2017 regular season attendance

[Nidaros]

Re: 2017 regular season attendance

This team and seniors deserved a much better crowd than we saw on a beautiful day and against a really tough opponent.

Yes they do.

[BTownJack]

Re: 2017 regular season attendance

Unfortunately, I think 80% of our fan base has no idea that the ISU game had major implications as compared to the Drake/Duquesne game. The national awareness of FCS football among our fan base and within the state leaves more than a lot to be desired. Even Matt Zimmer (who I like by the way), our own beat writer, doesn't know a thing about the FCS national scene. Especially as it compares to the media in Fargo. I've seen him make statements about teams and conferences, and he clearly doesn't pay much attention to the landscape, outside of the MVFC. I'm not saying that as a shot to Zimmer, but I am using that as a snapshot as to the likelihood that are fan turnout is influenced by the playoff pedigree of the opponent. FCS football just doesn't register in the state to your casual fan. And we have a LOT of casual fans that make up those extra 3k -6k you're talking about.

Spot on with this. Our casual fans don't have a clue of the significance this game had. If it isn't NDSU, USD or Hobo Day our fans don't show up. Especially late in the year.

[OldHare]

Re: 2017 regular season attendance

Spot on with this. Our casual fans don't have a clue of the significance this game had. If it isn't NDSU, USD or Hobo Day our fans don't show up. Especially late in the year.

Just a couple of quick thoughts on this direction of discussion. For those that live in the region, how many ads seen or heard related the playoff implications were on the media? How many on this board stayed for the final gun at Hobo Day? If someone is a casual fan, that equates to someone who likes to fish except when the wind is blowing or I like to hunt unless there is blowing snow. I like to go to football games if my team wins every game. September and October offer more pleasant environments for watching football. If the casual fan does not come to the game in November, it is not the end of the world because he will renew the season tickets next year and support the program. The attendance has been good for the past 2 years. If it drops over the next 2 years, then this concern may have more substance. Try not to think too lowly of the casual fan as he may give you a ticket someday.

[Mr_Tibbs]

Re: 2017 regular season attendance

Just a couple of quick thoughts on this direction of discussion. For those that live in the region, how many ads seen or heard related the playoff implications were on the media? How many on this board stayed for the final gun at Hobo Day? If someone is a casual fan, that equates to someone who likes to fish except when the wind is blowing or I like to hunt unless there is blowing snow. I like to go to football games if my team wins every game. September and October offer more pleasant environments for watching football. If the casual fan does not come to the game in November, it is not the end of the world because he will renew the season tickets next year and support the program. The attendance has been good for the past 2 years. If it drops over the next 2 years, then this concern may have more substance. Try not to think too lowly of the casual fan as he may give you a ticket someday.

I don't think the issue is with the casual fan per se, but rather the makeup of our fan base that may fall into that category. When you have a high proportion of the base that is casual, and you live in this region of the country, that's not a recipe for great fan support. One of those things we cannot change.

Another issue is that of those casual fans, many of them are our students. The fan group that should be the loudest/most invested etc. is one of our least invested groups. We have folks driving in three to four times a year from 200+ miles away and we have students who won't put on a damn coat and walk 700 feet to the game. No reason the student section shouldn't have been 4000+ for the NDSU game.

[mmiller_34]

Re: 2017 regular season attendance

Just a couple of quick thoughts on this direction of discussion. For those that live in the region, how many ads seen or heard related the playoff implications were on the media?

I don't think I've ever seen/heard an advertisement for an SDSU football game in my 10 years of being a real active fan.

Bono and Wrestling does a great job marketing themselves. Last year there was a huge "Get Bonified" Wrestling ticket ad when you walk into the Brookings HyVee. Not sure if they did that in other communities. Also, this Friday Wrestling is giving away two $250 Cubby's gift cards for a couple of lucky students who attend the duel vs. Minnesota.

[SoDakJack]

Re: 2017 regular season attendance

Try not to think too lowly of the casual fan as he may give you a ticket someday.

Unfortunately, most of the fans DON'T find someone for their tickets.

[RabbitObsessed]

Re: 2017 regular season attendance

Student turnout got murdered when they cracked down on student drinking. We can relitigate that discussion if we want, but people seem to be pretty entrenched in their opinions. I know I would have been less likely to go to games if was like it is now when I was a student.

[SoDakJack]

Re: 2017 regular season attendance

Student turnout got murdered when they cracked down on student drinking. We can relitigate that discussion if we want, but people seem to be pretty entrenched in their opinions. I know I would have been less likely to go to games if was like it is now when I was a student.

Student drinking not withstanding, I think that there is a ton of room for improvement for the gameday experience. I don't have any real ideas, but for someone that doesn't attend every game there isn't a lot going on...maybe try to get more local places involved?

[Mr_Tibbs]

Re: 2017 regular season attendance

Student turnout got murdered when they cracked down on student drinking. We can relitigate that discussion if we want, but people seem to be pretty entrenched in their opinions. I know I would have been less likely to go to games if was like it is now when I was a student.

This is also true. But it's been the same November slump for a long time now. Student tailgate issues only started last year.

I also agree with the poster that said we don't need to go down the "game day improvement" rabbit hole. There's some gameday stuff that might make significant improvements, but alot of that stuff is really piecemeal. Marketing is lacking, and demand isn't there is a big part of it.

For all of those people who are saying that we are slowly and steadily improving attendence and that we should be pleased, I'd like to direct you to read the proposal for the stadium that was sent to the Board of Regents in 2014. In that document, the athletic department outlined that they could expect a jump in attendence of around 40% within the first few years of the new stadium opening. They based that assumption on the fact that several other FCS and FBS stadiums had seen around that same rate of jump in attendence after a remodel or rebuild.

We've got another year or so to wait and see, but the early indication is that we are going to buck that trend, and not in a good way.

[jackrabit1]

Re: 2017 regular season attendance

Heck, I couldn't even watch the game on my iPhone. Cable company and ESPN are giving me fits.

[jakejc795]

Re: 2017 regular season attendance

Student drinking not withstanding, I think that there is a ton of room for improvement for the gameday experience. I don't have any real ideas, but for someone that doesn't attend every game there isn't a lot going on...maybe try to get more local places involved?

Curious if they could tweak how they use the SJAC and incorporate more corporate promos into it. Maybe have a Cubby's-sponsored dunk tank where teams in their offseason try to dunk their coach and fans can pay to participate or have skills competitions where non-football players participate in "football drills." For instance, basketball or baseball players could compete in a football passing accuracy or receiving competition with fans who pay $5-10 bucks for chance to win prizes.

[SoDakJack]

Re: 2017 regular season attendance

Curious if they could tweak how they use the SJAC and incorporate more corporate promos into it. Maybe have a Cubby's-sponsored dunk tank where teams in their offseason try to dunk their coach and fans can pay to participate or have skills competitions where non-football players participate in "football drills." For instance, basketball or baseball players could compete in a football passing accuracy or receiving competition with fans who pay $5-10 bucks for chance to win prizes.

Why even charge the fans? I realize that they want to monetize as much as they can, but at some point you just have to do something for the pure entertainment of the fans. Have meet and greets with the other sports in the SJAC, maybe some food choices for those fans that come to the game but do not have a spot to tailgate, perhaps some type of live pregame (radio or TV) that would give it that ESPN Gameday vibe (on a very, very small scale). My many years in the business tells me that a live broadcast of any type is a big production, so that may be just a pipe dream. I just feel the pre-game experience has stalled just a little bit.

The in-game experience has vastly improved. But, as always, there is room for improvement. For me, college football saturday is about more that W-L. If you can make the entire game day an event, you might just win over a few hundred that normally would stay home and watch Nebraska get blown out (I just had to work some type of Husker dig in).

[Mr_Tibbs]

Re: 2017 regular season attendance

Why even charge the fans? I realize that they want to monetize as much as they can, but at some point you just have to do something for the pure entertainment of the fans. Have meet and greets with the other sports in the SJAC, maybe some food choices for those fans that come to the game but do not have a spot to tailgate, perhaps some type of live pregame (radio or TV) that would give it that ESPN Gameday vibe (on a very, very small scale). My many years in the business tells me that a live broadcast of any type is a big production, so that may be just a pipe dream. I just feel the pre-game experience has stalled just a little bit.

The in-game experience has vastly improved. But, as always, there is room for improvement. For me, college football saturday is about more that W-L. If you can make the entire game day an event, you might just win over a few hundred that normally would stay home and watch Nebraska get blown out (I just had to work some type of Husker dig in).

Agree with this. I really wish SDSU would figure out a way to turn one of the lots that close by to the stadium into an overnight lot, and let people bring in their rigs the Friday night before the game. Some places do this, and it just adds that much more to the whole thing. Part of what makes NDSU tailgating so cool is the rigs. With the proper space and the ability to come in the night before, it m if ht add an element that is missing. I don't know how much that would attract more people, but I do think it'd be widely appreciated by those that are coin in from more than a couple hours away.

Another gameday piece that I enjoyed at UNI last year was their golf cart shuttle service from the tailgate to the dome. We've had that before, but I'm not sure if I've noticed it this year (maybe I'm wrong).

And a final piece I'd like to see changed is allowance of open fire pit in the tailgate. Some places allow this, and you can still regulate it to keep it safe. That'd add a nice element for late season games especially, and you might even find a way to do a corporate sponsored bonfire each week with some give aways and free food.

All of those are small things, and may not increase the amount of fans at the game one bit. But I do think they encourage better atmosphere, and that might pay divedends later.

[CappinHard]

Re: 2017 regular season attendance

There's no doubt that having an area for students to tailgate where drinking is not policed unless something gets out of control. It needs to be away from the normal tailgating area so it doesn't bother people that don't want that atmosphere. Having that will without a doubt increase student attendance. If you don't want that, don't complain about student attendance. It's not all about drinking either, it's about the social/party aspect. What do college kids want to do on Saturdays? There are only so many Saturdays as a college kid, so you have to accommodate what they want to do.

Another thing that could work is an area like I saw at a Wisconsin game where you have live radio segments, a mini concert, a pep bend and hype guy to get people fired up. Beer, food, and merchandise would be available for sale. It really works for the casual fan that doesn't want to come with everything and they just want to show up and enjoy the atmosphere.

[SoDakJack]

Re: 2017 regular season attendance

There's no doubt that having an area for students to tailgate where drinking is not policed unless something gets out of control. It needs to be away from the normal tailgating area so it doesn't bother people that don't want that atmosphere. Having that will without a doubt increase student attendance. If you don't want that, don't complain about student attendance. It's not all about drinking either, it's about the social/party aspect. What do college kids want to do on Saturdays? There are only so many Saturdays as a college kid, so you have to accommodate what they want to do.

Another thing that could work is an area like I saw at a Wisconsin game where you have live radio segments, a mini concert, a pep bend and hype guy to get people fired up. Beer, food, and merchandise would be available for sale. It really works for the casual fan that doesn't want to come with everything and they just want to show up and enjoy the atmosphere.

Why not open the idea of a student tailgate to a sponsor like Cubbys/9bar? I know it could be a lot of work, but with a little music it could be a great way to entice students to come to the game. It is too bad it couldn't somehow be attached to the student entrance so they could be shuffled right into the game.

Waaay back when, there used to be local live broadcasts from the tailgating area with music, interviews with coaches and former players, etc. However, now that there is only one flagship station going out to the Jackrabbit Network, the ability to do that is severely limited. Also, it would be nice if they could get a local FM signal onto the network that would allow people to better listen to the game while watching it.