[NU Sports] Attendence ideas

[Jonathan Hodges]

This year on September 18th (Kansas game) was the first time Band Day
has been held at NU since the natural grass was installed prior to
1997.  Athletics is very protective of the grass field; nobody,
including both the band and team, can be on the field any time except
game day.  It was voted the best playing turf in 2000 by the national
groundskeepers association, though.  There is a trend now going to the
field turf around the country (the field turf is actually very nice
and there are not as many injuries on it), and NU is probably going to
install it on one of the practice fields soon.

The current NUMB director, Dan Farris, did a lot of lobbying and set
up Band Day again this year - and we had NUMB plus 13 other bands on
the field for the game.  It worked out very well and it will most
likely be continued in the future.  That game was also during New
Student Week, so the majority of students were on campus and there was
a very good turnout for the game.  Unfortunately, that trend did not
continue through the season (except for OSU).

Game time may very well be a factor in decreased attendance, but
Athletics makes more than enough money from the Big Ten TV contracts
to make up for that.  That is why it will probably not change anytime
soon.  11AM is early, but people should still be able to make the game
- especially students who are so close and now get in free (and have a
free tailgate before the game).  Students at NU tend not to go to
games because they don't really care that much about football or
school spirit - most attend NU because it is a very good school and
they care about their academics, even though the overall collegiate
experience is something everyone needs.  This was my 5th year in NUMB,
and we are there at 7AM for 11AM games week after week - but I have
many friends who just don't care enough to get up and go up to the
stadium.

For non-student attendance, I think that ticket prices should be
decreased (the only people who routinely go now are either
students/faculty/staff, alumni, long-time fans, or parents/relatives
of those associated with NU) in order to attract casual fans, and more
effective marketing should take place.  As noted previously, even in
the dark ages of NU football, attendance was much higher - due to a
solid fan base.  There are more options (professional teams) now, but
more effective advertising and promotions could fill some more stands.

Jonathan Hodges
Tech '05
NUMB 2000-2004

On Thu, 9 Dec 2004 10:14:00 -0800, Cynthia Dueltgen <cdueltgen at gmail.com> wrote:
> Don't we still do Band Day?  We sure did it when I was an undergrad.
> But it only seemed to bring high school kids and not their parents.
> Add to that the 11am kickoff and the parents are probably glad to have
> the kids up and out of the house early on a Saturday.
> 
> I really think the 11am kickoff time has a lot to do with it.  It's
> really hard to drink those two free beers in wildcat alley and still
> be in the seats to see NUMB do pregame. :)  And I've usually flown in
> from California the night before, so it's even earlier for me.  The
> night games are fun, plenty of time to tailgate, but I'd be happy with
> us occasionally getting the 3:30ET kickoff for tv and not the noon.
> 
> Now when I'm at home watching on the game plan in the pacific time
> zone it works out well because I just stay in bed until halftime and
> then make breakfast.  No, wait, I still hate the early kickoff. :)
> 
> -Cynthia (season ticket holder even though I live 2000 miles away)
> 
> On Thu, 09 Dec 2004 11:10:07 -0500, Jeff Beamsley <jeffb at hilgraeve.com> wrote:
> > The new AD Don Canham re-invented the whole stadium experience and in
> > the process gave birth to the whole field of sports marketing.  Some of
> > his innovations include tail gating, branded  items, logo marketing, and
> > "personality" broadcasters.  One of the major reasons why the stadium
> > fills every home game today is that his legacy of event marketing.
> > During the dark days, he used to have a band day when he would invite HS
> > bands from across the state to come and play before, during, and after
> > the games.  He knew that for every kid in the band, there were two
> > parents in the stands.  He would invite enough HS bands to be assured of
> > a sellout for at least that game even if that meant twenty or more.
> >
> > Jeff
> >
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> >
> >
> 
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-- 
Jonathan W. Hodges
President, Iota Chapter
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Northwestern University
jonathanwhodges at gmail.com