(09-24-2021 02:57 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(09-24-2021 02:28 PM)dogdangit Wrote:  There’s nothing to distinguish a NIU football game from the other sports in the area. Maybe 10 years ago it was a stellar football team, but now all we have is an average team, with a crappy stadium, and an even crappier game day atmosphere. Parking may be the only thing we do right. I think about all the Cubs games I went to this summer, the team wasn’t that great, Wrigley isn’t the fanciest of MLB stadiums and the parking is horrid, but the atmosphere is alway incredible. Chair-back seats, Ushers, music whether it’s the organ or DJ, and concessions are great. When it comes to concessions, having the mlb app to order food for pickup, or have it delivered to your seat is such a great convenience and I’ve never waited in a concession line because of it. Smaller teams like the Kane county cougars or Schaumburg boomers also do a great job providing a great game day experience that encourages fans to attend regardless of how good or bad the team is. We need to steal somebody from one of these teams and finally make NIU stand out for something other than “being an orange bowl team back in the day”.

The Cougars do a great job. But they are so perfectly located. They are surrounded by nearby cities who residents have plenty of disposable income. I honestly think of NIU was located there it would help a ton.

Doesn't matter who we hire to do anything. If our budget is $50, we are dropping it all on bottled water and hot dogs. If the attitude and culture of the athletic department is meh, nothing changes. Someone called it out. They always do these surveys and focus groups on what things should be done. But it always seems like that's just checking off boxes for the fans, all that info just gets filed away and never seen again.