June looking to get all Night home games in 2010 and beyond

[ALEX LIFESON]

Everyone has legit points, but, SMU could start games at every hour during the day/evening, and some will like it, and some will not. Same thing with our uniforms, any variation displayed, some think it's great, some think it sucks.

[Hoop Fan]

like stallion said, this is not a new idea. It was done in the early part of the decade and the atmosphere was horrible. You lose more fans by far and enthusiasm than you gain all things being equal. For a special, made for tv big game, fine. For the typical late October, November games its a bad recipe. You might push kickoff to 3 or 4 pm if you want to capture more of the soccer crowd and extend pregame Boulevard time, but thats about it for November games. By the way, we had perfect weather every home satuday this year. Pretty lucky in '09.

[Wuba]

another reason I don't like it is that I think its bad for the wide open passing game we use. In November you might get some games in the low 40s and I think that's not good for passing or receiving. That's why the passing game is utilized in the South while the schools in the North like to run the ball more

Please make sure June knows about this, I imagine he had not considered the impact on the passing game, given his focus on defense and the rushing attack.

[Hoofprint]

this just sucks for anyone with kids b/c a 7pm game doesn't end until 10, and by the time you get home it's 11:00. sure, we could get a sitter, but i want my son to be able to go to games.

but, oh well. guess i'll just have to figure something out.

Hence the invention of the "nap."

[VarsityShop]

Does anyone know if the home school has 100% authority on setting kickoff times if TV is not a part of the equation?

[RGV Pony]

Does anyone know if the home school has 100% authority on setting kickoff times if TV is not a part of the equation?

that's a good question. I do know that Marshall opted to through CBS College Sports the finger because they did NOT want to move the time of our game with them, which resulted in no tv

[SMU 86]

I think the TV stations have some say.

[DiamondM]

Look, I like night games because of the longer tailgate (and since my group generally shows up around 9 am regardless of start time, I do mean LONGER), and through mid-October a 6 or 7 pm start is great to beat the heat.

But all night games isn't a good idea.

1) Frats & sororities schedule stuff that conflicts with Saturday night games. I don't care how good we get, this isn't going to change. They aren't going to make the game their Saturday night social. At most, you get them to stay through halftime, then they are off to a silly formal or something.

2) 7 pm games go too late for families. Those of you who don't want a family friendly start times are idiots, frankly. Venues that are loud and crazy aren't that way because they don't have families. They are loud and crazy because fanaticism runs in families, starts at a young age, and carries through adulthood. But preferring afternoon (or even late afternoon or early evening) kickoffs so that kids can attend is not about not wanting them to stay up late. Anyone who has ever tried to attend a night game with an overtired toddler (or sat nearby) knows that "letting" them stay up late is not the issue. I want to bring my daughter to every single game, and have struggled through night games (often with no nap because of committed tailgating), only to have my husband have to leave early because she turned into a pumpkin. But we are uniquely committed (my 26 month-old attended her first SMU game at 16 days old, and has already been at 18 football games, including the Gator Bowl at 2 months old, games at KU, Alabama, UCF, and Texas Tech, not to mention nearly every home SMU basketball game since she was born) and live close to campus. Many (if not most) families with small children are not going to trek over to SMU for a 7 pm kickoff when they know the risk that they cannot stay much past halftime.


Again, that is not to say NEVER have a night game. A couple a season is fine, but when you make the entire home schedule inhospitable to those families who would love to bring the kids out on a lovely fall afternoon, then you are shooting yourselves in the foot.

[RGV Pony]

okay...no night games. how bout 11am or so?

[mustangbill67]

Start all home games at 6 pm unless TV dictates otherwise. This allows for afternoon tailgates, gives no little league football and soccer excuses and allows for small children to be home by 9:30 or so. As for the students, I do not believe JJ has any interest in scheduling games around their social schedule. Students who prioritize their Saturday night social life ahead of supporting SMU football are not real fans anyway and will be gone by halftime regardless of when the game starts. I watch numerous games from across the country at night and other teams do not seem to have a problem getting students to night games. Hopefully, the new classes of students since JJ are now being better indoctrinated on the value of SMU football to their college experience so that we can build a larger cadre of student fans who actually actively support football.

[MrMustang1965]

I don't care what time kick-off is. I'll be there.

[Garret]

JJ's home games in Hawaii generally started at 6pm, not 7pm as has been discussed so much in this thread. This season Hawaii moved its conference home games to 5pm so that teams could make the red-eye flight out of Hawaii that night.

I've been to a LOT of day games in Austin and I've been to Dallas on many summer days...day games in August and September (and even October many times) could be quite rough. I would think that a 6pm (or 5pm) start would be a good way for the heat to be a little less extreme.

My experience from attending games in Texas, California, Nevada, and Hawaii is that crowds tend to be louder (or should I say rowdy?) at night. I think the key is to determine what start time would be best for the casual fan--SMU needs to attract more fans to its games and there may be some experimenting until the optimal time is found.

[SMUSA2013]

Look, I like night games because of the longer tailgate (and since my group generally shows up around 9 am regardless of start time, I do mean LONGER), and through mid-October a 6 or 7 pm start is great to beat the heat.

But all night games isn't a good idea.

1) Frats & sororities schedule stuff that conflicts with Saturday night games. I don't care how good we get, this isn't going to change. They aren't going to make the game their Saturday night social. At most, you get them to stay through halftime, then they are off to a silly formal or something.

2) 7 pm games go too late for families. Those of you who don't want a family friendly start times are idiots, frankly. Venues that are loud and crazy aren't that way because they don't have families. They are loud and crazy because fanaticism runs in families, starts at a young age, and carries through adulthood. But preferring afternoon (or even late afternoon or early evening) kickoffs so that kids can attend is not about not wanting them to stay up late. Anyone who has ever tried to attend a night game with an overtired toddler (or sat nearby) knows that "letting" them stay up late is not the issue. I want to bring my daughter to every single game, and have struggled through night games (often with no nap because of committed tailgating), only to have my husband have to leave early because she turned into a pumpkin. But we are uniquely committed (my 26 month-old attended her first SMU game at 16 days old, and has already been at 18 football games, including the Gator Bowl at 2 months old, games at KU, Alabama, UCF, and Texas Tech, not to mention nearly every home SMU basketball game since she was born) and live close to campus. Many (if not most) families with small children are not going to trek over to SMU for a 7 pm kickoff when they know the risk that they cannot stay much past halftime.


Again, that is not to say NEVER have a night game. A couple a season is fine, but when you make the entire home schedule inhospitable to those families who would love to bring the kids out on a lovely fall afternoon, then you are shooting yourselves in the foot.

Fraternities and sororities generally keep their activities to a friday night. They put so much effort into making the boulevard something special for incoming freshmen and alums. The Fraternities actually prefer night games, as it gives them more time to prepare for the full day of festivities.

[Alaric]

another reason I don't like it is that I think its bad for the wide open passing game we use. In November you might get some games in the low 40s and I think that's not good for passing or receiving. That's why the passing game is utilized in the South while the schools in the North like to run the ball more

Please make sure June knows about this, I imagine he had not considered the impact on the passing game, given his focus on defense and the rushing attack.

No sun in your eyes

[Dooby]

this just sucks for anyone with kids b/c a 7pm game doesn't end until 10, and by the time you get home it's 11:00. sure, we could get a sitter, but i want my son to be able to go to games.

but, oh well. guess i'll just have to figure something out.

Flip side to that is that I have little kids and routinely have a conflict with kids' sporting events or birthday parties and what not.