[NU Sports] Saturdays at Dyche Stadium

[Jim Leonard]

Thank you Jonathan for explaining the ESPN/ABC link to 11 AM start times. I hadn't heard that before. 

I think one issue that NU will always battle is how much do non-NU people in Chicago care? The big state schools have a natural fan base in their respective states, plus more alumni. But NU football doesn't even draw half of its own Chicago alumni base let alone people who have no connection to the school. It's just a challenge that private schools in division 1-A football have to deal with.

If I lived within driving distance of Stanford, Duke, Rice, or Boston College, I might be tempted to go to one game a year if the opponent made for an interesting match up, but I wouldn't adopt them as my team. 

The same is true for Vanderbilt. I have an MBA from Vanderbilt and lived in Nashville for five years after I graduated. Vanderbilt has a huge alumni base in and around Nashville, but still doesn't have a strong showing of home fans. They do play a lot of night games though, which allows for a long afternoon of tailgating, etc. and that seems to help. The stadium is about the size of Dyche and they only sell out when 25,000 - 30,000 Gator, Auburn, or Volunteer fans show up. 

I'm sure we can improve attendance at Dyche, but having NU become 'Chicago's team' is probably unrealistic. 

Go Cats!
Jim