[NU Sports] Attendance Woes

[John Labbe]

Why we can't get anyone to attend our games (other than opposing fans) is a phenomenon I can't explain, other than the obvious facts that our alumni base is not as geographically concentrated as at other schools (see, e.g., Ohio State) and that historically football is not something our alumni cling to (see, e.g., Notre Dame, Michigan).

When talking about ticket prices, though, I think there are a few things to consider.

First, starting this year, student tickets were once again free (they were last free for football in 1994).  I think there was an additional student fee for this, but it was a mandatory fee and all students were entitled to attend games for free.  Nevertheless, having attended every home game, I'd have to say that the students did not attend in great numbers (with the exception of the Ohio State game).  If you can't get STUDENTS to attend the games for FREE, why do you think that you can get Joe Public Chicago to attend for $30 but not $40?  It's possible, but it seems there are other factors at work (i.e., people just don't want to attend our games).

Second, young alumni (graduates within the past 5 years) can buy half price season tickets for $85.  That's less than $15 per game.  And the young alumni section (which is adjacent to the student section) is not exactly sold out.

Third, although $40 Big Ten tickets are expensive, I think the ticket office has come up with some decent promotions, such as the half-price end zone tickets and the young alumni tickets.  The three packs (which I think were new for football this year) are also a pretty good deal.  Two Big Ten and one non-conf game for $90, or an average of $30 each.

Frankly, although I wouldn't mind tickets being cheaper, $170 for a season ticket for six games is a steal.  That's less than $30 a game on average.






On Wednesday, December 08, 2004, at 06:34PM, <sjtruog at jorsm.com> wrote:

>> I think that Sanford is onto something with regard to the non-con games.
>>
>Yup - they scheduled their home opener against San Jose State ... a
>regional "rival" that no doubt brought a good chunk of fans as well.
>
>I remember our opener NIU in 2000 ... even for a weeknight, the Huskies
>brought more fans than I remember any non-Big Ten foe to Ryan Field.
>
>Also remember that Stanford gets Notre Dame at home every other year or so
>... that has to help attendance as well.
>
>But I think we've explored many of the factors before. The drop from '98
>to '99 is clearly because Barnett left. He was the golden boy of college
>coaches in 1995 and probably better known than Wannstead around town. He
>was the image of the program and that sold to the bandwagon Chicago fans.
>
>As solid of a job as I believe Walker has done on the field, he's just not
>the personality that Barnett was around town. That falls on Walker and the
>NU athletic department (again, Rick Taylor did a fine job in the office -
>but he wasn't exactly reaching out during his term to the Chicago
>bandwagon fans). We need to get it out there that NU games are exciting,
>fun and in your backyard.
>
>The folks have done some good things with Wildcat Alley, the reduction of
>end zone seats, etc. but you don't see those publicized much to folks
>outside the university. We get a higher percentage of students than most
>-- if not all -- Big Ten schools and we have a good chunk of season ticket
>holders as well (far more than when I first visited Dyche in 1992). But
>our alumni are smaller in numbers and spread nationwide. We've gone about
>as far as we can go with alumni and students. We need to embrace the
>Chicagoland football fan looking for a fun family event or a thrilling
>college game or a bargain.
>
>> The slow NU starts the past several years is going to depress that
>> market.  By the time they get to school and we would hope to begin
>> encouraging them to become loyal NU fans, the team is 0-2.
>
>Good point. With Barnett's departure, a lot of the air left the balloon
>for the casual fan. We've certainly seen exciting football in Evanston
>lately - but it doesn't get teh notice and those 0-2 starts hurt.
>
>> Also the student section doesn't seem nearly so rowdy and hardcore as it
>> has been in previous seasons.  Any season ticket holders see the same
>> thing?
>
>It definitely fell off this year. Dunno why - I believe that the tickets
>are free again with a WildCard ... but they were subdued and in smaller
>numbers than the past.
>
>It's tough to explain -- we play exciting football. You'd think that would
>attract some fans. But we do depend on visiting fans and catching the eye
>of the casual Chicago bandwagon fan. ASU's golden shirt bloc was sure
>vocal (and given the distance, I was surprised how many folks they
>brought), but that may have been our second largest out-of-town fan base
>of the season after all the red from Ohio State.
>
>Purdue, Indiana, Illinois and Kansas would probably bring more fans for a
>basketball game at Welsh-Ryan than they did to Ryan Field. And I'm certain
>that those four programs would catch the eye of the casual Chicago sports
>fan much, much more on the hardwood court than on the football field.
>
>As for weather, aside from the Purdue windstorm, we had a pretty good year
>again ... so I'm not sure how to answer this one. A lot on who we
>schedule, a lot on how the coach and athletic department get their
>name/face out in Chicagoland, a lot on prices and probably some on the
>lack of tradition and pro sports mentality of Chicago.
>
>The only thing we can rule out for sure is the product on the field ... a
>5-1 home mark, three overtime wins, two more decided by 3 points and the
>one loss a 9-point heartbreaker where we fumbled away a chance to take the
>lead in the closing minutes. NU ticket holders certainly got more than
>their money's worth. Surely we have some marketing whiz somewhere who can
>make sure that the folks in Chicagoland know about it!
>
>GO CATS!!!
>-SjT
>
>_______________________________________________
>nwu-sports site list
>nwu-sports at tssi.com
>http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/nwu-sports
>
>