GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

[WestSideRabbit]

Re: GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

People will always discuss the impacts of harvesting and hunting on football attendance figures. Promotions notwithstanding, the most puzzling thing about last Saturday's game was the weak student attendance for the university's biggest event. That is a head scratcher. It's always a treat to see big student crowds.

There were a handful of giant yardies (yard parties) that were more important. There were a lot of young alumni that were around me in section 118 who left after the first quarter to go to them. My brother-in-law (non-alum) sent me some snap chats later on and they looked pretty large. 100+ people. This is a dumb excuse in my opinion, plenty of time to drink after the game but what do I know I guess. This post has me feeling old. haha

[GopherHole]

Re: GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

I think the phrase Rome wasn't built in a day applies here. Considering how far we've come it's hard to be disappointed about fan support. I'll bet the athletic department is looking at the numbers the way it's presented above and is happy. However, I'm certain they are doing everything they can to continue this trend.

What likely had a bigger effect is harvest. I'm willing to bet farmers are going balls to the wall harvesting in some parts of the state. So do we try to schedule Hobo Day around harvest since a large portion of our fan base is from the ag community?

Montana and JackJD's comments were spot on from my distant viewpoint.

I'm one of those alums who doesn't make it to Brookings very often for games. It's a 12 hour round trip, and we've had changes in our family life that kept us away for many years. First conflict that kept us away when we were living in Rapid City 20 years ago was our tight finances. We had a young family with modest income and going to a game was just out of reach with our tight entertainment budget. (Travel/lodging/care for our children all add up.) We moved to Kearney, NE 16 years ago and the tight family budget continued, in addition, our family got much more involved with kids' activities. As we got older, our commitments to our kids with their activities took priority and we just could not budget more time to spending a weekend going to a game. The income grew, but the time just didn't fit. We'd be empty nesters now, but we adopted a little guy a few years ago. However, our time commitments are not as tight and we have much more disposable income to attend games. What a joy it has been to reconnect with our South Dakota roots and our university! We've attended games three out of the last four years and have loved so much of the changes to Brookings, the university and to the game day experience.

This last weekend I brought my two daughters and my future son-in-law to the game with me. $150 for tickets isn't cheap, but that is still half the cost of what it would have been to attend a Husker game. Two of the three that I brought with me are University of Nebraska - Kearney graduates and my youngest daughter is a junior at that institution. When I tell them that 15 years ago that SDSU was a similar institution to what UNK is, they were blown away! UNK had nicer football facilities than SDSU did until the recent investments that have been made in the last ten years. There's an old saying that you can't see the forest, for the trees. That can be said for the game day experience of what SDSU has done in the last twenty years. There are monumental changes and if you only look at some of the problems, it is hard to see the vast improvements that have been made. As an alum that viewed much of the changes from afar, being part of the game day experience now after so many years has been phenomenal.

While the changes to the facilities and the product that is happening on the field have been monumental, the tailgating experience is what keeps my family coming back. Think back to what was done with tailgating before the move to D1. Going to a Jackrabbit game was just another Saturday football game and going to the bars or restaurants afterwards. You could not compare that experience to going to a power five game day or to an NFL game. I've done plenty of both of those and I now view going to games at SDSU in that same vein. My 24 year old son has even asked me if I'd rather go to a Vikings game or to another event like that, my answer surprises him when I respond that I'd rather go to Brookings. While some of the talent on the field and the numbers in the stands don't compare to what happens in Minneapolis, the game day experience is similar. The difference is the old friends and the family experience that I get to share with tailgating, parade, game and post game bonding with friends at SDSU is an awesome experience. It is something that I always look forward to every year.

I'm also amazed on how the footprint is expanding with SDSU. On Sunday, my family and I went to Albert Lea, MN to spend the day with my mom who is in an assisted living facility. On one of the resident's front door to their living quarters was an SDSU logo. I didn't see any Gophers logos on any of them. At lunch at Applebees, two different tables at the restaurant had Jackrabbit fans. One couple was returning to Wisconsin after attending Hobo Day. Another table had friends of mine that I had not talked to in nearly 35 years. Two of their kids are SDSU alums and they were talking about the game from Saturday.

Finally, harvest does have a significant impact on attendance for games in October and November. My brother in-law is an agronomist and he didn't plan to go to the game as he was scheduled to help one of his clients on Saturday. He ended up getting done early, but decided it was easier to watch the game with friends on TV instead of trying to find a ticket at the last minute near friends of his. (Twenty years ago your only option for following the game was WNAX if you didn't go.) When I talked with a few of my fellow alums at their tailgating spot in the backyard, they suspected that the cold weather and harvest had an affect on some of our fellow alums who didn't make it. Pheasant hunting is major competition, but there is no doubt in my mind that the angst with getting harvest done and $3 corn prices have a huge impact on fall Saturdays in Brookings.

Bottom line is that the trend is moving upwards on attendance and it dovetails with all the improvements to the game day experience.

[MontanaRabbit]

Re: GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

Montana and JackJD's comments were spot on from my distant viewpoint.

I'm one of those alums who doesn't make it to Brookings very often for games. It's a 12 hour round trip, and we've had changes in our family life that kept us away for many years. First conflict that kept us away when we were living in Rapid City 20 years ago was our tight finances. We had a young family with modest income and going to a game was just out of reach with our tight entertainment budget. (Travel/lodging/care for our children all add up.) We moved to Kearney, NE 16 years ago and the tight family budget continued, in addition, our family got much more involved with kids' activities. As we got older, our commitments to our kids with their activities took priority and we just could not budget more time to spending a weekend going to a game. The income grew, but the time just didn't fit. We'd be empty nesters now, but we adopted a little guy a few years ago. However, our time commitments are not as tight and we have much more disposable income to attend games. What a joy it has been to reconnect with our South Dakota roots and our university! We've attended games three out of the last four years and have loved so much of the changes to Brookings, the university and to the game day experience.

This last weekend I brought my two daughters and my future son-in-law to the game with me. $150 for tickets isn't cheap, but that is still half the cost of what it would have been to attend a Husker game. Two of the three that I brought with me are University of Nebraska - Kearney graduates and my youngest daughter is a junior at that institution. When I tell them that 15 years ago that SDSU was a similar institution to what UNK is, they were blown away! UNK had nicer football facilities than SDSU did until the recent investments that have been made in the last ten years. There's an old saying that you can't see the forest, for the trees. That can be said for the game day experience of what SDSU has done in the last twenty years. There are monumental changes and if you only look at some of the problems, it is hard to see the vast improvements that have been made. As an alum that viewed much of the changes from afar, being part of the game day experience now after so many years has been phenomenal.

While the changes to the facilities and the product that is happening on the field have been monumental, the tailgating experience is what keeps my family coming back. Think back to what was done with tailgating before the move to D1. Going to a Jackrabbit game was just another Saturday football game and going to the bars or restaurants afterwards. You could not compare that experience to going to a power five game day or to an NFL game. I've done plenty of both of those and I now view going to games at SDSU in that same vein. My 24 year old son has even asked me if I'd rather go to a Vikings game or to another event like that, my answer surprises him when I respond that I'd rather go to Brookings. While some of the talent on the field and the numbers in the stands don't compare to what happens in Minneapolis, the game day experience is similar. The difference is the old friends and the family experience that I get to share with tailgating, parade, game and post game bonding with friends at SDSU is an awesome experience. It is something that I always look forward to every year.

I'm also amazed on how the footprint is expanding with SDSU. On Sunday, my family and I went to Albert Lea, MN to spend the day with my mom who is in an assisted living facility. On one of the resident's front door to their living quarters was an SDSU logo. I didn't see any Gophers logos on any of them. At lunch at Applebees, two different tables at the restaurant had Jackrabbit fans. One couple was returning to Wisconsin after attending Hobo Day. Another table had friends of mine that I had not talked to in nearly 35 years. Two of their kids are SDSU alums and they were talking about the game from Saturday.

Finally, harvest does have a significant impact on attendance for games in October and November. My brother in-law is an agronomist and he didn't plan to go to the game as he was scheduled to help one of his clients on Saturday. He ended up getting done early, but decided it was easier to watch the game with friends on TV instead of trying to find a ticket at the last minute near friends of his. (Twenty years ago your only option for following the game was WNAX if you didn't go.) When I talked with a few of my fellow alums at their tailgating spot in the backyard, they suspected that the cold weather and harvest had an affect on some of our fellow alums who didn't make it. Pheasant hunting is major competition, but there is no doubt in my mind that the angst with getting harvest done and $3 corn prices have a huge impact on fall Saturdays in Brookings.

Bottom line is that the trend is moving upwards on attendance and it dovetails with all the improvements to the game day experience.

Good post.

It seems like it's hard for some of the more rabid fans to understand that many people have priorities that trump Jackrabbit football.

High school football is another thing that seems to rile people up here. A large part of SDSU's fan base comes from rural areas where the pride in hometown athletics is intense. Unless you are from a small town, it's hard to understand that dynamic, but it's very real. A small town will virtually shut down to go watch their team in the playoffs.

[hometownjack]

Re: GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

I believe that most would agree the nicer the weather the bigger our crowds will be. The administration picked the Youngstown game as Hobo day largely I believe because typically last weekend would have been a nice weather day against Indiana State. The later in the calendar you can have Hobo Day you assure yourself of a pretty good turnout. We now have only one home game before USD which I am sure the admin looks at as a lucrative game for people to attend. In their eyes 5 of our 6 homes games were games everyone would want to attend based on weather/events/opponent. The weather hasn't played out that way and I am sure we have lost some fans because of it. In my opinion football needs to take a better approach at marketing. Wrestling has exploded due to the efforts that have been put into their marketing. I never attended a wrestling match in my life before Bono, and am now a season ticket holder. I do know what I enjoy most about football games is making it a full day of it. I enjoy tailgating and going to the game. This isn't something I just picked up randomly though. I was brought up going to tailgating at SDSU games, and now enjoy taking my family. The fact that college kids are not showing up for tailgating is alarming. That was some of my best memories of college, and losing out on those positive experiences with the college population will hurt the attendance down the road. If they don't have those positive memories why would they spend the $125 to bring their families in 5-10 years? Just my two cents.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

Here's my idea for increasing attendance:

Offer a new grad season ticket discount. Not sure what that looks like, but maybe exempt people who have recently graduated from making the donation for 3-5 years? Would establish a relationship with the athletic department and get them into the habit of coming to games once they leave campus.

Could do something similar for first time season ticket holders.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

Sorry to be an old man yelling at the kids to get off my lawn, but there was an unedited Nicki Minaj song played during the game last Saturday.

[JackJD]

Re: GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

Based on other fan message boards and the occasional article on the subject, it appears lackluster student attendance/participation is a problem at many -- probably most -- schools. I don't think it happened in just the past few years but has been a growing issue. Our student crowd is easier to "measure" in the new stadium and I would argue that we have more students attending games (at least the first half) than we did in the final few years at Coughlin. Even so, it's not enough.

Credit the athletic department for trying to address the situation. Last weekend's "have-to-be-present-to-win" giveaways in the fourth quarter may catch on. [For those who weren't there, students had a chance at winning 1) free meal plan; 2) free housing; or 3) free tuition. A couple names drawn did not show up to claim their prizes (don't tell their parents).

In my day, a student offered free housing would first ask "which dorm?". If it was third floor Binnewies in the early 70s and they didn't already live there, they'd say "no thanks".

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

Based on other fan message boards and the occasional article on the subject, it appears lackluster student attendance/participation is a problem at many -- probably most -- schools. I don't think it happened in just the past few years but has been a growing issue. Our student crowd is easier to "measure" in the new stadium and I would argue that we have more students attending games (at least the first half) than we did in the final few years at Coughlin. Even so, it's not enough.

Credit the athletic department for trying to address the situation. Last weekend's "have-to-be-present-to-win" giveaways in the fourth quarter may catch on. [For those who weren't there, students had a chance at winning 1) free meal plan; 2) free housing; or 3) free tuition. A couple names drawn did not show up to claim their prizes (don't tell their parents).

In my day, a student offered free housing would first ask "which dorm?". If it was third floor Binnewies in the early 70s and they didn't already live there, they'd say "no thanks".

I liked this too. Smaller, but similar, student giveaways would be great too. Couple ideas:

Run down within 2 minutes to:

-Claim a large hot pizza. The kid brings it back into the crowd and shares with their drunk friends.
-Concession stand voucher.
-Giant bags of popcorn. Might be able to get a seed company to sponsor this. "higher yields, blah, blah, blah."
-$25 gift card to Cubby's.
-Giveaway a hoodie, cooler, etc. Something nice from the bookstore that kids might not be able to afford otherwise.
-A large cowbell with clear instructions on when to ring it.

These seem like they would all create some fun for students (and their friends) at the game with a small price tag for SDSU.

[Mr_Tibbs]

Re: GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

I liked this too. Smaller, but similar, student giveaways would be great too. Couple ideas:

Run down within 2 minutes to:

-Claim a large hot pizza. The kid brings it back into the crowd and shares with their drunk friends.
-Concession stand voucher.
-Giant bags of popcorn. Might be able to get a seed company to sponsor this. "higher yields, blah, blah, blah."
-$25 gift card to Cubby's.
-Giveaway a hoodie, cooler, etc. Something nice from the bookstore that kids might not be able to afford otherwise.
-A large cowbell with clear instructions on when to ring it.

These seem like they would all create some fun for students (and their friends) at the game with a small price tag for SDSU.

I've long been an advocate that Touchdown Tuesday needs some shaking up. In order to get the discount, you need to present a ticket stub or scan your student ID (that was scanned at the game upon exit in the fourth quarter). No attendance attendance at the game = no discount.

I had tons of friends in college who wouldn't go to a game all season but were first in line for touchdown Tuesday the following week after a blowout win.

For those unfamiliar, touchdown Tuesday gives a 5% bookstore discount for each td the Jacks score on Saturday. Up to 25% off, I beleive.

[SoDakJack]

Re: GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

Sorry to be an old man yelling at the kids to get off my lawn, but there was an unedited Nicki Minaj song played during the game last Saturday.

I heard that too...although I heard way worse language from the group in the row behind me. They didnt seem to worry too much about the 5 kids in our group.

[SoDakJack]

Re: GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

I've long been an advocate that Touchdown Tuesday needs some shaking up. In order to get the discount, you need to present a ticket stub or scan your student ID (that was scanned at the game upon exit in the fourth quarter). No attendance attendance at the game = no discount.

I had tons of friends in college who wouldn't go to a game all season but were first in line for touchdown Tuesday the following week after a blowout win.

For those unfamiliar, touchdown Tuesday gives a 5% bookstore discount for each td the Jacks score on Saturday. Up to 25% off, I beleive.

What about the people that support the Jackrabbits but cant make it to the game? Touchdown Tuesday was created to generate business for the bookstore, not increase attendance.

I still maintain that if a season ticket holder's ticket isnt used for 75% of the home games, they get docked points for the next cycle or an additional fee is tacked onto the following season.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

I heard that too...although I heard way worse language from the group in the row behind me. They didnt seem to worry too much about the 5 kids in our group.

I hear that kind of stuff too. Its a football game, and I'm not expecting the college to police that kind of behavior in the stands (unless somebody is totally belligerent). It shouldn't be played over the stadium speakers though.

Fans who are passionate about growing attendance should consider how their language and behavior might impact a decision on whether to buy zero season tickets, 2 season tickets for a husband and wife/friend, or 5 for the whole family.

[SoDakJack]

Re: GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

I hear that kind of stuff too. Its a football game, and I'm not expecting the college to police that kind of behavior in the stands (unless somebody is totally belligerent). It shouldn't be played over the stadium speakers though.

Fans who are passionate about growing attendance should consider how their language and behavior might impact a decision on whether to buy zero season tickets, 2 season tickets for a husband and wife/friend, or 5 for the whole family.

What about a "family zone" similar to what baseball stadiums have. You could do free popcorn/hotdogs and fountain drinks for the whole game with the purchase of tickets. Might be a way to fill the east stands.

[CappinHard]

Re: GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

What about a "family zone" similar to what baseball stadiums have. You could do free popcorn/hotdogs and fountain drinks for the whole game with the purchase of tickets. Might be a way to fill the east stands.

This is a great idea. It's tough bringing little kids to games, and if you're not in a family zone, you even feel bad for people around you at times because your kids might get restless. Especially if we go to selling beer in the stadium, a beer free family zone would be nice.

[goon]

Re: GDT: Youngstown State Spheniscidae (Hobo Day)

This is a great idea. It's tough bringing little kids to games, and if you're not in a family zone, you even feel bad for people around you at times because your kids might get restless. Especially if we go to selling beer in the stadium, a beer free family zone would be nice.

I think we have been lucky with our toddlers at the games. Usually some older ladies around who are more entertained with a baby or toddler then ths game. I do worry though getting stuck next to the fans who yell constantly or who would hate having squirmy kids all around.