(03-04-2013 05:23 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  And as others have pointed out, this was an opportunity to remind everybody about the IPF, the donor bricks, the new scoreboard and message ribbons, hosting the IHSA play-offs, you name it. Sounds like either poor planning or a missed opportunity.

I have no doubt that they would've sold at least a few hundred season tickets in December/January. At least the excitement of the OB was still in the air. The quote above is proof that there is plenty more to be excited about but nobody outside of the diehard fans are aware of those things. People are going to find out about the IPF, new scoreboard, etc. by attending a game...not through an advertisement. This is a colossal failure by both the MAC and NIU.

(03-04-2013 05:23 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  Sorry to play devil's advocate, but do you honestly believe there were 10,000 articles because of NIU or because it was the Orange Bowl. Yes, the fact that the BCS idiots like Herbstreit were lamenting our getting in accounted for some percentage increase, but I think if it was Kent State or any other BCS buster, there could have been 10,000 articles. In any given year, I'm pretty sure there are close to 10,000 articles written about the Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta. Don't get me wrong, I am pleased NIU got that coverage, but it's still questionable if that "$88 million in advertising" is going to translate into better attendance or more revenue.

...of course everyone was talking about NIU because they were in the Orange Bowl...

Quote:As for Ms. Vinegar, neither she or anyone else in the administration is going to say anything other than they're "happy with 2 mid-week games" because they obviously have very little control over the portion of the schedule being dictated by ESPN and the MAC.

You are correct. They have to spin it positively any way possible.

Quote:However, somewhere along the line, Compher has to be signing off on what's being dealt NIU. Looking at everyone's 2013 schedules, there are four schools -- NIU, Buffalo, Ohio, UMass -- who get to the sixth week of the season and then play a MAC foe. Kent State is hosting BGSU in week 2; can't we ask for any flexibility if we're being dealt all these mid-week games on the back end of our schedule? Include the first open date and we'll have ONE home game in the first six weeks of college football -- Is that really capitalizing on an Orange Bowl berth?

The only thing that AD Compher is signing off on is our OOC schedule. The MAC TV contract was signed off by President Peters and the other MAC Presidents.

Quote:Having 1000 more students --- even if they leave at halftime is more important than inreasing the fan base is a very disappointing thing to hear. The students are essentially gettiing in for free; Northern Illinois needs to grow its season ticket base plain and simple. Where do they think donors come from. First you get people to come to tailgate, buy concessions and other goods, plus attend games regularly enough to decide a season-ticket package is worth it. Then they become attached enough to donate. What has really hurt NIU is that many locals (DeKalb-Sycamore area folks) who bought season tickets at the Stadium or at Evans Field House, have fallen by the wayside.

You seem to be totally be ignoring the new $50 season ticket where you get the $50 Doggie dollars. They have their own lot where they can tailgate then hopefully become attached enough to donate and get full priced season tickets.

On top of that they are now encouraging season ticket holders even more with the free MACC/bowl ticket on top of the 2 free MAC away tickets.

Also there is no longer a mini plan at $60 so realistically most of the mini plan people are going to get the Huskie land season ticket if not upgrade after last years success.

Quote:And as others have pointed out, this was an opportunity to remind everybody about the IPF, the donor bricks, the new scoreboard and message ribbons, hosting the IHSA play-offs, you name it. Sounds like either poor planning or a missed opportunity.

The CPC and bricks were talked about in the presentation along with the NIU book and MACC/Orange Bowl replica rings. Also there was a table dedicated to each in the back.

(03-04-2013 05:37 PM)armour248 Wrote:  

(03-04-2013 05:23 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  And as others have pointed out, this was an opportunity to remind everybody about the IPF, the donor bricks, the new scoreboard and message ribbons, hosting the IHSA play-offs, you name it. Sounds like either poor planning or a missed opportunity.

I have no doubt that they would've sold at least a few hundred season tickets in December/January. At least the excitement of the OB was still in the air. The quote above is proof that there is plenty more to be excited about but nobody outside of the diehard fans are aware of those things. People are going to find out about the IPF, new scoreboard, etc. by attending a game...not through an advertisement. This is a colossal failure by both the MAC and NIU.

Why would non-diehard fans care about the CPC? That would be a waste of money.

(03-04-2013 05:47 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  Why would non-diehard fans care about the CPC? That would be a waste of money.

Huh? Not sure what the waste of money refers to. I'm saying that the only way casual fans will see the improvements in and around HS (scoreboard, ribbon boards, sound system, IPF, etc) is by going to a game. You can't get casual fans to buy tickets because of the new stuff but they might make a big difference in the atmosphere at HS...so you need to get asses in the seats and change the entire perception of what an NIU game is like from an entertainment/environment standpoint. It's just sad that the schedule happened to line up the way it did after the most successful season in NIU history. The fact that our home attendance is going to be a total of about 40,000 going into November is just brutal.

edit: I'm only mentioning the CPC because it's a behemoth of a building and will bring some more closure to the north end zone. It will have some impact on how people perceive the product on the field.

Its funny (but sad) that they tried to spin the schedule as a good one and were surprised that the audience didn't react positively. Apparently they were at least able to convince themselves that the schedule was a good thing.

(03-04-2013 04:07 PM)OldTtimeNIU Wrote:  Just so you know and I am sure most of you do know....Compher cannot schedule whoever he wants to come to Huskie Stadium...Now that we have shown how we can compete it is a lose lose for any BCS school to come here. Both in money and prestige....

Any BCS school will want a big guarantee or at a minimum of 2 for 1...Most Big Ten schools schedule at least 7 home games...
I know other MAC schools have done it some of them had to take money from the BCS schools to cancell..

Scheduling is a difficult task what with all of the conference shuffling going on now.

1981....relax...it is only a game right? Okay rant on..

I think you're attributing someone else's comments to me. All I did was ask what happened at the event.

(03-04-2013 04:07 PM)OldTtimeNIU Wrote:  Just so you know and I am sure most of you do know....Compher cannot schedule whoever he wants to come to Huskie Stadium...Now that we have shown how we can compete it is a lose lose for any BCS school to come here. Both in money and prestige....

Any BCS school will want a big guarantee or at a minimum of 2 for 1...Most Big Ten schools schedule at least 7 home games...
I know other MAC schools have done it some of them had to take money from the BCS schools to cancell..

Scheduling is a difficult task what with all of the conference shuffling going on now.

1981....relax...it is only a game right? Okay rant on..

Noone said it was easy, but it is his job, he is paid a good sum of money. I understand there will be years where you just cant fill any holes, but Toledo has shown that if you pound the pavement you can get it done. It kills me to know we are so far behind the Rockets. Toledo is in much much better position to stay FBS than NIU. You have to put the effort in on scheduling and Compher has not. If there is an interesting opponent he has not announced for the next few years, it needs to be announced soon to generate some excitement. If NIU maintains its 2012 avg attendance this year it will be just because of the Orange Bowl, just a huge failure by Compher and NIU to not take advantage of this. You wont get that opportunity ever again. 50 dollars season tickets are great, but Id rather pay 200 dollars for season tickets with an attractive schedule than have NIU promote a schedule to its fans that isnt even worth that much. Noone has a right to blame anyone for not going to games this year. If our AD doesnt care, why shouuld the casual fan? Back to this comment how weekday games are great for students, thats great but if you really cared about taking care of the students then throw them an FBS level opponent at home every once in awhile. I Guess its the least you can do for many of them making a 2500 mile bus trip to support the Huskies. It should be a give-take relationship, not a take-take.

(03-04-2013 08:07 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  I Guess its the least you can do for many of them making a 2500 mile bus trip to support the Huskies. It should be a give-take relationship, not a take-take.

Now that's just comical. NIU owes the students who chose to take a heavily university subsidized trip to Miami for NYE. I agree the scheduling is garbage but give me a break.

(03-04-2013 09:17 PM)armour248 Wrote:  

(03-04-2013 08:07 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  I Guess its the least you can do for many of them making a 2500 mile bus trip to support the Huskies. It should be a give-take relationship, not a take-take.

Now that's just comical. NIU owes the students who chose to take a heavily university subsidized trip to Miami for NYE. I agree the scheduling is garbage but give me a break.

Students still made a sacrifice to go down there. But moreover it was just amazing the support NIU had for that game,makes you wonder if we had our head out of our rears, just how big NIU football could be.

(03-04-2013 04:23 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(03-04-2013 04:07 PM)OldTtimeNIU Wrote:  Just so you know and I am sure most of you do know....Compher cannot schedule whoever he wants to come to Huskie Stadium...Now that we have shown how we can compete it is a lose lose for any BCS school to come here. Both in money and prestige....

Any BCS school will want a big guarantee or at a minimum of 2 for 1...Most Big Ten schools schedule at least 7 home games...
I know other MAC schools have done it some of them had to take money from the BCS schools to cancell..

Scheduling is a difficult task what with all of the conference shuffling going on now.

1981....relax...it is only a game right? Okay rant on..

Its ALL about money...

Florida State, Boise State schedule 2019-20 Home-and-home Football Series
http://www.fbschedules.com/2013/03/flori...ll-series/

Its all about money. We need more of it and season tickets is not a good source of income for NIU.


We have around 3600 season ticket holders. At $100 per season ticket that is only $360,000. Most guarantee games we get $800k+.

Most non-AQ teams have to pay $400-$700k+ to get an AQ team to come to their place. Where are we going to get the 1.2-1.5mil?

It's not just money..

FSU and Boise State are both top tier programs, so even if one was to lose it would be a disaster in the polls like losing to NIU.

Though to your point about the money, that is why the SF games works. We don't have to pay, we do get some homefield advantage, and we play a AQ team

(03-04-2013 05:37 PM)armour248 Wrote:  

(03-04-2013 05:23 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  And as others have pointed out, this was an opportunity to remind everybody about the IPF, the donor bricks, the new scoreboard and message ribbons, hosting the IHSA play-offs, you name it. Sounds like either poor planning or a missed opportunity.

I have no doubt that they would've sold at least a few hundred season tickets in December/January. At least the excitement of the OB was still in the air. The quote above is proof that there is plenty more to be excited about but nobody outside of the diehard fans are aware of those things. People are going to find out about the IPF, new scoreboard, etc. by attending a game...not through an advertisement. This is a colossal failure by both the MAC and NIU.

You can't sell tickets until you know who is coming back. Open chairbacks/benchbacks, seat, etc. Nobody does this nor should they.

(03-04-2013 09:28 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(03-04-2013 09:17 PM)armour248 Wrote:  

(03-04-2013 08:07 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  I Guess its the least you can do for many of them making a 2500 mile bus trip to support the Huskies. It should be a give-take relationship, not a take-take.

Now that's just comical. NIU owes the students who chose to take a heavily university subsidized trip to Miami for NYE. I agree the scheduling is garbage but give me a break.

Students still made a sacrifice to go down there. But moreover it was just amazing the support NIU had for that game,makes you wonder if we had our head out of our rears, just how big NIU football could be.

NIU is never going to be huge..look at the town it is in. It gets no support from the town.. It is one of the only college towns that blatantly ignores the college and it's athletics. DeKalb and its residents should be ashame(throw Sycamore and surrounding towns in)..

Here are some good reasons:
1. We have people cry about a season ticket price that turns out to be $20/game(good luck finding a team in the top 25 that charges even close to that).

2. People cry about parking/cost. movie theater lot vs spirit lot

3. People whine about SF game..(but now people are copying it TCU vs LSU this year in cowboys stadium)

4. THey are in the MAC.. MAC does a poor job of marketing, tv contracts, etc

This video was at the end of the program.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pla...FBWnpXBaVY



This was at the beginning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwJxhocOn...oA&index=1

(03-04-2013 11:05 PM)cartershaw Wrote:  

(03-04-2013 04:23 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(03-04-2013 04:07 PM)OldTtimeNIU Wrote:  Just so you know and I am sure most of you do know....Compher cannot schedule whoever he wants to come to Huskie Stadium...Now that we have shown how we can compete it is a lose lose for any BCS school to come here. Both in money and prestige....

Any BCS school will want a big guarantee or at a minimum of 2 for 1...Most Big Ten schools schedule at least 7 home games...
I know other MAC schools have done it some of them had to take money from the BCS schools to cancell..

Scheduling is a difficult task what with all of the conference shuffling going on now.

1981....relax...it is only a game right? Okay rant on..

Its ALL about money...

Florida State, Boise State schedule 2019-20 Home-and-home Football Series
http://www.fbschedules.com/2013/03/flori...ll-series/

Its all about money. We need more of it and season tickets is not a good source of income for NIU.


We have around 3600 season ticket holders. At $100 per season ticket that is only $360,000. Most guarantee games we get $800k+.

Most non-AQ teams have to pay $400-$700k+ to get an AQ team to come to their place. Where are we going to get the 1.2-1.5mil?

It's not just money..

FSU and Boise State are both top tier programs, so even if one was to lose it would be a disaster in the polls like losing to NIU.

Though to your point about the money, that is why the SF games works. We don't have to pay, we do get some homefield advantage, and we play a AQ team

What homefield advantage do we get at SF? We're typically outnumbered 8 to 1 in fans.

The thank you was hilarious.

(03-04-2013 11:08 PM)cartershaw Wrote:  You can't sell tickets until you know who is coming back. Open chairbacks/benchbacks, seat, etc. Nobody does this nor should they.

You can take names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. and establish a waiting list to fillt hose chairbacks / benchbacks, etc. when they become available. When you say "Nobody does this nor should they," does this mean you've never heard of how there are waiting lists for season tickets at Lambeau, where some are handed down to other family members. Once again, one of the first rules in business, is not to defer or let an interested buyer off the hook. Anybody excited before or after the Orange Bowl expressing an interest to buy tickets should have been promised they would be in line as soon as the opportunity became possible.

http://www.niuhuskies.com/sports/m-footb...13aab.html

spring game slated for April 13 at 2:30 p.m. at Huskie Stadium.

I was interested in season tickets in December/January. I wouldn't have expected to receive a seating assignment on December 20th...but I would have definitely put a deposit down or signed up to reserve my spot. I had several casual NIU fan friends that were extremely excited to do the same. Fast forward three months and it doesn't look like we're even getting season tickets. Maybe the $50 plan but I'm not even sure about that. If I had to guess, those friends will attend a game or two (homecoming and maybe one other) and might not even enter the stadium...they'll just tailgate, hit the bars, etc.

This is business at its simplest. Your customer WANTS to give you money. You take it. You don't make excuses for why it can't be done. Figure it out. This program has 3,000 season ticket holders. Be proactive instead of reactive.

(03-05-2013 06:02 PM)armour248 Wrote:  I was interested in season tickets in December/January. I wouldn't have expected to receive a seating assignment on December 20th...but I would have definitely put a deposit down or signed up to reserve my spot. I had several casual NIU fan friends that were extremely excited to do the same. Fast forward three months and it doesn't look like we're even getting season tickets. Maybe the $50 plan but I'm not even sure about that. If I had to guess, those friends will attend a game or two (homecoming and maybe one other) and might not even enter the stadium...they'll just tailgate, hit the bars, etc.

This is business at its simplest. Your customer WANTS to give you money. You take it. You don't make excuses for why it can't be done. Figure it out. This program has 3,000 season ticket holders. Be proactive instead of reactive.

That is the dumbest thing i have ever read...So you were going to buy them in december but since they dont sell them then you are not going to buy them at all

You must be from dekalb sycamore area..

(03-05-2013 06:06 PM)cartershaw Wrote:  That is the dumbest thing i have ever read...So you were going to buy them in december but since they dont sell them then you are not going to buy them at all

You must be from dekalb sycamore area..

You must be a genius. I'll lay it out for you.

1) In December I had a group of excited casual fans that wanted to buy season tickets together
2) I did all of the research, contacted NIU and was basically told to wait until February/March
3) Months go by and people lose interest (remember, they're casual fans that don't browse this board every day)
4) The group of people look at the schedule and decide they don't want to or can't commit to season tickets because of the schedule
5) I'm probably not going to buy tickets for a combination of a) bad schedule and b) friends all bailed

Accept season ticket deposits/reservations in December and you lock people in. You're an idiot if you think otherwise.