As a University we should invest more in women’s sports

[QuaoarsKing]

If South Carolina fans are happy with focusing their department on women's basketball at the expense of other sports, who are we to tell them they're wrong? They shouldn't and don't care what we think.

 

[Badon]

I’ve been a huge State fan my whole life. I love sports. The competition, the athleticism, the skills, the teamwork, the strategies. Casually at most, I pay attention to the women’s side. It’s just not that interesting.

 

[sigma_dawg]

I’ve been a huge State fan my whole life. I love sports. The competition, the athleticism, the skills, the teamwork, the strategies. Casually at most, I pay attention to the women’s side. It’s just not that interesting.

You are certainly entitled to your thoughts and outlook. Some people find fling golf incredibly thrilling… to each their own. If we take a step back from our personal biases and look at the numbers… it would probably be wise to invest in what is coming and what MOST people find interesting and tune in to. That’s just how I see it and I know many out there would agree.

 

[sigma_dawg]

If you want dog South Carolina and their “women’s basketball first” approach. You may also be interested in knowing that their enrollment has increased by 34% over the last decade. Ole Miss has grown 33%. Care to guess how much MSU has grown with their crown jewel baseball program? Less than 10%. I’m not making this up. Baseball helps us next to ZERO. It actually sinks us when we divert funds from sports that are actually growing and putting them into a sinking ship.

It will get worse for us if we continue to deploy our limited resources into something with no growth and next to no interest on a national scale. Facts are facts.

 

[StarkVegas Steve]

Based on a few responses from this thread, if this is representative of our fanbase and administration as a whole there’s no mystery whatsoever we are in the state we are in.

No it's clear most have a sense of fiscal responsibility.

Women's Basketball at the height of Schaefer when we were pumping more money than 99% of programs was losing, on average, between 5-7 million. If we funded it the way we were funding it then in today's college athletics world, it would be 2x-3x that. They are also nowhere near the same in terms of exposure. That's why the men's TV contract for the tournament is an 8 billion dollar contract, which was an extension on the original 10 billion dollar contract and the women's TV contract for the tournament is 920 million.

Softball has surpassed baseball in some pockets of the college sports world. One of those places is not the SEC. The softball attendance leader in the NCAA was Bama. They averaged 3,259/game. That would be good for 11th in the SEC(they actually outpaced Bama baseball by about 75 fans). Furthermore, the all time NCAA attendance record for softball is 13,207. That wouldn't even be in the top 25......at Mississippi State.

We would not be better off supporting women's basketball and softball. We would FAR WORSE OFF. We would be losing money at an almost unfathomable clip. If you think baseball loses a bunch of money, move that to softball and see how much they'd lose. It'd be in the tens of millions. I actually will be interested to see the numbers on how far in the red they were this year for going to the WCWS.

 

[StarkVegas Steve]

You are certainly entitled to your thoughts and outlook. Some people find fling golf incredibly thrilling… to each their own. If we take a step back from our personal biases and look at the numbers… it would probably be wise to invest in what is coming and what MOST people find interesting and tune in to. That’s just how I see it and I know many out there would agree.

You know you're right. We should do that. That's why we should cut every sport and focus on football and men's basketball. That moves the needle nationally more than all other sports combined. Period. The average college sports fan can't tell you who won the national championship in any women's sport. I bet they can tell you who won it in football and men's basketball.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

You are certainly entitled to your thoughts and outlook. Some people find fling golf incredibly thrilling… to each their own. If we take a step back from our personal biases and look at the numbers… it would probably be wise to invest in what is coming and what MOST people find interesting and tune in to. That’s just how I see it and I know many out there would agree.

Our personal biases are the reasons that we like what we like. Seems you are pushing the board to stop liking football and baseball in favor of things they do t prefer. Watching sports is a leisure activity that consumes a valuable resource, my time. I’m not going to watch things I don’t want to watch. That is my contribution.

 

[Villagedawg]

@OG Goat Holder my nominee

Second

 

[Called3rdstrikedawg]

Define Irony.
“ a plane full of convicts dancing to a song played by a band who’s members died in a plane crash!”

But…. Watching ConAir is not what the op is suggesting here. He is suggesting we invest in a women’s sport that most of this year’s 12U Little League World Series participants could dominate in competition with.
Oops. I ended a sentence with a preposition.
Oh. And he compared State to our rivals when discussing funding athletics but failed to note that not only did their football team make the playoffs, but they also invested enough money into their baseball program, that it made the college world series. So it ain’t like State is the only program investing in Baseball. A sport that obviously the op couldn’t catch, hit or throw well enough to make the T- ball team.

 

[sigma_dawg]

You know you're right. We should do that. That's why we should cut every sport and focus on football and men's basketball. That moves the needle nationally more than all other sports combined. Period. The average college sports fan can't tell you who won the national championship in any women's sport. I bet they can tell you who won it in football and men's basketball.

You don’t get it. This is not about how things are viewed in some close minded ignorant corner of the world. I’m talking national numbers. Do you want me to post tv viewership numbers for each sport, NATIONALLY? You would mind blown I bet. I can post the trends and growth over the last ten years. Would you like that? You tell me if we are wise to invest in a sinking ship. Look at enrollment and how we compare over the last ten years to South Carolina and their women’s basketball approach. You may not care about the future of MSU, but unlike you I care very much.

 

[Darryl Steight]

Based on a few responses from this thread, if this is representative of our fanbase and administration as a whole there’s no mystery whatsoever we are in the state we are in.

 

[TaleofTwoDogs]

I can’t stand ole miss. I have NEVER liked them. I’m sorry you don’t want to see MSU succeed. Unlike you, I care about the future of OUR school.

Succeed at what? Women's sports? Last time I checked the MSU softball team doesn't hold the top 25 national attendance records. Your argument is ridiculous and would never pass muster in the SEC.

 

[The Cooterpoot]

Football obviously pays the bills and should be priority #1. It gets most exposure by far. If we don’t invest HEAVILY in it, and decide oh well we are poor little MSU and have no chance… this is what EVERYONE will see and associate us with... being a loser. Crazy that it doesn’t stop Ole Miss from succeeding.

That aside, if we move down the list and start discussing other sports. Men’s and women’s basketball at the collegiate level are becoming very close in terms of exposure. 2a/2b

Softball has surpassed baseball at the collegiate level and is only gaining serious momentum while baseball flails.

Let’s be smart about this. Even if we win the next 20 baseball national championships, nobody except an extreme minority even cares or knows about it. It doesn’t promote MSU or progress us forward AT ALL to the masses.

We can discuss ratings and trends. It’s truly sad the state we are in as a fanbase. Few are excited about football. Season tickets have plummeted. Stadium will likely be half full at best all year except when Alabama fills it up.

Sad to use them as a measuring stick, but Ole Miss is in serious playoff/heisman conversation. They’re in the same state with the same resources. Far better administration, obviously.

It sucks, but thinking of the future and trends and ratings… we are SINKING this university by investing in baseball. We’d be far better off pouring into softball which actually has a future. Football should be top priority for forseeable future. Thoughts?

Women sports is screwed and hammered

 

[StarkVegas Steve]

You don’t get it. This is not about how things are viewed in some close minded ignorant corner of the world. I’m talking national numbers. Do you want me to post tv viewership numbers for each sport, NATIONALLY? You would mind blown I bet. I can post the trends and growth over the last ten years. Would you like that? You tell me if we are wise to invest in a sinking ship. Look at enrollment and how we compare over the last ten years to South Carolina and their women’s basketball approach. You may not care about the future of MSU, but unlike you I care very much.

The men's final 4 avg'd 14.2 millon viewers and the women's avg'd 5.2.

The CFP National Championship peaked at 33.2. If you add up all the women's championships they don't eclipse 10 mil.

Now the softball WS did slightly outdraw the CWS. But it's not some chasm. And LSU, Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Arky weren't in it. That usually is going to bring more eyeballs.

I could get into attendance at the events but that'd really kind of torpedo your argument so I'll stop there.

I do get it. You like women's sports. Completely fine and valid take. A majority of the country does not. That's not opinion. It's facts. The WNBA tv ratings last year were an average of 1.2 million viewers on nationally televised games. The NBA this past season did 3.4 across the same networks.

 

[FormerBully]

I’ll bite. You honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. When a university decides where to invest athletic dollars, there are two major questions: what can generate meaningful revenue, and what can materially grow the university’s brand, enrollment, alumni engagement, and visibility. Football is obviously king. And despite all the doom and gloom, there are people actively working and spending serious money to fix Mississippi State football. After football, men’s basketball is clearly the next sport with the ability to generate major national exposure and meaningful revenue. Baseball is different nationally, but Mississippi State is also not a normal baseball program. In Starkville, baseball creates real economic activity, fills hotels and restaurants, drives attendance, engages alumni, and gives MSU something very few universities have: legitimate excitement across football, basketball, and baseball. That matters.

And yes, women’s sports are important. I have a daughter. I’m glad they are growing, and Mississippi State should invest in them intelligently. But let’s stop pretending television growth automatically makes them major drivers of university enrollment or revenue. College students overwhelmingly are not choosing Mississippi State because the women’s basketball team is good. They may enjoy it once they get here, support it, and take pride in it, but it is not remotely the same recruiting tool as a nationally relevant football program, March Madness basketball program, or, uniquely in our case, the atmosphere and culture surrounding Mississippi State baseball.

Ask a 17-year-old deciding between SEC schools what influences the decision. Campus atmosphere matters. Game weekends matter. Packed stadiums matter. Tailgating matters. Winning matters. Seeing 50,000 people on campus for a major football weekend matters. That is part of the product universities are selling whether anyone wants to admit it or not. At Mississippi State, baseball contributes to that culture in a way it simply does not at most universities. We have already built the asset. We have the stadium, attendance, tradition, donors, national championship and fan engagement. So yes, invest heavily in football. Invest aggressively in men’s basketball. Invest strategically in softball and women’s basketball as they grow, but destroying an existing strength to chase a projected future trend is not strategy. And if you want to claim South Carolina’s enrollment growth happened because of women’s basketball, then prove that causal relationship. Don’t show me that both numbers went up during the same decade and pretend one caused the other. Otherwise, we might as well credit their enrollment growth to whatever else happened to increase during that period. Baseball did not make Mississippi State football bad; Baseball did not make basketball inconsistent; And women’s basketball is not going to solve Mississippi State’s enrollment problems. Those are separate issues.

 

[StarkVegas Steve]

I’ll bite. You honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. When a university decides where to invest athletic dollars, there are two major questions: what can generate meaningful revenue, and what can materially grow the university’s brand, enrollment, alumni engagement, and visibility. Football is obviously king. And despite all the doom and gloom, there are people actively working and spending serious money to fix Mississippi State football. After football, men’s basketball is clearly the next sport with the ability to generate major national exposure and meaningful revenue. Baseball is different nationally, but Mississippi State is also not a normal baseball program. In Starkville, baseball creates real economic activity, fills hotels and restaurants, drives attendance, engages alumni, and gives MSU something very few universities have: legitimate excitement across football, basketball, and baseball. That matters.

And yes, women’s sports are important. I have a daughter. I’m glad they are growing, and Mississippi State should invest in them intelligently. But let’s stop pretending television growth automatically makes them major drivers of university enrollment or revenue. College students overwhelmingly are not choosing Mississippi State because the women’s basketball team is good. They may enjoy it once they get here, support it, and take pride in it, but it is not remotely the same recruiting tool as a nationally relevant football program, March Madness basketball program, or, uniquely in our case, the atmosphere and culture surrounding Mississippi State baseball.

Ask a 17-year-old deciding between SEC schools what influences the decision. Campus atmosphere matters. Game weekends matter. Packed stadiums matter. Tailgating matters. Winning matters. Seeing 50,000 people on campus for a major football weekend matters. That is part of the product universities are selling whether anyone wants to admit it or not. At Mississippi State, baseball contributes to that culture in a way it simply does not at most universities. We have already built the asset. We have the stadium, attendance, tradition, donors, national championship and fan engagement. So yes, invest heavily in football. Invest aggressively in men’s basketball. Invest strategically in softball and women’s basketball as they grow, but destroying an existing strength to chase a projected future trend is not strategy. And if you want to claim South Carolina’s enrollment growth happened because of women’s basketball, then prove that causal relationship. Don’t show me that both numbers went up during the same decade and pretend one caused the other. Otherwise, we might as well credit their enrollment growth to whatever else happened to increase during that period. Baseball did not make Mississippi State football bad; Baseball did not make basketball inconsistent; And women’s basketball is not going to solve Mississippi State’s enrollment problems. Those are separate issues.

Hold up.....you're saying our enrollment hasn't been growing because of our men's tennis team?????? What the 17!!!! I was sure they were the reason behind the growth.

 

[sigma_dawg]

I’ll bite. You honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. When a university decides where to invest athletic dollars, there are two major questions: what can generate meaningful revenue, and what can materially grow the university’s brand, enrollment, alumni engagement, and visibility. Football is obviously king. And despite all the doom and gloom, there are people actively working and spending serious money to fix Mississippi State football. After football, men’s basketball is clearly the next sport with the ability to generate major national exposure and meaningful revenue. Baseball is different nationally, but Mississippi State is also not a normal baseball program. In Starkville, baseball creates real economic activity, fills hotels and restaurants, drives attendance, engages alumni, and gives MSU something very few universities have: legitimate excitement across football, basketball, and baseball. That matters.

And yes, women’s sports are important. I have a daughter. I’m glad they are growing, and Mississippi State should invest in them intelligently. But let’s stop pretending television growth automatically makes them major drivers of university enrollment or revenue. College students overwhelmingly are not choosing Mississippi State because the women’s basketball team is good. They may enjoy it once they get here, support it, and take pride in it, but it is not remotely the same recruiting tool as a nationally relevant football program, March Madness basketball program, or, uniquely in our case, the atmosphere and culture surrounding Mississippi State baseball.

Ask a 17-year-old deciding between SEC schools what influences the decision. Campus atmosphere matters. Game weekends matter. Packed stadiums matter. Tailgating matters. Winning matters. Seeing 50,000 people on campus for a major football weekend matters. That is part of the product universities are selling whether anyone wants to admit it or not. At Mississippi State, baseball contributes to that culture in a way it simply does not at most universities. We have already built the asset. We have the stadium, attendance, tradition, donors, national championship and fan engagement. So yes, invest heavily in football. Invest aggressively in men’s basketball. Invest strategically in softball and women’s basketball as they grow, but destroying an existing strength to chase a projected future trend is not strategy. And if you want to claim South Carolina’s enrollment growth happened because of women’s basketball, then prove that causal relationship. Don’t show me that both numbers went up during the same decade and pretend one caused the other. Otherwise, we might as well credit their enrollment growth to whatever else happened to increase during that period. Baseball did not make Mississippi State football bad; Baseball did not make basketball inconsistent; And women’s basketball is not going to solve Mississippi State’s enrollment problems. Those are separate issues.

Seems like a very level headed and honest take without childish name calling of a 5 year old. I believe any discussion should focus primarily on national tv ratings as that is what draws exposure to prospective students. It should NOT be centered on what makes a few of our alumni feel good. I don’t see where 600,000 tuning into a baseball game, primarily by our own alumni and the other team alumni is a better or more sound investment strategy than say 12 million tuning into our women’s basketball team playing University of Texas in a tournament game. We can agree to disagree on that.

 

[HRMSU]

Fair points, and I’m certainly not proposing invest our entire budget into softball. However, wouldn’t we be wise to invest in a positive trend and not a backwards one? I see it often said we should divert more football funds to baseball because we will always suck in football anyway… are we really that dumb collectively? Any money put into baseball may as well be flushed down the toilet. If it’s at the expense of other sports actually growing, my gosh we are dumb.

I'll give it to you.....you try really hard....it's cute.

 

[sigma_dawg]

Let’s be real, remove emotion from the equation. How long do you think Netflix would be in business if collectively they said “alright yall let’s pick our worst rated shows with zero growth and invest HEAVILY in them and abandon the programs with the a best ratings that are growing like wildfire… this is OK because we ‘like’ the failing shows… ” I know you’re smart enough to get it.

 

[sigma_dawg]

I'll give it to you.....you try really hard....it's cute.

I don’t have to “try” anything. I’m just stating facts. You can ignore them if you want it doesn’t matter to me.

 

[gtowndawg]

We REALLY need football season to start...

 

[StarkVegas Steve]

Seems like a very level headed and honest take without childish name calling of a 5 year old. I believe any discussion should focus primarily on national tv ratings as that is what draws exposure to prospective students. It should NOT be centered on what makes a few of our alumni feel good. I don’t see where 600,000 tuning into a baseball game, primarily by our own alumni and the other team alumni is a better or more sound investment strategy than say 12 million tuning into our women’s basketball team playing University of Texas in a tournament game. We can agree to disagree on that.

12 million have never turned into a women's basketball game and I'll go out on a very sturdy limb that 12 million never will.

 

[StarkVegas Steve]

I don’t have to “try” anything. I’m just stating facts. You can ignore them if you want it doesn’t matter to me.

You've ignored my facts twice. Then again they don't fit your narrative so I fully expected you'd ignore them.

 

[HRMSU]

I don’t have to “try” anything. I’m just stating facts. You can ignore them if you want it doesn’t matter to me.

Thanks for giving me permission to ignore your sports manifesto I truly appreciate that. I think I'll take you up on that.

 

[sigma_dawg]

12 million have never turned into a women's basketball game and I'll go out on a very sturdy limb that 12 million never will.

South Carolina vs Iowa women’s basketball game drew 18.9 million viewers. Men’s postseason baseball is lucky to surpass one million. You do the math.

One is growing crazy fast too, the other isn’t growing at all. Care to guess what sport falls into each category?

 

[StarkVegas Steve]

South Carolina vs Iowa women’s basketball game drew 18.9 million viewers. Men’s postseason baseball is lucky to surpass one million. You do the math.

One is growing crazy fast too, the other isn’t growing at all. Care to guess what sport falls into each category?

Now you're trying to compare the most watched women's college game ever to baseball, of which the most watched game ever was Florida/LSU in 2023 with 4.2 mil

Should I compare the most watched men's game ever(1979 National Championship 35.1 million) to the most watched softball game ever 2.5?

Also the most watched women's game is half the most watched men's game when there are millions more TVs now.

 

[sigma_dawg]

Now you're trying to compare the most watched women's college game ever to baseball, of which the most watched game ever was Florida/LSU in 2023 with 4.2 mil

Should I compare the most watched men's game ever(1979 National Championship 35.1 million) to the most watched softball game ever 2.5?

Also the most watched women's game is half the most watched men's game when there are millions more TVs now.

Ok let’s take the last 5 years postseason. Women’s basketball finals have averaged 8.6-18.9 million per game. Let’s compare to men’s baseball finals of 2.0 - 2.9 million per matchup. The numbers will also decrease by same proportions as you cascade down into the tournament. This doesn’t even take into account trends. One has growth EXPONENTIALLY over the last 20 years and the other has not grown at all.

You will be very sad to see college softball to college baseball trends over last 20 years.

Football
.
.
Men’s basketball
Women’s basketball
.
.
.
.
Softball
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Baseball

If we want to be smart and attract the most viewers for today AND the future our priority should be equal to that chart. Softball and women’s basketball are the only two rising UP the chart.

If we want to see MSU grow and flourish in the future… simply put, we are BEYOND stupid to invest in the bottom rung, BY FAR.

 

[DDZ]

Based on a few responses from this thread, if this is representative of our fanbase and administration as a whole there’s no mystery whatsoever we are in the state we are in.

Delete your account

 

[StarkVegas Steve]

Ok let’s take the last 5 years postseason. Women’s basketball finals have averaged 8.6-18.9 million per game. Let’s compare to men’s baseball finals of 2.0 - 2.9 million per matchup. The numbers will also decrease by same proportions as you cascade down into the tournament. This doesn’t even take into account trends. One has growth EXPONENTIALLY over the last 20 years and the other has not grown at all.

You will be very sad to see college softball to college baseball trends over last 20 years.

Football
.
.
Men’s basketball
Women’s basketball
.
.
.
.
Softball
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Baseball

If we want to be smart and attract the most viewers for today AND the future our priority should be equal to that chart. Softball and women’s basketball are the only two rising UP the chart.

If we want to see MSU grow and flourish in the future… simply put, we are BEYOND stupid to invest in the bottom rung, BY FAR.

But they're still behind Basketball and Football. Now if you're trying to make a case that our sports that we invest should be Football, Basketball, Women's Basketball, and Softball then that's a completely valid take. It's incorrect because those two sports lose a combined 7 mil and baseball only loses 4.2 while making 3.38. Women's basketball makes 911K. Softball has very little, if any, revenue.

Again, I get your point that we should get out ahead of curve and really invest in these sports, but they're never going to make money here. Never. We didn't even turn a profit at the height of the Vic Schaefer era. We lost between 4-5 million a year and lost a lot more than that one of the years, closer to 8. Just think about that, we were selling out most games and were losing that much. Baseball is only losing the amount they are right now because of stadium debt. Once that is paid off and seat licenses are having to be renewed, they'll be operating in that zone of a little profit or a little loss each year.

 

[sigma_dawg]

But they're still behind Basketball and Football. Now if you're trying to make a case that our sports that we invest should be Football, Basketball, Women's Basketball, and Softball then that's a completely valid take. It's incorrect because those two sports lose a combined 7 mil and baseball only loses 4.2 while making 3.38. Women's basketball makes 911K. Softball has very little, if any, revenue.

Again, I get your point that we should get out ahead of curve and really invest in these sports, but they're never going to make money here. Never. We didn't even turn a profit at the height of the Vic Schaefer era. We lost between 4-5 million a year and lost a lot more than that one of the years, closer to 8. Just think about that, we were selling out most games and were losing that much. Baseball is only losing the amount they are right now because of stadium debt. Once that is paid off and seat licenses are having to be renewed, they'll be operating in that zone of a little profit or a little loss each year.

We are talking about two different things. Television viewership is EVERYTHING. It feeds into enrollment, alumni giving, what we as a university can bring to the table. When conference realignment happens… the bigs aren’t going to give a flying **** that our baseball program operated at a $600,000 profit that nobody outside of a portion of MSU tunes in to. Where the eyeballs are where our value is . Back to my original point, college baseball is such an afterthought to the masses. It means next to NOTHING in the grand scheme. May as well invest in our chess and pickleball teams. At least pickleball is growing.

Once again, we are BEYOND stupid to invest in it. Even moreso when these funds could be invested in worthwhile pursuits… BEYOND stupid.

 

[pmack3641]

Football obviously pays the bills and should be priority #1. It gets most exposure by far. If we don’t invest HEAVILY in it, and decide oh well we are poor little MSU and have no chance… this is what EVERYONE will see and associate us with... being a loser. Crazy that it doesn’t stop Ole Miss from succeeding.

That aside, if we move down the list and start discussing other sports. Men’s and women’s basketball at the collegiate level are becoming very close in terms of exposure. 2a/2b

Softball has surpassed baseball at the collegiate level and is only gaining serious momentum while baseball flails.

Let’s be smart about this. Even if we win the next 20 baseball national championships, nobody except an extreme minority even cares or knows about it. It doesn’t promote MSU or progress us forward AT ALL to the masses.

We can discuss ratings and trends. It’s truly sad the state we are in as a fanbase. Few are excited about football. Season tickets have plummeted. Stadium will likely be half full at best all year except when Alabama fills it up.

Sad to use them as a measuring stick, but Ole Miss is in serious playoff/heisman conversation. They’re in the same state with the same resources. Far better administration, obviously.

It sucks, but thinking of the future and trends and ratings… we are SINKING this university by investing in baseball. We’d be far better off pouring into softball which actually has a future. Football should be top priority for forseeable future. Thoughts?

How is softball ahead of baseball? They don’t come close to drawing the crowds baseball does. Their revenue stream is probably only 25% of what baseball brings in, tv revenue is not comparable to NCAA baseball and if you want to consider softball a major sport at the university level there running a distant fourth. Sorry I disagree that they will pass baseball in the near future. It’s like saying the WNBA will surpass the NBA.

 

[StarkVegas Steve]

We are talking about two different things. Television viewership is EVERYTHING. It feeds into enrollment, alumni giving, what we as a university can bring to the table. When conference realignment happens… the bigs aren’t going to give a flying **** that our baseball program operated at a $600,000 profit. Where the eyeballs are where our value is . Back to my original point, college baseball is such an afterthought to the masses. It means next to NOTHING in the grand scheme. May as well invest in our chess and pickleball teams. At least pickleball is growing.

Women's Basketball and Softball is not going to convince students to come to Mississippi State. I can unequivocally guarantee you that. It's just not. No one goes to a school because "Golly Gee!!!! The women's basketball team is good!!!"

I can promise you unequivocally that the atmosphere on June 9, 2019 got us more than a few. I can unequivocally promise you that the atmosphere on June 12, 2021 got us more than a few. And yes, April 25, 2026 got us A LOT. Baseball doesn't matter nationally, you're not wrong. But atmosphere matters everywhere. Those atmospheres came across whether you were there, watching, or listening to Neil Price. The pop when Jacob Parker hit that HR was something that could've come across to a deaf person. The pop when Mac hit that HR in Stanford could've been heard from Columbus. Those atmosphere are better than any women's basketball crowd or atmosphere Vic Schaefer ever dreamed of having at Mississippi State.

 

[StarkVegas Steve]

How is softball ahead of baseball? They don’t come close to drawing the crowds baseball does. Their revenue stream is probably only 25% of what baseball brings in, tv revenue is not comparable to NCAA baseball and if you want to consider softball a major sport at the university level there running a distant fourth. Sorry I disagree that they will pass baseball in the near future. It’s like saying the WNBA will surpass the NBA.

TV ratings wise softball has passed baseball in college. Numbers bear that out. However, that's like comparing the tallest midgets. You're talking about two sports that aren't nationally relevant. It's like saying Women's Golf outdrew Men's Tennis via TV ratings. Neither did a good number though.

 

[bsquared24]

if we want to improve engagement and add viewers via women’s sports we should fill our teams with the hottest players who can make a D1 team. Those who don’t play can be even hotter. You can’t out LSU LSU you have to think differently. Everyone knows Livvy Dunne for LSU gymnastics but she was like their 5th best, barely in the rotation. Every team should have 8 Ava Nucci’s if you want engagement. State has to Zig when others Zag

 

[CascillaCountryClub]

Auction the lounge spots off to the highest bidder every season and increase baseball season tickets by 25% per year until the waiting list disappears. Supply and Demand will dictate how important it actually is.

 

[sigma_dawg]

if we want to improve engagement and add viewers via women’s sports we should fill our teams with the hottest players who can make a D1 team. Those who don’t play can be even hotter. You can’t out LSU LSU you have to think differently. Everyone knows Livvy Dunne for LSU gymnastics but she was like their 5th best, barely in the rotation. Every team should have 8 Ava Nucci’s if you want engagement. State has to Zig when others Zag

If you want a player with a few million Instagram followers who is really good (probably best way to attract prospective students)… better get ready to pay up almost equivalent of Arch Manning paygrade.

Come to think of it… could you imagine having an open ended advertisement to say 6 million Instagram followers on a daily basis? Thats the equivalent of being in 3 baseball national championships every single day in terms of exposure. It’s probably an absolute bargain as an investment.

 

[ckDOG]

We are talking about two different things. Television viewership is EVERYTHING. It feeds into enrollment, alumni giving, what we as a university can bring to the table. When conference realignment happens… the bigs aren’t going to give a flying **** that our baseball program operated at a $600,000 profit that nobody outside of a portion of MSU tunes in to. Where the eyeballs are where our value is . Back to my original point, college baseball is such an afterthought to the masses. It means next to NOTHING in the grand scheme. May as well invest in our chess and pickleball teams. At least pickleball is growing.

Once again, we are BEYOND stupid to invest in it. Even moreso when these funds could be invested in worthwhile pursuits… BEYOND stupid.

If we get kicked out of the SEC because we don't draw eyeballs to screens in football we aren't going to be saved in a world where we do draw relatively high numbers in ladies basketball or softball. So why not invest in the program we do have that historically puts butts in seats and drives dollars spent in town? Enjoy the time we have left with what we like rather than ignore it and spend on something that's not going to save us when push comes to shove.

 

[leeinator]

Thoughts?

I would rather win a NC in baseball more so than football or basketball.

 

[sigma_dawg]

L

If we get kicked out of the SEC because we don't draw eyeballs to screens in football we aren't going to be saved in a world where we do draw relatively high numbers in ladies basketball or softball. So why not invest in the program we do have that historically puts butts in seats and drives dollars spent in town? Enjoy the time we have left with what we like rather than ignore it and spend on something that's not going to save us when push comes to shove.

No offense, but I don’t understand this loser poor us mentality. Look at Ole Miss, they are in the same state with comparable resources to us. I’d imagine they will be STRONGLY considered as part of a super conference. I can’t say the same for us right now. Maybe I’m delusional about it but I think we could do better than them. They actually have a smart administration that cares very much. I don’t think we do, sadly. We also have some real losers as fans… generally speaking. Many of these so called “fans” of MSU are ignorant and damn proud about it.

 

[HailStout]

Stop

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