UNI Forming Fan Advisory Committee

[Born-a-Panther]

Alright, time to let your voices be heard. Here's a way the fans can actually make a difference in the game-day experience!

http://www.unipanthers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=26200&ATCLID=209475958

[DomeIsHome]

Re: UNI Forming Fan Advisory Committee

Only way this works is if the athletic department:

a. Listens to/implements what is said
2. Follows through NEXT year with more improvements and builds on the ones made in 2014.

That being said I really like this idea, and I wish that MORE people could be heard.

[UNIpanther99]

Re: UNI Forming Fan Advisory Committee

I hope they can find a good mix of die-hard and causal fans. Glad to see them doing this, it's always a good idea to step back and re-evaluate what you're doing every so often.

[JayJ79]

Re: UNI Forming Fan Advisory Committee

it is easy to point out and whine about what is lacking (as many on here do on a regular basis).

It is much tougher to figure out a way to make improvements when faced with difficult financial situations and a level of uncertainty in the future.

A fan advisory committee can be beneficial to some extent, but I'm sure there will be people on here complaining that they're "not doing enough" because many of the things that fans want don't tend to be easily accomplished w/o spending quite a bit of money

[ubuntuCAT]

Re: UNI Forming Fan Advisory Committee

Sell beer. And have a decent variety. Sell cans/plastic bottles and skip the capital needs for keg equipment. (easier to have variety also)

Charge $5 for parking.

These are fan suggestions that make money.

[Mudrafan]

Re: UNI Forming Fan Advisory Committee

Sell beer. And have a decent variety. Sell cans/plastic bottles and skip the capital needs for keg equipment. (easier to have variety also)

Charge $5 for parking.

These are fan suggestions that make money.

UNI's main pull is families & alums that bring their families. The alcohol & family thing does not mix. I'd venture to guess that you'll lose more families than you gain if you open up alcohol. You cannot get enough in the parking lot? You can't wait for 1 1/2 hrs so you can re-fill at halftime? If not, buy into the Athletic Club. I would compromise & expand the athletic club to pull more in for games where they can be distracted by the alcohol, but keep it out of the stands.

[BCPanther]

Re: UNI Forming Fan Advisory Committee

I think beer would be a terrible idea for UNI. It works other places, but I don't see it as a fit here...

[ubuntuCAT]

Re: UNI Forming Fan Advisory Committee

UNI's main pull is families & alums that bring their families. The alcohol & family thing does not mix. I'd venture to guess that you'll lose more families than you gain if you open up alcohol. You cannot get enough in the parking lot? You can't wait for 1 1/2 hrs so you can re-fill at halftime? If not, buy into the Athletic Club. I would compromise & expand the athletic club to pull more in for games where they can be distracted by the alcohol, but keep it out of the stands.

I couldn't disagree more. First of all, not everyone tailgates. I rarely have the time on Saturday to tailgate and go to the game nor have I ever left at halftime. If people already responsibly leave at half time to have a beer and come back in wouldn't we want to keep them inside? I'm a purple PSC member so once in awhile I go to the pregame meals and buy a beer there (never seen anyone abusing it there) but I skip most of those as well because I'd rather watch warm ups and the band and such. I would enjoy a beer or two during the game.

Was beer a family deterrent at UNI baseball games? What about black hawks, Bucs, CR kernels games? I've see a lot of families at Arch Madness.

Do you really think there would be more people abusing alcohol inside the building at $5/beer than there already is in the free-for-all outside?

And if you still think there would be problems you can put controls in place. don't sell to people who are drunk. Only sell in specified sections. Kick people out if they make a scene.

I don't understand you parking comments. My suggestion to charge a small amount for parking is an extra way to generate revenue. Nothing to do with there not being enough parking. Would be a way to get a little money from people that tailgate and skip the game.

[UNIpanther99]

Re: UNI Forming Fan Advisory Committee

This is a really minor suggestion, but I always thought when I was a student we should have been able to use our meal plan to get a dome dog, popcorn, and pop. Change the pop to a beer and student attendance will triple.

[Mudrafan]

Re: UNI Forming Fan Advisory Committee

I couldn't disagree more. First of all, not everyone tailgates. I rarely have the time on Saturday to tailgate and go to the game nor have I ever left at halftime. If people already responsibly leave at half time to have a beer and come back in wouldn't we want to keep them inside? I'm a purple PSC member so once in awhile I go to the pregame meals and buy a beer there (never seen anyone abusing it there) but I skip most of those as well because I'd rather watch warm ups and the band and such. I would enjoy a beer or two during the game.

Was beer a family deterrent at UNI baseball games? What about black hawks, Bucs, CR kernels games? I've see a lot of families at Arch Madness.

Do you really think there would be more people abusing alcohol inside the building at $5/beer than there already is in the free-for-all outside?

And if you still think there would be problems you can put controls in place. don't sell to people who are drunk. Only sell in specified sections. Kick people out if they make a scene.

I don't understand you parking comments. My suggestion to charge a small amount for parking is an extra way to generate revenue. Nothing to do with there not being enough parking. Would be a way to get a little money from people that tailgate and skip the game.

I said nothing about parking. You are confusing me with someone else. Also, by the time you boot someone, the damage has already been done. I take my family to the Dome for football...not for beer. If I want that, I can drink responsibly in the PSC lounge. Like I said, there are way more families that attend than people looking for a party. You'd lose the demographic & longer term fan...generally speaking.

[9YRPLAN]

Re: UNI Forming Fan Advisory Committee

UNI's main pull is families & alums that bring their families. The alcohol & family thing does not mix. I'd venture to guess that you'll lose more families than you gain if you open up alcohol. You cannot get enough in the parking lot? You can't wait for 1 1/2 hrs so you can re-fill at halftime? If not, buy into the Athletic Club. I would compromise & expand the athletic club to pull more in for games where they can be distracted by the alcohol, but keep it out of the stands.

i would be plastered every day if I were related to you.

[UNIdad]

Re: UNI Forming Fan Advisory Committee

Let me give a little perspective from a dual ISU/UNI fan who has been to tons of ISU football games, but only a few UNI ones (hopefully many more in the future).

Tailgating is fine at UNI. We served more than 100 for the UNI and Iowa games at ISU last year (multiple entrees, variety of drinks), so we now tailgating. We tailgated for 20 for the UNI at Drake game. I got lots of advice about tailgating at UNI on this forum, but surprisingly many people were really disparaging about it. I loved our tailgate in CF, even though it was 100 degrees. The only thing I would suggest is for those who are negative about UNI tailgating to just stop. It is fine. And in some ways, it is is better than ISU's. For instance, it is easier for people who aren't going to the game to join you for your tailgate. We had some extra tickets which we ended up giving to people who came for our tailgate without intended to go to the game. We had more room for games than at ISU, but that may be on borrowed time as the tailgating continues to grow. Take pride in your tailgating and just let it continue to develop. Maybe also prepare a short list of the unique things to keep in mind, such as the "use a cup for your drink."

Here is my big suggestion: try to do some things to change the culture of fans leaving early, especially students. There was a great crowd at the beginning of the Drake game, but as UNI gave them a beat down, nearly half of the students left. What do they have to do in CF that is better than watching a beat down of Drake? Seriously, I think the AD needs to have a campaign with an "I finished with the team" theme. Celebrating with the team after a win is one of the great joys of being a college sports fan. Plus, you never know when you will need the fans at the end of the game to cheer for victory.

One more recommendation for football. I was disappointed by the entrance of the team. Somewhere, I had the idea that the team would be waiting behind the big metal door, pounding on it for a while until it finally gets lifted up, after which the ones in front crouch down and rush in for a spectacular entrance. Instead, they just lifted the door and they ran out to music. It would be awesome for the fans to get quiet so all you hear (and all the opponents hear) is the pounding for a minute or so. Then when the pounding stops as the door is finally lifted and the player run out, the fans could go crazy.

Go Panthers.

[JayJ79]

Re: UNI Forming Fan Advisory Committee

People are always going to leave early during blowout games. Nothing is really going to change that.

It's leaving when the game is still in contention that is frustrating.

[UNIdad]

Re: UNI Forming Fan Advisory Committee

People are always going to leave early during blowout games. Nothing is really going to change that.

It's leaving when the game is still in contention that is frustrating.

At halftime? Against a local rival? Not acceptable. And there is no excuse for leaving while the game is still close. Okay, a few excuses for health and elderly, but the culture needs to change.

You can't just tell them to stay, but there have to be some things we can do. My daughter stays and encourages her friend to stay. We all need to make sure that we are having the impact we can among the people we know.

Overall, it will take a proactive approach that creates a positive image to staying. Maybe they need some cool post-game traditions (other than tearing down the goalposts). Seriously, something like a "Postlude Dance" could build on an existing great tradition.

[JayJ79]

Re: UNI Forming Fan Advisory Committee

UNI/Drake is not a football rivalry. It might used to have been, but not since Drake dropped football scholarships (i.e. went D3 and then Pioneer League).
Since the series renewed in 2005 after a 20-year span of not playing, UNI has won all four games by at LEAST 31 points (2005: 52-17 in CF, 2006: 48-7 in DM, 2007: 45-7 in DM, 2013: 45-14 in CF).

If they can come up with some sort of gimmick to get people (especially students) to stay for the full game more often, great! But I just can't think of anything that would get the job done.