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  • run&blade
    replied
    1pm games are a disaster, not sure anybody likes them and it makes tailgating pointless.

    I just want one game at night each year. I can imagine a 7pm NDSU game where beer sales are allowed. Place would be rocking like a heavy metal concert. Show up at 1pm and tailgate and then roll inside for an electric atmosphere. I couldn't care less about beer inside but having been to some Blackhawk games I know I am in the minority. Do some promotions with a different craft beer in each corner and also sell the regular bud/bud light offerings.

    Toss in some decent bar food offerings and you might be able to get some of that "oh, they play football here too? I just came for the fun" type crowd.

    Remodel the sough side stairs to a party deck and maybe even consider tearing out one of the red sections and incorporate that into a party area if it catches on.

    Blackhawk game is like a bar atmosphere. I noticed they are taking seats out at the hockey rink to put in more standing room since it looks like several hundred people each game would prefer to stand/drink/chat.
    Last edited by run&blade; 11-27-2017, 06:20 PM.

    Leave a comment:


  • clenz
    replied
    Originally posted by vbfan19 View Post
    outdoor games are terrible because of all that ambient light
    Expect nothing else from you. Never change.

    Actially, yes mid day kicks are terrible

    Leave a comment:


  • vbfan19
    replied
    outdoor games are terrible because of all that ambient light

    Leave a comment:


  • clenz
    replied
    Originally posted by UNIGrainer View Post
    Are you for or against the ambient light from the roof?
    Yes.

    I like it, but hate it at the same time. It takes all of the atmosphere (for me, and apparently I'm not alone) out of day games.The ambient light plus the stadium lights makes every game feel like an 11AM kick off. It's a ton of light.

    I like it because it does keep that dungeon feel out of the dome.

    It's also great at night because you can tell it's night. You get the sense that it's dark out around the dome. The lack of ambient light where there could be ambient light, again IMO, adds a ton of atmosphere.




    Leave a comment:


  • UNIGrainer
    replied
    Are you for or against the ambient light from the roof? I actually think it is one of the dome's best features. The hard roofs on other domes like the one at USD makes it feel like a dungeon at times.

    Leave a comment:


  • clenz
    replied
    Originally posted by BCPanther View Post
    Thanks for that clenz.

    During the entirety of the Mudra/TA/Dunbar years, 6:30 was the kick time. We had big crowds and a great atmosphere most of the time. Night kicks made us unique and gave the other team something that was way off what they were used to and, IMO, what we should go back to. Use the south deck as a 'Panther Patio'. Get the beer flowing and make it a night out the way the BlackHawks do. Notice how none of their marketing has a damn thing to do with hockey. Make it an event and the place to be on Saturday night, oh and by the way, there's a football game too.

    I totally agree with Clenz that the Dome isn't as alive when there is ambient light in there. I also believe the 1:00 kicks we've had the past couple of years have been a disaster. We get small crowds because of the prevalance of other activities on Saturday mornings and it kills tailgating because, frankly, nobody really wants to have to set up at 8:00 to really take advantage of it. Open the lots at 10:00. Kick at 6:00.

    Be different. It also gives our 'dual fan' population a chance to get back from Ames or Iowa City to get to our game in plenty of time.

    I say this as a parent as well, when did we all get so soft and get so worried about bedtimes on the weekend? We never missed a game when I was growing up and those were all evening kicks, same deal with my sister who is almost 6 years younger than I am. People that are using that as an excuse are going to find an excuse not to come no matter what time we kick.

    *BAND COMPLAINT*- Hire somebody that wants to go to the Big Ten style marching band. Big, brassy, high stepping, entertaining. Not a high school style band that marches slowly and for the most part just stands and plays. They could really bring some energy and put on a helluva show, but nah....
    I'm not against 6 or 7 kick offs, simply laid out everything the AD would hear on a survey if they sent one out. The Black Hawks are a good reference point. "IT'S HOCKEY TIME IN PARTY TOWN!". The entire promotional package is about everything else going on in the arena and there just happens to be a hockey game going on.

    The ambient light through the doors on the south and west side, plus the light through the top take a ton of atmosphere away. As weird as that is, being inside and feeling like your outside is both cool and bad atmosphere. The light reflecting across the field every time a door opens. The light leaving door marks on the field through the south window is weird. The dome just takes on an entirely different feel, even when there isn't a game going on, at night when the sun is down. Our dome is very different than USD or NDSU...even UND. There is zero outside light in those places. You walk into those places and you feel like you're inside.Daytime, nighttime, all of those kick offs feel the same once inside. That's the unique part of the UNIDome. You can definitely tell the difference between a night and day game in ours.

    My kids defnitly won't go to a 7PM kickoff. Not because I'm a new age early bed time yuppie parent. My kids are freaking nightmares if they are up past 7:30. I wish they'd stay up later without being just unforgiving nightmares, but they aren't. In a couple years that probably changes as they are currently 4.5 and 2.

    Agree on the band in many ways. I won't want to start in on that on this one but there are about 10 things off the top of my heard that could be relatively easy/quick changes that would make a significant impact on the band in a positive way.



    Leave a comment:


  • ronfitch
    replied
    Originally posted by northwest iowa panther View Post

    I'm also curious about our early season schedule. I'd have to do more research but it seems we often play our second home game of the season in the 6th or 7th week of the season.
    Originally posted by ronfitch View Post

    Clenz has written about this a couple of years ago ... either here or at AnyGivenSaturday. I can't find it, but hopefully he can pull his research and put it here.
    Originally posted by clenz View Post

    I've done it. It's ugly.

    Since 2008 - when the DSU's joined (I'm doing this from memory, I don't have my sheets in front of me) UNI's average first 6 weeks are:
    1 OOC home
    2 OOC away
    1 MVFC home
    2 MVFC away

    That takes rounding into it as the numbers are like 2.3 home games and 3.7 road games or something like that.

    IIRC UNI's first 3 MVFC games are actually something like 1.2 to 2.8. It is quite rare to see 2 of the first 3 MVFC games at home.

    I've though "Maybe it's because we have a dome and late season weather". Well, USD and NDSU tend to average 2 of the first 3 at home (rounding to the nearest whole of course).

    It's a unique anomoly that it seems only UNI faces as almost everyone else in the conference seems to fall about 1.5-1.5 H/A split to the first 3 conference games.

    Even going to first 4 we've had more seasons going 1 home 3 away than 3 home 1 away, I believe.
    And, nevermind ... he already posted here while I was looking for his old posts.

    Leave a comment:


  • ronfitch
    replied
    Originally posted by northwest iowa panther View Post
    I posted this in the Monmouth thread and brought it over here for those that might be interested.


    Some attendance facts to do with NCAA FCS football

    2017 figures have not been compiled but in 2016 average game attendance for all home games at the FCS level was 8,357 per game.

    For the 23 games involving the FCS playoff in 2016 the average was 8,349. This compared to 3,736 per game in D II and 1,702 in D III

    Yesterday's attendance:

    Stony Brook vs Lehigh 4,131
    Weber St. vs WIU 6,876
    UNI vs Monmouth 4,095
    UNH vs Central Con. 2,385
    Kennesaw St. vs Samford 5,566
    Nichols St. vs USD 9,612
    Elon vs Furman 2,934
    NAU vs San Diego 4,068

    An average of 4,958 per game yesterday.

    I posted in another thread last week that we have averaged before yesterday 8,637 for 15 first round games we have hosted. That average included two games one in the 70's and one in the 80's that had fewer in attendance than yesterday.

    I'm also curious about our early season schedule. I'd have to do more research but it seems we often play our second home game of the season in the 6th or 7th week of the season.
    Clenz has written about this a couple of years ago ... either here or at AnyGivenSaturday. I can't find it, but hopefully he can pull his research and put it here.

    Leave a comment:


  • clenz
    replied
    Originally posted by northwest iowa panther View Post

    I'm also curious about our early season schedule. I'd have to do more research but it seems we often play our second home game of the season in the 6th or 7th week of the season.
    I've done it. It's ugly.

    Since 2008 - when the DSU's joined (I'm doing this from memory, I don't have my sheets in front of me) UNI's average first 6 weeks are:
    1 OOC home
    2 OOC away
    1 MVFC home
    2 MVFC away

    That takes rounding into it as the numbers are like 2.3 home games and 3.7 road games or something like that.

    IIRC UNI's first 3 MVFC games are actually something like 1.2 to 2.8. It is quite rare to see 2 of the first 3 MVFC games at home.

    I've though "Maybe it's because we have a dome and late season weather". Well, USD and NDSU tend to average 2 of the first 3 at home (rounding to the nearest whole of course).

    It's a unique anomoly that it seems only UNI faces as almost everyone else in the conference seems to fall about 1.5-1.5 H/A split to the first 3 conference games.

    Even going to first 4 we've had more seasons going 1 home 3 away than 3 home 1 away, I believe.

    Leave a comment:


  • northwest iowa panther
    replied
    I posted this in the Monmouth thread and brought it over here for those that might be interested.


    Some attendance facts to do with NCAA FCS football

    2017 figures have not been compiled but in 2016 average game attendance for all home games at the FCS level was 8,357 per game.

    For the 23 games involving the FCS playoff in 2016 the average was 8,349. This compared to 3,736 per game in D II and 1,702 in D III

    Yesterday's attendance:

    Stony Brook vs Lehigh 4,131
    Weber St. vs WIU 6,876
    UNI vs Monmouth 4,095
    UNH vs Central Con. 2,385
    Kennesaw St. vs Samford 5,566
    Nichols St. vs USD 9,612
    Elon vs Furman 2,934
    NAU vs San Diego 4,068

    An average of 4,958 per game yesterday.

    I posted in another thread last week that we have averaged before yesterday 8,637 for 15 first round games we have hosted. That average included two games one in the 70's and one in the 80's that had fewer in attendance than yesterday.

    I'm also curious about our early season schedule. I'd have to do more research but it seems we often play our second home game of the season in the 6th or 7th week of the season.

    Leave a comment:


  • FOTY
    replied
    I'll throw in one more point which I think goes along with the early season loss record. Not only are we starting slow, but we are consistently away from the dome to start the seasons. How many homecomings have we had in September or early October the past few years - not often. More home games early in the season, when the weather is nice, get's people into the habit of going to the Dome on Saturdays. Waiting to have home games late in the season, people get into a different habit, such as driving to Iowa City/Ames to party there and not driving to see the 3-4 team in the dome. And it's not easy to change once you are in the habit. So, get them in the habit early when we have a 0-1 record.

    The past few years ISU has had a large number of 6:00 games. That was ideal for us with a 4:00 kick as we could tailgate watch the Western Chicago Community College - Iowa City game and listen to ISU on the way home.

    I know I'm in the minority, but 4:00 works for our group. We come from Dubuque, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines. We do Saturday morning soccer games before tailgating. The kids get a nap in on the way to CF and are put to bed in the car seats after the game. For the late game we had last year all the kids stayed at home (and 1/4 the parents). It's a long day with a short nap. Bringing the kids meant they would be leaving the game early as the kids get crabby. And, no one wanted to do that (group of 16 became 9 for that game). Maybe when they are older it won't make a difference, but that is the reality of our group today and I'm sure we aren't alone. Changing to a primary 6/7 kick will decimate our group.

    Oh, and the 1:00 start sucks. For all reasons mentioned above. Fail.

    Leave a comment:


  • UNIpanther99
    replied
    "Why don't fans attend our games any more?" -about 90% of NCAA football and basketball programs

    Leave a comment:


  • Blue42
    replied
    Like the later kick times...7:00 or even 6:00 would be good...especially for Sept and Oct games when travel is a lesser concern. The Dome at night has a very different feel than mid-day.

    Like the Panther Patio idea as well.

    In the end...you've gotta win at the FCS level to draw. Fans don't follow teams that aren't winning at the FCS level. We have to win early in the season. 2-3 starts are killing us.



    Leave a comment:


  • ronfitch
    replied
    Originally posted by BCPanther View Post

    Winning another game during the regular season so we don't have to play that weekend?
    Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

    With the MVFC being what it is, UNI's OOC games should no longer include Montana or McNeese or SFA or EW or any of the other top FCS schools. But this has been discussed at length.

    Leave a comment:


  • BCPanther
    replied
    Originally posted by ronfitch View Post

    As I recall, the 6:35 kickoff was started in part - if not primarily - so's not to compete with U of Iowa games on the TV.

    That - and the reasons BaP notes above - makes me think it is a better start time for regular season games. For Thanksgiving playoff games ... ish, I dunno what will ever work.
    Winning another game during the regular season so we don't have to play that weekend?

    Leave a comment:

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