(08-22-2018 03:19 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  Time to hit up the C-USA...we would still be pretty competitive in that division...a little far from our opposition, but at least we would have Saturday games, tailgating, and a great in game experience again

Heck, I would even take the Sun Belt over the MAC at this point

I'm frustrated with the MAC but no way on the Sunbelt. That's a big step down. On the field the MAC product is equivalent to MWC most years, it's the off the the field leadership holding the conference back

Weekday games are killing attendance. Not that we would sell out every Saturday, but I can't imagine that there wouldn't be a significant bump if they didn't schedule games when half of the campus is in class.

Also, start selling beer.

(08-22-2018 08:56 PM)niu_1087 Wrote:  Weekday games are killing attendance. Not that we would sell out every Saturday, but I can't imagine that there wouldn't be a significant bump if they didn't schedule games when half of the campus is in class.

Also, start selling beer.

Beer is already being sold.

(08-22-2018 09:00 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  

(08-22-2018 08:56 PM)niu_1087 Wrote:  Weekday games are killing attendance. Not that we would sell out every Saturday, but I can't imagine that there wouldn't be a significant bump if they didn't schedule games when half of the campus is in class.

Also, start selling beer.

Beer is already being sold.

All the good stuff always happens after I leave and move across the country :(

In all honesty, if beer and free tickets don't get students in the stands I'm not sure what will.

There isn’t a school I’m embarrassed NIU shares the MAC with. Each school fills their niche in some way. Lucky to be in a league with 10 drivable roadtrips. The only problem is 4 games of weeknight football. It’s damaging enough (27k in 04 —> 11k in 17) to switch conferences because of it. Like someone said, AD’s looking to cash-in and climb the ladder at the expense of long term sustainability.

(08-22-2018 08:56 PM)niu_1087 Wrote:  Weekday games are killing attendance. Not that we would sell out every Saturday, but I can't imagine that there wouldn't be a significant bump if they didn't schedule games when half of the campus is in class.

Also, start selling beer.

I don’t think day of games makes much difference.

I have talked to several recent NIU grads who have begun working at my place of employment. Most of them only went to a couple football games their entire time at NIU, some never went at all. When I asked why, they said NIU is very much becoming a commuter school with nearly half the enrollment commuting from Rockford or the suburbs now. Staying on a weeknight or commuting “again” on the weekend isn’t in the cards for them. And many living on campus have weekend jobs in the suburbs that would keep them from being able to attend Saturday games. Students want to minimize their student debt given the skyrocketing cost of tuition thanks to our $hithole state.

Second, seems many millennials just aren’t interested in sports. And those that do have some interest don’t get overly excited to watch MidAmerican Conference football.

Some sad realities going forward. Props to Sean Frazier for somehow keeping the athletic program afloat despite the drop in game attendance, plummeting enrollment / athletic fees, and state funding cuts the last ~12 years.

(08-22-2018 10:30 AM)bikechuck Wrote:  Some things that I believe to be true ...
With our weak fan base and horrible attendance for football and basketball we have not outgrown the MAC.
We are fortunate that the MAC took us back after we turned our back on them when Bob Brigham had his delusions of grandeur.
Our best opportunity to launch the program and move up to a bigger conference was following our Orange Bowl appearance. However, the school and its fan base were not able to capitalize on that historic opportunity.
Several of the MAC schools including Buffalo, Miami U., Ohio U., BGSU and others are fine academic institutions that we can/should be proud to be associated with.
If we can ever get away from the ridiculous number of weekday football games that the conference has agreed to MAC football could grow into something bigger and better than what it is today.
For now the MAC is a good fit for NIU and we should embrace it and be proud of our home while pressuring both the NIU and MAC administrators to make things better.

Unfortunately plus 2 is the most I can give you.
This not only hit the nail on the head, it drove it into the wood with just one swing.

Playing a game on a weekday is not a problem.

Playing your last 5 games on weekdays, having only 3 home Saturday dates (2 last year)and not having a home weekend after October 13th (10/7 ly) is a problem.

It's like NIU has 2 seasons of football.

NIU has been playing their last 4-5 games on weekdays for years while some schools have been playing 2, even 1. Of course it's because ESPN wants them and their ratings vs. an EMU or CMU. NIU is the marquee school with a nearby market, that even with a smaller share of the metro area than others, is larger than the rest of the MAC combined. So they get treated like crap in that regards.

It's almost punishment being successful, the top dog. Like you can withstand it but the MAC as a whole some others can't.

(08-23-2018 08:58 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  Playing a game on a weekday is not a problem.

Playing your last 5 games on weekdays, having only 3 home Saturday dates (2 last year)and not having a home weekend after October 13th (10/7 ly) is a problem.

It's like NIU has 2 seasons of football.

NIU has been playing their last 4-5 games on weekdays for years while some schools have been playing 2, even 1. Of course it's because ESPN wants them and their ratings vs. an EMU or CMU. NIU is the marquee school with a nearby market, that even with a smaller share of the metro area than others, is larger than the rest of the MAC combined. So they get treated like crap in that regards.

It's almost punishment being successful, the top dog. Like you can withstand it but the MAC as a whole some others can't.

+1

(08-22-2018 08:57 AM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  9.7 APR Score

That's impressive and should be a huge selling point when coaches are sitting at the kitchen table with the recruit and their parents.

(08-23-2018 10:35 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(08-23-2018 08:58 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  Playing a game on a weekday is not a problem.

Playing your last 5 games on weekdays, having only 3 home Saturday dates (2 last year)and not having a home weekend after October 13th (10/7 ly) is a problem.

It's like NIU has 2 seasons of football.

NIU has been playing their last 4-5 games on weekdays for years while some schools have been playing 2, even 1. Of course it's because ESPN wants them and their ratings vs. an EMU or CMU. NIU is the marquee school with a nearby market, that even with a smaller share of the metro area than others, is larger than the rest of the MAC combined. So they get treated like crap in that regards.

It's almost punishment being successful, the top dog. Like you can withstand it but the MAC as a whole some others can't.

+1

NIU might be able to sustain an exclusive 2nd half weekday schedule for a year and not have lost huge amount of fan base. But when you have that schedule for a decade, forget about it, you get what we have now, a bare bones fan base. The only way things will change is for ADs in the MAC to rise up and say enough is enough. We are not even close to that point because these ADs do not have the school's interest at heart which is sad.

(08-23-2018 04:39 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(08-23-2018 10:35 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(08-23-2018 08:58 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  Playing a game on a weekday is not a problem.

Playing your last 5 games on weekdays, having only 3 home Saturday dates (2 last year)and not having a home weekend after October 13th (10/7 ly) is a problem.

It's like NIU has 2 seasons of football.

NIU has been playing their last 4-5 games on weekdays for years while some schools have been playing 2, even 1. Of course it's because ESPN wants them and their ratings vs. an EMU or CMU. NIU is the marquee school with a nearby market, that even with a smaller share of the metro area than others, is larger than the rest of the MAC combined. So they get treated like crap in that regards.

It's almost punishment being successful, the top dog. Like you can withstand it but the MAC as a whole some others can't.

+1

NIU might be able to sustain an exclusive 2nd half weekday schedule for a year and not have lost huge amount of fan base. But when you have that schedule for a decade, forget about it, you get what we have now, a bare bones fan base. The only way things will change is for ADs in the MAC to rise up and say enough is enough. We are not even close to that point because these ADs do not have the school's interest at heart which is sad.

Yep, it's a cumulative effect, not helped by the atrocious home OOC scheduling we had for a decade.

I would love to see the MAC add another school from Illinois or at least Wisconsin.
It would increase attendance and intensity from fans.

Toledo's had 13 MACTION home games since the 2011. The Rockets have averaged about 17,700 for those games. The best crowds were both 8PM Tuesday night contests 21,974 in 2013 and 23,089 in 2015 vs NIU.

(08-23-2018 08:53 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  Toledo's had 13 MACTION home games since the 2011. The Rockets have averaged about 17,700 for those games. The best crowds were both 8PM Tuesday night contests 21,974 in 2013 and 23,089 in 2015 vs NIU.

I would assume Toledo would draw well for weeknight games. Toledo’s population is almost 300,000. Dekalb is like 45,000. Every other townie would have to go just to get to a crowd of over 20k. The tractor traffic jam on rt.38 would be ridiculous.

(08-23-2018 08:53 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  Toledo's had 13 MACTION home games since the 2011. The Rockets have averaged about 17,700 for those games. The best crowds were both 8PM Tuesday night contests 21,974 in 2013 and 23,089 in 2015 vs NIU.

Toledo has population a metro area of nearly 300k. Metro what, 400-500k+? DeKalb-Sycamore isn't even 100k. 75K, maybe? Rockford is not NIU. Naperville is Chicago.

You ARE the only game in town. Especially on a weekday. On weekends you probably have more to lose vs. an OSU and such. (Illinois does not have an official state school that everyone has a birthright to, of which few eventually denounce.) All those people with 30 minute ride or less? You probably even have time to go home then go to a game. NIU 6pm games.... most would still be commuting. 7PM some still have issues going there, are getting home at midnight to get up at 6:30.

It's also a lot easier to market Toledo with tv, newspapers and billboards. Cheap and immediate area. So yes, Toledo is a team that can take advantage of these games, even capitalize through media. Present as an "event." Most of the MAC can't and lose more than NIU. Instead of going 3/4 full to 1/2 full they go from 1/2-1/3 full to 1/4 or less. And yes, sometimes the opponent like NIU adds to the attendance.

(08-22-2018 09:04 PM)niu_1087 Wrote:  

(08-22-2018 09:00 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  

(08-22-2018 08:56 PM)niu_1087 Wrote:  Weekday games are killing attendance. Not that we would sell out every Saturday, but I can't imagine that there wouldn't be a significant bump if they didn't schedule games when half of the campus is in class.

Also, start selling beer.

Beer is already being sold.

All the good stuff always happens after I leave and move across the country :(

In all honesty, if beer and free tickets don't get students in the stands I'm not sure what will.

Beer is not sold on the student side where students get in for free

(08-23-2018 09:18 PM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(08-23-2018 08:53 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  Toledo's had 13 MACTION home games since the 2011. The Rockets have averaged about 17,700 for those games. The best crowds were both 8PM Tuesday night contests 21,974 in 2013 and 23,089 in 2015 vs NIU.

Toledo has population a metro area of nearly 300k. Metro what, 400-500k+? DeKalb-Sycamore isn't even 100k. 75K, maybe? Rockford is not NIU. Naperville is Chicago.

You ARE the only game in town. Especially on a weekday. On weekends you probably have more to lose vs. an OSU and such. (Illinois does not have an official state school that everyone has a birthright to, of which few eventually denounce.) All those people with 30 minute ride or less? You probably even have time to go home then go to a game. NIU 6pm games.... most would still be commuting. 7PM some still have issues going there, are getting home at midnight to get up at 6:30.

It's also a lot easier to market Toledo with tv, newspapers and billboards. Cheap and immediate area. So yes, Toledo is a team that can take advantage of these games, even capitalize through media. Present as an "event." Most of the MAC can't and lose more than NIU. Instead of going 3/4 full to 1/2 full they go from 1/2-1/3 full to 1/4 or less. And yes, sometimes the opponent like NIU adds to the attendance.

Actually not the only game in town. The minor league hockey team draws about 7,000 a game. Pro Sports, Big Ten Sports, etc. You know the deal, DeKalb being about an 1.25 hr drive to the Chicago area.

(08-23-2018 10:25 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  

(08-23-2018 09:18 PM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(08-23-2018 08:53 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  Toledo's had 13 MACTION home games since the 2011. The Rockets have averaged about 17,700 for those games. The best crowds were both 8PM Tuesday night contests 21,974 in 2013 and 23,089 in 2015 vs NIU.

Toledo has population a metro area of nearly 300k. Metro what, 400-500k+? DeKalb-Sycamore isn't even 100k. 75K, maybe? Rockford is not NIU. Naperville is Chicago.

You ARE the only game in town. Especially on a weekday. On weekends you probably have more to lose vs. an OSU and such. (Illinois does not have an official state school that everyone has a birthright to, of which few eventually denounce.) All those people with 30 minute ride or less? You probably even have time to go home then go to a game. NIU 6pm games.... most would still be commuting. 7PM some still have issues going there, are getting home at midnight to get up at 6:30.

It's also a lot easier to market Toledo with tv, newspapers and billboards. Cheap and immediate area. So yes, Toledo is a team that can take advantage of these games, even capitalize through media. Present as an "event." Most of the MAC can't and lose more than NIU. Instead of going 3/4 full to 1/2 full they go from 1/2-1/3 full to 1/4 or less. And yes, sometimes the opponent like NIU adds to the attendance.

Actually not the only game in town. The minor league hockey team draws about 7,000 a game. Pro Sports, Big Ten Sports, etc. You know the deal, DeKalb being about an 1.25 hr drive to the Chicago area.

I think the point being weeknight games where time and travel is a limiting factor. You need a close fanbase source for that. Toledo has that. NIU does not. Chicago to Dekalb on a weeknight after 3:30 pm is 2+ hours due to traffic.

Illinois just began allowing beer sales at campus sporting events and WIU announced they're doing it.

http://www.pjstar.com/news/20180822/nick...ball-games

The MAC is stratified. You've got EMU, Kent and the like who get to keep their Saturday games and enjoy the same equal share of the millions in ESPN revenue while NIU, WMU and Toledo play on Wednesdays and at least in NIU's case, lose ticket revenue. If we're not going to change anything the MAC should at least give more of the ESPN money to the teams sacrificing their weekends and atrophying their season ticket base.