They're not making us look bad; us "honest-ing" makes them look bad. Nobody is laughing at us for it. Shaking their heads at the low attendance, maybe. Hate the attendance drop, but respect facing up to the truth. Might (eventually) force athletics to pay more attention. Or not.

Where it really hurts is facilities/support. Would YOU commit big bucks to Huskie Stadium with the #s the way they are? Screwups and little signs of fan life?

Only hope there is the program itself takes off. Same with the Convo, baseball field, etc. What's looking good right now is men's soccer. Need to jump on that.

(10-18-2021 02:42 PM)westernwilly Wrote:  

(10-17-2021 09:11 PM)NIU1981 Wrote:  Grand Valley State had 17,007 this weekend for their game vs. Ferris State

I read that too. Their stadium only holds 10,444. Where did they put the other 7,000!?! Waldo Stadium has been able to shoehorn 6,000 extra people, but it has two very large hills that can seat can seat several thousand each. Lubbers Stadium only has a few small berms. My guess is that they have taken a page out of EMU's playbook of elevating attendance numbers.

So they were counting people outside the stadium during game time?
If NIU did that when the East Parking lot was open, they would have sold out every game?

So, I got a call last night from a student asking to update my contact info and ask about fundraising. He was a junior journalism major. I straight up asked him why students didn't show up to athletic events. He said they don't market it. They do a small magnetic schedule at the beginning of the year and then that's about it. No pep rallies, no student engagement, no reminders to come out and support the team. I don't know why athletics doesn't have coaches and athletes hold rallies before big home games, promote the upcoming seasons for basketball and other sports that allow fans. This seems like an easy thing to do. A 15 minute rally on a Friday before a home game, or now (Tuesday, since we're back to Maction games). Hold it in the MLK commons and encourage students to come out and support the team(s). Take out an ad in the Northern Star, posters, use the cheerleaders etc.

(10-19-2021 09:10 AM)UnknownScout Wrote:  So, I got a call last night from a student asking to update my contact info and ask about fundraising. He was a junior journalism major. I straight up asked him why students didn't show up to athletic events. He said they don't market it. They do a small magnetic schedule at the beginning of the year and then that's about it. No pep rallies, no student engagement, no reminders to come out and support the team. I don't know why athletics doesn't have coaches and athletes hold rallies before big home games, promote the upcoming seasons for basketball and other sports that allow fans. This seems like an easy thing to do. A 15 minute rally on a Friday before a home game, or now (Tuesday, since we're back to Maction games). Hold it in the MLK commons and encourage students to come out and support the team(s). Take out an ad in the Northern Star, posters, use the cheerleaders etc.

Of course, the student was correct. Here is how Athletics would respond: Sorry, wish we could do it, but we have no budget or staff and we have COVID concerns.

(10-19-2021 09:10 AM)UnknownScout Wrote:  I don't know why athletics doesn't have coaches and athletes hold rallies before big home games, promote the upcoming seasons for basketball and other sports that allow fans. This seems like an easy thing to do. A 15 minute rally on a Friday before a home game, or now (Tuesday, since we're back to Maction games). Hold it in the MLK commons and encourage students to come out and support the team(s). Take out an ad in the Northern Star, posters, use the cheerleaders etc.

NCAA regs dictate the time that players can be involved in team functions. That 15 minute pep rally you are suggesting would take more time that in reality and take away from time that they could be doing game prep (practice, meetings, etc)

How many years have we said it now" Focus on the students. Students become alums. Alums become successful alums. Successful alums can become donors and WILL become an audience that you can sell to advertisers and generate revenue.

Ignore students and less will go to games. Less will catch the spirit. Less will care about their institution. And when you go looking for alum to contribute--- guess what? They ain't there. They don't exist. Some may give to their particular program or college--- but to athletics? Forget it.

So .... one more time ... focus on the students!

or don't. And see where that gets us ... (err where that got us).

(10-19-2021 09:17 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 09:10 AM)UnknownScout Wrote:  So, I got a call last night from a student asking to update my contact info and ask about fundraising. He was a junior journalism major. I straight up asked him why students didn't show up to athletic events. He said they don't market it. They do a small magnetic schedule at the beginning of the year and then that's about it. No pep rallies, no student engagement, no reminders to come out and support the team. I don't know why athletics doesn't have coaches and athletes hold rallies before big home games, promote the upcoming seasons for basketball and other sports that allow fans. This seems like an easy thing to do. A 15 minute rally on a Friday before a home game, or now (Tuesday, since we're back to Maction games). Hold it in the MLK commons and encourage students to come out and support the team(s). Take out an ad in the Northern Star, posters, use the cheerleaders etc.

Of course, the student was correct. Here is how Athletics would respond: Sorry, wish we could do it, but we have no budget or staff and we have COVID concerns.

I wonder if the magnetic schedules depleted the "game-day experience" budget.

(10-19-2021 09:44 AM)Schaefer Beer Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 09:17 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 09:10 AM)UnknownScout Wrote:  So, I got a call last night from a student asking to update my contact info and ask about fundraising. He was a junior journalism major. I straight up asked him why students didn't show up to athletic events. He said they don't market it. They do a small magnetic schedule at the beginning of the year and then that's about it. No pep rallies, no student engagement, no reminders to come out and support the team. I don't know why athletics doesn't have coaches and athletes hold rallies before big home games, promote the upcoming seasons for basketball and other sports that allow fans. This seems like an easy thing to do. A 15 minute rally on a Friday before a home game, or now (Tuesday, since we're back to Maction games). Hold it in the MLK commons and encourage students to come out and support the team(s). Take out an ad in the Northern Star, posters, use the cheerleaders etc.

Of course, the student was correct. Here is how Athletics would respond: Sorry, wish we could do it, but we have no budget or staff and we have COVID concerns.

I wonder if the magnetic schedules depleted the "game-day experience" budget.

I am shocked that they even had the schedules with all the supply chain issues they've been subjected to.

(10-19-2021 09:49 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 09:44 AM)Schaefer Beer Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 09:17 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 09:10 AM)UnknownScout Wrote:  So, I got a call last night from a student asking to update my contact info and ask about fundraising. He was a junior journalism major. I straight up asked him why students didn't show up to athletic events. He said they don't market it. They do a small magnetic schedule at the beginning of the year and then that's about it. No pep rallies, no student engagement, no reminders to come out and support the team. I don't know why athletics doesn't have coaches and athletes hold rallies before big home games, promote the upcoming seasons for basketball and other sports that allow fans. This seems like an easy thing to do. A 15 minute rally on a Friday before a home game, or now (Tuesday, since we're back to Maction games). Hold it in the MLK commons and encourage students to come out and support the team(s). Take out an ad in the Northern Star, posters, use the cheerleaders etc.

Of course, the student was correct. Here is how Athletics would respond: Sorry, wish we could do it, but we have no budget or staff and we have COVID concerns.

I wonder if the magnetic schedules depleted the "game-day experience" budget.

I am shocked that they even had the schedules with all the supply chain issues they've been subjected to.

Good point! Maybe the Athletic Department flunkey that was able cut through the supply chain red tape to get the magnetic schedules in a timely manner can be in charge of Stadium Concession Procurement.

Does Hammock go to the dorms and ask them to support the football team? I know Coach Pettibone did that when I was living in the dorms, at least one year, in the cafeteria. Good-sized captive audience.

(10-18-2021 07:13 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  They're not making us look bad; us "honest-ing" makes them look bad. Nobody is laughing at us for it. Shaking their heads at the low attendance, maybe. Hate the attendance drop, but respect facing up to the truth. Might (eventually) force athletics to pay more attention. Or not.

Where it really hurts is facilities/support. Would YOU commit big bucks to Huskie Stadium with the #s the way they are? Screwups and little signs of fan life?

Only hope there is the program itself takes off. Same with the Convo, baseball field, etc. What's looking good right now is men's soccer. Need to jump on that.

"They're not making us look bad; us "honest-ing" makes them look bad." -Disagree. While a few of us know that NIU has taken the head count high-road, we pale in comparison to other schools when being eyeballed by recruits, other conferences, etc., even though we are actually on-par with the other G/P5 schools that report more false "butts' in the seats. I'd rather use the same loose accounting methods as our peers for optics sake.

(10-19-2021 11:56 AM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(10-18-2021 07:13 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  They're not making us look bad; us "honest-ing" makes them look bad. Nobody is laughing at us for it. Shaking their heads at the low attendance, maybe. Hate the attendance drop, but respect facing up to the truth. Might (eventually) force athletics to pay more attention. Or not.

Where it really hurts is facilities/support. Would YOU commit big bucks to Huskie Stadium with the #s the way they are? Screwups and little signs of fan life?

Only hope there is the program itself takes off. Same with the Convo, baseball field, etc. What's looking good right now is men's soccer. Need to jump on that.

"They're not making us look bad; us "honest-ing" makes them look bad." -Disagree. While a few of us know that NIU has taken the head count high-road, we pale in comparison to other schools when being eyeballed by recruits, other conferences, etc., even though we are actually on-par with the other G/P5 schools that report more false "butts' in the seats. I'd rather use the same loose accounting methods as our peers for optics sake.

They should report tickets sold, not butts in seats.

(10-19-2021 09:10 AM)UnknownScout Wrote:  So, I got a call last night from a student asking to update my contact info and ask about fundraising. He was a junior journalism major. I straight up asked him why students didn't show up to athletic events. He said they don't market it. They do a small magnetic schedule at the beginning of the year and then that's about it. No pep rallies, no student engagement, no reminders to come out and support the team. I don't know why athletics doesn't have coaches and athletes hold rallies before big home games, promote the upcoming seasons for basketball and other sports that allow fans. This seems like an easy thing to do. A 15 minute rally on a Friday before a home game, or now (Tuesday, since we're back to Maction games). Hold it in the MLK commons and encourage students to come out and support the team(s). Take out an ad in the Northern Star, posters, use the cheerleaders etc.

When I was in the band a couple years back, we constantly took part in pep rally’s throughout the year for football games and homecoming, and the ****** part about it was nobody ever showed up. It was just the band, marketing staff and the same small group of students who were part of CAB. Eventually athletics just gave up on them since it was waste of our time and all the free food was just given to the band. Walk around campus on a Friday and you’ll know exactly why they don’t bother with them any more, it’s a ghost town. The type of student NIU attracts doesn’t have the luxury of getting their school and housing paid for by their parents for 4 years. A very large part of the school commutes from their parents house, or goes back home to work on weekends. It’s hard to market to students on campus when a majority of them hardly stay on campus.

(10-19-2021 04:20 PM)dogdangit Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 09:10 AM)UnknownScout Wrote:  So, I got a call last night from a student asking to update my contact info and ask about fundraising. He was a junior journalism major. I straight up asked him why students didn't show up to athletic events. He said they don't market it. They do a small magnetic schedule at the beginning of the year and then that's about it. No pep rallies, no student engagement, no reminders to come out and support the team. I don't know why athletics doesn't have coaches and athletes hold rallies before big home games, promote the upcoming seasons for basketball and other sports that allow fans. This seems like an easy thing to do. A 15 minute rally on a Friday before a home game, or now (Tuesday, since we're back to Maction games). Hold it in the MLK commons and encourage students to come out and support the team(s). Take out an ad in the Northern Star, posters, use the cheerleaders etc.

When I was in the band a couple years back, we constantly took part in pep rally’s throughout the year for football games and homecoming, and the ****** part about it was nobody ever showed up. It was just the band, marketing staff and the same small group of students who were part of CAB. Eventually athletics just gave up on them since it was waste of our time and all the free food was just given to the band. Walk around campus on a Friday and you’ll know exactly why they don’t bother with them any more, it’s a ghost town. The type of student NIU attracts doesn’t have the luxury of getting their school and housing paid for by their parents for 4 years. A very large part of the school commutes from their parents house, or goes back home to work on weekends. It’s hard to market to students on campus when a majority of them hardly stay on campus.

Maybe that is the complete unknown, of the 16k students enrolled, what is the average number of students on campus during the weekend?

Were there any pep rallys on Tuesday when the schedule switched to Maction?

(10-19-2021 04:20 PM)dogdangit Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 09:10 AM)UnknownScout Wrote:  So, I got a call last night from a student asking to update my contact info and ask about fundraising. He was a junior journalism major. I straight up asked him why students didn't show up to athletic events. He said they don't market it. They do a small magnetic schedule at the beginning of the year and then that's about it. No pep rallies, no student engagement, no reminders to come out and support the team. I don't know why athletics doesn't have coaches and athletes hold rallies before big home games, promote the upcoming seasons for basketball and other sports that allow fans. This seems like an easy thing to do. A 15 minute rally on a Friday before a home game, or now (Tuesday, since we're back to Maction games). Hold it in the MLK commons and encourage students to come out and support the team(s). Take out an ad in the Northern Star, posters, use the cheerleaders etc.

When I was in the band a couple years back, we constantly took part in pep rally’s throughout the year for football games and homecoming, and the ****** part about it was nobody ever showed up. It was just the band, marketing staff and the same small group of students who were part of CAB. Eventually athletics just gave up on them since it was waste of our time and all the free food was just given to the band. Walk around campus on a Friday and you’ll know exactly why they don’t bother with them any more, it’s a ghost town. The type of student NIU attracts doesn’t have the luxury of getting their school and housing paid for by their parents for 4 years. A very large part of the school commutes from their parents house, or goes back home to work on weekends. It’s hard to market to students on campus when a majority of them hardly stay on campus.

There used to be banners on game weeks flying (lamp post to lamp post) across Lincoln Hwy and Lucinda. Costs next to nothing, ads were in your face all week.

(10-19-2021 04:20 PM)dogdangit Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 09:10 AM)UnknownScout Wrote:  So, I got a call last night from a student asking to update my contact info and ask about fundraising. He was a junior journalism major. I straight up asked him why students didn't show up to athletic events. He said they don't market it. They do a small magnetic schedule at the beginning of the year and then that's about it. No pep rallies, no student engagement, no reminders to come out and support the team. I don't know why athletics doesn't have coaches and athletes hold rallies before big home games, promote the upcoming seasons for basketball and other sports that allow fans. This seems like an easy thing to do. A 15 minute rally on a Friday before a home game, or now (Tuesday, since we're back to Maction games). Hold it in the MLK commons and encourage students to come out and support the team(s). Take out an ad in the Northern Star, posters, use the cheerleaders etc.

When I was in the band a couple years back, we constantly took part in pep rally’s throughout the year for football games and homecoming, and the ****** part about it was nobody ever showed up. It was just the band, marketing staff and the same small group of students who were part of CAB. Eventually athletics just gave up on them since it was waste of our time and all the free food was just given to the band. Walk around campus on a Friday and you’ll know exactly why they don’t bother with them any more, it’s a ghost town. The type of student NIU attracts doesn’t have the luxury of getting their school and housing paid for by their parents for 4 years. A very large part of the school commutes from their parents house, or goes back home to work on weekends. It’s hard to market to students on campus when a majority of them hardly stay on campus.

This is a very good point. I have been on campus on weekends. You are right. It’s a ghost town. So, I guess it doesn’t make much sense to do heavy marketing to students that are not there on game day. Even still, it’s a shame that no one attended the pep rallies.

It’s good that many basketball games are on weeknights, but there are fewer students at the basketball games than football games.

My mistake, letting myself get pulled into a debate about how attendance is counted. Really ... who cares? It's down and getting worse. Anyone can see the stadium is less than half full without counting noses or tickets sold.

There are reasons we all know: Covid fears, commuter/weekend suitcase students, declining enrollment, decreasing budget, etc etc etc.

My concerns are the self-inflicted wounds and the failure to capitalize on low-cost enhancements.

How about the failure to make the four Saturday games into "events," cooperate with other area hosts (like the Illinois Lions car show), or even get the basics right (see Wyoming tailgate fiasco).

That involves thinking beyond Twitter postings, not monetizing every single paper napkin, actually knowing who your fans are, and consistently staying connected the way THEY connect (not the way you want them to). That's not rocket science, even for an R2 university.

Until that changes, accept 10,000-11,000 attendance (no matter how it's counted) on Saturdays when the weather is nice as the "new normal."