walty12 said

Local Owl said

Is it just me , or has everyone lost interest. I see we picked up a couple of transfers. So far everybody feels like just adding depth. Nothing that will make an impact. As for Thompson back at qb, I felt Richardson was an upgrade. But on an up note, basketball tonight and baseball around the corner.  

Posted On: Dec 5th 2023, 1:25 PM #418847

We just finished our 4th straight football season of nothing to be excited about.  Our home slate of games this season were collectively just brutally awful.  Have taken a few weeks to objectively look back…if you bought season tickets and gave your Saturday’s to FAU in 2023, I legitimately apologize.

We are in the danger zone of going from disappointment to apathy, being a bad program and simply nobody caring that we are bad.

We are begging for donors to pay recruits to come play for us.  I hope that strategy works out.

Posted On: Dec 6th 2023, 8:07 AM #418917

 

I think you are already seeing the apathy set in around the program. The entertainment  level around the home games last year was at all time low. From the games itself to just the atmosphere in the stadium. There was no life. I think Herman is a good coach, but I don’t know he will succeed at FAU in this current era of college football. 

Everything is being set up to leave programs like FAU behind and let’s be honest 95% of college football fans are good with it . 

FAU Fan said

Gen z (11-26 year olds) definitely are not as interested in sports as much as others generations.

Posted On: Dec 6th 2023, 5:52 AM #418912

+1

Fandom is about rooting for something OTHER than yourself…

They appear more interested in themselves.

To illustrate this point we look at instagram where gen z users make up 30.1% of the total user base. In fact 69% of the instagram user base is 34 or younger.

It's a digital atmosphere where overall content is comprised of mostly selfies. Our sports content does very well on Twitter and Facebook, but meh to average on instagram. Why? They don't care for the most part.

Twitter 39% is from 35-49, and Facebook 52% is over 35 years old.

I just did someone's job for free.

 

FAU Fan said

Local Owl said

Years ago , a player could only transfer if the program that they committed to changed.ie, fired coach, or coach taking a new job. Now it's money. I feel ,in a few years, the interest level will drop and viewership will drop. 20 -35 year old fans are not hard core fans. Once us "old guys" are gone, tv viewership will drop and the money will drop with it. NCAA shot themselves in the foot.

Posted On: Dec 5th 2023, 4:43 PM #418853

Have to agree with you on this one Local Owl.

Gen z (11-26 year olds) definitely are not as interested in sports as much as others generations.

Lifestyle changes, loyalty to a team and only backing winners are some of the noticeable differences that we even see happening at FAU.

Not sure if this is just another “old guy” talking, but time will tell.

Posted On: Dec 6th 2023, 5:52 AM #418912

No data backs that up. College football ratings were way up in 2023 or at least the first half of the season they were.

Also, this is kinda on the NCAA, but not really.

The NCAA should have accepted that they needed to pay play players a long time and took steps slowly to control everything, but they let go to court and kept taking L's.



So the floodgates were unleashed at once. And now they are asking congress for help.

walty12 said

Did the insane level of commercialization of the sport, the huge salaries to coaches/administrators and constant coming and going, or the huge payouts to fired coaches make it wane for you some?

Posted On: Dec 6th 2023, 8:15 AM #418918

Absolutely…its why i don't like professional sports. Money adds another dimensional to being pure IMHO…of course the good book says “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” But it doesn't say that's why they do their job. Most people do something because they love it and most people go to a school for reasons other than getting paid to play football or whatever sport it is.

But this has become much more…its who can outbid who, and paying people that really don't have a skill set other than being athletic…You go to school to get an education…when you simply pay someone to come which just chose you because you have the biggest wad in your hand, it ruins it for me.

The salary thing don't even get me started…athletics is a losing business for most schools - bar none. It's tax and spend. The leaders have little to no accountability on a return. Aside from Miami, who now looks foolish with the exact same outcome they fired Blake James for, when was the last time an AD was fired because they made a bad hire?

@Owls2013, I'm not saying the ratings are off now. NIL will slowly chisel away the foundation of the fan base. It will take a while. But eventually, fans will have no reason to support a fluid program

Rick said

walty12 said

Did the insane level of commercialization of the sport, the huge salaries to coaches/administrators and constant coming and going, or the huge payouts to fired coaches make it wane for you some?

Posted On: Dec 6th 2023, 8:15 AM #418918

Absolutely…its why i don't like professional sports. Money adds another dimensional to being pure IMHO…of course the good book says “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” But it doesn't say that's why they do their job. Most people do something because they love it and most people go to a school for reasons other than getting paid to play football or whatever sport it is.

But this has become much more…its who can outbid who, and paying people that really don't have a skill set other than being athletic…You go to school to get an education…when you simply pay someone to come which just chose you because you have the biggest wad in your hand, it ruins it for me.

The salary thing don't even get me started…athletics is a losing business for most schools - bar none. It's tax and spend. The leaders have little to no accountability on a return. Aside from Miami, who now looks foolish with the exact same outcome they fired Blake James for, when was the last time an AD was fired because they made a bad hire?

Posted On: Dec 6th 2023, 9:28 AM #418923

The crazy part about college football is right now its most closely aligned with major league baseball…there literally is no salary cap.  All other major sports play under a salary cap rule in place to keep competitive balance.  We went from no pay, to absolutely no ability to regulate what is able to be paid and no transparency around it.

The interesting thing about NIL vs pro sports is…when you pay players in pro sports there is a ROI.  Example would be Mark Cuban buying the Dallas Mavericks for a few hundred million and selling for $3.5B.  There is no ROI justification aside from pride with NIL.  You are never going to see a penny returned on your dollar.  NIL money is just throwaway money when coming from boosters.  It's completely a wealthy mans game.

But to Owls2013 point…most of this is due to lost legal battles.  They are going to have to set this up in a way where they can win some legal battles and have some sort of structure in place.

"when you simply pay someone to come which just chose you because you have the biggest wad in your hand, it ruins it for me."

Frankly, I believe its our President, AD, Coaching Staff's responsibility to ensure as many student athletes have other reasons to come to FAU than who gives the most money.  There is plenty of data to back up that Gen Z doesn't make decisions based solely on money or even as a top reason.  Our University, like many others our size/age/etc, are going to have to find a way to win without simply outbidding other schools for athletes services.  It's a game we currently are not setup to win.

We need to work with, https://business.fau.edu/masters-phd/mba-program/mba-sport/, at FAU to get programs in place for students to have the ability to drive their own NIL opportunities while in school.

walty12 said

You are never going to see a penny returned on your dollar.  NIL money is just throwaway money when coming from boosters.  It's completely a wealthy mans game.

Posted On: Dec 6th 2023, 9:58 AM #418926

Send some of those wealthy men this way, we can't even raise $857 to close out the fundraising year for a measly shoestring budget.

😢

AND they WILL get a return on investment  

Another Owl going to the portal, this time being Devin Price. He'll be entering as a graduate transfer for the 2024 season.

#FAU WR @Devin3price has decided to enter the transfer portal. Appearing in 10 games for @FAUFootball, he made 7 catches for 120 yards and a touchdown. Wishing you the best in your next chapter, Devin! pic.twitter.com/rBmn2fgIel

— FAU Owls Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) December 6, 2023

walty12 said

Rick said

walty12 said

Did the insane level of commercialization of the sport, the huge salaries to coaches/administrators and constant coming and going, or the huge payouts to fired coaches make it wane for you some?

Posted On: Dec 6th 2023, 8:15 AM #418918

Absolutely…its why i don't like professional sports. Money adds another dimensional to being pure IMHO…of course the good book says “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” But it doesn't say that's why they do their job. Most people do something because they love it and most people go to a school for reasons other than getting paid to play football or whatever sport it is.

But this has become much more…its who can outbid who, and paying people that really don't have a skill set other than being athletic…You go to school to get an education…when you simply pay someone to come which just chose you because you have the biggest wad in your hand, it ruins it for me.

The salary thing don't even get me started…athletics is a losing business for most schools - bar none. It's tax and spend. The leaders have little to no accountability on a return. Aside from Miami, who now looks foolish with the exact same outcome they fired Blake James for, when was the last time an AD was fired because they made a bad hire?

Posted On: Dec 6th 2023, 9:28 AM #418923

The crazy part about college football is right now its most closely aligned with major league baseball…there literally is no salary cap.  All other major sports play under a salary cap rule in place to keep competitive balance.  We went from no pay, to absolutely no ability to regulate what is able to be paid and no transparency around it.

The interesting thing about NIL vs pro sports is…when you pay players in pro sports there is a ROI.  Example would be Mark Cuban buying the Dallas Mavericks for a few hundred million and selling for $3.5B.  There is no ROI justification aside from pride with NIL.  You are never going to see a penny returned on your dollar.  NIL money is just throwaway money when coming from boosters.  It's completely a wealthy mans game.

But to Owls2013 point…most of this is due to lost legal battles.  They are going to have to set this up in a way where they can win some legal battles and have some sort of structure in place.

"when you simply pay someone to come which just chose you because you have the biggest wad in your hand, it ruins it for me."

Frankly, I believe its our President, AD, Coaching Staff's responsibility to ensure as many student athletes have other reasons to come to FAU than who gives the most money.  There is plenty of data to back up that Gen Z doesn't make decisions based solely on money or even as a top reason.  Our University, like many others our size/age/etc, are going to have to find a way to win without simply outbidding other schools for athletes services.  It's a game we currently are not setup to win.

We need to work with, https://business.fau.edu/masters-phd/mba-program/mba-sport/, at FAU to get programs in place for students to have the ability to drive their own NIL opportunities while in school.

Posted On: Dec 6th 2023, 9:58 AM #418926

There is no ROI for the historic (and still affective) way of supporting university athletics. Most use the standard deduction so the charitable contribution means nothing.

Those who do use the charitable deductions (because they have deductions in excess of the standard deduction), can contribute to NIL through deductible business expenses (assuming they have a closely held business with a true profit motive, which most wealthy persons do).

Whether contributing to the school or NIL, there is no ROI. It is all out of the love and support of our FAU university and FAU student athletes.

I wish our athletics department did a better job getting out football alumni to pitch in. We have so many players in the league right now making 1M+ salaries (some with 10M+ salaries).

Getting most of them to donate should be a priority and even if they donate 1-2% of their salaries, we're looking at a significant boost to our budgets