[NU Sports] Attendance Woes

[JHCCLARK at aol.com]

"I agree that the primary factor is ticket prices; $40 is simply too high."

My $.02.  I disagree.

The $40 price is the max on any ticket -- most tickets, as explained in earlier posts, are around $20 or less, with students in for free.  It isn't the price of the tickets, which are FAR below what other schools charge.  

Bulls, Bears, Cubs, Sox, that hockey team (what IS their name...) are $40 or more, but people pay that.  And da Bears have stunk for a long long time.  People will pay max $40 for a football game.  I do.  You can't go to a football game for less.

What people won't do is get up at an un-Godly hour on a Saturday morning to tailgate on brats and burgers and (shhh) drink beer.

The main difference between 1994's attendance and that in 2004 is the 11am start.  ESPN and ABC had not implemented the noon/3:30pm EST games in full force in 1994 -- it was just starting.  

And another school has noticed that the early start times have had an effect on attendance...

Michigan officials have noticed that the stands at Michigan Stadium are not full during the first quarter of noon EST games.  This was never a problem when games started at 2pm EST (and then 1pm EST), and it certainly is not a problem with 3:30pm starts now.

Again, why the full houses for late-starting games at NU and not for the early bird specials?  Answer:  it is too @#$! early.  Stop the Madness.