OU v MU 11/28

[Jamo]

Again, you should view the IU and OU games as similar to the Maui Classic. Furthermore, you are making the assumption that either of them wanted to sign a home and home instead.

Thanks for your opinion, but no I will not view a one off game at the Credit Union 1 Arena similar to the Maui "Classic". Also,  that assumption was not made.

[The Sultan]

Thanks for your opinion, but no I will not view a one off game at the Credit Union 1 Arena similar to the Maui "Classic". Also,  that assumption was not made.

OK. Be mad then.

[Jamo]

OK. Be mad then.

I appreciate you conceding the point.

[Uncle Rico]

I appreciate you conceding the point.

MTE's are a dying concept.  Schools like Marquette will be looking to maximize every dollar and flying to Maui or other far flung places without financial incentive are over.

[Daniel]

Porter Mosner is coach at OK right?  Ex Chicago / Loyola Final 4 guy.  So some Chicago roots there too and only 90 miles from Marquette.  Not a bad set up

[The Sultan]

I appreciate you conceding the point.

Nope. I understand what Marquette is doing. I tried to explain it to you, and you are either too subborn or too dumb to understand.

I have decided not to waste my time any longer, so you can just mad.

[NCMUFan]

Again, you should view the IU and OU games as similar to the Maui Classic. Furthermore, you are making the assumption that either of them wanted to sign a home and home instead.

Maui and Chicago nearly identical.

[We R Final Four]

Surf's up!

[Jamo]

MTE's are a dying concept.  Schools like Marquette will be looking to maximize every dollar and flying to Maui or other far flung places without financial incentive are over.

I did not bring Maui into the conversation, and never said they should go to Maui instead.

[onepost]

Can someone remind me why Marquette isn't in the Players Era Tournament in Vegas again?
Too logical to capitalize on today's landscape and get money for the players/program in what is now the best early-season tournament?

[wadesworld]

Good lord people love to cry.  Marquette's marketing department sucks, the coach is too stubborn to care whether he wins games, the scheduling is amateur hour, concessions aren't available at free events.  Can't wait to see the next topic Marquette is doing all wrong.

I long for the days of hosting Wisconsin and our next best game drivable from Milwaukee (outside of playing at UWM?) being...Green Bay?  Bucknell?  Like in 2011.

But, Buzz took transfers, so yes I do long for those days.

Scheduling under Shaka has been nothing short of awesome.

[Shooter McGavin]

Scheduling under Shaka has been nothing short of awesome.

Yep. This. 

[Scoop Snoop]

Can't wait to see the next topic Marquette is doing all wrong.

Glad to help out here.

The court redesign was a bad decision. Tear it up and try again.

The unis are too bright-need more navy blue to tone them down.

Shaka needs someone to help him dress better for games. He looks like a Middle-schooler. And he should shave his head.

We should have a bagpiper pep band to drive opponents crazy in Fiserv. Our team would get used to it. Galway is a piper and I'm sure he would offer to help set it up.

That's all I can come up on short notice, but I'm sure I will have more to contribute soon.

[Johnny B]

MTE's are a dying concept.  Schools like Marquette will be looking to maximize every dollar and flying to Maui or other far flung places without financial incentive are over.

It already dead and gone

[Johnny B]

Good lord people love to cry.  Marquette's marketing department sucks, the coach is too stubborn to care whether he wins games, the scheduling is amateur hour, concessions aren't available at free events.  Can't wait to see the next topic Marquette is doing all wrong.

I long for the days of hosting Wisconsin and our next best game drivable from Milwaukee (outside of playing at UWM?) being...Green Bay?  Bucknell?  Like in 2011.

But, Buzz took transfers, so yes I do long for those days.

Scheduling under Shaka has been nothing short of awesome.

You love to cry about the cry 

[wadesworld]

You love to cry about the cry 

I do.

[Scoop Snoop]

Hire Red Panda for as many Fiserv games days she has open.

Free milkshakes for all fans when we win. Marquette can afford it because that won't happen often this season.

Have the guys far down the bench join the cheerleaders. They need to contribute in whatever way they can.

Damn! I'm on a roll today.

[onepost]

Good lord people love to cry.  Marquette's marketing department sucks, the coach is too stubborn to care whether he wins games, the scheduling is amateur hour, concessions aren't available at free events.  Can't wait to see the next topic Marquette is doing all wrong.

Marquette's marketing department DOES suck, objectively.  They got rid of meaningful fan engagement like Midnight Madness and with Mike Broeker at the helm, there's little to suggest it gets any better soon.  Should have gone with Hardin as the AD instead of the guy whose best attribute was "no one wanted the job more than him".

The coach IS too stubborn with his current philosophy, which is why the first team doing things the way he wants to do it is one of the worst Marquette teams in recent memory. Go argue with a tree about it.  One of the main reasons I have little faith Shaka changes is because Broeker clearly answers to Shaka, not vice versa.  He's been an unlikeable "yes man" even going back to when I was in the Athletic Department at MU.

The scheduling has been great to this point.  But again, the landscape has already changed and for a program that people cry poor about (not me, there's always money in the banana stand) in relation to affording players, maybe joining the clear-cut best tournament that pays tons and tons of money might be worth considering.

[MU82]

Here's a chunk of The Athletic's article on the Vegas tournament in particular and MTEs in general:

Maui and other long-established multi-team events like the Battle 4 Atlantis are facing an existential threat. This week's Players Era Festival in Las Vegas pays players directly — at least $1 million combined per team in name, image and likeness deals. The tournament doesn't disclose how player payouts are determined, but they will go through NIL Go, the compliance clearinghouse launched by the College Sports Commission and managed by the accounting firm Deloitte.

In just its second season, the tournament has made schools question the alternative of spending hundreds of thousands on Thanksgiving week trips to faraway islands, especially in an era dominated by dollars and sense.

"These kids are like professional athletes," said Lea Miller-Tooley, the CEO of Complete Sports Management and a longtime event organizer who also founded Battle 4 Atlantis in 2011. "They don't care about swimming with dolphins. They wanna get paid."

After its debut with eight teams went off without a hitch last season, Players Era has expanded to 18 teams — eight of which are currently ranked in the Top 25 — before swelling to 32 next season. With over $50 million in payouts already secured over the next two seasons, according to founder Seth Berger, teams are understandably lining up for a piece of the pie.

Perhaps it's no wonder, then, that this season's field is a veritable Sweet 16 preview. All of No. 3 Houston, No. 7 Michigan, No. 8 Alabama, No. 12 Gonzaga, No. 14 St. John's, No. 15 Iowa State, No. 17 Tennessee, No. 21 Auburn and recently ranked Kansas have descended on Sin City this week, along with hundreds of credentialed media members and NBA scouts.

Maui, by comparison, has one Top 25 team in No. 23 NC State. The Battle 4 Atlantis has only No. 24 Vanderbilt.

Players Era is financially backed by RedBird IMI: a joint media venture between the private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners and the Abu Dhabi-based International Media Investments. Last season, for all the attention on the actual games in Las Vegas, there was arguably more focus on Dec. 5, the day payments were supposed to hit.

But once they did, apprehension about Players Era seeming too-good-to-be-true dissipated. While skepticism may remain in some corners, on Monday, the Big 12 and Players Era announced a five-year equity deal, guaranteeing the Big 12 eight slots each season, with Players Era paying players on those teams over $50 million through 2030. ...

Asked what other tournaments can do to survive, Kansas coach Bill Self didn't mince words.

"I would say that it would be up to the organizers, and the event promoters, to see if they can do whatever the Players Era is doing," Self said. "I don't think they're in danger — unless maybe they don't make some adjustments."

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6834614/2025/11/25/college-basketball-players-era-tournament/?

[The Lens]

I'll be at MU / OU with my son.  So we're up to 5 fans.

Bummed to miss the Eagles curb stomping the Bears. Hope the DVR works.

[TallTitan34]

I'm excited to watch Marquette play in a 8K capacity arena.
Might be the smallest venue I've seen a Marquette game in.
Get to see how bad we look up close and personal

The games in the Al were fun.  Granted those are always 99.9% MU fans filling the place.

[wadesworld]

Marquette's marketing department DOES suck, objectively.  They got rid of meaningful fan engagement like Midnight Madness and with Mike Broeker at the helm, there's little to suggest it gets any better soon.  Should have gone with Hardin as the AD instead of the guy whose best attribute was "no one wanted the job more than him".

The coach IS too stubborn with his current philosophy, which is why the first team doing things the way he wants to do it is one of the worst Marquette teams in recent memory. Go argue with a tree about it.  One of the main reasons I have little faith Shaka changes is because Broeker clearly answers to Shaka, not vice versa.  He's been an unlikeable "yes man" even going back to when I was in the Athletic Department at MU.

The scheduling has been great to this point.  But again, the landscape has already changed and for a program that people cry poor about (not me, there's always money in the banana stand) in relation to affording players, maybe joining the clear-cut best tournament that pays tons and tons of money might be worth considering.

Oh no!  Not a coach having more power than an AD!  Could only happen at Marquette!

There's a reason power conference football coaches make 4-5x and basketball coaches make 2x what the athletic directors make.

Players Era probably has no interest in Marquette because they don't take transfers.  Or Shaka doesn't want to pay these kids.  He's the worst.

[onepost]

Oh no!  Not a coach having more power than an AD!  Could only happen at Marquette!

There's a reason power conference football coaches make 4-5x and basketball coaches make 2x what the athletic directors make.

Players Era probably has no interest in Marquette because they don't take transfers.  Or Shaka doesn't want to pay these kids.  He's the worst.

He's a phenomenal coach, which is why his self-imposed limitations to roster construction and us trending downward in year 5 is so goddamn infuriating.  The fact I even need to defend that position is wild.

[Newsdreams]

He's a phenomenal coach, which is why his self-imposed limitations to roster construction and us trending downward in year 5 is so goddamn infuriating.  The fact I even need to defend that position is wild.

Self-imposed limitations???

[Dish]

If you're a fan that hates MU playing non-conference games in Chicago in November, you're in for a lot of disappointment in the upcoming years.

Financially, it is great for Marquette. No air travel, limited hotel expenses, name opponents without committing to a home/home. Having Chicago 90 minutes from campus is a huge plus for the athletic budget.