GameDay action in Fargo

Source: American News, Aberdeen, S.存倉D.Sept. 19--One of the biggest shows in the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision is hosting one of the biggest shows on ESPN Saturday.The sports network is broadcasting its popular College GameDay, a college football pregame program, from Fargo, N.D. -- home of the two-time defending champion North Dakota State University Bison, who regularly sell out the 19,000-seat Fargodome for their home games.GameDay does alright, too, with an estimated 5 million or so viewers each week.It's not often that GameDay makes a stop at a school that's not an upper-level power. Last week, for instance, the show originated from College Station, Texas, for a top 10 battle between Texas A&M and Alabama. But on occasion, the show goes off the beaten path, said Lee Fitting, coordinating producer for GameDay.NDSU popped up as a possible host for GameDay after the Bison beat Football Bowl Subdivision Kansas State University, Fitting said. He said the GameDay crew knew this week could be one in which it looked for an unusual setting because the big-time school matchups aren't the most intriguing.Football Bowl Subdivision teams are from schools such as Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Southern California. Football Championship Subdivision schools are one division lower. They're schools such as NDSU, South Dakota State and the University of South Dakota that don't go to bowl games, rather have a playoff to determine a champion.ESPN comes up with between three and five potential hosts for each GameDay show, Fitting said. The list can be adjusted as teams win or lose, and the best matchup generally determines where the show goes, he said. Generally, he said, the next week's broadcast location is selected Saturday night or Sunday morning depending on the outcomes of games.It's nice, sometimes, to go to a smaller school from a lower division, Fitting said. Those universities don't usually get much publicity and are very accommodating and welcoming, he said.He equated NDSU to the Alabama of the Football Championship Division. Both the Bison and Crimson Tide have won consecutive national titles.This is not the first time GameDay has made a stop at a lower-level school. Other Football Championship Subdivision visits have included:--Hampton at Florida A&M, Nov. 15, 2008--Grambling vs. Southern at the Bayou Classic, New Orleans, Nov. 26, 2005--Harvard at Penn, Nov. 16, 2002And in 2007, GameDay broadcast from NCAA Division III Williams College in Massachusetts.In Fargo, GameDay hosts Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso and Desmond Howard -- known names to college football fans -- will be broadcasting from downtown as opposed to the NDSU campus.Locations on campus just didn't work well and the outside of a dome isn't very attractive on TV, Fitting said. So Fargo's Broadway, and the Fargo Theatre marquee, will be the backdrop of the GameDay set. It's a picturesque, American post card kind of setting, Fitting said.In addition to Broadway itself, there's a downtown plaza that can hold a lot of football fans, said Troy Goergen, senior associate athletic director for marketing and media technologies at NDSU.While the show won't originate from campus as some Bison fans had hoped, GameDay will give NDSU and the Football Championship Subdivision plenty of publicity, Fitting said.Goergen said emails and messages from other universities that have hosted GameDay before note that the show generates between $9 million and $26 million in what he calls "PR dollars."In other words, there's no way NDSU could buy the type of publicity GameDay will provide, he sai迷你倉.Fitting advised people who want to be in the pit behind the stage -- the area that's often on TV during the show -- get downtown a couple of hours before the show begins. In many places where GameDay stops, he said, students camp out the night before to get prime spots.GameDay begins its three-hour run from Fargo at 8 a.m. The Bison take on Delaware State at 2:30 p.m. at the Fargodome. City and university officials are providing transportation between downtown and the campus. Rides begin at 5:30 a.m. and continue until 2:45 p.m., Goergen said.He said there are two places to park on campus and catch shuttle busses -- at the Fargodome, especially for those going to the game, and in Lot T on the south side of campus.Some downtown streets are already closed and the city and Fargo Police Department are working with the university to minimize the impact to folks who need to get to Broadway and the nearby streets, Goergen said. Updates, he said, are being posted on the Fargo city website, ci.fargo.nd.us.Downtown is only about nine blocks from the university, so Goergen said many students will likely walk to see GameDay.Fitting said there's no good way to estimate how many people will show up for a GameDay broadcast, but said he expects several thousand fans Saturday. Often, he said, the show gets 4,000 to 6,000 fans, which is a good turnout. When crowds are bigger, 8,000 to 10,000, it's a lot of fun, but can get a little crazy, he said.Goergen said a St. Patrick's Day parade in downtown Fargo a few years ago attracted an estimated 17,000 people. He expects a GameDay crowd of between 10,000 and 15,000 Saturday, but said any guess is really little more than a "shot in the dark."Folks who make their way downtown Saturday will get to watch the show on two large video screens, and there will be speakers scattered around as well. Fitting said the atmosphere will be a good one that college football fans and the community should enjoy.Goergen said restaurants and bars along Broadway will be open and there might be some food trucks downtown, but there won't be a food court. There will be portable toilets, he said.ESPN will have 10 production trucks and 85 people in Fargo to make the show go, Fitting said. The on-air personalities arrived Thursday and ESPN will cut to Fowler and friends for segments starting Friday morning, he said.Even though there was no fanfare in downtown Fargo at lunchtime Wednesday, it seemed like there were a lot of folks hanging around hoping to get a glimpse of those from ESPN or a hint about what to expect this weekend, Goergen said. The atmosphere in Fargo on game day is always electric, but he expects Saturday will be extra special."It's definitely thrilling. Obviously, the announcement (made last Saturday on ESPN) was kind of a surprise to everyone," he said. "Our fan base is a very passionate group, and they're definitely going to be wound up for this Saturday."ESPN College GameDay pregame football showWhen: Nationwide three-hour broadcast begins at 8 a.m. SaturdayWhere: From Broadway in downtown Fargo, N.D.Why: In advance of North Dakota State's football game against Delaware State at 2:30 p.m. at the FargodomeWho: ESPN personalities Desmond Howard, Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk HerbstreitMisc.: There's no charge to be downtown and watch the show live. Shuttles will run between NDSU and downtown from 5:30 a.m. until 2:45 p.m. Saturday. The game is sold out.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the American News (Aberdeen, S.D.) Visit the American News (Aberdeen, S.D.) at .aberdeennews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services自存倉