Gothmog

Even if NDSU and UND resume the rivalry, it won't be for the Nickel trophy. The trophy was retired with the name.

The sad thing is that guys like Darrell don't understand how self-defeating their obsession with playing NDSU really is. NDSU moved on to bigger things when UND terminated the rivalry, and, as a result, has prospered as never before. UND needs to do the same.

Even though I moved to Dallas a few years ago, I have Viking's season tickets...have for 15 years now. I go to the the PAcker's game every year just because I feel it's my duty to support the team and to make sure a Cheesehead doesn't end up sitting in my seats. But I never enjoy the game, even when the Vikings win. The rivalry is too intense and the atmosphere is just plain nasty and uncomfortable. I've never been to a Packer game where there wasn't a fight, or two, nearby. Both Viking and Packer fans generally behave horribly. If I had my choice the Vikings would never play the Packers again. I feel the same way about the Bison playing UND. No matter who wins, the game is unpleasant. I hope the two teams never play again - both teams would be better off,

You're right, I understood that when I first read your post, then I somehow forgot it when I came back to it later. In any case, all this is based on numbers that are just picked out of the air. It still seems very unlikely that NDSU would really be better off playing UND than bringing in an FCS team from out of state.

And where do those numbers come from?

As I've said before, IMO Bison fans are not going to be willing to pay more for a season ticket BECAUSE UND is on the schedule. You're all focused on cooking up a plausible explanation for a ticket increase. What you should be focused on is what is the consumer willing to pay...what does he/she perceive as having value. NDSU can raise ticket prices for whatever reason it thinks is appropriate. Consumer demand will determine whether it was a good idea.

You're not getting it. They could do that anyway, without adding UND to the schedule. They don't really need an explanation, the market will bear what it will bear.

That makes no sense. Let's say that gross ticket revenue = $500K, the fee to the visiting team = $300K, and other expenses = $100K. Are you says that because 300 is 60% of 500, NDSU would be better off to get zero net profit in the off years of a home and home with UND, than they would to pocket $100K ($500K - $300K - $100K) by paying an FCS school to come to Fargo?

How do they do that? Normally you pay for your season tickets in advance ... one price for all of them.

That makes no sense at all. You could say exactly the same thing for just raising ticket prices without adding UND to the schedule.

So, it's a zero sum game.

No, I don't think that NDSU could charge 15 cents more per season ticket because UND was on the schedule. Single game tickets are different, their value is much more complex -- the Youngstown State game this year would have brought a huge premium, other years not so much. In any case, they could already be charging more for other "premium" games, such as SDSU, if they were so inclined.

And how many NDSU fans would shop and spend money in GF every other year? That's just as much a loss to Fargo as the GF spending is a gain.

Markets make that sort of judgement very efficiently. If people won't pay more for it, it really doesn't make any diference whether you believe that a game vs UND is "worth" more than a game vs Western Carolina, or not.

No, you're missing the point. The additional revenue from a few "walk-ups" could not possibly replace the lost revenue from a whole home game that would be lost every 2 (or perhaps 4) years.

That's not premium pricing. It's just an increase in season ticket prices, which they could likely do with, or without, scheduling UND. The flawed premise here is that NDSU could charge more for tickets BECAUSE of UND being on the schedule. I don't think that's true.

What you're missing is that NDSU is selling mostly season tickets -- one price for all the games. That makes so-called "dynamic" or "premium" pricing pointless. However, your point about SDSU and UNI is right, if NDSU was inclined to engage in premium pricing, it would already be doing so with SDSU, UNI, and maybe others.

Math based on numbers picked out of thin air. There's never been any evidence that NDSU could, or would, charge more for tickets if UND were added to the schedule. In fact, the history of the last few years seems to indicate that Bison fans are quite happy with things as they are. WIthout significantly increased ticket prices, no scenario results in NDSU being financially better off playing UND.

We've had this discussion before, but here it is again. There would be no additional revenue for NDSU. In fact NDSU would lose revenue because of the loss of one home game every x years. As far as rejuvenating interest among Bison fans, eliminating UND from NDSU's schedule seems to have had exactly that effect. Fan interest in Bison football has never been higher than it is right now.

But how would NDSU know which school was going to cancel? Montana State was just as likely to cancel as Western Carolina, perhaps more. As long as you have OOC games, there's a risk that one might be cancelled. For instance, what would have prevented UND from cancelling?

As long as you have OOC games -- and NDSU always will -- the potential trouble is going to be there. It can be mitigated, but not eliminated. Gene Taylor is not playing with fire any more than any other AD, including Brian Faison. The real problem here is that Western Carolina cancelled, or is about to cancel, very late in the game, after other schools, including UND, have set their schedules. A greater willingness to schedule UND would not have helped the situation at all.

True enough...but it still doesn't explain how GT is playing with fire. If, for instance, both UND and Western Carolina were on the schedule this year (i.e. UND replaced MSU on the schedule which seems the more likely scenario), the situation would not be any different than it is now.

OK. How is not having UND on the schedule every year "playing with fire?" Scheduling UND would reduce the risk that NDSU would end up with an open date, or be forced to schedule a lower level team, but not eliminate it. They would still have at least 2 OOC games that could be cancelled. As would UND, and almost every other team in the country.

Give it a rest! NDSU will do what it needs to do to fill out their schedule. But, there's always going to be a danger that one of their OOC games will be bought out at the last minute. If Gene is "playing with fire", so is nearly every other college football team in the country...including UND.

It is one-sided. Sure there are NDSU fans that want the game back, just not anywhere near as many. And where else am I going to tell them to get a life? Read the thread...this is the perfect place. Just to clarify "get a life" in this context means "stop limiting yourself, strive to be more than what you have been."