Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/680997
FAN FORUM than ND is from NBC. Spaddy: NBC would probably rather have 6 night games, I'm pretty sure it's ND that wants to limit the night games. Tommy1380: I don't necessarily know that to be true. If you look up the ratings, they aren't much different. Dateline on Saturday nights typically gets 4.5‑5.0 million viewers. Our night games against Texas and USC got 4.06 and 3.95 million respectively. The Big Montana: I'm sure that has something to do with the team they're playing (Michigan, USC, etc.). Try playing Nevada at night and see if you get the same reception. Irishnatty: I wouldn't really want more than two night games personally. I think if you have two mar‑ quee home opponents then have two. If you have one, have one night game. 3:30 starts are already just about the perfect start time for me as a fan at least. Then when you sprinkle in a night game here and there against a marquee opponent, it raises the atmosphere, amps the crowd up, etc. If you have more than that, I'm not sure you see the same bump. Cyaros44: Yeah the only home games this year that would be NBCs worthwhile is MSU, Stanford and Miami. Duke, Nevada and Va. Tech (cold November) wouldn't be good for the fans or NBC. I still think they should have at least 2 every year. BigNDFan80: NBC wants games at night. That's the main reason ND and NBC came up with the Shamrock Series. It was a way to have a night home game and ND didn't have to deal with everything that comes with staffing a night game. The atmosphere is better because it's big name teams. Night or day — it doesn't matter. Rich Starkey: Take me back to the 2:30 start. Bernhtp: Night games are logistically more difficult for those that drive in just for the day (e.g., from Illinois or Ohio). I suspect this is a significant percentage of the attendees. JohnMichie: Correct. ND prefers day games as the norm for those reasons. Most ND fans/alums travel long distances to attend. The additional hassle, cost, safety and logistics are a real topic. FightinMike87: Add to the fact that ND's away games are almost guaranteed to be night games out‑ side of those played where the three rivers meet in PA, we play at night plenty — probably more than most other programs outside of the west coast. Even our visits to Purdue have been night games recently. NBC does right by ND on so many levels, that if ND wanted to have more night games they would. I would suspect that a certain HC who has complained about all the late starts after another during the season has talked to Jack Swarbrick and they've come to the balance we currently see. I doubt that it's truly NBC holding back, even with the "rule" of 5 night games in a 4‑year span. The second half of the home slate would be miserable for recruits and fans alike if they waited to start the game until 7 p.m. BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Letters • Blue & Gold Illustrated P. O. Box 1007 • Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com