However, NeuLion provides streaming for the NHL, NFL and NCAA. While I can't speak to the others, the online streaming for the NCAA Tournament is about the same quality of ESPN3. The only snag I remember was occasional freezing if the computer user was not detected after an extended period of time.
NeuLion clients:
http://www.neulion.com/?clients
If they want me to fork over anymore than the $50 I paid for the mens BB last season, then they better give me a free sample. One of the few areas where I have a seriously bitter taste in my mouth regarding BU.
I agree that the Chicago market is important, but the BU admin is thinking nationally. I think they are concentrating on the East Coast...that's part of the reason we're playing in Springfield, Mass. in November instead of Florida. That's part of the reason why the soccer team took a 3-game road swing to start the year.
Someone mentioned it earlier. . .we're forever going to be confused with Butler and they are in the same region. . .so it's somewhat fruitless to concentrate solely on your home region. You have to give yourself national exposure.
If you think Chicago is your biggest potential market, you limit your potential. And I'm not saying ignore it entirely. . .but the bottom line is by mid-season most of the country will have already forgotten about Butler, but not so much here in the Midwest where there was already a reasonable awareness.
You really cannot use Chicago as a stepping stone for more exposure to the east (other than getting games on AM 1000, that antenna is tuned to the east and you can get it better in Pennsylvania than Peoria)
Chicago does not care about college sports
The east coast does not care about Chicago.
Chicago is about the worst possible way to get eastern exposure. Playing @ UMass will give us 10x the eastern exposure as playing @ UIC., at least in terms of scores or game mentions on ESPN
I agree and also speaking from a financial point of view, most of the money in this country is located out in the north east along with a pretty dense population. If BU can crack some love out there it should pay off.
You really cannot use Chicago as a stepping stone for more exposure to the east (other than getting games on AM 1000, that antenna is tuned to the east and you can get it better in Pennsylvania than Peoria)
Chicago does not care about college sports
The east coast does not care about Chicago.
Chicago is about the worst possible way to get eastern exposure. Playing @ UMass will give us 10x the eastern exposure as playing @ UIC., at least in terms of scores or game mentions on ESPN
Agree that the east coast does not care about Chicago, but why in the world would they care about Peoria and Bradley? We get an attaboy from ESPN for playing UMASS which will last for about 15 seconds.
My main premise with this is that we need to build our regional presence first with an eye to the national exposure via scheduling and tournaments first before we take the leap toward eastern exposure.
Just winning will be our best friend to the PR machine but if we can somehow garner attention out east and increase our ability to recruit students who have deeper pockets then the school will be better off. We will always recruit students well in Chicago. Now if you just concentrate on basketball then the formula changes a bit unless you are looking at a complete realignment and your ability to make friends with the eastern establishment helps your case.
Just winning will be our best friend to the PR machine but if we can somehow garner attention out east and increase our ability to recruit students who have deeper pockets then the school will be better off. We will always recruit students well in Chicago. Now if you just concentrate on basketball then the formula changes a bit unless you are looking at a complete realignment and your ability to make friends with the eastern establishment helps your case.
Ohhh interesting.
The administration has already shown they did not consider season ticketholder loyality in pursuing more money in some on campus games
Since the admin considers money before pure loyality, they would do the same thing on the conference side, too....
Personally I think this line of thought is a good thing when it comes to conference affiliation.
Are we talking about more exposure in the East Coast for the Bradley brand to recruit students on an academic level or an East Coast exposure for the sports programs and more specifically Men's basketball? For now, I think that we do a decent job to vie for national exposure with the seasonal tournaments that we have entered. But, as stated on another post, I think that it would be wiser to build our regional presence first. IMO, we should not use Chicago as our biggest potential market, but as a stepping stone to national exposure. I say this as I have relatives who live on the East Coast and they don't think too much about anything west of New York City.
I can see your point with recruiting students from the east coast. IMO, if we are looking for a greater east coast presence for basketball, then I think a conference change is likely.
I think a mixture of both. . .Bradley still has some capital in recognition on the East Coast from the 1960's. . .while most of the country does not necessarily recognize BU, I think most people would be surprised at how much recognition and respect Bradley gets on the East Coast. A lot of that has to do with where we were then. However, as that generation increasingly fades away so does that capital. But it is still useful to BU.
When I was a student at Bradley, there was a member of the Macy family from NYC who enrolled here with his girlfriend but both transferred to St. John's after a year.
I do think the admin is trying to shape BU into an Ivy-type mold and is likely also hoping to attract prep school kids. Those kids aren't necessarily interested in athletics, so I think they are two separate vehicles, but both should be pursued.
If they want me to fork over anymore than the $50 I paid for the mens BB last season, then they better give me a free sample. One of the few areas where I have a seriously bitter taste in my mouth regarding BU.
You might want to ask for it. Just watched the volleyball game at the new place, would think they're using all new stuff, don't know if they're using the new streaming service yet. The video quality is no better than what we saw last season, not even close to better. But maybe they're not using the new service yet?
On a side note, our women played hard but SIU was bigger and killed us at the net. They stuffed our shots, blocked our shots and when on offense slammed it down (called a kill in volleyball terms). Go Braves, beat Evansville tomorrow!