I know we all have had this discussion a number of times, wanted to discuss more dialogue with those of you on this board. I have been thinking for several weeks what I would do if I was in charge of putting more excited butts in seats at Huskie Stadium. I know we have a strong fan base, it showed up in very hard locations like the Orange Bowl. It was not easy to travel to, expensive, but a huge turning point for Huskies in general. Local fans in DeKalb and Sycamore are loyal fans, and even draw fans from farther out in Illinois. How do we create more of us?

1. You know how every incoming freshman has orientation? Why not have the coach and a few players that are around come talk, get them excited about "Their" team. A high powered video showing excited crowds at HS, the historical point of view as well. NIU Football has a strong History dating back to way before we were around. We need to get incoming freshman on board early, give away Huskie gear and really relate to the kids. Kids will respond, if we already to this then we need to do it better. I know our kids in general show up, but we can do better on-boarding new fans and getting them hooked like we are. A ton more marketing material out on campus, upcoming game info and maybe video boards here and there on campus showing highlights while you wait for a bus or waking through student center?? Run the marching band through campus now and then when the weather is nice early on. (just thinking out loud here folks)
2. How do we get more of the Huskie Community at our games? Outside Marketing firms working with our local community leaders?
We have a ton of people surrounding NIU, we need more of them and what's nice is they are already proud of their team, need them to drink more of the Huskie Kool-Aid.
3. Getting local media more involved and on board supporting Huskies, we could use more media coverage. How do we get this done? Relationships, create more solid relationships in the media. We have to sell the Huskies harder, get media on board...
4. Keep on upgrades at HS, make the game day experience better. This is a big one and not easy to do. I know they work on this, but we need more people around HS excited. Getting people excited that are at the games.
5. Exposure, more billboards, more commercials, more coaches speaking at functions in the local communities. Market the hell out of this team and school, as their team and school.....

I know its game day, but figured this thread could go a while and ideas could come out of it and be shared with Athletics. You all are hooked, how come? How do we hook more people?

Just thinking out loud here, typing out thoughts. I know I'm missing a lot here, but this hopefully will promote more ideas and discussion. NIU is so close, feels like they can take the extra step to get to the next level, but more needs to be done. Winning is not enough it seems. Boise State and other schools like Fresno State can do it, so can we. Both have incredible support at home.

Beat Ohio....

Great idea! Freshman day during the game with activities and getting to hang out with players and coaches afterwards would be a huge hit...

(11-24-2015 12:09 PM)badmoonrising13 Wrote:  Great idea! Freshman day during the game with activities and getting to hang out with players and coaches afterwards would be a huge hit...

Great post. Always good to see fresh insight on this topic.

Every year students need to be won over to NIU Football.
NIU athletics cannot prevent teachers from scheduling exams or projects the following day.

Neither can they offer Graduation points for attending 12 quarters of televised NIU football.
Neither can they be expected to sell students the idea that NIU FB success makes an NIU degree more marketable.
A Sad reality of life.


If students know some of the athletes they are more likely to attend.
Having the FB team march through campus and hand out free drink coupons cannot hurt.

Finally the more student helpers employed by NIU FB to clear the snow and do various tasks the more likely they are to attend FB programs.

My first year in the dorms, coach Pettibone came into the cafeteria and encouraged the students to go to the games. Can't say whether or not it helped, but we got decent attendance for mostly so-so teams. Though that was before TV (well not literally before TV). Seemed like a good idea even at the time.

(11-24-2015 04:00 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  My first year in the dorms, coach Pettibone came into the cafeteria and encouraged the students to go to the games. Can't say whether or not it helped, but we got decent attendance for mostly so-so teams. Though that was before TV (well not literally before TV). Seemed like a good idea even at the time.

I remember when Coach P did this. He loved doing it too. We just need to create another 30,000 nuts like us on this board. Getting students to understand that this is their team is huge.

As we all know TV and the internet have pretty much screwed us on attendance. Back when I was at NIU 2004-2008, even though NIU was good and there was some games on ESPN, you had to go to the games if you wanted to see them. There were maybe 2 games that were on ESPN and people got excited about going to those because it was a new thing.

But today, every single game is either on TV or streamed for free. So there is is not point in going unless you truly want to be there. You can go to the tailgate and then head home and watch the game. That makes it difficult to keep the students that figured they would stay and watch the game because they wanted to at least be able to talk about it back in my day, compared to today where you don't need to be there to see it.

It's a catch-22 for G5 schools who need attendance to show they are a "big time" program, but also are dealing with every game being televised in one way or another for the first time. I honestly don't know how to fix this, and that's what makes it very challenging to overcome.

(11-24-2015 04:06 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  As we all know TV and the internet have pretty much screwed us on attendance. Back when I was at NIU 2004-2008, even though NIU was good and there was some games on ESPN, you had to go to the games if you wanted to see them. There were maybe 2 games that were on ESPN and people got excited about going to those because it was a new thing.

But today, every single game is either on TV or streamed for free. So there is is not point in going unless you truly want to be there. You can go to the tailgate and then head home and watch the game. That makes it difficult to keep the students that figured they would stay and watch the game because they wanted to at least be able to talk about it back in my day, compared to today where you don't need to be there to see it.

It's a catch-22 for G5 schools who need attendance to show they are a "big time" program, but also are dealing with every game being televised in one way or another for the first time. I honestly don't know how to fix this, and that's what makes it very challenging to overcome.

I know, it's nuts. I think an outside sports marketing firm could help, but would be $$ to make that happen. Getting the community to go more would be huge. We have to think of ways of getting students more involved, hands on, and feel like they are part of the program. Like ND, having the kids paint the helmets, more rally's on campus, and the like. Not easy, but essential now.