UCF vs. FIU season opener to kickoff at 6 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
- Thread starter Brandon
- Start date
I guess if you live/work close to campus this is a good start time. People who live/work further away in Orlando area will probably have a tough time getting to their seats in time. Just about everyone out of town will not be able to get there at all unless they are off work Thursday. I expect attendance to be not good. Terrible outcome to move the game off Saturday when the best slot we could get on Thursday is CBSSN.
I am not even a member but I am a little disappointed that the ESC will debut on a Thursday night. I thought it would look great on a nice sunny Saturday with a solid crowd around it
Most locally employed people will need some time off to make kickoff. For instance, at that time of day, the drive time alone from Altamonte is just under one hour. That does not include navigating gameday on-campus traffic.
it's in September. ...the sun doesn't set till after 8pm
UCFAA gets their full Labor Day weekend
I guess TV is nice but hope they use some good angles to miss all the empty seats.
Don't like the move at all, haven't liked it from the beginning. Significantly devalues a season ticket (especially for those that live outside of Central Florida), makes it difficult for alumni association chapters outside of the eastern time zone to get any interest in a watch party, and the television exposure will be pretty insignificant considering the network.
Hope to see UCF grow out of needing to do this kind of thing and eventually open the season the way big time programs do every year.
Hope to see UCF grow out of needing to do this kind of thing and eventually open the season the way big time programs do every year.
It really has nothing to do with growth. It has to do with staying away from a Saturday noon or afternoon start because of TV. There will be SEC and ACC teams forced to start at noon and 3:30 on that first Saturday.
It also buys our team two extra days to rest and preparation at home before flying cross-country to face Stanford.
A 6 o'clock Kick is good, but on the weekend. People getting out of work, and trying to get across Orlando in time for a kickoff is not going to be easy.
I know many will take off work, good news you can get to bed before 10, or 11. Depends on how bad traffic is.
I know many will take off work, good news you can get to bed before 10, or 11. Depends on how bad traffic is.
Not sure if UCF is not a big time program because of when they play or who they play on their opener, but here are some big time program examples to emulat
Big Time Programs 2015 Opening Games:
Thursday Night: Michigan at Utah, Oklahoma State at Central Michigan
Friday Night: Michigan State at Western Michigan
Saturday: Florida State hosts Texas State, LSU hosts McNeese State, Ole Miss hosts Tennessee-Martin, Missouri hosts Southeast Missouri State, Miami hosts Bethume Cookman
I see what you're saying, but none of the power programs are opening at home on a week night. As UCF grows and continues to develop a national fan base (with supporters willing to travel across the country to attend a game, meet with networks, etc) I think it's going to be important to stop playing games on a weeknight for minimal exposure... Home openers should be a time to tailgatr, get the national base down to Orlando for a game and chomp down a cupcake.
On the other hand, a number of those who live further away, but still within driving distance (for example, Hillsborough or Pinellas Counties) should be able to make it home afterwards at a decent enough hour that it will not affect two work days. The change is a negative to some, but a plus to others.
Sure about that?
Thursday, Sept 3rd:
South Carolina at UNC
Texas-San Antonio at ARIZONA
Michigan at UTAH
Alcorn State at GEORGIA TECH
Elon at WAKE FOREST
TCU at MINNESOTA
Friday, Sept 4th:
Kent State at ILLINOIS
Weber State at OREGON STATE
P5 always has some teams opening up their season on Thur or Fri. Heck, Spurrier's first ever game at South Carolina 10 years ago was a Thursday Night Season Opener vs UCF.
Last year, these teams opened up at home on either Thur or Fri night:
South Carolina
Minnesota
Utah
Ole Miss (Atlanta)
Vandy
Washington State
Arizona State
Michigan State
Syracuse
Arizona
Allright allright, I'm just pissed that for the 2nd time in 3 years I won't be able to make a home game because of the move from labor day weekend to a Thursday, and I'll make any argument I can to rail against it.
Same could almost be said if the kickoff was going to be at 7 pm (like 2 years ago home opener vs Akron, which at 7 pm kickoff, drew 35,115 for opening night crowd).
Remember, UCF announced in March that the season opener was going to be on Thursday Night vs FIU...so those out-of-town probably already began working on their work schedules to get to BHNS for most likely 7 pm kickoff.
Now, kickoff is at 6 pm...good news, fans have over 4 months to make adjustments for that one hour difference...plus be able to get home an hour earlier too.
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....and maybe avoid an overnight stay. Even for those of us in peripheral Central Florida (Volusia), this difference from the usual 8:00 pm weeknight kick allows my early-working wife to attend where she typically doesn't. I do sympathize with the far out-of-towners.
Playing on Thursday instead of Saturday was decided before there was any guarantee of a TV network picking it up. If it was stuck on espn3 online only like 2013 Akron game the game was staying on Thursday regardless.
Also about the 6pm kickoff complaints...not many companies are sticking around late heading into Labor Day weekend anyway. I hope UCF pushes a huge student turnout and even making it easy for valencia guest tickets to make up for the outside Orlando fans that won't make the trip
The 6 p.m. kickoff time is fine with me. I'll have to arrange to get out of work early, but otherwise the time is okay.
West Side will be completely in the shade at 6 pm kickoff but yes, much of the East Side will still be in the sun, which is where one of the benefits of East Side Club, as those fans can be underneath the shade of the club (while enjoy adult beverages and upgraded concessions) before sun falls behind West Side stands completely.
Personally if I am still in Germany come the 2015 season, I hate Friday games with the 6 hour time difference. While the states sees the game at 6:00, that's a 12:00 midnight kick off for me, getting to bed around 4:00 am, to be at work at 8:00 with a 30 minute drive.
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