Paul Clark on KXNO

[clonz]

Paul is a realistic cyclone supporter, he ceased being a fan (as most think of it) when it became his job. He still supports the cyclones and I appreciate his realistic view off the current state of ISU athletics. Contrary to what some may believe it is ok to say not everything is perfect with your team or school as long as you are trying to honestly access the situation and not just react to whatever just happened.

The stadium and atmosphere could use improvement, although the biggest improvement that could happen to the atmosphere is to win more often. When the game is exciting or anticipated the crowd is very into the game, to make every game anticipated you just need to get a winning streak going.

The less important things being talked about do contribute, but alot less than winning can. Bowling in the endzone would make a marked difference I believe because even if you did not add a second level you would still increase the number of seats in the stadium, I know from people that I have invited to the games (causal fans) that they are not nearly as interested in going if they cannot sit in a seat. The hillsides are popular with some and it is unique to ISU, but we will still have the north hillsides for those fans. I do believe a game like Utah would have better attendance if there were more lower level endzone seating available, you only have to look at the current endzone seats to see that they could be filled.

[dswagclone]

Like I said, some of what he said was true but why say it? It hurts Iowa State.

Should he just say..."Iowa State probably won't win another game this year so don't waste your time and money going up to the games." That might be true but someone representing Iowa State shouldn't say that.

He's not representing Iowa State any more than you or I are you idiot. Holy crap. He doesn't work for Iowa State. What is your major malfunction. Am I not an ISU fan if I speak the truth and not just say whatever lie makes ISU sound better. What kind of society do you live in? When your kids come home with C's, do you just lie and tell people they got A's so everyone feels better? Is that the type of person you are?

[CloneIce]

I know I have never waited 20 minutes in line at JTS. Probably not even 10.

The peope who complain about that wait should go to the concession stand at any pro stadium or most all other college stadiums. Getting in, out, around, and to the concessions stand at JTS takes less time than any other major venue I've never been to. People who are complaning have apparently not attended games elsewhere and are just looking for something to complain about.

[isujeep]

1. You need to go back and listen to the podcast. It was Paul that said JTS needs major renovations just to be an average BCS stadium. Sure he said there isn't a bad seat in the house but that is after he bagged on it for awhile.

2. He said that Iowa State fans generally don't center their weekend around the game and that only a passionate few do so.

3. This is Paul's show. The moderator says the concessions suck and Paul doesn't nothing but say "I don't know".

4. See #3. If this is Clark's show, maybe he shouldn't let Ric run his mouth about how bad Iowa State's gameday experience is. It makes ISU look terrible when Clark is supposed to be an ISU supporter (or maybe he is more like Deace and cares about $$$ only).

I listened to the same segment that you did and I just didn't get the same "feel" you did. I thought Paul did a great job defending and attempting to explain some of the attendance issues and overall represented Iowa State and Iowa State's fanbase interest in a very professional and complimentary manner.

I get the sense that you have your mind made up that you don't like Paul therefore no matter what he said you would find a way to find fault with it. Sorry if I'm wrong but that is the "feel" I get from your post.

[RandomFan]

He's not representing Iowa State any more than you or I are you idiot. Holy crap. He doesn't work for Iowa State. What is your major malfunction. Am I not an ISU fan if I speak the truth and not just say whatever lie makes ISU sound better. What kind of society do you live in? When your kids come home with C's, do you just lie and tell people they got A's so everyone feels better? Is that the type of person you are?

Once again, we can have discussions without calling each other idiots. Respectfully disagree if you want, but save the namecalling.

[simply1]

If this is all new to you on Paul Clark, you must have never heard him on the radio before as a guest.

[Tornado man]

I enjoyed Paul Clark. Unlike most others, his ISU comments didn't sound as if they're written or pre-approved by Tom Kroschell.

[linkshero]

I blame Pollard for a lot of the attendance issues, and I have actually talked to him about many of them. I don't think it is any one thing, but I think you can come up with anywhere from 10-20 reasons why we don't get fans that we should. If each reason represents a loss of 500-1500 people, that takes you from 65K down to what we are seeing.

They should be able to generate tons of demographic and marketing data to see where and why we lag in attendance.

Season Ticket Sales
- corporate
- public
- penetration % of alumni base to season ticket sales
- penetration % of student base to season ticket sales
- season ticket sales by zip code

The same thing can be done for Single Game tickets.

They need to find out why attendance is lagging, and address those reasons. In the past, my impression of Pollards strategy has been to just blame people and question their fan loyalty because they are not willing to spend what he wants them to. They teach us about supply and demand, and opportunity cost in basic Economics, yet ISU does not seem to apply those in their marketing strategy.

[pulse]

GASP!

1. I have never waited 20 minutes in line
2. I never go at halftime
3. 20 minutes isn't all that uncommon at halftime in a lot of stadiums
4. This isn't the biggest reason people aren't back in their seats.

This is what cracks me up about concessions ********. I've never been to a stadium where I thought "wow these concessions are awesome!". Unless you have many little concession stands spaced out around on enclosed stadium, the regular hot dog and drink lines are always jammed at halftime. The exception being pro stadiums that tend to have smaller lines but only for beer because they have lots of little beer stands circling the stadium on the concourses.

[GeneralHouston]

I enjoyed Paul Clark. Unlike most others, his ISU comments didn't sound as if they're written or pre-approved by Tom Kroschell.

You are either a salesman for ISU or a determent.

[GeneralHouston]

I blame Pollard for a lot of the attendance issues, and I have actually talked to him about many of them.

Can you share them with CF?
Has he provided you with any data?

[tazclone]

I think the track has a major donor. It is too bad that person does not donate to a sport that will help this department remain viable long-term.

Some place value on current Director's Cup standings. Imo we should put priority on insuring we can compete in 10-20 years.

How do you know that person hasn't and doesn't donate to football/MBB? IMO- JP is using the current TV revenue increase to fund the new football complex and he will use the increased revenue from the TV renegotiations in 2016 to fund a south endzone. The track and the soccer $$$ is minute and is not holding up the south endzone or anything else.

[GeneralHouston]

How do you know that person hasn't and doesn't donate to football/MBB? IMO- JP is using the current TV revenue increase to fund the new football complex and he will use the increased revenue from the TV renegotiations in 2016 to fund a south endzone. The track and the soccer $$$ is minute and is not holding up the south endzone or anything else.

Imo, the best long-term policy involves investing in revenue making sports right now. So in that sense, any donation (investment) to something other than FB or MBB is sub-optimal. People like to point to the Director's Cup. I do too. It indicates the current funding is sufficient.

NCAA Financial Reports Database | IndyStar.com
The Indianapolis Star has a database of fairly detailed revenue/spending for 2004-2005. Interesting ratios between revenue and non-revenue. Of course, these numbers are largely antiquated.

[wesley_w]

I think the track has a major donor. It is too bad that person does not donate to a sport that will help this department remain viable long-term.

Some place value on current Director's Cup standings. Imo we should put priority on insuring we can compete in 10-20 years.

That major donor is Bill Bergan and personally I am elated that it looks like we will be getting a new outdoor track!!

[jdoggivjc]

I blame Pollard for a lot of the attendance issues, and I have actually talked to him about many of them. I don't think it is any one thing, but I think you can come up with anywhere from 10-20 reasons why we don't get fans that we should. If each reason represents a loss of 500-1500 people, that takes you from 65K down to what we are seeing.

They should be able to generate tons of demographic and marketing data to see where and why we lag in attendance.

Season Ticket Sales
- corporate
- public
- penetration % of alumni base to season ticket sales
- penetration % of student base to season ticket sales
- season ticket sales by zip code

The same thing can be done for Single Game tickets.

They need to find out why attendance is lagging, and address those reasons. In the past, my impression of Pollards strategy has been to just blame people and question their fan loyalty because they are not willing to spend what he wants them to. They teach us about supply and demand, and opportunity cost in basic Economics, yet ISU does not seem to apply those in their marketing strategy.

And yet our average attendance is the highest it's been since the Earle Bruce era. Perhaps you shouldn't be blaming anything about attendance on JP - he's only been getting more people in the stands in spite of the quality of football being played in between the stands than anyone else has in the last 25 years...