? Play the CCG in Soldier Field, a real football venue. Play the basketball tournament in Chicago as you did originally. Seek support from the Chicago Chamber of Commerce to make Chicago a venue for the playoff series. After all, if this is to be a national championship, shouldn't all teams, not just Big Ten teams, have to leave the comfort of their region to be a national champion?
Stop sending money to California, Florida, Arizona and Texas. Stop making every bowl game an away event for Big Ten teams and their fans. Make the other guy travel once in a while. Stop supporting the notion that all bowl games must be played in the South. Put the Big Ten squarely in the midst of the Midwest's greatest media market.
Sincerely,
Cincibuck
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