It is very disappointing to deal with our ETSUBucs website. The football roster is still not updated for the season and it was a day or two before baseball season before it was updated. Our peer institutions are leaps and bounds ahead of us in this regard. You would think it is not terribly difficult to at least hold serve with our conference brethren.

I have also found our ticket website to be much worse over the past 3 years or so than before they updated it. I usually call the ticket office to renew my tickets rather than navigate that website, but it can sometimes be a difficult task to get someone to answer the phone.

Yes I always just call on the phone now to order tickets. That you you can make sure you get what you want. If you call at certain times of the day you can usually get an answer.

(07-11-2023 03:56 PM)peppersbro Wrote:  It is very disappointing to deal with our ETSUBucs website. The football roster is still not updated for the season and it was a day or two before baseball season before it was updated. Our peer institutions are leaps and bounds ahead of us in this regard. You would think it is not terribly difficult to at least hold serve with our conference brethren.

Agreed it's nauseating.. someone should tell Sander

I sent an email this week and asked for a current roster and they said they would get one out next week.

Looks like the problem is the page is not defaulting to 23-24 and instead 22-23. If you change the year with the "Archives" link, you can get the latest roster. That should be changed

https://www.etsubucs.com/mbasketball/roster/2023-24/

(07-19-2023 09:00 AM)Buced_Up Wrote:  Looks like the problem is the page is not defaulting to 23-24 and instead 22-23. If you change the year with the "Archives" link, you can get the latest roster. That should be changed

https://www.etsubucs.com/mbasketball/roster/2023-24/

Thanks!

Folks, ETSU staffs a lot of these tasks with graduate assistants. There is by design a lot of turnover as graduate students matriculate and graduate. There is one full time employee in the ticket office. He is human, he has illnesses, he has vacation, etc. I hope these things get updated as new GAs join athletics in the fall.

Just letting you know the reality of ETSU athletics staffing.

(07-19-2023 02:03 PM)BucDoctor Wrote:  Folks, ETSU staffs a lot of these tasks with graduate assistants. There is by design a lot of turnover as graduate students matriculate and graduate. There is one full time employee in the ticket office. He is human, he has illnesses, he has vacation, etc. I hope these things get updated as new GAs join athletics in the fall.

Just letting you know the reality of ETSU athletics staffing.

Hopefully the $5 processing fee and the newly invented $5 "Athletics handling fee" that is added to each season ticket order can generate a bit of revenue for them to improve things

(07-19-2023 02:03 PM)BucDoctor Wrote:  Folks, ETSU staffs a lot of these tasks with graduate assistants. There is by design a lot of turnover as graduate students matriculate and graduate. There is one full time employee in the ticket office. He is human, he has illnesses, he has vacation, etc. I hope these things get updated as new GAs join athletics in the fall.

Just letting you know the reality of ETSU athletics staffing.

ETSU, I assume at the direction of Dr. Sander and for the purpose of saving money, has cut staff that affects not just ticketing, but other areas of fan interaction. From the outside looking in, these moves appear short-sighted — risking angry fans and donors, and an overworked, disgruntled, remaining staff. This could be a real lose, lose proposition. They need to rethink it.

(07-20-2023 08:14 AM)etsubuc Wrote:  

(07-19-2023 02:03 PM)BucDoctor Wrote:  Folks, ETSU staffs a lot of these tasks with graduate assistants. There is by design a lot of turnover as graduate students matriculate and graduate. There is one full time employee in the ticket office. He is human, he has illnesses, he has vacation, etc. I hope these things get updated as new GAs join athletics in the fall.

Just letting you know the reality of ETSU athletics staffing.

Hopefully the $5 processing fee and the newly invented $5 "Athletics handling fee" that is added to each season ticket order can generate a bit of revenue for them to improve things

Just for the heck of it — MONEY continues to be the bottom line across all areas of the Athletic Department. Follow the money in the state of Tennessee — could be it’s a wee bit concentrated.

2022 UT Athletic Budget: $157 Million
2022 ETSU Athletic Budget: $22 Million

Footnote: UT spends $16 million more on football than ETSU’s entire athletic budget and $95 million more overall than Memphis.

I don't know why your comparing uts athlectic budget to ETSU Athlectic Budget. That's like comparing a watermelon to a grape. No correlation at all.

Compare ETSU Athlectic budget to our former SoCon members, the successfull programs in CAA, MVC, SB, CUSA.

ut gets $55-60 MILLION guaranteed from ESPN, average 98,000 for 7 home games with fans paying high dollars for tickets, plus a seat fee. They get a cut of as many as 8 bowl games that SEC teams are guaranteed. They have a fan base that donates millions every year, big donors that pay big money for private boxs/naming rights for facilities. Those advantages doesn't exist for ETSU.

It's possible ETSU could get 7 home games, draw 15-20,000 paying fans, secure a bowl invitation, share some TV money and have at least 1, possibly 2 big money games each year but none of this is possible as long as ETSU remains in SoCon.

(07-21-2023 01:24 PM)Buc76 Wrote:  I don't know why your comparing uts athlectic budget to ETSU Athlectic Budget. That's like comparing a watermelon to a grape. No correlation at all.

Compare ETSU Athlectic budget to our former SoCon members, the successfull programs in CAA, MVC, SB, CUSA.

ut gets $55-60 MILLION guaranteed from ESPN, average 98,000 for 7 home games with fans paying high dollars for tickets, plus a seat fee. They get a cut of as many as 8 bowl games that SEC teams are guaranteed. They have a fan base that donates millions every year, big donors that pay big money for private boxs/naming rights for facilities. Those advantages doesn't exist for ETSU.

It's possible ETSU could get 7 home games, draw 15-20,000 paying fans, secure a bowl invitation, share some TV money and have at least 1, possibly 2 big money games each year but none of this is possible as long as ETSU remains in SoCon.

You say — “It's possible………….”. It’s possible that I could haven several of the new Corvettes - one for each day of the week - if I had the MONEY. You confirm my point regarding the money UT rakes in. College athletic money in the state of Tennessee among the state schools is concentrated in Knoxville — which brings us back to ETSU. Where’s the MONEY to take us out of the SoCon, expand the stadium to 25,000 with a field house, offer the FBS scholarships, find that FBS conference to join, etc. Those you name outside the SBC - certainly the CAA — would not fill the bill as far as conference affiliation. ETSU did not have the money when the SBC expanded before and does not appear to have the money now should the SBC expand again or divide into two regional conferences. Which takes us back to UT — how many contributing, ticket buying UT football fans in NE Tennessee are willing to switch their money from UT and invest in ETSU football and be part of those 15-20,000 paying fans on Saturdays? I would venture to guess that’s next to zero. So, that means ETSU would have to find NEW donors and NEW paying football fans. Seems this sort of dilemma and discussion has a long history with ETSU football.

(07-21-2023 02:16 PM)Buc66 Wrote:  

(07-21-2023 01:24 PM)Buc76 Wrote:  I don't know why your comparing uts athlectic budget to ETSU Athlectic Budget. That's like comparing a watermelon to a grape. No correlation at all.

Compare ETSU Athlectic budget to our former SoCon members, the successfull programs in CAA, MVC, SB, CUSA.

ut gets $55-60 MILLION guaranteed from ESPN, average 98,000 for 7 home games with fans paying high dollars for tickets, plus a seat fee. They get a cut of as many as 8 bowl games that SEC teams are guaranteed. They have a fan base that donates millions every year, big donors that pay big money for private boxs/naming rights for facilities. Those advantages doesn't exist for ETSU.

It's possible ETSU could get 7 home games, draw 15-20,000 paying fans, secure a bowl invitation, share some TV money and have at least 1, possibly 2 big money games each year but none of this is possible as long as ETSU remains in SoCon.

You say — “It's possible………….”. It’s possible that I could haven several of the new Corvettes - one for each day of the week - if I had the MONEY. You confirm my point regarding the money UT rakes in. College athletic money in the state of Tennessee among the state schools is concentrated in Knoxville — which brings us back to ETSU. Where’s the MONEY to take us out of the SoCon, expand the stadium to 25,000 with a field house, offer the FBS scholarships, find that FBS conference to join, etc. Those you name outside the SBC - certainly the CAA — would not fill the bill as far as conference affiliation. ETSU did not have the money when the SBC expanded before and does not appear to have the money now should the SBC expand again or divide into two regional conferences. Which takes us back to UT — how many contributing, ticket buying UT football fans in NE Tennessee are willing to switch their money from UT and invest in ETSU football and be part of those 15-20,000 paying fans on Saturdays? I would venture to guess that’s next to zero. So, that means ETSU would have to find NEW donors and NEW paying football fans. Seems this sort of dilemma and discussion has a long history with ETSU football.

There are five other state universities in Tennessee who play FCS football. Tenn Tech and UTC in particular are about the same distance as we are from the big one. I do not see any of them wringing their hands and thinking they cannot go on. We just need to stay the course and do similarly to the other state schools and see how everything evolves. And most importantly, do NOT do as they are NOT doing.

https://knightnewhousedata.org/home


FCS state schools in Tennessee - Athletic Budgets 2022:

ETSU $22 Million
UTC. $21 Million
APSU. $18 Million
TTU. $17 Million
UTM. $14 Million
TSU. $12 Million (2017)

SoCon - Privates Don’t Disclose:

ETSU $22 Mil
UTC $21 Mil
Citadel $18 Mil
WCU $17 Mil
VMI $16 Mil
UNCG No Football - No Data



Sun Belt Conference 2022:

James Madison $58 Mil
Coastal Carolina. $45 Mil
Ga State $40 Mil
App State $39 Mil
Marshall $39 Mil
Texas State $38 Mil
La Lafayette. $38 Mil
Troy $ 33 Mil
South Ala $33 Mil
Ark State. $32 Mil
Ga Southern. $30 Mil
ULM $15 Mil (2017)

You prove my point 66. All the Tenn schools remained in FCS and their Athlectic programs almost mirror ETSU. ETSU has more success but like the other FCS Tenn programs can't sustain winning programs in money sports. Fans, businesses, big money donors are not going to open their pocketbooks to low level programs.

(07-22-2023 04:03 PM)Buc76 Wrote:  You prove my point 66. All the Tenn schools remained in FCS and their Athlectic programs almost mirror ETSU. ETSU has more success but like the other FCS Tenn programs can't sustain winning programs in money sports. Fans, businesses, big money donors are not going to open their pocketbooks to low level programs.

Then explain UT football from 2008 through 2020, for example, after Fulmer was fired — WON 78, LOST 87, and on their fourth coach in 12 years. There was no migration of UT football fans and donors to the other Tennessee state schools. UT football has no serious competition for football dominance and loyalty in the state of Tennessee even through the down times. And, it looks like UT football is on the rise again with Pruitt. So, that brings us back to the issue — MONEY. How does ETSU increase its Athletic Budget by $10-15 million a year, raise another $30+ million to expand the stadium, afford the salary it would take to retain a winning coach, cover the added scholarships, et al to successfully move to the SBC if, a big if, that conference expands again? Bottom line — I want ETSU to be competing for championships in the only logical conference - the SBC — unless there’s some sort of miracle in store for CUSA for that to be an option. If I had the money — I’d be the first to make it happen.

Not asking for any ut fan to switch their support. The causal ut fan had no other FBS program to support.

Dome opened in 1974 with cap of 14,000. They had capacity crowds for some football and basketball games. ETSU enrollment was half of todsys enrollment. Johnson City and metro has doubled. So what has ETSUs Athlectics done, gone backwards as opposed to what many of our past conference members have done.

There has been only one, to my knowledge, big , all-in fund raising campaign for the money sports....the football stadium. How did that go? Really well.

When you quote Athlectic Budgets at other schools, you are quoting the current budget not the budget when they moved to FBS. Your budget grows with the program.

Your estimate of needed monies to move to FBS is totally overblown. There are no requirements that say you have to start out equal with the top spending schools in your conference or ever have to spend as much as the top spenders.

Example-Vanderbilt, Miss.. 100-125 million
Alabama, GA........175-190 million
Huge gap in budgets within the SEC, same as any another conference. I don't see any of the lower spending schools dropping to FCS.

The problem I see is the naysayers and small-time thinkers. There are tremdous examples of growing instutions and their Athlectic programs all sround ETSU but for some reason facts and successes of these examples are ignored.

No vision, no vision. Nothing gets done when you do the same thing over and over and expect a different result.

(07-24-2023 12:48 PM)Buc76 Wrote:  Dome opened in 1974 with cap of 14,000. They had capacity crowds for some football and basketball games. ETSU enrollment was half of todsys enrollment. Johnson City and metro has doubled. So what has ETSUs Athlectics done, gone backwards as opposed to what many of our past conference members have done.

Just some corrections on those specifics:

The Dome opened in 1978-79. I believe the cap is somewhere around 12,800+. Never had a crowd of 14K.
ETSU attendance then was about 10,000 (It bounced around that number for a while. Not gonna research the specifics.) Point being it certainly hasn't doubled.

Not arguing your larger points.

(07-24-2023 12:48 PM)Buc76 Wrote:  Not asking for any ut fan to switch their support. The causal ut fan had no other FBS program to support.

Dome opened in 1974 with cap of 14,000. They had capacity crowds for some football and basketball games. ETSU enrollment was half of todsys enrollment. Johnson City and metro has doubled. So what has ETSUs Athlectics done, gone backwards as opposed to what many of our past conference members have done.

There has been only one, to my knowledge, big , all-in fund raising campaign for the money sports....the football stadium. How did that go? Really well.

When you quote Athlectic Budgets at other schools, you are quoting the current budget not the budget when they moved to FBS. Your budget grows with the program.

Your estimate of needed monies to move to FBS is totally overblown. There are no requirements that say you have to start out equal with the top spending schools in your conference or ever have to spend as much as the top spenders.

Example-Vanderbilt, Miss.. 100-125 million
Alabama, GA........175-190 million
Huge gap in budgets within the SEC, same as any another conference. I don't see any of the lower spending schools dropping to FCS.

The problem I see is the naysayers and small-time thinkers. There are tremdous examples of growing instutions and their Athlectic programs all sround ETSU but for some reason facts and successes of these examples are ignored.

No vision, no vision. Nothing gets done when you do the same thing over and over and expect a different result.

I think most of us are with you on this and want the same things. We were set back by the president in the early 2000s but we are over that now. I think the state schools like us, UTC and others may just be waiting for the opportunity to make the move. Things are changing so quickly it could happen sooner rather than later. The example of the football stadium was a good one and yes it can be done and ETSU can do it.