Student section/Cyclone Alley

SCarolinaCy

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Jun 20, 2011
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Proximity to a population base has an impact on attendance. It does NOT have an impact on the energy of the venue.
You could argue that a sellout has more energy but even with a sellout at Hilton and AFH, there is a night and day difference between the two. Much of it has to do with Hilton having an upper deck and AFH being one continuous level but most of it has to do with the people inside.
For our game at AFH we(and nearly the entire crowd) stood the entire game. At Hilton standing is reserved for 2-3 moments per game max and even then it is about 50% of the crowd. It was evident that the in game production at AFH was designed to make it loud. That’s not the case at Hilton for hoops. The production for Beauty and the Beast was better with better song choices(I get that some of this is part of the performance) but we need to reevaluate this and have do something different to create separation between the in venue atmosphere and watching at home.
Appreciate your comment. I would also argue that these same folks that live close by come most every game--which does have an impact on the energy. I love someone's comment here about banning those over 40 to help keep the noise level up. Several years ago we went to a Clemson football game. Seriously, it was SO noisy, I could only hear the 300 fans sitting within 50' of feet of me. The other 80,000 could have been cardboard cut outs.
 
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CySmurf

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Jul 14, 2011
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8pm tip with a winter weather advisory the last couple days made folks change plans, that’d be my guess. I suppose we’ll see if it fills back up next week.
Next week is projected to have another winter storm.
 

I@ST1

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Dec 15, 2020
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Love going to live events but I wouldn't spend money to sit in one of the top rows of the upper deck especially in the corners or behind the basket. You get more than halfway up the balcony at Hilton and you are a long way from the court. Unless its a real big game its always going to be a challenge to fill those seats when you can watch on a 60 inch HDTV at home or at a bar.

You ever thought about donating to get better seats?
 

Raiders70

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Nov 18, 2015
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You ever thought about donating to get better seats?
How much does it cost to get season tickets in the lower bowl??? Not poor but not rich either...plus I work every other weekend so that's why we don't even have football season tickets...
 

I@ST1

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How much does it cost to get season tickets in the lower bowl??? Not poor but not rich either...plus I work every other weekend so that's why we don't even have football season tickets...

To answer your question $7,500 donation plus $650 per for season ticket.

Just seems that you’re more of a couch clone and that’s 100% okay. We need eyeballs on the TV as well.
 

mynameisjonas

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Jan 19, 2019
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We started walking out from the top row of the balcony with 20 seconds left in the game and had 0 issues getting out of D3 and still didnt make it home till 11:00 on the northside of Johnston. I can see why anyone with kids would not attend a 8pm weeknight game.
It’s remarkable that you got home by 11:00. I left at the end of the game and didn’t get home until 10:40 and I live on the North side of Ames.
 

8bitnes

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Nov 21, 2010
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Appreciate your comment. I would also argue that these same folks that live close by come most every game--which does have an impact on the energy. I love someone's comment here about banning those over 40 to help keep the noise level up. Several years ago we went to a Clemson football game. Seriously, it was SO noisy, I could only hear the 300 fans sitting within 50' of feet of me. The other 80,000 could have been cardboard cut outs.
I didn't see the bolded comment, but ban those over 40 and you also alienate 90% of donor dollars.
 
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cayin

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This is entirely Pollard's fault. Student tickets are criminally oversold. I have two sons at ISU. Junior was able to get a football/basketball season ticket. Freshman was not. In order to attend games you must wait in line to get inside Hilton. Oldest has waited several times in excess of an hour only to be turned away because the section is full. Obviously, this makes for a good scene outside for KU, TX, etc., but when TCU comes to town and you've been turned away 3-4 times on the year, why bother? It is just plain stupid to make students wait to fill that section on a first come, first served basis. So many better ways to do it.
there should never be a wait outside scenario for winter time. Back in the day, didn't they rotation where all the students sit. One game you might be in the lower section and the next upper?
 

cayin

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It's a national trend in all sports. That's why venues are being built smaller with more premium spaces. It's not an Iowa State problem, it's a problem for everybody.
True, look at the Texas. Austin is a relatively big city and Texas has 50,000 students. But their new venue is only 10,000, a 6,000 seat reduction.
 

NWICY

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Sep 2, 2012
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Do we still oversell the student section? The empty upper deck of the student section has been a problem forever, but we seemed to have it figured out it in the middle of the Hoiberg years once it started being oversold. Perhaps the demand isn’t there anymore to do that though.

Yeah it is oversold then the students are mad when they don't get in. They didn't even fill up the lower bowl last night the balcony might have 100 in it (random guess) but it was sad.
 

Raiders70

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To answer your question $7,500 donation plus $650 per for season ticket.

Just seems that you’re more of a couch clone and that’s 100% okay. We need eyeballs on the TV as well.
Just KU and Iowa this year for basketball. Rarely miss home football if I have the weekend off. When I was in middle school way back in the day my grandparents had season tickets right behind the basket in lower bow when Johnny Orr got hiredl. No donation..I think three season tickets were like $400 total..They thought that was kinda expensive lol.
 

NWICY

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You realize there is a tendency to lose interest when you've been turned away, right? Also, only so many tickets are sold, so some freshmen don't even get them. We're actively doing things to decrease interest in attending games for students. Looks great on TV when we have tents outside for KU, but think about having to show up that early for a game. It's really a bunch of ********. Its their school and team, and the athletic dept is screwing it up big time.

Side note - this team is hard to watch.

in regards to your last sentence, way easier than last yrs.
 

JK4ISU

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Dec 5, 2022
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If you want more students at the games, sell beer. I moved back to Ames from Omaha and went to many Creighton games over the years. Creighton has top 10 attendance at its games, generally averaging about 17,000. They sell beer. They sell good food at the concession stands (Omaha steak burgers, BBQ, pizza, etc.). They make the games family events with face painters, balloon animals, Pom poms for the kids. The first game I went to at Hilton last year was like stepping back in time forty years. We decided to eat at the game. Our choices were a hot dog or walking taco. Two hot dogs and two Pepsis for $26.
 

ISUCyclones2015

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Do you still have to be a “member” of Cyclone Alley to get to sit in the lower level as a student? It was thing when I was in school and it just completely turned me off of going as a student. Like I got there early enough to sit in the lower level just let me sit there.
There was a time that they required you to wear the Cyclone Alley shirt if you wanted to sit down low. I wanna say they got rid of that during my time due to complaints but I can’t remember exactly
 

ISUCyclones2015

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Also with the selling general admission at the door take, y’all will complain the moment you get turned away.

You really expect 500 people to lounge around in the cold waiting to see how many seats are available in the upper deck? You are all vastly overestimating the general public here.
 

awd4cy

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Dec 29, 2010
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Also with the selling general admission at the door take, y’all will complain the moment you get turned away.

You really expect 500 people to lounge around in the cold waiting to see how many seats are available in the upper deck? You are all vastly overestimating the general public here.
Nobody is proposing this. Students would have to claim tickets at least 3 days before then you know how many are showing up.