NCAA Double-A Zone: Money-back guarantee, unprecedented television deal and Appalachian State success August 27, 2008

Money-back guarantee, unprecedented television deal and Appalachian State success - Aug 27, 2008

posted by: Howard Smith

Stanford has struggled with home attendance at its football games over the last several years, so the school is introducing a new option for fans - a money-back guarantee. Yes, that's right, just like when you buy a new television, if you don't like the entertainment value that you're getting on the field, you can return your tickets for a full refund. If you're thinking of ways to get free tickets to marquee games, one catch is that fans must return their tickets before Stanford's last home game versus Southern California. This is an innovative and unique marketing campaign, and it will be interesting to see how successful it is this year.

Connecticut men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun is currently fighting his third battle with cancer. Despite receiving radiation treatments, the two-time NCAA national champion coach is tackling it head on with a positive attitude. He continues with his intense workout routines, which includes 16- to 18- mile bicycle rides. Calhoun is still planning to coach the team this season.

The Southeastern Conference and ESPN announced an unprecedented 15-year contract to televise 5,500 of the conference's sporting events over the time span. In an age of conferences looking for regional television deals, it is noteworthy that the SEC has the power to pull off a deal like this on a national stage.

In light of the college shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois over the last couple of years, about 500 schools across the country have taken a proactive stance by teaching their students and professors how to fight back. A training program has been developed that urges a college class to take advantage of its numbers against a potential shooter in a classroom. Do you think all colleges and universities should take part in this training?

Appalachian State is still feeling the impact of last year's football win over Michigan. For starters, the Mountaineers' victory helped Boone, North Carolina - a town of just over 13,000 residents - become nationally known. From a financial perspective, the school is spending $50 million on a new practice field, a 120,000-foot complex and a 4,400-seat stadium expansion. Will there be an Appalachian State-like story this year in college football?

Comments

Will App State have to move up a division with the expansion? Can someone shed light on how a school moves up and down divisions?

posted by: GL | 08/28/08

Appy State is already D1. The only move up they could make would be bringing their football team up to FBS. But I really don't see why they would want to do that. They play in the SoCon, a very tough FCS conference and they're winning National Championships there. If they move up, they would need to spend a few million more just to play in a non-BCS alligned conference like the Sunbelt or C-USA. I don't think it would really worth it right now to ASU to move up just for a chance to go to some lousy bowl game compaired to the press they get for going to the D1 FCS playoffs.

posted by: bigmrg74 | 08/29/08

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