BYU has a large national fanbase. They had a good crowd at the Glass Bowl with the majority from within 500 miles of the UT campus.

(02-14-2020 10:17 AM)uiniu57 Wrote:  As NIU007 noted, [i]"It's obvious that having games in Chicago doesn't increase attendance in DeKalb. A one time burst of fans from Chicago doesn't make up for a long-term drop in season-ticket holders in DeKalb

I'll ask you this….What would a home BYU game do to 2021 attendance that the 2018 Utah game didn't do for the 2019 attendance?

It may prove to do nothing being played away from Dekalb, yes. But it's been proven that keeping it in Dekalb also does nothing. You may say it loses fans. True. So do you want a slow death with no resolution or maybe a quicker one that has a glimmer of hope? There's no right answer really.

(02-14-2020 10:24 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:17 AM)uiniu57 Wrote:  As NIU007 noted, [i]"It's obvious that having games in Chicago doesn't increase attendance in DeKalb. A one time burst of fans from Chicago doesn't make up for a long-term drop in season-ticket holders in DeKalb

I'll ask you this….What would a home BYU game do to 2021 attendance that the 2018 Utah game didn't do for the 2019 attendance?

It may prove to do nothing being played away from Dekalb, yes. But it's been proven that keeping it in Dekalb also does nothing. You may say it loses fans. True. So do you want a slow death with no resolution or maybe a quicker one that has a glimmer of hope? There's no right answer really.

We've had so FEW games at home against decent opponents. We went about 10 years in a row without having a decent OOC team play at Huskie stadium. One game against Utah wasn't going to suddenly change that.

Also, I wouldn't use last year's attendance as too much of a guide. It rained at least 4 of the 5 games.

(02-14-2020 10:41 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:24 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:17 AM)uiniu57 Wrote:  As NIU007 noted, [i]"It's obvious that having games in Chicago doesn't increase attendance in DeKalb. A one time burst of fans from Chicago doesn't make up for a long-term drop in season-ticket holders in DeKalb

I'll ask you this….What would a home BYU game do to 2021 attendance that the 2018 Utah game didn't do for the 2019 attendance?

It may prove to do nothing being played away from Dekalb, yes. But it's been proven that keeping it in Dekalb also does nothing. You may say it loses fans. True. So do you want a slow death with no resolution or maybe a quicker one that has a glimmer of hope? There's no right answer really.

We've had so FEW games at home against decent opponents. We went about 10 years in a row without having a decent OOC team play at Huskie stadium. One game against Utah wasn't going to suddenly change that.

Also, I wouldn't use last year's attendance as too much of a guide. It rained at least 4 of the 5 games.

Amen to this. This is what people dont understand. We had over a decade of rot with the home schedule that it's going to take a hell of a lot more than one game vs Utah to change that. We lost a generation of fans due to AD in incompetence of the last 10 plus years , it won't be fixed overnight, but it will not ever be fixed unless things start to change now

(02-14-2020 10:51 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:41 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:24 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:17 AM)uiniu57 Wrote:  As NIU007 noted, [i]"It's obvious that having games in Chicago doesn't increase attendance in DeKalb. A one time burst of fans from Chicago doesn't make up for a long-term drop in season-ticket holders in DeKalb

I'll ask you this….What would a home BYU game do to 2021 attendance that the 2018 Utah game didn't do for the 2019 attendance?

It may prove to do nothing being played away from Dekalb, yes. But it's been proven that keeping it in Dekalb also does nothing. You may say it loses fans. True. So do you want a slow death with no resolution or maybe a quicker one that has a glimmer of hope? There's no right answer really.

We've had so FEW games at home against decent opponents. We went about 10 years in a row without having a decent OOC team play at Huskie stadium. One game against Utah wasn't going to suddenly change that.

Also, I wouldn't use last year's attendance as too much of a guide. It rained at least 4 of the 5 games.

Amen to this. This is what people dont understand. We had over a decade of rot with the home schedule that it's going to take a hell of a lot more than one game vs Utah to change that. We lost a generation of fans due to AD in incompetence of the last 10 plus years , it won't be fixed overnight, but it will not ever be fixed unless things start to change now

So if one game against Utah won't change it, how would one game against BYU change it? I think one of the issues is fans use "What was" and try to apply it to today. I don't think scheduling opponents is what it used to be. SOS and money has altered how P5s select away games. So to think you can get a quality P5 team into dekalb every year and market that seems impractical. Especially they way the P5's now cancel their end of home&homes.

Maction killed most of the fan base. The quality tv coverage killed the rest. Those are the issues i think they're fighting first and foremost. You could have Bama in dekalb, sell 25k tickets. The next maction tuesday game will still have 8k attend.

(02-14-2020 11:01 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:51 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:41 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:24 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:17 AM)uiniu57 Wrote:  As NIU007 noted, [i]"It's obvious that having games in Chicago doesn't increase attendance in DeKalb. A one time burst of fans from Chicago doesn't make up for a long-term drop in season-ticket holders in DeKalb

I'll ask you this….What would a home BYU game do to 2021 attendance that the 2018 Utah game didn't do for the 2019 attendance?

It may prove to do nothing being played away from Dekalb, yes. But it's been proven that keeping it in Dekalb also does nothing. You may say it loses fans. True. So do you want a slow death with no resolution or maybe a quicker one that has a glimmer of hope? There's no right answer really.

We've had so FEW games at home against decent opponents. We went about 10 years in a row without having a decent OOC team play at Huskie stadium. One game against Utah wasn't going to suddenly change that.

Also, I wouldn't use last year's attendance as too much of a guide. It rained at least 4 of the 5 games.

Amen to this. This is what people dont understand. We had over a decade of rot with the home schedule that it's going to take a hell of a lot more than one game vs Utah to change that. We lost a generation of fans due to AD in incompetence of the last 10 plus years , it won't be fixed overnight, but it will not ever be fixed unless things start to change now

So if one game against Utah won't change it, how would one game against BYU change it? I think one of the issues is fans use "What was" and try to apply it to today. I don't think scheduling opponents is what it used to be. SOS and money has altered how P5s select away games. So to think you can get a quality P5 team into dekalb every year and market that seems impractical. Especially they way the P5's now cancel their end of home&homes.

Maction killed most of the fan base. The quality tv coverage killed the rest. Those are the issues i think they're fighting first and foremost. You could have Bama in dekalb, sell 25k tickets. The next maction tuesday game will still have 8k attend.

I'm still waiting for anyone in the athletic department or the president to even admit that MACtion is a problem, if they actually care about attendance. It's becoming clear that they don't.

The BYU game is just one more thing to add on top of the other issues.

(02-14-2020 11:15 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 11:01 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:51 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:41 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:24 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  I'll ask you this….What would a home BYU game do to 2021 attendance that the 2018 Utah game didn't do for the 2019 attendance?

It may prove to do nothing being played away from Dekalb, yes. But it's been proven that keeping it in Dekalb also does nothing. You may say it loses fans. True. So do you want a slow death with no resolution or maybe a quicker one that has a glimmer of hope? There's no right answer really.

We've had so FEW games at home against decent opponents. We went about 10 years in a row without having a decent OOC team play at Huskie stadium. One game against Utah wasn't going to suddenly change that.

Also, I wouldn't use last year's attendance as too much of a guide. It rained at least 4 of the 5 games.

Amen to this. This is what people dont understand. We had over a decade of rot with the home schedule that it's going to take a hell of a lot more than one game vs Utah to change that. We lost a generation of fans due to AD in incompetence of the last 10 plus years , it won't be fixed overnight, but it will not ever be fixed unless things start to change now

So if one game against Utah won't change it, how would one game against BYU change it? I think one of the issues is fans use "What was" and try to apply it to today. I don't think scheduling opponents is what it used to be. SOS and money has altered how P5s select away games. So to think you can get a quality P5 team into dekalb every year and market that seems impractical. Especially they way the P5's now cancel their end of home&homes.

Maction killed most of the fan base. The quality tv coverage killed the rest. Those are the issues i think they're fighting first and foremost. You could have Bama in dekalb, sell 25k tickets. The next maction tuesday game will still have 8k attend.

I'm still waiting for anyone in the athletic department or the president to even admit that MACtion is a problem, if they actually care about attendance. It's becoming clear that they don't.

The BYU game is just one more thing to add on top of the other issues.

They are either too dumb to understand it or too obstinate to admit it.

(02-14-2020 11:28 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 11:15 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 11:01 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:51 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:41 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  We've had so FEW games at home against decent opponents. We went about 10 years in a row without having a decent OOC team play at Huskie stadium. One game against Utah wasn't going to suddenly change that.

Also, I wouldn't use last year's attendance as too much of a guide. It rained at least 4 of the 5 games.

Amen to this. This is what people dont understand. We had over a decade of rot with the home schedule that it's going to take a hell of a lot more than one game vs Utah to change that. We lost a generation of fans due to AD in incompetence of the last 10 plus years , it won't be fixed overnight, but it will not ever be fixed unless things start to change now

So if one game against Utah won't change it, how would one game against BYU change it? I think one of the issues is fans use "What was" and try to apply it to today. I don't think scheduling opponents is what it used to be. SOS and money has altered how P5s select away games. So to think you can get a quality P5 team into dekalb every year and market that seems impractical. Especially they way the P5's now cancel their end of home&homes.

Maction killed most of the fan base. The quality tv coverage killed the rest. Those are the issues i think they're fighting first and foremost. You could have Bama in dekalb, sell 25k tickets. The next maction tuesday game will still have 8k attend.

I'm still waiting for anyone in the athletic department or the president to even admit that MACtion is a problem, if they actually care about attendance. It's becoming clear that they don't.

The BYU game is just one more thing to add on top of the other issues.

They are either too dumb to understand it or too obstinate to admit it.

I wish there were more fans like you guys NIU007 and DF that understood the problem. If we dont speak up, this will continue to downward spiral until there is no one left

No question MACtion has decimated the fan base. When it's inconvenient to attend over half the games on your schedule, it gets easier to take a pass on the few that you can.

My buddy and I were talking about this the other night, but frankly, we were in much better shape when we played on Saturdays and all our home games were carried on Comcast Sports Net. (A void that our friend downstate is now filling, by the way)

I just don't see all the benefits the national exposure from the ESPN TV is supposed to bring.

(02-14-2020 11:28 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 11:15 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 11:01 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:51 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:41 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  We've had so FEW games at home against decent opponents. We went about 10 years in a row without having a decent OOC team play at Huskie stadium. One game against Utah wasn't going to suddenly change that.

Also, I wouldn't use last year's attendance as too much of a guide. It rained at least 4 of the 5 games.

Amen to this. This is what people dont understand. We had over a decade of rot with the home schedule that it's going to take a hell of a lot more than one game vs Utah to change that. We lost a generation of fans due to AD in incompetence of the last 10 plus years , it won't be fixed overnight, but it will not ever be fixed unless things start to change now

So if one game against Utah won't change it, how would one game against BYU change it? I think one of the issues is fans use "What was" and try to apply it to today. I don't think scheduling opponents is what it used to be. SOS and money has altered how P5s select away games. So to think you can get a quality P5 team into dekalb every year and market that seems impractical. Especially they way the P5's now cancel their end of home&homes.

Maction killed most of the fan base. The quality tv coverage killed the rest. Those are the issues i think they're fighting first and foremost. You could have Bama in dekalb, sell 25k tickets. The next maction tuesday game will still have 8k attend.

I'm still waiting for anyone in the athletic department or the president to even admit that MACtion is a problem, if they actually care about attendance. It's becoming clear that they don't.

The BYU game is just one more thing to add on top of the other issues.

They are either too dumb to understand it or too obstinate to admit it.

They're success is based on revenue, not loyalty. loyalty is something they exploit more than cultivate. It's really just pure business now. What we need is some common ground that works for both sides.

People want home games. They want their tailgate spots, fattys and memories. Find a way for 3 early season Saturday home games. Try to move a early P5 payday to midseason. Get a good P5 to come here, but not Dekalb. A Chicago venue. Remember, P5 teams have to sell their OOC schedule to their fans as they raise season ticket prices. Try being a P5 fan and seeing NIU on the schedule. Take Wisconsin. We think great, Madison is awesome. P5 packed stadium. Cool restaurants and bars. What do Badger fans think? Dekalb Holiday Inn and a half filled stadium. You need to sell Chicago and a cool venue. Scheduling is a 2way street. Not just about satisfying Huskie fans.

Two Maction games at SeatGeek. 99% complain about those games. If they can get 12-15K in Bridgeview you have to let them. Would you prefer Frazier go full Bill Wirtz and black-out local tv for those games?

Its desperate times people. You can't use the fan model from 10-20 years ago.

Any argument about building loyalty went out the window with the BC and Utah attendances.

(02-14-2020 02:10 PM)7 Wrote:  Any argument about building loyalty went out the window with the BC and Utah attendances.

That was after about 10 years of pathetic scheduling. And even the Utah attendance was significantly higher than the other games.

(02-14-2020 02:06 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 11:28 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 11:15 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 11:01 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 10:51 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Amen to this. This is what people dont understand. We had over a decade of rot with the home schedule that it's going to take a hell of a lot more than one game vs Utah to change that. We lost a generation of fans due to AD in incompetence of the last 10 plus years , it won't be fixed overnight, but it will not ever be fixed unless things start to change now

So if one game against Utah won't change it, how would one game against BYU change it? I think one of the issues is fans use "What was" and try to apply it to today. I don't think scheduling opponents is what it used to be. SOS and money has altered how P5s select away games. So to think you can get a quality P5 team into dekalb every year and market that seems impractical. Especially they way the P5's now cancel their end of home&homes.

Maction killed most of the fan base. The quality tv coverage killed the rest. Those are the issues i think they're fighting first and foremost. You could have Bama in dekalb, sell 25k tickets. The next maction tuesday game will still have 8k attend.

I'm still waiting for anyone in the athletic department or the president to even admit that MACtion is a problem, if they actually care about attendance. It's becoming clear that they don't.

The BYU game is just one more thing to add on top of the other issues.

They are either too dumb to understand it or too obstinate to admit it.

They're success is based on revenue, not loyalty. loyalty is something they exploit more than cultivate. It's really just pure business now. What we need is some common ground that works for both sides.

People want home games. They want their tailgate spots, fattys and memories. Find a way for 3 early season Saturday home games. Try to move a early P5 payday to midseason. Get a good P5 to come here, but not Dekalb. A Chicago venue. Remember, P5 teams have to sell their OOC schedule to their fans as they raise season ticket prices. Try being a P5 fan and seeing NIU on the schedule. Take Wisconsin. We think great, Madison is awesome. P5 packed stadium. Cool restaurants and bars. What do Badger fans think? Dekalb Holiday Inn and a half filled stadium. You need to sell Chicago and a cool venue. Scheduling is a 2way street. Not just about satisfying Huskie fans.

Two Maction games at SeatGeek. 99% complain about those games. If they can get 12-15K in Bridgeview you have to let them. Would you prefer Frazier go full Bill Wirtz and black-out local tv for those games?

Its desperate times people. You can't use the fan model from 10-20 years ago.

Since nobody can make it to the weeknight games anyway, I'd have less issue with them moving those games.

Playing a MACtion game or two in Bridgeview is worth a try. We're down to about 5K attendance in DeKalb for those, literally nothing to lose.

(02-14-2020 02:18 PM)NIU1981 Wrote:  Playing a MACtion game or two in Bridgeview is worth a try. We're down to about 5K attendance in DeKalb for those, literally nothing to lose.

That's a move that makes much more sense than packing a Saturday game over there and trying to treat it as a special event.

(02-14-2020 02:18 PM)NIU1981 Wrote:  Playing a MACtion game or two in Bridgeview is worth a try. We're down to about 5K attendance in DeKalb for those, literally nothing to lose.

There is if they have to outlay more cash for a rental instead of a place they own.

It would have to be close to free or 10-20K to pay to have a game there in November.

Even at those prices it would be hard to breakeven my guess.

(02-14-2020 02:39 PM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 02:18 PM)NIU1981 Wrote:  Playing a MACtion game or two in Bridgeview is worth a try. We're down to about 5K attendance in DeKalb for those, literally nothing to lose.

There is if they have to outlay more cash for a rental instead of a place they own.

It would have to be close to free or 10-20K to pay to have a game there in November.

Even at those prices it would be hard to breakeven my guess.

They have to sell something like 3000 tickets this time around to break even, and that doesn’t even include parking.

They pretty much are getting it free.

(02-14-2020 02:39 PM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  

(02-14-2020 02:18 PM)NIU1981 Wrote:  Playing a MACtion game or two in Bridgeview is worth a try. We're down to about 5K attendance in DeKalb for those, literally nothing to lose.

There is if they have to outlay more cash for a rental instead of a place they own.

It would have to be close to free or 10-20K to pay to have a game there in November.

Even at those prices it would be hard to breakeven my guess.

What you guys are saying makes sense, but you really want the first event held there to succeed. If the first one was held on a Tuesday night in -10 degrees it might trash the entire concept. Establish it as a success then move it to midweek. Let as many people as possible experience it the first time so there is a second.

(02-13-2020 05:35 PM)Big Red Wrote:  So, you think NIU would draw better at SeatGeek than at Wrigley?

Alright....

I didn't say that. In reality they'd probably draw the same at Wrigley. I just said SG is a better venue for a football game, and a tailgate. No parking at Wrigley and bad sightlines for football, plus walls that make the field unplayable. Wrigley is a way cooler building, just not for football, moreso now that there have been removations making the surface even smaller than in the days when the Bears played there. Plus back then they would put in stands in RF to help with sightlines (used to play down the 3rd baseline, unlike the NW game where they played down the 1st baseline) that does not happen with the current setup.

(02-13-2020 05:41 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(02-13-2020 05:38 PM)TXHuskieJA26 Wrote:  

(02-13-2020 05:35 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(02-13-2020 04:31 PM)calvin12 Wrote:  

(02-13-2020 01:49 PM)Big Red Wrote:  If it's not going to be in Husky Stadium, then yes, I agree that this particular stadium is a great fit. However, the location of the stadium is 100% terrible. There is literally no attraction or draw for any other team to want to come to Bridgeview to play a football game. And why would they? If this stadium was in Gary, IN, it would be no different. A great stadium in a terrible location = don't do it.

Had this been pitched initially to BYU as the original location of the game, there's no way in hell BYU agrees to it. Hell, I'm surprised they didn't back out of the game when the location was changed. I'm sure they weren't stoked about coming to DeKalb, but if its gonna be changed, moving it to Brideview would be a "no deal" for me if I'm the AD at BYU. Wanna move it? Fine, put it somewhere in Chicago not in some collar community surrounded by train tracks. Just think how stoked the BYU players will be on that commute out to Brideview.

Talk about an experience they'll never forget.

commute to bridgeview is much better than the one to DeKalb. Great stadium in a terrible location don't do it, there's a place called green bay that would disagree with you. I don't like moving the game out of Huskie Stadium at all, but its a much better option than Wrigley, Sox, or Soldier fields would be. Its also a much better commute than Washington state to Chicago as you had the game in Husky Stadium

So, you think NIU would draw better at SeatGeek than at Wrigley?

Alright....

Personally, I prefer to play games in locations where you actually have 2 endzones!

And at a place where urinating is not a group activity

that depends on the group...