Lower attendance is the new normal for most schools. The big rich schools continue to draw mega crowds and the rest fight for a smaller fan base. Changing demographics, more competition for leisure time activities, whatever, a new normal is here for NIU and most other schools.

Fans and managers of the sport have to adjust to this, no more stadiums expansion plans. I'm of the opinion they need to make the experience better for a much smaller in person attendance #s. That's my opinion; but HOW you can do that with the sport's revenue down, I have no earthly idea....

(11-10-2018 11:58 PM)NIU84 Wrote:  Fans and managers of the sport have to adjust to this, no more stadiums expansion plans. I'm of the opinion they need to make the experience better for a much smaller in person attendance #s.

I definitely agree we shouldn't add capacity to Huskie Stadium at this time but it absolutely needs to be renovated to bring it up to this century. We need a new press box, suites, concessions, ticket windows, bathrooms, updated locker rooms, a true stadium sound system (not just sound coming from the video board), walkway on the south end to connect east and west sides so you can get to them from inside the stadium, and even stores inside to purchase NIU gear. The stadium is very outdated.

(11-10-2018 09:32 AM)scottiep12 Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 11:01 AM)17Huskies Wrote:  While I can still look back and say I miss it, I've moved on from worrying about it. I still enjoy going. Maybe some day a bunch of stuff will change (cause it's not just 1 thing), timing/months/culture of live sports/TV options/student priorities/etc/etc/etc...but it no longer changes my experience. Actually makes it easier to get in and out of the game.

I hardly ever come to the board anymore. Did it today cuz I figured it would be fairly optimistic.

I have to say this is the best post I’ve seen in a while. Exactly how I feel. There are a million factors at play here, and seeing shots of that game make me a little nostalgic, but it is what it is. I no longer get mad about it. I just do my part. Buy my season tix, drag old alumni with me to midweek games, enjoy Fatty’s pregame and fist pump all the way home after Tuckin’ Foledo.

Some fixes if I were commish:

-Front load MAC schedule to play division games in Oct. Play the cross games in November. Get the weather and Saturday on your side for the rivalry games. Chalk up low attendance in November.
-if you must play maction, limit it to games 10&11 and everybody plays one home and one away. That way you can brand those two weeks as #maction and actually do some cool stuff for exposure. Maybe a mini-gameday show each week at the biggest game.

If you front load games in October then divisions might be wrapped up a month early.

I like having the important games at the end.

Can you imagine the Toledo and wmu games in October? Doesn't seem right.

It was weird having cmu in September.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

(11-11-2018 07:31 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(11-10-2018 11:58 PM)NIU84 Wrote:  Fans and managers of the sport have to adjust to this, no more stadiums expansion plans. I'm of the opinion they need to make the experience better for a much smaller in person attendance #s.

I definitely agree we shouldn't add capacity to Huskie Stadium at this time but it absolutely needs to be renovated to bring it up to this century. We need a new press box, suites, concessions, ticket windows, bathrooms, updated locker rooms, a true stadium sound system (not just sound coming from the video board), walkway on the south end to connect east and west sides so you can get to them from inside the stadium, and even stores inside to purchase NIU gear. The stadium is very outdated.

All good ideas. We don't need more seats, just a better environment. FIU built a new stadium in 2006, 22,000 seats. Very clean, modern, with decent amenities.

I know FIU's is a new stadium and hard to compare, but NIU needs to upgrade while still maintaining the old-school feel of HS.

I was there for he Utah game and it's like taking a time machine back to the 80s.

(11-11-2018 10:23 AM)MiamiHuskie Wrote:  

(11-11-2018 07:31 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(11-10-2018 11:58 PM)NIU84 Wrote:  Fans and managers of the sport have to adjust to this, no more stadiums expansion plans. I'm of the opinion they need to make the experience better for a much smaller in person attendance #s.

I definitely agree we shouldn't add capacity to Huskie Stadium at this time but it absolutely needs to be renovated to bring it up to this century. We need a new press box, suites, concessions, ticket windows, bathrooms, updated locker rooms, a true stadium sound system (not just sound coming from the video board), walkway on the south end to connect east and west sides so you can get to them from inside the stadium, and even stores inside to purchase NIU gear. The stadium is very outdated.

All good ideas. We don't need more seats, just a better environment. FIU built a new stadium in 2006, 22,000 seats. Very clean, modern, with decent amenities.

I know FIU's is a new stadium and hard to compare, but NIU needs to upgrade while still maintaining the old-school feel of HS.

I was there for he Utah game and it's like taking a time machine back to the 80s.

Thanks for pointing out FIUs stadium, I googled it and it does look nice and modern. Seat backs!!! FIU's a big school (50k+ students) in the middle of an urban area I believe, and they chose to limit it to 22-23K seats. That an example of what I am guessing is the new thinking with administrators.

NIU averages 11K attendance last year, I'm sure that's a tad inflated. No way we expand HS. Focus on bathrooms and concessions to accommodate 15-17K, that's likely a realistic high end # for us (a true count). Just a guess. Again though, i just don't see us having the cash to make any changes except those the local fire department forces on us!

And for the record, my dream is we get a dome! I still have PTSD from attending Jordan Lynch's last home game vs WMU, in my memory is was -130F...at least!!!! :)

(11-08-2018 12:10 PM)NIU17 Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 11:52 AM)NILAW Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 11:27 AM)NIU17 Wrote:  Yesterday's attendance was 17,813. Was the west side crowded? It sounded pretty loud at certain times.

ESPN listed the attendance at 5,887 (http://www.espn.com/college-football/gam.../401020777) as did a couple of other game summaries (including the game summary on the NIU Athletics site),but that could be based on the ESPN number. I don't know which is accurate.

lol - I was looking at the box score from 2012 game. You're right - it is showing 5,887. That is really sad.

Is it me or have they stopped doing the guess the attendance at games? Haven’t seen it all year?

(11-11-2018 09:33 PM)NIU84 Wrote:  

(11-11-2018 10:23 AM)MiamiHuskie Wrote:  

(11-11-2018 07:31 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(11-10-2018 11:58 PM)NIU84 Wrote:  Fans and managers of the sport have to adjust to this, no more stadiums expansion plans. I'm of the opinion they need to make the experience better for a much smaller in person attendance #s.

I definitely agree we shouldn't add capacity to Huskie Stadium at this time but it absolutely needs to be renovated to bring it up to this century. We need a new press box, suites, concessions, ticket windows, bathrooms, updated locker rooms, a true stadium sound system (not just sound coming from the video board), walkway on the south end to connect east and west sides so you can get to them from inside the stadium, and even stores inside to purchase NIU gear. The stadium is very outdated.

All good ideas. We don't need more seats, just a better environment. FIU built a new stadium in 2006, 22,000 seats. Very clean, modern, with decent amenities.

I know FIU's is a new stadium and hard to compare, but NIU needs to upgrade while still maintaining the old-school feel of HS.

I was there for he Utah game and it's like taking a time machine back to the 80s.

Thanks for pointing out FIUs stadium, I googled it and it does look nice and modern. Seat backs!!! FIU's a big school (50k+ students) in the middle of an urban area I believe, and they chose to limit it to 22-23K seats. That an example of what I am guessing is the new thinking with administrators.

NIU averages 11K attendance last year, I'm sure that's a tad inflated. No way we expand HS. Focus on bathrooms and concessions to accommodate 15-17K, that's likely a realistic high end # for us (a true count). Just a guess. Again though, i just don't see us having the cash to make any changes except those the local fire department forces on us!

And for the record, my dream is we get a dome! I still have PTSD from attending Jordan Lynch's last home game vs WMU, in my memory is was -130F...at least!!!! :)

Pretty good snow shower for the first half in addition to being -130.
Actually I think it was about 15 with a windchill of maybe 8 or so.

How about a stadium reduction? You know a nice cozy 12,000 seat dome. Like the Kibbie Dome, but much more classy.

One thing the tennis industry found out about participation is that if you have to set up your own matches, you're less likely to play. If someone asks you to play, you're more likely to play. So, the industry worked on having clubs and facilities create more drop-in round robins, leagues, etc.

I wonder if there is something that can stimulate dorms and frats to organize more group trips, including transportation, tickets, food, etc. all set up for you? Maybe dorms or dorm floors could win prize money based on their per capita attendance (which wouldn't motivate individual students but might motivate RAs).

If the floor is going every game, maybe that allows singles who wouldn't go along more motivation to tag along. Maybe each dorm/frat/sorority picks two games per year to take an organized group trip. That wouldn't add thousands to attendance, but it might get many students to their first game, which would get them interested in going to more during their time at NIU.

While Northwestern had their home basketball games offsite last year, the university gave students free tickets, free transportation and free food to get them to the arena. NIU probably doesn't have the budget to pay students to go to football games, but the group trip angle with free shuttle, tix and at-cost food might work. You'd probably be able to get sponsors to give away a freebie each game (scarf, hat, t-shirt, etc.).

I assume there's some sort of university program in place to try and get dorms and greeks to make group trips, but I wonder how well that's managed. Any current students know?

(11-11-2018 09:46 PM)pjfleck82 Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 12:10 PM)NIU17 Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 11:52 AM)NILAW Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 11:27 AM)NIU17 Wrote:  Yesterday's attendance was 17,813. Was the west side crowded? It sounded pretty loud at certain times.

ESPN listed the attendance at 5,887 (http://www.espn.com/college-football/gam.../401020777) as did a couple of other game summaries (including the game summary on the NIU Athletics site),but that could be based on the ESPN number. I don't know which is accurate.

lol - I was looking at the box score from 2012 game. You're right - it is showing 5,887. That is really sad.

Is it me or have they stopped doing the guess the attendance at games? Haven’t seen it all year?

Oh, it’s not you.....

(11-12-2018 12:00 PM)thxjoenovak Wrote:  

(11-11-2018 09:46 PM)pjfleck82 Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 12:10 PM)NIU17 Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 11:52 AM)NILAW Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 11:27 AM)NIU17 Wrote:  Yesterday's attendance was 17,813. Was the west side crowded? It sounded pretty loud at certain times.

ESPN listed the attendance at 5,887 (http://www.espn.com/college-football/gam.../401020777) as did a couple of other game summaries (including the game summary on the NIU Athletics site),but that could be based on the ESPN number. I don't know which is accurate.

lol - I was looking at the box score from 2012 game. You're right - it is showing 5,887. That is really sad.

Is it me or have they stopped doing the guess the attendance at games? Haven’t seen it all year?

Oh, it’s not you.....

I was at that game and 5,887 is very generous, I don't think it was even that many. That said, I can't make the Miami game due to a work function. So...screw you, ESPN.

(11-12-2018 09:15 AM)niu50yrdline Wrote:  How about a stadium reduction? You know a nice cozy 12,000 seat dome. Like the Kibbie Dome, but much more classy.

Northern Iowa's UNI-Dome! Seats 16.5k or so. If only we could.

(11-08-2018 10:18 AM)NIU17 Wrote:  What year was that? In 2012 the game was crowded and very loud. But I think both teams were undefeated in MAC and we were ranked and had Lynch. Students showed up for that game and it was freezing. I sat on the student side and we had to sit at the top. Great atmosphere and great victory (31-24).

That was quite a night for NIU and Toledo to get Sean Mcdonough and Chris Spielman as announcers.

I think the most memorable weeknight game I have attended was the 2013 Ball State game. Not a big crowd, but very very spirited for an in-conference game. So many momentum swings and just a great signature game by Lynch closing out those pesky Cardinals. Great start to the night with Jim Corneilson anthem.

That 2010 Toledo game felt like the OFFICIAL crushing and end of the Toledo curse. I know NIU beat Toledo in 05 and thumped the Rockets in 2008, but that 2010 game felt like NIU saying to the Rockets, "No more, get used to it"

(11-13-2018 12:23 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 10:18 AM)NIU17 Wrote:  What year was that? In 2012 the game was crowded and very loud. But I think both teams were undefeated in MAC and we were ranked and had Lynch. Students showed up for that game and it was freezing. I sat on the student side and we had to sit at the top. Great atmosphere and great victory (31-24).

I think the most memorable weeknight game I have attended was the 2013 Ball State game. Not a big crowd, but very very spirited for an in-conference game. So many momentum swings and just a great signature game by Lynch closing out those pesky Cardinals. Great start to the night with Jim Corneilson anthem.

I’ll always remember this game for what happened after it. As Ball St was walking out, an NIU fan shouted “Hey Lembo, did you tell your players you’re leaving for UConn yet?” And Lembo confronted the fan.

(11-13-2018 12:23 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 10:18 AM)NIU17 Wrote:  What year was that? In 2012 the game was crowded and very loud. But I think both teams were undefeated in MAC and we were ranked and had Lynch. Students showed up for that game and it was freezing. I sat on the student side and we had to sit at the top. Great atmosphere and great victory (31-24).

That was quite a night for NIU and Toledo to get Sean Mcdonough and Chris Spielman as announcers.

I think the most memorable weeknight game I have attended was the 2013 Ball State game. Not a big crowd, but very very spirited for an in-conference game. So many momentum swings and just a great signature game by Lynch closing out those pesky Cardinals. Great start to the night with Jim Corneilson anthem.

That 2010 Toledo game felt like the OFFICIAL crushing and end of the Toledo curse. I know NIU beat Toledo in 05 and thumped the Rockets in 2008, but that 2010 game felt like NIU saying to the Rockets, "No more, get used to it"

Another really fun weeknight game (assuming you count Friday as a weeknight) was in 2004 against BGSU. I think it was a "Red Out" game and it was G. Wolfe's coming out party as I think he had over 200 yards. The 04 team was really good and the crowds were great back then.

(11-14-2018 11:03 AM)pjfleck82 Wrote:  

(11-13-2018 12:23 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 10:18 AM)NIU17 Wrote:  What year was that? In 2012 the game was crowded and very loud. But I think both teams were undefeated in MAC and we were ranked and had Lynch. Students showed up for that game and it was freezing. I sat on the student side and we had to sit at the top. Great atmosphere and great victory (31-24).

That was quite a night for NIU and Toledo to get Sean Mcdonough and Chris Spielman as announcers.

I think the most memorable weeknight game I have attended was the 2013 Ball State game. Not a big crowd, but very very spirited for an in-conference game. So many momentum swings and just a great signature game by Lynch closing out those pesky Cardinals. Great start to the night with Jim Corneilson anthem.

That 2010 Toledo game felt like the OFFICIAL crushing and end of the Toledo curse. I know NIU beat Toledo in 05 and thumped the Rockets in 2008, but that 2010 game felt like NIU saying to the Rockets, "No more, get used to it"

Another really fun weeknight game (assuming you count Friday as a weeknight) was in 2004 against BGSU. I think it was a "Red Out" game and it was G. Wolfe's coming out party as I think he had over 200 yards. The 04 team was really good and the crowds were great back then.

Yea that was fun. I was like, "who is this Wolfe guy?" He ran for 200 yards in one half, really.

(11-14-2018 11:59 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-14-2018 11:03 AM)pjfleck82 Wrote:  

(11-13-2018 12:23 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(11-08-2018 10:18 AM)NIU17 Wrote:  What year was that? In 2012 the game was crowded and very loud. But I think both teams were undefeated in MAC and we were ranked and had Lynch. Students showed up for that game and it was freezing. I sat on the student side and we had to sit at the top. Great atmosphere and great victory (31-24).

That was quite a night for NIU and Toledo to get Sean Mcdonough and Chris Spielman as announcers.

I think the most memorable weeknight game I have attended was the 2013 Ball State game. Not a big crowd, but very very spirited for an in-conference game. So many momentum swings and just a great signature game by Lynch closing out those pesky Cardinals. Great start to the night with Jim Corneilson anthem.

That 2010 Toledo game felt like the OFFICIAL crushing and end of the Toledo curse. I know NIU beat Toledo in 05 and thumped the Rockets in 2008, but that 2010 game felt like NIU saying to the Rockets, "No more, get used to it"

Another really fun weeknight game (assuming you count Friday as a weeknight) was in 2004 against BGSU. I think it was a "Red Out" game and it was G. Wolfe's coming out party as I think he had over 200 yards. The 04 team was really good and the crowds were great back then.

Yea that was fun. I was like, "who is this Wolfe guy?" He ran for 200 yards in one half, really.

Do you happen to remember who were the announcers for that game? I feel like ESPN sent a decent crew but I could be mistaken.
Didnt Mike Tirico do the 05 MACC?

And Herbie and Erin Andrews.

Remember when Doug Flutie did one of our games? He was seen at the rec center that day as well as the Junction. My guess is around 2006 time frame.

(11-14-2018 01:03 PM)jjj Wrote:  Remember when Doug Flutie did one of our games? He was seen at the rec center that day as well as the Junction. My guess is around 2006 time frame.

There's been a few big names. Waddle, Kap, Jay Feely, Des, Al Groh, Kanell, Stone and Tom Luginball all come to mind. Sure, I missing others.