Defend the Turf at WIU

[UNI83]

Re: Defend the Turf at WIU

Wait...so 10K of your attendees are students?

I find that hard to believe since WIU's enrollment is 10,446 in the fall of 2009, per WIU's webiste

[UNI MadCat]

Re: Defend the Turf at WIU

Wait...so 10K of your attendees are students?

I find that hard to believe since WIU's enrollment is 10,446 in the fall of 2009, per WIU's webiste

Give the guy a break, he didnt say that. Students are a part of the equation. As are faculty and families related to the university that are likely gone too. And, I'd have to imagine that like many areas, public school systems run on a similar schedule to their big university so perhaps they are all out too, making it a "fall break" and travel time for many. Add in that WIU hasn't been in position to win the conference on the last day of the season the last two years, plus weather elements and the picture becomes more clear.

[DomeRanger Posse]

Re: Defend the Turf at WIU

If I remember correctly from my undergrad days, UNI always had a hard time getting people into the Dome on the Saturday before Thanksgiving as well.

[run&blade]

Re: Defend the Turf at WIU

Those home playoff games on thanksgiving weekend don't draw jack usually.

sanders last season was an exception. For some reason the entire state jumped on the UNI bandwagon that year. DAMN YOU FLACO !!!!!

[ST_Lawson]

Re: Defend the Turf at WIU

Give the guy a break, he didnt say that. Students are a part of the equation. As are faculty and families related to the university that are likely gone too. And, I'd have to imagine that like many areas, public school systems run on a similar schedule to their big university so perhaps they are all out too, making it a "fall break" and travel time for many. Add in that WIU hasn't been in position to win the conference on the last day of the season the last two years, plus weather elements and the picture becomes more clear.

Thanks MadCat.

Yea, that's pretty much the case. Just a rough guess, but I'd say that students generally make up around 1/4 to 1/3 of the crowd at our home games. Most of the rest are local residents. The problem is that the weekend before Thanksgiving is kinda a "perfect storm" of issues that each chip away at the number of people who would show up.
The $1 tickets are just one of the things that our Athletics Department is planning to help remove some of those barriers and make it easier for people to show up. There are other initiatives targeted at students, WIU fans from outside of the west-central Illinois region, etc. that should help as well.

I'm happy that they're doing stuff like this instead of just sitting on their hands waiting for 1000 people to show up and mildly cheer for our team. Even on years where the last game doesn't mean much in the conference standings or playoff race, there's still reasons for people to show up.
For example, we had slightly more than 1000 people on hand when Herb Donaldson broke the career rushing record for the conference. In many cases, that last game is when season and career records are set.

[Cap'n Cat]

Re: Defend the Turf at WIU

Thanks MadCat.

Yea, that's pretty much the case. Just a rough guess, but I'd say that students generally make up around 1/4 to 1/3 of the crowd at our home games. Most of the rest are local residents. The problem is that the weekend before Thanksgiving is kinda a "perfect storm" of issues that each chip away at the number of people who would show up.
The $1 tickets are just one of the things that our Athletics Department is planning to help remove some of those barriers and make it easier for people to show up. There are other initiatives targeted at students, WIU fans from outside of the west-central Illinois region, etc. that should help as well.

I'm happy that they're doing stuff like this instead of just sitting on their hands waiting for 1000 people to show up and mildly cheer for our team. Even on years where the last game doesn't mean much in the conference standings or playoff race, there's still reasons for people to show up.
For example, we had slightly more than 1000 people on hand when Herb Donaldson broke the career rushing record for the conference. In many cases, that last game is when season and career records are set.

This is a wholly positive thing for WIU and for the rest of the league. Good luck. Hope I can make the game. If I do, I'll be bringing four or five!

[UNI83]

Re: Defend the Turf at WIU

FWIW:

13,000 attendees at $1 (really is embarassing for a D1 football team to have football tickets for a buck IMO) is $13K.

1000 attendees at $15 is $15k

[TravelingPanther]

Re: Defend the Turf at WIU

It would be more embarrassing if no one shows, even with $1 tickets.

[1988]

Re: Defend the Turf at WIU

FWIW:

13,000 attendees at $1 (really is embarassing for a D1 football team to have football tickets for a buck IMO) is $13K.

1000 attendees at $15 is $15k

You are a ray of sunshine.