Packers offer Lambeau Field as site for Big Ten title game

[HarveyWallbangers]

That would be pretty sweet.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/98575229.html


Packers offer Lambeau Field as site for Big Ten title game

The Green Bay Packers are interested in hosting a potential Big Ten conference championship game at Lambeau Field.

Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy said the team has made preliminary contact with Big Ten officials to request information on hosting a new conference championship game, which will become possible after Nebraska leaves the Big 12 for the Big Ten in 2011.

Murphy indicated the team's interest in hosting the Big Ten title game in an interview with ESPN.com Thursday.

Facing a recent dip in locally generated revenue, the Packers are looking for more ways to increase business.

[Lurker64]

Well, where else would you put it? You want to have the title game in Big Ten country but you want to have it on a neutral field so that nobody gets an outrageous home field advantage. Lambeau Field is the second biggest stadium in a Big Ten state that's not affiliated with a Big Ten college (Cleveland Stadium, where the Browns play is bigger by about 300 seats). But Green Bay is smack dab in the middle of Big Ten Country: east of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Illinois; west of Purdue, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Penn State; and Cleveland is on the far eastern edge of the Big Ten (east of everything except Penn State).

If you want a big stadium that's conveniently located for virtually all of the Big Ten fans, Lambeau is pretty much your best choice. Cleveland is an 850 mile drive from Lincoln, NE, while Green Bay is within 500 miles of all but three Big Ten Schools.

Plus, considering the aura of Lambeau Field and the quality of the stadium amenities, I couldn't think of a better place to hold it.

[Gunakor]

Well, where else would you put it? You want to have the title game in Big Ten country but you want to have it on a neutral field so that nobody gets an outrageous home field advantage.

If Bucky is playing in that game, I'd imagine Wisconsin would have a pretty outrageous home field advantage anyhow. It would be as if they were playing at Camp Randall. It would be like Michigan and OSU playing for the B10 title at Ford Field. It's not in Ann Arbor, but Michigan still has home field advantage.

To get a truly neutral field, you'd have to go to a state that doesn't have a B10 school and whose fans have no specific loyalty to a particular B10 school.

[Lurker64]

Well, where else would you put it? You want to have the title game in Big Ten country but you want to have it on a neutral field so that nobody gets an outrageous home field advantage.

If Bucky is playing in that game, I'd imagine Wisconsin would have a pretty outrageous home field advantage anyhow. It would be as if they were playing at Camp Randall. It would be like Michigan and OSU playing for the B10 title at Ford Field. It's not in Ann Arbor, but Michigan still has home field advantage.

To get a truly neutral field, you'd have to go to a state that doesn't have a B10 school and whose fans have no specific loyalty to a particular B10 school.

I'm not sure that you really need to get out of the state to get a neutral field. They play the Big 12 Championship game in Jerry Jones's Football Cathedral in Dallas, they play the SEC championship game in the Georgia Dome, they play the ACC Championship game in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

All of those are stadiums in a state with at least one team in that conference in that state and there's no real controversy about lack of neutrality.

The important things to have neutrality for the championship game is that an equal number of tickets are available to each team's fans, and that neither team gets to stay at home or play on the field that they normally play on. That it's closer to one school or another seems less important than choosing a good stadium in a place that's not too inconvenient for any one team's fans.

[Gunakor]

If they could make the tickets evenly distributed it would work. But I have a hard time imagining a scenario where Wisconsin is playing for a B10 Championship @ Lambeau Field and the stands aren't filled with Badger fans.

[mraynrand]

The pro football stadium site makes a lot of sense. So if you want to avoid homefield advantage in a championship game, you either have it in Soldier Field or whatever the hell they call the place where the Colts play. NU, IL, IN, and PU are unlikely to be there anyway.

[Lurker64]

The pro football stadium site makes a lot of sense. So if you want to avoid homefield advantage in a championship game, you either have it in Soldier Field or whatever the hell they call the place where the Colts play. NU, IL, IN, and PU are unlikely to be there anyway.

Well, the problem is that Soldier Field and Lucas Oil Stadium are a whole lot smaller than Lambeau (61,500, vs. 63,000 vs. 72,928). I don't think that the Big Ten, considering the number of truly enormous stadiums they have, would really want to give up 10,000 seats in the championship game so that Bucky doesn't have a slight advantage in case they make it to the championship game. Remember that there's a lot of Big Ten schools that travel really well. If the Big Ten Championship were, say, Iowa vs. Wisconsin I wouldn't be at all surprised if the number of Hawkeyes in the stands was about the same as the number of Badgers in the stands.

[mngolf19]

Well, where else would you put it? You want to have the title game in Big Ten country but you want to have it on a neutral field so that nobody gets an outrageous home field advantage. Lambeau Field is the second biggest stadium in a Big Ten state that's not affiliated with a Big Ten college (Cleveland Stadium, where the Browns play is bigger by about 300 seats). But Green Bay is smack dab in the middle of Big Ten Country: east of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Illinois; west of Purdue, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Penn State; and Cleveland is on the far eastern edge of the Big Ten (east of everything except Penn State).

If you want a big stadium that's conveniently located for virtually all of the Big Ten fans, Lambeau is pretty much your best choice. Cleveland is an 850 mile drive from Lincoln, NE, while Green Bay is within 500 miles of all but three Big Ten Schools.

Plus, considering the aura of Lambeau Field and the quality of the stadium amenities, I couldn't think of a better place to hold it.

They'll accept less seats for better tv and weather. Lucas Oil Stadium. I think that, Ford Field and possibly Soldier are the most likely.

[Zool]

They'll accept less seats for better tv and weather. Lucas Oil Stadium. I think that, Ford Field and possibly Soldier are the most likely.

Maybe they would do a year to year rotation of the pro stadiums in the north. Could just hold it at the new Gophers stadium. They're not getting to the championship game anyways.

[Lurker64]

They'll accept less seats for better tv and weather. Lucas Oil Stadium. I think that, Ford Field and possibly Soldier are the most likely.

The Big Ten Championship game has to be outside. National media be damned, the Big Ten Title game should be for fans of Big Ten Football. Every single Big Ten team plays all of their home games outdoors, in the weather. As an alumnus of a Big Ten institution (not Wisconsin), I would be incensed if the Big Ten title game were played indoors. Lucas Oil and Ford Field shouldn't be considered at all.

Sure, Soldier Field may be an option since Chicago is a much bigger city than Green Bay. But remember that a college football game is not the super bowl, it doesn't have a week long media event around it. It's first and foremost about football and the area around Green Bay has both a collegiate atmosphere and can support a full stadium worth of folks. Not only that, but since the championship game will be played in the first week of December, it's much more likely that you'll get weather that will negatively affect the game in Chicago than you will in Green Bay. In Green Bay on December 5th, it'll be a little cold and it might even snow a bit. But in Chicago, you've got about a 50/50 slot at getting some crazy wind off the lake. But regardless, we shouldn't care about the weather. This is Big Ten football, and unless there's lightning, they should play in it. Plus, remember, that most of the money is in TV and bad weather football games get great ratings.

In the interest of the Big Ten Fans, I would very much hope that the conference would not go with Soldier Field, since that's 13,000 fewer tickets than there would be in Green Bay or Cleveland, and I would probably want to attend this game some years. Cleveland would be acceptable (but it's a pit of a city), but I would prefer Green Bay.

[DonHutson]

It's like the Super Bowl, the money made from tickets is a drop in the bucket. However, if putting a game in Lambeau stirs up extra attention and some higher tv ratings, they'll do it. I wouldn't be surprised if they put the first one in Green Bay, then move it around.

I'm sure they'll also want to use this as an opportunity to drum up excitement in all the big midwestern cities. Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Indy, maybe Cincinnati, St. Louis, or Pittsburgh might all get a shot on a rotating basis.

[mngolf19]

It's like the Super Bowl, the money made from tickets is a drop in the bucket. However, if putting a game in Lambeau stirs up extra attention and some higher tv ratings, they'll do it. I wouldn't be surprised if they put the first one in Green Bay, then move it around.

I'm sure they'll also want to use this as an opportunity to drum up excitement in all the big midwestern cities. Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Indy, maybe Cincinnati, St. Louis, or Pittsburgh might all get a shot on a rotating basis.

I'd like a rotating site but I'll use the basketball tourney as an example. I think they only have it at Indy now.

[sharpe1027]

They'll accept less seats for better tv and weather. Lucas Oil Stadium. I think that, Ford Field and possibly Soldier are the most likely.

Better TV would be the deciding factor, IMHO. That's were most of the money comes from. Maybe if one of the options was Florida or Hawaii, then you might see more favoritism for weather.

My question is, does the TV audience really change that much based on location? It seems to me that the most important thing is what teams are playing and what they are playing for. I don't think I have ever decided to watch a game on television just because I heard that it was going to be played near me.

[The Leaper]

I think the location is more about the events and activities that can take place around the tournament. Lambeau is a great stadium. Green Bay as a city has basically nothing to offer beyond that...at least compared to a city like Chicago or Indianapolis. Professional football fans may be interested in the Packer HOF and stuff like that. Not sure college football fans will be as interested in that.

Soldier Field actually makes the most sense to me...Chicago is a great metropolis with tons to do, it is very centrally located among the Big Ten universities, and it is an outdoor venue.

[retailguy]

I think the location is more about the events and activities that can take place around the tournament. Lambeau is a great stadium. Green Bay as a city has basically nothing to offer beyond that...at least compared to a city like Chicago or Indianapolis. Professional football fans may be interested in the Packer HOF and stuff like that. Not sure college football fans will be as interested in that.

Soldier Field actually makes the most sense to me...Chicago is a great metropolis with tons to do, it is very centrally located among the Big Ten universities, and it is an outdoor venue.

You G-D traitor! :evil:

How dare you point out the obvious? :twisted:

You cannot get good cheese curds in Chicago. You cannot stay at the Rodeway inn in Chicago. There is no Brett Favre Steakhouse in Chicago. You have dozens of Applebee's just waiting for big dinner reservations in Green Bay. You can't find an Applebee's in downtown Chicago. Hell, you can even still get a Gilbert Burger in Green Bay. You can't get that in Chicago big fella!

You can tour Nick Barnett's closed nightclub in Green Bay. You can attend the Farmers Market in Green Bay. You can shop at Fleet Farm in Green Bay. You can get a great Friday night Fish Fry in Green Bay! Just try to do that in Chicago. All you can get is some crummy pizza!

[Fritz]

Well, where else would you put it? You want to have the title game in Big Ten country but you want to have it on a neutral field so that nobody gets an outrageous home field advantage. Lambeau Field is the second biggest stadium in a Big Ten state that's not affiliated with a Big Ten college (Cleveland Stadium, where the Browns play is bigger by about 300 seats). But Green Bay is smack dab in the middle of Big Ten Country: east of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Illinois; west of Purdue, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Penn State; and Cleveland is on the far eastern edge of the Big Ten (east of everything except Penn State).

If you want a big stadium that's conveniently located for virtually all of the Big Ten fans, Lambeau is pretty much your best choice. Cleveland is an 850 mile drive from Lincoln, NE, while Green Bay is within 500 miles of all but three Big Ten Schools.

Plus, considering the aura of Lambeau Field and the quality of the stadium amenities, I couldn't think of a better place to hold it.

They'll accept less seats for better tv and weather. Lucas Oil Stadium. I think that, Ford Field and possibly Soldier are the most likely.

A Detroit writer tried to make the case for Ford Field by claiming the game should not have weather be a factor and therefore an indoor stadium made the most sense.

I puked in my mouth.

[MJZiggy]

I think the location is more about the events and activities that can take place around the tournament. Lambeau is a great stadium. Green Bay as a city has basically nothing to offer beyond that...at least compared to a city like Chicago or Indianapolis. Professional football fans may be interested in the Packer HOF and stuff like that. Not sure college football fans will be as interested in that.

Soldier Field actually makes the most sense to me...Chicago is a great metropolis with tons to do, it is very centrally located among the Big Ten universities, and it is an outdoor venue.

Green Bay has enough hotel rooms, a bar on every corner, and football seeping from the pavement itself. What more do college fans need?

The reason it won't be held in on of the other stadia you guys mentioned is that nobody else has offered.

[Bossman641]

I think the location is more about the events and activities that can take place around the tournament. Lambeau is a great stadium. Green Bay as a city has basically nothing to offer beyond that...at least compared to a city like Chicago or Indianapolis. Professional football fans may be interested in the Packer HOF and stuff like that. Not sure college football fans will be as interested in that.

Soldier Field actually makes the most sense to me...Chicago is a great metropolis with tons to do, it is very centrally located among the Big Ten universities, and it is an outdoor venue.

Green Bay has enough hotel rooms, a bar on every corner, and football seeping from the pavement itself. What more do college fans need?

The reason it won't be held in on of the other stadia you guys mentioned is that nobody else has offered.

Sorry Zig but you are wrong. Soldier field, Ford field, and the Browns had already expressed interest in hosting the championship.

[mngolf19]

I think the location is more about the events and activities that can take place around the tournament. Lambeau is a great stadium. Green Bay as a city has basically nothing to offer beyond that...at least compared to a city like Chicago or Indianapolis. Professional football fans may be interested in the Packer HOF and stuff like that. Not sure college football fans will be as interested in that.

Soldier Field actually makes the most sense to me...Chicago is a great metropolis with tons to do, it is very centrally located among the Big Ten universities, and it is an outdoor venue.

Green Bay has enough hotel rooms, a bar on every corner, and football seeping from the pavement itself. What more do college fans need?

The reason it won't be held in on of the other stadia you guys mentioned is that nobody else has offered.

Sorry Zig but you are wrong. Soldier field, Ford field, and the Browns had already expressed interest in hosting the championship.

And according to ESPN, Lucas Oil is the frontrunner. They did however point out that Murphy being a former NU AD gives Lambeau an in with the Big Ten. So at least they're in the conversation.

[Merlin]

I think they should host it in a non-Big 10 state, preferably in a state where they are courting one of the schools to join the Big 10. Fans will travel, there would be no home field (or state) advantage for anyone. It should be outdoors and it should be in a city where it isn't 90 degrees in November.

[mngolf19]

I think they should host it in a non-Big 10 state, preferably in a state where they are courting one of the schools to join the Big 10. Fans will travel, there would be no home field (or state) advantage for anyone. It should be outdoors and it should be in a city where it isn't 90 degrees in November.

So you think it should be in Dallas? Only teams they will accept to get to 14 are ND and/or TX.

[Merlin]

I haven't kept up on who they were courting. Last I read I thought it was ND, someone from the Big East, and several Big 12 teams. But that was a LONG time ago and I am sure that has changed.

If they are looking at a pro stadium then they should lock it into that stadium for several years like the normal bowl games.

Playing the Big 10 Championship in a big football state like Texas might be worthwhile for recruiting and other intangibles like that. We all know the Badger fans will travel anywhere to watch them play.

[hoosier]

They'll accept less seats for better tv and weather. Lucas Oil Stadium. I think that, Ford Field and possibly Soldier are the most likely.

The Big Ten Championship game has to be outside. National media be damned, the Big Ten Title game should be for fans of Big Ten Football. Every single Big Ten team plays all of their home games outdoors, in the weather. As an alumnus of a Big Ten institution (not Wisconsin), I would be incensed if the Big Ten title game were played indoors. Lucas Oil and Ford Field shouldn't be considered at all.

Sure, Soldier Field may be an option since Chicago is a much bigger city than Green Bay. But remember that a college football game is not the super bowl, it doesn't have a week long media event around it. It's first and foremost about football and the area around Green Bay has both a collegiate atmosphere and can support a full stadium worth of folks. Not only that, but since the championship game will be played in the first week of December, it's much more likely that you'll get weather that will negatively affect the game in Chicago than you will in Green Bay. In Green Bay on December 5th, it'll be a little cold and it might even snow a bit. But in Chicago, you've got about a 50/50 slot at getting some crazy wind off the lake. But regardless, we shouldn't care about the weather. This is Big Ten football, and unless there's lightning, they should play in it. Plus, remember, that most of the money is in TV and bad weather football games get great ratings.

In the interest of the Big Ten Fans, I would very much hope that the conference would not go with Soldier Field, since that's 13,000 fewer tickets than there would be in Green Bay or Cleveland, and I would probably want to attend this game some years. Cleveland would be acceptable (but it's a pit of a city), but I would prefer Green Bay.

Did Minnesota football get booted out of the Big Ten and relegated to Division II?

One drawback to having the title game in GB might be the logistical difficulties: lodging, restaurants and more expensive travel for fans (compare the costs of flying from Colombus, OH or Iowa City to GB and to Chi or Det).

[ThunderDan]

Did Minnesota football get booted out of the Big Ten and relegated to Division II?

No they opened a new outdoor stadium and no longer play in the Humptydome.

[hoosier]

Did Minnesota football get booted out of the Big Ten and relegated to Division II?

No they opened a new outdoor stadium and no longer play in the Humptydome.

I must have missed that. My bad. Here I was imagining them still playing in that garbage bag. When did this happen?

[pbmax]

Did Minnesota football get booted out of the Big Ten and relegated to Division II?

No they opened a new outdoor stadium and no longer play in the Humptydome.

I must have missed that. My bad. Here I was imagining them still playing in that garbage bag. When did this happen?
Last year. I think they opened it against the Badgers, but I am 100% certain.

[mngolf19]

Did Minnesota football get booted out of the Big Ten and relegated to Division II?

No they opened a new outdoor stadium and no longer play in the Humptydome.

I must have missed that. My bad. Here I was imagining them still playing in that garbage bag. When did this happen?
Last year. I think they opened it against the Badgers, but I am 100% certain.

Yes it was last year. TCF Bank Stadium, on campus. Pretty awesome place. But they didn't open vs. Wisky.

[Lurker64]

Yes it was last year. TCF Bank Stadium, on campus. Pretty awesome place. But they didn't open vs. Wisky.

Yeah, it's a very nice stadium. I can't say much for the quality of the product on the field, but the stadium is very nice.

[mngolf19]

Yes it was last year. TCF Bank Stadium, on campus. Pretty awesome place. But they didn't open vs. Wisky.

Yeah, it's a very nice stadium. I can't say much for the quality of the product on the field, but the stadium is very nice.

1 thing at a time. :wink:

[pbmax]

Did Minnesota football get booted out of the Big Ten and relegated to Division II?

No they opened a new outdoor stadium and no longer play in the Humptydome.

I must have missed that. My bad. Here I was imagining them still playing in that garbage bag. When did this happen?
Last year. I think they opened it against the Badgers, but I am 100% certain.

Yes it was last year. TCF Bank Stadium, on campus. Pretty awesome place. But they didn't open vs. Wisky.
Quite right. It was the Big Ten 2009 opener for them. They had two other games prior.

[NewsBruin]

Okay, completely procrastinating from work.

As someone who went to a Big XII school and grew up in SEC country, I think that Lambeau Field has everything the Big 10 would want at a playoff venue, save weather control. Location relative to the schools is only important in the sense that it has to be accessible. I wouldn't worry about Wisconsin perceived as having a homefield advantage over Nebraska (tee hee) or Penn State. However, it will have to sell that it's a good place for 70,000 fans to spend a weekend and overcome the perception that it will be a snow-fest in December (FWIW, I think snow games are a novelty, but not something I'll watch four quarters' worth on TV).

In the SEC/Big 12 championship games, the factors are city size/accommodations, payout, promotions, and venue. The SEC game's been in Atlanta forever, because it's a huge dome that hosts NFL and Super Bowls, and people like to party in Atlanta. I'm sure the income is good for the SEC. The Big 12 went from Arrowhead to Cowboys Stadium because the South teams were grousing about their fans' travel and Jerry Jones ego is only bested by his money-printing ability.

The big thing Lambeau has going for it is it's ambience/mystique. In the constantly upgrading NFL and college games, there aren't many sites that qualify as historical. I'm biased as a Packer fan, but I don't think that anyone would have a "meh" reaction to Lambeau Field as a championship venue. People will want to see and be at this game, even if they're not diehard fans of either team.

Championship game tickets usually get bought up at the tailend of the regular season, then resold once the matchup is set. I don't think fans will care too much about the "where," especially since this is the inaugural game.

However, the conference is looking for something else in addition to a "sellable" game: Is this a place they can pull off an entertaining broadcast and weekend? Is this more than the Applebees-fest that the dumbass Longwell sold it as? Will the first championship make fans and networks pay more for the second one? Green Bay has to compete with a city/stadium that's hosted a Super Bowl and doesn't have to prove it can take in 60,000+ fans for the weekend.

What Green Bay needs to do is sell up the tradition of Lambeau Field to the Big Ten (make it THE PLACE to have the first championship), explain that the venue and staff are equipped for major broadcast logistics and how the city can handle X many people flying/driving into Green Bay in the weekend. Highlight what a Championship Weekend in Green Bay would be like with a 4-day, packed-to-the-gills itinerary. Print game logos in a Lambeau theme, sell up the experience. Explain how it would be cheaper for the league and fans' travel costs, and play up the 10,000+ seat difference than Sordid Field.