AD disarray

[achrist70]

We don't have season stats for football on the website

[vbfan19]

We don't have season stats for football on the website

The stats are there; they just haven't updated the index page.

https://unipanthers.com/sports/football/stats/2021

[ronfitch]

The stats are there; they just haven't updated the index page.
https://unipanthers.com/sports/football/stats/2021

Thanks, '19.

[sevelev711]

David got the job in Spring 2016. Here's football attendance in that time.

2015: 11,549
2016: 12,123
2017: 9,696
2018: 9,337
2019: 8,432

Nothing troubling there...

To be fair, that timeline coincides with Iowa State being good for the first time ever, and now Iowa has two ranked P5 teams it can watch instead of the somewhat-bland-but-not-producing-the-results-you-want-in-order-to-be-okay-with-the-playstyle FCS team. Not saying that it's the main factor, but it is a compounding factor, one that the AD has zero control over.

[vbfan19]

Thanks, '19.

I used my elite hacking skills (of changing the 2020 to a 2021 in the URL) to find that.

[vbfan19]

To be fair, that timeline coincides with Iowa State being good for the first time ever, and now Iowa has two ranked P5 teams it can watch instead of the somewhat-bland-but-not-producing-the-results-you-want-in-order-to-be-okay-with-the-playstyle FCS team. Not saying that it's the main factor, but it is a compounding factor, one that the AD has zero control over.

as well as a nationwide trend of declining attendance (with the possible exception of programs that are currently experiencing an unprecedented level of success) because the general public as a whole (and students) are just not as interested in spending hours of their weekend in a hot crowded stadium (or a cold crowded stadium, or a rainy/snowy/windy stadium, depending on the location and time of year) and hundreds of dollars when they can usually just watch the game on TV or on their computers/phones. (that is, if they are interested in sports at all; which might also be declining)

[sevelev711]

This is true. I love sports, but I gotta say there's nothing wrong with watching games on your TV when you have a better viewing experience than you would with a 80% of your ticket purchases. The only reason that one needs to go to a game is for "the atmosphere," which is where you get a bit of chicken and egg situation. "The atmosphere isn't great, so I don't want to go," and because a lot more people don't go the atmosphere gets worse, and because of that, less people want to go. And there's really not much the AD has in his power to fix that. Like, how can the product of the last 5-10 years really be marketed? "Come miss the Iowa/Iowa State game so that you can see UNI lose to SDSU/NDSU 23-10 or beat the teams that no one cares about. We have beer now!" The only way to get more butts in seats is to have a team that people actually want to see. The average UNI fan doesn't post here. Hell, I would guess that the average doesn't have UNI as their favorite team. That's just the reality. It was said somewhere on the site within the last few days, but "Offense sells tickets, defense wins championships" doesn't just mean "good defense is important." People want to see offense. And we haven't had that in quite some time.

[ronfitch]

I used my elite hacking skills (of changing the 2020 to a 2021 in the URL) to find that.

S-l-o-w down .... I am getting a pencil.

[UNIdad]

Valley basketball schedules for men and women were released yesterday

Not a single mention of it in any way, on any platform, from the athletic department.

Seems like they could deputize a few people on this site or a few Communication major interns and get a lot of benefit in terms of simple use of social media.

[PantherAlum09]

There are some little things they could do that would definitely up their social media presence. I've noticed Iowa and Iowa State routinely put up a cool graphic of a kid they are recruiting for football and say good luck against whichever opponent they are facing. It looks cool and the kids seem to enjoy them. I know recruiting isn't really the focus, but just being visible would be a step up.

[run&blade]

Two tickets (cheapest) to UNI vs Youngstown St including fees $62.00

Two tickets (cheapest) to Iowa vs Colorado St including fees $52.00

This isn’t StubHub. It’s buying them from the school’s sites.

UNI has moved passed the casual fan and are now just gouging the hell out of a fan base that shrinks every year.

[BCPanther]

Two tickets (cheapest) to UNI vs Youngstown St including fees $62.00

Two tickets (cheapest) to Iowa vs Colorado St including fees $52.00

This isn’t StubHub. It’s buying them from the school’s sites.

UNI has moved passed the casual fan and are now just gouging the hell out of a fan base that shrinks every year.

Doing the exact same thing in fundraising. Asking a smaller and smaller number of people to write bigger and bigger checks, the the type of approach that puts you out of business in a decade.

But, it's still just those damn kids and their cellular telephones...

[PantherAlum09]

If you can't see why it's a problem that a top 5 team nationally has a cheaper ticket than an FCS school, then that's on you.

[UNIpanther99]

There are deals to be had at UNI on tickets (the half-price MBB season ticket offer a while back, etc.). But they don't make it easy for the casual fan to walk up the day of the game and go. That is a problem.

I've always thought they should offer a free year pair of season tickets for the following year to any graduating senior who attends every home game their senior year. New grads don't have the money for season tix their first year out of school, but they might by the time their second year rolls around. Obviously not everyone stays local, but some do. And it would be an easy way to build back a local, loyal fan base.

[06panther10]

Two tickets (cheapest) to UNI vs Youngstown St including fees $62.00

Two tickets (cheapest) to Iowa vs Colorado St including fees $52.00

This isn’t StubHub. It’s buying them from the school’s sites.

UNI has moved passed the casual fan and are now just gouging the hell out of a fan base that shrinks every year.

Correct.

UNI used to be the cheaper alternative gameday experience. Big walkup crowd, bring your family type gameday experience.

But no more. The AD has decided we don’t need those people. We don’t need larger crowds and casual fans.

Brilliant. I wonder why attendance is cratering?…..