A few points:
1. Attendance:
Using HHacker's numbers (thanks for the legwork, btw), here are the percentages by program:
Total B1G Baseball Tickets Sold:
405,363
Percentage by Program:
Northwestern: 8,250
(2.04%)
Minnesota: 18,050
(4.45%)
Purdue: 26,193
(6.46%)
Iowa: 26,965
(6.65%)
Indiana: 31,064
(7.66%)
Illinois: 35,786
(8.83%)
Ohio State: 35,847
(8.84%)
Penn State: 40,454
(9.98%)
Michigan: 45,199
(11.15%)
Michigan State: 47,443
(11.70%)
Nebraska: 90,112
(22.24%)*
*Note: From rounding, there was .01% left over. I gave it to Nebraska because, well, I can.
Now, it's not as impressive as saying 1/3rd of the tickets, but saying 1/5th of the tickets sold for baseball is still a pretty big deal.
The takeaway from this is that our fan support is unparalleled by the B1G and should allow Nebraska some modicum of influence in the future of B1G Baseball at the conference administration level. Nothing immediate, but say, three to five years down the road, provided the fan support is still there (and with Erstad at the helm, I have no doubt it will be), Delaney will be bending the ear of our AD and coaching staff when researching baseball decisions.
2. Conference Improvement.
Hacker had a few comments about the teams above, and I wanted to expand on that...
Northwestern: Yes, their baseball field looks like a Pee-Wee league field. Hell, I wouldn't doubt that they even have a schedule for when the Northwestern players' mothers are to bring snacks and pop after each game. Just remember though, if you want to insult Northwestern, you have to do so while using correct grammar and punctuation, or they'll just laugh at you and mess your tax returns up so you get an audit from the IRS.
The good news is that Northwestern does have a facilities upgrade plan in place. The bad news is that it has been in place since 2010, and has yet to be approved.
Purdue: Don't forget they were in the process of upgrading their baseball facilities and stadium, including putting more seats in. We need to take their attendance with a grain of salt in this regard.
Plus, we've seen where
Michigan State, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio State either have recently or are in the process of upgrading their baseball facilities, so there is investment in the sport in the B1G. And with these improvements comes a natural upgrade in expectations of the programs and their results.
Once the results and the overall improvement in the conference happens, then we'll start to see the B1G have some influence in NCAA baseball discussions again. But for now, the B1G just needs to win and get multiple teams into the post-season like they used to.
3. The Future.
One thing to remember is that the B1G has a network to get original content for. And one thing that ESPN discovered early on is that live content, even if it's something like a tractor pull or lumberjack competition, keeps more viewers on the channel than running a repeat/best of/taped program. If the BTN wants more revenue, they'll soon realize they need to run more live content (read, more baseball/softball) to increase live inventory. And the higher quality of content, the more eyeballs they'll get.
Long story short, the quest for ad revenues will eventually force the BTN to increase live baseball games on the network, which will, in turn, improve NCAA Baseball play in the conference (by want of a quality product to air). This may not be tomorrow, or next year, or in two or three years.
But long term, it will happen, and hopefully Nebraska's program will be ready to show the rest of the conference the way.
