The Kent/CMU game had an announced attendance of 8,000, although I watched a bit of the game and there couldn't have been 2,000. NIU/Western was a big game and still drew only 10,000. Is Northern still planning on increasing their stadium to 42,000?

is Northern still thinking they can move conferences with that attendance?

No NIU fan seriously believes they're moving up any more than any sane UT fan does.

(11-19-2015 10:44 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  No NIU fan seriously believes they're moving up any more than any sane UT fan does.

Maybe. But why does their stadium expansion plan list 42,000 as the ultimate size? They certainly don't need that playing MAC teams. Plus no team stays good forever, just ask Michigan and Notre Dame. What would the attendance be with a .500 team?

I know, was joking.

But, still seems a bit strange they cant get over the 10k on a weeknight garbage. Toledo helped fill the Doyt, but still BG can get 20k.

(11-19-2015 10:44 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  No NIU fan seriously believes they're moving up any more than any sane UT fan does.

(11-19-2015 10:44 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  No NIU fan seriously believes they're moving up any more than any sane UT fan does.

I must be insane then........

I hate: "We Can't" We Won't" "We don't deserve it"

DREAM BIG!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, NIU still plans on expanding the stadium to 35,000 with the ability to increase that to 42,000 if necessary.

(11-19-2015 11:27 AM)Terry Wrote:  

(11-19-2015 10:44 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  No NIU fan seriously believes they're moving up any more than any sane UT fan does.

I must be insane then........

I hate: "We Can't" We Won't" "We don't deserve it"

DREAM BIG!!!!!!!!!!!

Dreaming and believing are two different thingd. And no one ever accused you of being sane, Terry.

(11-19-2015 10:31 AM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  The Kent/CMU game had an announced attendance of 8,000, although I watched a bit of the game and there couldn't have been 2,000. NIU/Western was a big game and still drew only 10,000. Is Northern still planning on increasing their stadium to 42,000?

Those are way in the future plans. Current plans in the next three years call for NIU to put in luxury boxes, loge seating, and other premium seating all on the east side. Then the west side will get a complete overhaul. Seats won't be added for a very long time.

NIU's real problem is they draw less than 2,000 for men's BB and nothing for the women.

Toledo is always in the top 2 in the MAC for the MBB. and the Ace in the Hole is the Women draw over 3,500 (about 25th in the nation).

There must be some pretty exciting stuff going on in Dekalb that a team the class of NIU cannot pull in an audience or they as a University have totally failed to connect with the community. Can't come up with much more an explanation that those two possibilities.

Makes no sense at all. NIU is THE football program in the state of Illinois. U of I is a disaster zone. Northwestern has selectivity issues. NIU is not far at all from the Chicago metro. Why are they not filling that place every week, every year? Are they that much into the Chicago Bears that they have no time or resources at all for a winning program? Yeah there's only 44k people living in Dekalb but a lot of college football takes place in small towns that draw so many more people. There's only 58k people living in Ames, IA which is home to the state of Iowa's definitive second fiddle who is a basketball school and a football punching bag in a state that's a not-so-hotbed of football talent, and they still bring 52,000 into their stadium to watch a game against us. Is it MAC fatigue? I'd seriously like to know!

(11-20-2015 02:29 PM)therockets046 Wrote:  Makes no sense at all. NIU is THE football program in the state of Illinois. U of I is a disaster zone. Northwestern has selectivity issues. NIU is not far at all from the Chicago metro. Why are they not filling that place every week, every year? Are they that much into the Chicago Bears that they have no time or resources at all for a winning program? Yeah there's only 44k people living in Dekalb but a lot of college football takes place in small towns that draw so many more people. There's only 58k people living in Ames, IA which is home to the state of Iowa's definitive second fiddle who is a basketball school and a football punching bag in a state that's a not-so-hotbed of football talent, and they still bring 52,000 into their stadium to watch a game against us. Is it MAC fatigue? I'd seriously like to know!

We haven't had any big OOC games in Huskie Stadium in a long time. Schedule the next few years will bring some more appealing teams. Big teams wont play us at Huskie Stadium because it's too small. That's why they want to increase size, to get bigger P5 teams scheduled and to be ready in case we do have a chance to move up. NIU fans know our attendance is weak, but think the only way to improve it is with bigger names or a step up in conferences. All teams in our conference are too far away to have any real rivalries. And the MAC teams are not a big draw for anyone but NIU diehards. Weeknight games suck for attendance. Chicago is pro sports. Any college fans are Big 10 and ND. No one outside NIU fans care we're winning the MAC West or we beat MAC teams from Ohio or Michigan. Illinois and Northwestern still play Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State and those games draw well from visiting teams too.

Basketball team is another story. I don't think many schools would draw well when the team was as bad as it was for so long. And the same issue with bball team not playing against big name teams at the convo. We should see some improvement in the team this year, so we'll see if the fans come out a little more this year.

MAC fatigue, yes. NIU Toledo games at HS used to have high attendance in comparison to other MACtion games, maybe, besides Toldeo BGSU. The sports culture in the area has never favored college athletics.

Basketball has sucked for too long, it's going to take a bit to regrow the fan base to something equal to other MAC schools. Not going to lie, I only started paying attention to it maybe two or three seasons ago.

Capacity increases at HS is not at all the top priority, renovation and a new press box and more premium options is a necessity to just get NIU at the same level of most its peers in the MAC (Toledo, Akron, etc)

(11-19-2015 11:27 AM)Terry Wrote:  

(11-19-2015 10:44 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  No NIU fan seriously believes they're moving up any more than any sane UT fan does.

I must be insane then........

I hate: "We Can't" We Won't" "We don't deserve it"

DREAM BIG!!!!!!!!!!!

"We would have" had we gone undefeated.
Wasted season.

(11-20-2015 03:06 PM)NIU17 Wrote:  

(11-20-2015 02:29 PM)therockets046 Wrote:  Makes no sense at all. NIU is THE football program in the state of Illinois. U of I is a disaster zone. Northwestern has selectivity issues. NIU is not far at all from the Chicago metro. Why are they not filling that place every week, every year? Are they that much into the Chicago Bears that they have no time or resources at all for a winning program? Yeah there's only 44k people living in Dekalb but a lot of college football takes place in small towns that draw so many more people. There's only 58k people living in Ames, IA which is home to the state of Iowa's definitive second fiddle who is a basketball school and a football punching bag in a state that's a not-so-hotbed of football talent, and they still bring 52,000 into their stadium to watch a game against us. Is it MAC fatigue? I'd seriously like to know!

We haven't had any big OOC games in Huskie Stadium in a long time. Schedule the next few years will bring some more appealing teams. Big teams wont play us at Huskie Stadium because it's too small. That's why they want to increase size, to get bigger P5 teams scheduled and to be ready in case we do have a chance to move up. NIU fans know our attendance is weak, but think the only way to improve it is with bigger names or a step up in conferences. All teams in our conference are too far away to have any real rivalries. And the MAC teams are not a big draw for anyone but NIU diehards. Weeknight games suck for attendance. Chicago is pro sports. Any college fans are Big 10 and ND. No one outside NIU fans care we're winning the MAC West or we beat MAC teams from Ohio or Michigan. Illinois and Northwestern still play Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State and those games draw well from visiting teams too.

Basketball team is another story. I don't think many schools would draw well when the team was as bad as it was for so long. And the same issue with bball team not playing against big name teams at the convo. We should see some improvement in the team this year, so we'll see if the fans come out a little more this year.

You guys should have regular home-and-homes with Illinois and Northwestern. You'd probably pack the place for those home games, but I understand UI and NW would never agree to play you regularly. There's very little upside for them. If I was the NIU AD I'd kick up a fuss about it publicly and say that they are flat out afraid to play you. There's always Purdue and Indiana. They might be open to it.

Speaking of attendance, the Ohio U game that was recently televised from Peden Stadium was looked at least half empty in the first half. And they still announced an attendance of 18,000. The figures showing Ohio leading the MAC in attendance are highly suspect.

The "crowd" at the CMU-Kent game was pathetic. I would have guessed less than 2000. Much less. It must be hard for players to get pumped up for a game when the stadium is almost empty.

Have you been to Dekalb? Not gonna dis the place, but it is a basically a big dull town just far enough outside of Chicago to have no real connection for city and inner ring suburban folks and not quite far enough to escape the glow of the city's big name teams (mostly pro). No one other than die hard alumni types are going from Chicago and the suburbs to Dekalb for games unless it is a big Saturday game. I'd think student turnout would be better considering that NIU has been good for years and there isn't a lot happening around campus, but honestly, most schools (not just MAC) draw poorly mid-week even among students (who are, well, students, and have to go to class and study and stuff during the week).

I think the Soldier Field big game home games for NIU actually make sense. The Iowa game there was huge. If I was an NIU fan - and I'm not - I'd rather have a big "home" game at Soldier Field against a name regional team with their share of resident Chitown alumni, than an FCS or no name FBS team at Husky Stadium. I could be wrong, but I believe NIU had a chance to do that with Wisconsin but took a buyout. Plus, the games in the city make NIU more relevant with the local sports media. If NIU could schedule some home-n-"homes" with their game at Soldier field against teams like Iowa, Indiana, Notre Dame, Purdue, Illinois, etc... it would strengthen the fan base and some of those type of schools have AD's who would do it if their "away" game is on a neutral field in an NFL stadium in a big city with a lot of alumni and fans.

(11-21-2015 02:48 AM)pono Wrote:  Have you been to Dekalb? Not gonna dis the place, but it is a basically a big dull town just far enough outside of Chicago to have no real connection for city and inner ring suburban folks and not quite far enough to escape the glow of the city's big name teams (mostly pro). No one other than die hard alumni types are going from Chicago and the suburbs to Dekalb for games unless it is a big Saturday game. I'd think student turnout would be better considering that NIU has been good for years and there isn't a lot happening around campus, but honestly, most schools (not just MAC) draw poorly mid-week even among students (who are, well, students, and have to go to class and study and stuff during the week).

I think the Soldier Field big game home games for NIU actually make sense. The Iowa game there was huge. If I was an NIU fan - and I'm not - I'd rather have a big "home" game at Soldier Field against a name regional team with their share of resident Chitown alumni, than an FCS or no name FBS team at Husky Stadium. I could be wrong, but I believe NIU had a chance to do that with Wisconsin but took a buyout. Plus, the games in the city make NIU more relevant with the local sports media. If NIU could schedule some home-n-"homes" with their game at Soldier field against teams like Iowa, Indiana, Notre Dame, Purdue, Illinois, etc... it would strengthen the fan base and some of those type of schools have AD's who would do it if their "away" game is on a neutral field in an NFL stadium in a big city with a lot of alumni and fans.

I lived in Chicago for quite awhile, and it just isn't a college town for sports.

There's more than one direction out of Dekalb.

Isn't "just win baby!" the response obtained on how to get crowds into GB when someone (with an outsider's perspective) proposes it's not about the wins and losses?

Someone would have to convince me that NIU connects with their community before I'd believe the problem is anything other than that. It's a "normal" school. They produce teachers. It's like here, where most of the teachers are from UT/BG but the schools run OSU-Michigan contests and promotions. If their own graduates don't have enough self-pride in their education to buck the zombie trends, there's a problem with the education.

OUR best shot at filling the GB isn't the wins. It's that new person in U-Hall. Anyone ever remember a UT Pres spent as much time addressing the community as the new leader in Chief? SHE is the one that is going to instill the desire into top high school graduates to attend UT and SHE is the one that is going to instill the desire in the UT graduates and the community to come to campus events, if SHE can get the UT staff on board with the idea that it's in their own best interests to be part of the community and to wear the colors proudly amongst the community.

NIU is failing at the community connection, not the next to Chicago connection. Bet on it.

(11-21-2015 09:38 AM)eastisbest Wrote:  There's more than one direction out of Dekalb.

Isn't "just win baby!" the response obtained on how to get crowds into GB when someone (with an outsider's perspective) proposes it's not about the wins and losses?

Someone would have to convince me that NIU connects with their community before I'd believe the problem is anything other than that. It's a "normal" school. They produce teachers. It's like here, where most of the teachers are from UT/BG but the schools run OSU-Michigan contests and promotions. If their own graduates don't have enough self-pride in their education to buck the zombie trends, there's a problem with the education.

OUR best shot at filling the GB isn't the wins. It's that new person in U-Hall. Anyone ever remember a UT Pres spent as much time addressing the community as the new leader in Chief? SHE is the one that is going to instill the desire into top high school graduates to attend UT and SHE is the one that is going to instill the desire in the UT graduates and the community to come to campus events, if SHE can get the UT staff on board with the idea that it's in their own best interests to be part of the community and to wear the colors proudly amongst the community.

NIU is failing at the community connection, not the next to Chicago connection. Bet on it.

You are so right about President Gaber. She was a great choice.