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Re: Attendance for the NDSU game
"You have to spend money to make money."
Two areas of money-spending that still need upgrading:
1) Promotions and publicity, and
2) Facilities.
Promotions and publicity--both have it seems improved greatly, but much is yet to be done. I still advocate strongly for a multi-station radio network, preferably with WNAX as the flagship, but with local radio station presence in the larger SD cities--Sioux Falls, Rapid, Aberdeen, Watertown, Huron, and Mitchell in addition to Yankton at a minimum.
The weekly TV show on KSFY, and the coverage on Mediacom cable systems is essential, but is only a start. The debacle of KSFY discovering at the last minute that they couldn't broadcast the NDSU game can't be repeated. That was just plain embarrassing. SDSU needs to get the games on Midcontinent cable--not doing that is ignoring the biggest cable provider in the state's largest TV market, which can't be a good thing.
There are lots of ways to attack this--from SDSU and USD joining forces to create a South Dakota Sports Network (possibly working with SDPTV?) that would be carried throughout the state, both on cable and over-the-air. I'm sure that an afternoon's brainstorming could come up with a number of innovative strategies to attack the issue of getting more games-on-tv-especially-OTA-tv. I do think that this is an area that SDSU and USD could very, very profitably cooperate to the mutual benefit of both schools.
But I'm just sitting here in Missouri, making stuff up. What do I really know, anyway?
Facilities--
I believe that SDSU has hit that point where the football stadium is a drag on attendance/revenue opportunities, and hence on the overall football and athletic programs.
It's no longer has the needed seating capacity, it doesn't have modern fan amenities such as concessions and bathrooms, the east bleachers are pretty sad, and the west grandstand is just getting old. It was a decent Division II facility in its day. But those days are gone, and the 3,000-student NCAA College Division SDSC is now the 12,000-student NCAA Division I SDSU.
Even with the big scoreboard on one end and the Dykhouse Center at the other end, the limitations for fans of the current stadium--both the west side and the east side stands, as well as the rest of the facility--are becoming quite obvious to everyone.
And that's without talking about the press box or going into the playing surface issue.
Of course, none of this is a surprise to anyone, except maybe a realization of just how inadequate the current CAS really is for SDSU at this point in the university's history.
Bottom line: Send more money!
Originally posted by zooropa
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Two areas of money-spending that still need upgrading:
1) Promotions and publicity, and
2) Facilities.
Promotions and publicity--both have it seems improved greatly, but much is yet to be done. I still advocate strongly for a multi-station radio network, preferably with WNAX as the flagship, but with local radio station presence in the larger SD cities--Sioux Falls, Rapid, Aberdeen, Watertown, Huron, and Mitchell in addition to Yankton at a minimum.
The weekly TV show on KSFY, and the coverage on Mediacom cable systems is essential, but is only a start. The debacle of KSFY discovering at the last minute that they couldn't broadcast the NDSU game can't be repeated. That was just plain embarrassing. SDSU needs to get the games on Midcontinent cable--not doing that is ignoring the biggest cable provider in the state's largest TV market, which can't be a good thing.
There are lots of ways to attack this--from SDSU and USD joining forces to create a South Dakota Sports Network (possibly working with SDPTV?) that would be carried throughout the state, both on cable and over-the-air. I'm sure that an afternoon's brainstorming could come up with a number of innovative strategies to attack the issue of getting more games-on-tv-especially-OTA-tv. I do think that this is an area that SDSU and USD could very, very profitably cooperate to the mutual benefit of both schools.
But I'm just sitting here in Missouri, making stuff up. What do I really know, anyway?
Facilities--
I believe that SDSU has hit that point where the football stadium is a drag on attendance/revenue opportunities, and hence on the overall football and athletic programs.
It's no longer has the needed seating capacity, it doesn't have modern fan amenities such as concessions and bathrooms, the east bleachers are pretty sad, and the west grandstand is just getting old. It was a decent Division II facility in its day. But those days are gone, and the 3,000-student NCAA College Division SDSC is now the 12,000-student NCAA Division I SDSU.
Even with the big scoreboard on one end and the Dykhouse Center at the other end, the limitations for fans of the current stadium--both the west side and the east side stands, as well as the rest of the facility--are becoming quite obvious to everyone.
And that's without talking about the press box or going into the playing surface issue.
Of course, none of this is a surprise to anyone, except maybe a realization of just how inadequate the current CAS really is for SDSU at this point in the university's history.
Bottom line: Send more money!
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