[NU Sports] Attendance

Mon Nov 19 19:49:10 CST 2007

Minnesota can be included on that list, and even this year with a new HC and
a 1-11 record to finish the year they averaged 51,791 in a dome that they're
moving out of in just a couple of years.

Regarding the new stadium, I don't see NU moving out of Ryan Field any time
soon unless someone is willing to pony up enough cash to:

1) Add to the lakefill.
2) Build a brand new stadium on that lakefill.
3) Pay off city and state officials to let that happen.

There are a few modifications that I think would make Ryan Field more
amenable to an attendance increase, but a new stadium/updated stadium won't
in itself bring the fans; here are the changes:

1) Reconstruct the south end zone "bowl" seating to be closer to the field
and also to match the architecture of the rest of the stadium - right now it
looks like an eyesore and the seats are way too far back from the field.
2) Install a seating area in the north end zone (on both sides of the locker
room entrance) for NUMB and put them there during the game, leaving the
current student seating area where it is (which would still be close by).
Alternatively, stands could be built on Randy Walker Terrace, but being at
field level would be better.
3) Build a 2-3 story parking structure in place of the current west parking
lot; with the top level (which will not be that high, especially if levels
are built underground) reserved for tailgaiting using the current
parking/points system, and the lower levels for additional non-tailgate
season ticket parking, which should open up room in some of the closer lots
(e.g. ENH) for day of game parking.
4) This is easy: move the Big Ten flags to the top of the stadium or the
south end zone so that people in the lower west stands on the north end can
see the video board.

Just a few thoughts, but again, modifications to the stadium won't in itself
bring more fans to the game.

Jonathan

On Nov 19, 2007 4:53 PM, Louie Vaccher <lvaccher at comcast.net> wrote:

> > We also have to remember that few mid level Div I college teams in major
> > markets
> > that have NFL teams draw well [with the exception of Los Angeles.]
> > Maryland
> > still doesn't sell out, Philly and New York don't have Div I teams,
> Boston
> > College is up and down. SMU [Dallas] never could get enough people in
> the
> > stands
> > to fill Cowboy Stadium, Georgia Tech has issues in Atlanta, Miami U
> still
> > has
> > trouble drawing in Miami.
>
> I think those are decent comparisons with the exception of SMU, which
> doesn't play in a major conference and hasn't been the same since the
> death
> penalty was imposed on them. The sad thing is that NU lags pretty far
> behind
> the rest of them in attendance. Here are the 2007 average attendance
> numbers
> for the schools listed:
>
> Maryland: 51,263
> BC: 41,571
> Ga Tech: 50,296
> Miami: 43,589
> NU: 24,589
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Roy Lamberton" <rstetson at capps-assoc.com>
> To: <johnadeg at comcast.net>; "'Jeff Beamsley'" <jeff.beamsley at hilgraeve.com
> >;
> <nwu-sports at tssi.com>
> Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 3:12 PM
> Subject: RE: [NU Sports] Attendance
>
>
> > My casual observation on attendance:
> >
> > 1. The 11 AM time makes it virtually impossible to fly into Chicago from
> > the
> > east coast for a game without arriving Friday night and staying until
> > Sunday
> > morning. A return to the 1 PM start would make it a LOT easier for out
> of
> > town
> > people AND those on the south side of Chicago to get to games.
> >
> > 2. Bring back the Greek Tailgates - when we played Navy, several NU
> > fraternities
> > had tailgates in the parking lot for their alums who also were former
> > NROTC
> > guys. My fraternity apparently has wangled a way to hold a tailgate in
> the
> > East
> > lot and does so every home game. I'm sure they are not encouraged to do
> > that,
> > but they do.
> >
> > 3. Provide a way for NU people to sell their tickets [with parking] to
> > other NU
> > people. The Naval Academy has a ticket share system that is run through
> > their
> > official web site. I was able to get tickets a couple of weeks ago, to
> see
> > the
> > sold out Navy - Delaware game. My seats were 10 rows behind the Navy
> > bench.
> >
> > 4. I like the idea of putting the Band in the endzone, or on the other
> > side with
> > the students - we need to take back our field. After all those years of
> > poor
> > football, we need to figure out how to get a purple presence on both
> sides
> > of
> > the field at the 50.
> >
> > We also have to remember that few mid level Div I college teams in major
> > markets
> > that have NFL teams draw well [with the exception of Los Angeles.]
> > Maryland
> > still doesn't sell out, Philly and New York don't have Div I teams,
> Boston
> > College is up and down. SMU [Dallas] never could get enough people in
> the
> > stands
> > to fill Cowboy Stadium, Georgia Tech has issues in Atlanta, Miami U
> still
> > has
> > trouble drawing in Miami.
> >
> > Look at the major markets with NFL and college football will always be
> 3rd
> > or
> > 4th to the local pro teams. Now, if the college is not in the major
> city,
> > they'll do fine if they win [Michigan and MSU for example] The fact
> still
> > remains that the major college teams that sell out all the time, all
> play
> > in
> > cities without a true pro football presence.
> >
> > I'm sure someone can do a study on why - maybe its that the Columbus
> paper
> > only
> > has football news about the Bucks as a lead with the Browns and Bengals
> as
> > secondary .
> >
> > rsl
> >
> >
> >
> > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> > Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate
> > & sometime Unix Guru....
> > Computer Applications & Support Associates
> > ==========  Go Cats - Beat 'em All  ============
> > "You have a Republic Madam --
> > If you can keep it" - Benjamin Franklin
> > ============================================
> >
> >
> >
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>
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Jonathan W. Hodges
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