Since 2016, Eastern Michigan has played all five of its week one home openers on Friday night, so it was no surprise when they moved their week one game against Howard from the first Saturday of the season to a day earlier on September 1. 

While this was an expected move, it may have been the wrong move. In 2004, Howard and Alabama State drew over 

 for the 2004 Detroit Football Classic. Three years later, Howard was Eastern Michigan's most-attended home game, even outdrawing Eastern Michigan's game against Northwestern at Ford Field, as 10,141 fans attended the Howard game compared to the 10,000 that attended the Northwestern game. Howard even helped Kent State draw its second-largest home crowd of 2017, with the Golden Flashes' homecoming outdrawing it by only 225 fans.

While moving the game to a Friday gives Eastern Michigan more broadcast exposure, the game will still likely be an afterthought on ESPN+. Every week one Eastern Michigan opener since 2016 has been on ESPN+ or ESPN3. Trading in thousands of in-person fans for 

thousands of streaming viewers is hardly an optimal choice for the program. 

Eastern Michigan is missing out on an electric atmosphere in moving the game to Friday night. Not only does Howard have a

 in the Detroit metro, but they will bring one of their best teams in years as the Bison were MEAC co-champions, their first conference championship since 1993 and only their second since the Woodrow Wilson Administration in 1915. 

Energy and optimism in the Howard program is high and it's not unrealistic to believe that Howard fans would make the trip from the DMV to Detroit alongside the school's Motor City alumni. Howard will be competitive with an Eastern Michigan team fresh off its first bowl victory since the Reagan Administration.

In the end, it's sad that Eastern Michigan traded a great gameday atmosphere and a larger crowd for a few more viewers on ESPN+. Increased online viewership may be Eastern Michigan's endgame, but it will come at a significant cost. 

MEAC

Moving Howard-Eastern Michigan To Friday is a Mistake

Despite coming into their home game against Columbia last year as heavy underdogs with an 0-3 record and being outscored 200-45 with two losses by 59 points, the Wagner Seahawks put up a spirited effort against the Lions. The Seahawks trailed only 7-0 at halftime before the Lions pulled away for a 28-7 win in the first meeting between the schools.

This year was supposed to be the return trip to Manhattan. Emphasis on supposed to. Earlier this week, the Northeast Conference released its schedule for the 2023 season. Absent from Wagner’s schedule was their October 7 road visit to Columbia. Losing this game hurts, as in-state and inter-borough rivalries are good for Northeast college football. However, the loss of this game stings beyond losing a regional rivalry.

Since 2017, Columbia has had multiple home games per season broadcast on SNY, the television home of Mets home games. In 2017, SNY aired all five Columbia home games and since 2018, 

Beyond airing games live, arguably the biggest benefit of this contract is SNY’s tape-delay broadcast of Columbia games. In 2018, Columbia home games received eight tape-delay airings, while the Lions’ 2019 game against Penn received 

 from October 19-October 23. For instance, here is SNY’s Columbia tape-delay schedule from 2018:

As mentioned before, SNY is the TV home of the Mets and while RSNs continue to struggle, SNY is not one of them. SNY has a carriage of over 

 nationally, including over eight million homes in the Mets home market of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Northeast Pennsylvania.

Logically, there is likely a large intersection between Mets fans or Columbia fans/alumni in the Mets TV market. The same can be said about Wagner fans/alumni in New York City that happen to be Mets fans. As a result, a Wagner-Columbia game on SNY would have been appointment viewing for several people, potentially hundreds of thousands of them.

SNY usually simulcasts their Columbia games on ESPN+. It is likely that several Mets fans may just pay for a TV provider who carries SNY and not ESPN+, so the network likely gets significant viewership from both sources rather than just one over the other. Of course, live viewership is one thing, but the tape-delay viewership of a Columbia-Wagner game on SNY would have aided the Seahawks immensely. 

SNY would likely have aired the re-run of the Columbia-Wagner game as filler programming multiple times throughout the week, giving the Seahawks significant exposure that their Northeast Conference counterparts lack. A competitive game aired multiple times would have significantly improved the national perception of a Wagner program that has a 2-34 record since 2019.

Instead of facing Columbia on October 7th, the Seahawks now have an open date. The Seahawks lost an opportunity for exposure outside of the 

 with ESPN3, which is separate from ESPN+ and requires a cable subscription or a streaming subscription with a service like YouTubeTV or Hulu, services that both cost over $60/month. 

By losing the Columbia game, the Seahawks lost an opportunity to increase their brand in the New York/New Jersey area and potentially win recruiting battles against their fellow NYC metro NEC school, LIU.

Columbia's Absence From Wagner's Schedule a Huge Loss

Yesterday, St. Francis (Brooklyn) shocked the college athletic world by 

 after this academic year. This puts the Northeast Conference on shaky ground with only eight members. Earlier this week, I wrote about how the other St. Francis, the one in Western Pennsylvania, has even more reason to leave the Northeast Conference, further weakening the conference.

If you’ve read this far, or even read just the title, you know what I am hinting at. Yes, I do realize adding Chicago State, a school with an undergraduate enrollment of 1,502 and an endowment of

 as of 2016, and a location almost 1000 miles away from the furthest east NEC member and 600 miles away from its closest member is a bit wild.

However, I am showing the merit of Chicago State’s case for the conference because there is some. Chicago State was willing to routinely make trips to Las Cruces and Seattle for nearly a decade in the WAC, so they would be willing to join a conference center in the Northeast that has a media deal. 

Furthermore, Chicago State looks to be competitive again going 11-20 with key wins over Coastal Carolina, Valparaiso, and even CBI participant Southern Indiana. Chicago State’s RPI of 305 was better than six NEC teams, more than half of the league, so the Cougars can add competitive value to the NEC.

I am not saying Chicago State is the biggest attraction in the Windy City, but they do provide some presence in the nation’s third-largest media market. This comes in handy when looking at the NEC’s relationship with regional sports networks or RSNs. This past basketball season, the NEC had 

Having Chicago State in the conference could open up a TV deal with Marquee Sports, the home of the Cubs which airs

 five Illinois State men’s basketball games per season

. This would be huge for the NEC’s visibility as Marquee Sports Network is available not only in the Chicago Cubs’ 

, which stretches to Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana but nationally on 

 and over-the-top subscription streaming service 

Not only does this help from a money perspective, but this helps the NEC’s universities from an exposure and enrollment perspective. The NEC’s current members could see increases in enrollment from prospective Midwestern students who would see these programs on their local RSN or playing on a TV at the local Buffalo Wild Wings on a random weekend. Without adding Chicago State, such an application and enrollment increase is likely impossible.

 to consider adding a football program. Chicago State football would increase stability for the NEC in that sport, bringing football membership to nine members. Despite the increased travel costs, an addition of Chicago State could aid recruiting in the conference through one weird circumstance.

with Soldier Field and the city of Chicago

 has been drawn out and looks close to ending with the Bears moving to the 

. So what happens to Soldier Field? Demolishing the stadium looks like an option, but the stadium may have too much history to demolish, even if it's complicated history.

Soldier Field could then become the home of Chicago State football. Rather than spend millions to build a small stadium, the Cougars could use Soldier Field as its home. NEC football coaches would then be able to not only recruit in the Chicago area but promise New England and New York/New Jersey recruits they would be able to play in an NFL stadium twice in their career. Although it’s not much, it’s more than what peer conferences like the Big South and even the CAA can tell their recruits.

The Northeast Conference needs to make a move and after losing members from the strangest of circumstances, it may require outside-the-box thinking to help the conference survive. Chicago State needs a conference and the Northeast Conference needs stability. This may be an awkward, but necessary marriage.

Chicago State's Case For the NEC

When the Northeast Conference should have reveled in the spotlight Fairleigh Dickinson’s upset provided the conference, other news brought concern to the conference. Yesterday, St. Francis (Brooklyn) announced it was cutting all of its athletic programs effective after this academic year.

This puts the conference at eight members for Olympic sports. The conference’s football-playing membership remains unchanged as St. Francis-Brooklyn did not have a football.

Unfortunately, losing one St. Francis (Brooklyn) may cause the Northeast Conference to lose the other St. Francis. With the NEC at eight members, it is more vulnerable for the America East Conference to poach members to either even their numbers at 10 or become more stable by adding multiple NEC members. The NEC’s only non-football-playing member Fairleigh Dickinson looks like an attractive addition to the non-football America East.

This vulnerability, combined with less-than-ideal geography for St. Francis (PA) may push the Red Flash to the Horizon League. The NEC already lost Robert Morris to the Horizon League in 2020 and the Horizon League also has nearby Youngstown State and Cleveland State. More importantly, the conference has 11 members in a compact geographical footprint.

Not only is there more stability, but St. Francis would have three schools within a 200-mile radius in Cleveland State, Youngstown State, and Robert Morris. Saint Francis (PA)’s closest NEC opponents in Olympic sports are Wagner and Long Island University at 300 miles. Saint Francis does have Duquesne as a travel partner in football, but not for Olympic sports, which makes NEC membership less attractive.

There are other advantages to Horizon League membership such as the conference basketball tournament’s semifinals being held at one fixed location rather than on-campus sites as it is in the NEC. Additionally, several road destinations are in more attractive cities for St. Francis fans such as Detroit, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, and Cleveland compared to some of the NEC’s cities like New Britain or North Andover. No offense to residents of those two cities, this is strictly from a tourist perspective. Additionally, the league is spread across more major TV markets than the NEC, which increases viewership.

The Big South has Robert Morris as a football member and now is the perfect time to add St. Francis and Duquesne as football-only members, Duquesne is in the Atlantic 10 (14, actually) for Olympic sports, so not much would change for them, but a potential addition of St. Francis (PA) would come after the Horizon League adds the Red Flash.

The Big South would then increase to six members and preserve its automatic FCS Playoff spot without the need for an alliance with the Ohio Valley Conference, preventing Bryant from making long trips to Lindenwood and Southeast Missouri State. The five-game conference schedule would allow all six schools to schedule more regional non-conference games as well, taking the place of Ohio Valley Conference games that were part of the alliance.

Whether getting St. Francis and Duquesne hinges on behind-the-scenes talks with the Horizon League or something else the Big South needs to make this happen to gain some stability, even if it is a small amount they gain. St. Francis (Brooklyn) may have improved the situation of its twin from Loretto, Pennsylvania by simply bowing out of athletics.

Moving Howard-Eastern Michigan To Friday is a Mistake

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