Attendance for NDSU

[CyAg]

Planning or not, being in a weekday time frame many cannot change, school etc, but the actual numbers, (they are posted in a separate thread) are neutral at best).

 

[Al_4_State]

Face value for the Iowa game ticket (non-Cy's Pack) is $90. $90 freaking dollars...that is ridiculous. So it would not shock me if the Iowa game is sold out.

What do you mean by sold out? Do you mean a full stadium or 55K+, because they aren't the same thing. I think the Iowa game will be around 50K, which means every seat is full and 5,000 people are standing on a hill.

 

[CycloneErik]

I cannot remember when ISU started playing the Thursday night games. But if you want, you can go back yourself and check the attendance when the first games were played on Saturday vs. when it was played on Thursday night.

And some people like to complain. If ISU scheduled for Saturday on Labor Day weekend at 11 a.m., you would hear people complaing about how early that is. If the game is scheduled for 1 p.m., you you hear people complain about how it would be too hot at that time day. If the game is scheduled for 5 p.m., you would hear people complain about how late it was and the weekend is now shot.

And it's not like this game time snuck up on people. People have had a full year to make plans for this game -- they could have taken a day and a half of vacation time and had a pretty darn long holiday weekend.

I could care less when the first game is played -- Thursday or Saturday. I just want to watch the Cyclones play some football.

I have the whole week off, just so I don't have to make any one-day arrangements at work that may or may not pan out. I'm ready to go.

Only 8 days until the Bison Bowl!

 

[HawkfromNorwalk]

If it makes you feel any better we decided since we pretty much got the NDSU tix for free with our Iowa/ISU tix we might as well use them. So there will be at least four Hawk fans in attandance. I'm sure most of my Hawk brethren who bought the three ticket package tossed the NDSU and Colorado tickets in the trash. I figured might as well use this game as a tailgate warmup for Iowa City a couple of days later.

 

[agronclone]

I think the 10$ ticket idea will really help fill those otherwise empty seats. they also offered the 10$ tickets to employees which should help fill the staff section. i expect some empty seats in the upper deck corners, but i think most of the stadium will be filled to capacity. what i really want to see is the hillside filled up. usually it's kind of empty the first game of the year.

 

[TruClone]

I cannot remember when ISU started playing the Thursday night games. But if you want, you can go back yourself and check the attendance when the first games were played on Saturday vs. when it was played on Thursday night.

And some people like to complain. If ISU scheduled for Saturday on Labor Day weekend at 11 a.m., you would hear people complaing about how early that is. If the game is scheduled for 1 p.m., you you hear people complain about how it would be too hot at that time day. If the game is scheduled for 5 p.m., you would hear people complain about how late it was and the weekend is now shot.

And it's not like this game time snuck up on people. People have had a full year to make plans for this game -- they could have taken a day and a half of vacation time and had a pretty darn long holiday weekend.

I could care less when the first game is played -- Thursday or Saturday. I just want to watch the Cyclones play some football.

This!

 

[cycloneworld]

What do you mean by sold out? Do you mean a full stadium or 55K+, because they aren't the same thing. I think the Iowa game will be around 50K, which means every seat is full and 5,000 people are standing on a hill.

We had 57,000 for UNI a couple of years ago. We could easily get that or more for Iowa if it wasn't for $90 tickets.

Sure the Cy's Pack tickets are sold out for that game but those aren't the prime seats in the stadium.

 

[CycloneErik]

If it makes you feel any better we decided since we pretty much got the NDSU tix for free with our Iowa/ISU tix we might as well use them. So there will be at least four Hawk fans in attandance. I'm sure most of my Hawk brethren who bought the three ticket package tossed the NDSU and Colorado tickets in the trash. I figured might as well use this game as a tailgate warmup for Iowa City a couple of days later.

Just to be clear, you won't be one of those winners wearing a Hawk jersey at this game, will you?

 

[HawkfromNorwalk]

Nah, I may hate ISU but I won't stoop that low. That's like the d-bag going to a Cubs/Brewers game while wearing a Cardinals jersey...

 

[aeroclone]

I cannot remember when ISU started playing the Thursday night games. But if you want, you can go back yourself and check the attendance when the first games were played on Saturday vs. when it was played on Thursday night.

And some people like to complain. If ISU scheduled for Saturday on Labor Day weekend at 11 a.m., you would hear people complaing about how early that is. If the game is scheduled for 1 p.m., you you hear people complain about how it would be too hot at that time day. If the game is scheduled for 5 p.m., you would hear people complain about how late it was and the weekend is now shot.

And it's not like this game time snuck up on people. People have had a full year to make plans for this game -- they could have taken a day and a half of vacation time and had a pretty darn long holiday weekend.

I could care less when the first game is played -- Thursday or Saturday. I just want to watch the Cyclones play some football.

Your history of going to ISU games must not go back that far, because I'm pretty sure the first Thursday night game was in 2006. Pollard made the change in his second season here, and no it wasn't about TV, so don't go complaining about how we haven't got on TV with this. The entire reason for the move was because attendance wasn't so hot on Saturday. So for those complaining about how hard it is to get there on Thursday, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place people would have shown up on Saturday.

To be fair, I don't think the big problem was as much the general population as it was the students. A lot of students leave town for the long weekend so student attendance was the biggest impact.

If we have seen any improvement at all in attendance with the Thursday move, it is probably here to stay. Does anybody know where we can get historical attendance figures? I seem to remember somebody posting out Labor Day Weekend game attendance for the last 5 or 6 years in a previous thread complaining about the Thursday games, but I don't know where the figures came from.

 

[Palmer]

I like the Thursday game.....no waiting until Saturday!

 

[nickwc]

I like the Thursday games, it seems as though it is the one game during the year that really caters toward the student body. Students do go home for the long weekend and playing this game on Thursday nights is always fun for the students. With us students getting rammed up the backside with tuition, books, and random fees that we pay to the university, I think it is a good idea to have this game on Thursday nights because it really seems as though us students really love it.

That said, I understand the other side of the argument as well.

 

[theshadow]

Your history of going to ISU games must not go back that far, because I'm pretty sure the first Thursday night game was in 2006.

There was also...
1993 - Northern Illinois
1995 - Ohio
1999 - Indiana State

The Ohio game in 2000 was on a Saturday afternoon, and was ridiculously hot. Same for Kansas 2002 (which kicked off at 11:30).

 

[BryceC]

And it's not like this game time snuck up on people. People have had a full year to make plans for this game -- they could have taken a day and a half of vacation time and had a pretty darn long holiday weekend.

You're assuming people can take vacation.

 

[Bader]

You're assuming people can take vacation.

Ouch that's rough. I just joined the real world in May and I already have had enough time built up to take Thurs/Fri off along with other days this summer.

 

[aeroclone]

Okay, I found some of it at least. Here is the recent history for our home opener:

2008 - SDSU - Thursday - 46,617
2007 - Kent State - Thursday - 47,313
2006 - Toledo - Thursday - 42,531
2005 - Illinois State - Saturday - 44,058
2004 - UNI - Saturday - ?
2003 - UNI - Saturday - ?
2002 - KU - Saturday - 40,026

I haven't managed to find our numbers for the UNI games in 03 and 04, but those may skew higher just because we always have great attendance for UNI. Looking at the other games, I would say we have actually done a little better on Thursdays.

 

[CyBobby]

There was also...
1993 - Northern Illinois
1995 - Ohio
1999 - Indiana State

The Ohio game in 2000 was on a Saturday afternoon, and was ridiculously hot. Same for Kansas 2002 (which kicked off at 11:30).

Yeah I remember the KU game as being the hottest game at JTS...I also seem to remember a nite game against the Wyoming Cowboys coached by Joe Tiller and losing in overtime...I think it was the first game on the new grass field...(if anyone remembers it differently just let me know)


.....& remember.........don't be cheap.......buy football tickets!!

 

[cyhiphopp]

Yeah I remember the KU game as being the hottest game at JTS...I also seem to remember a nite game against the Wyoming Cowboys coached by Joe Tiller and losing in overtime...I think it was the first game on the new grass field...(if anyone remembers it differently just let me know)


.....& remember.........don't be cheap.......buy football tickets!!

That KU game was disgusting, and I was in a marching band uniform all game. Ack!

 

[Stormin]

Your history of going to ISU games must not go back that far, because I'm pretty sure the first Thursday night game was in 2006. Pollard made the change in his second season here, and no it wasn't about TV, so don't go complaining about how we haven't got on TV with this. The entire reason for the move was because attendance wasn't so hot on Saturday. So for those complaining about how hard it is to get there on Thursday, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place people would have shown up on Saturday.

To be fair, I don't think the big problem was as much the general population as it was the students. A lot of students leave town for the long weekend so student attendance was the biggest impact.

If we have seen any improvement at all in attendance with the Thursday move, it is probably here to stay. Does anybody know where we can get historical attendance figures? I seem to remember somebody posting out Labor Day Weekend game attendance for the last 5 or 6 years in a previous thread complaining about the Thursday games, but I don't know where the figures came from.

I went back and checked those attendance figures of the ones available for Saturday games. And I also found the attendance for the 1999 Thursday night game attendance figure for the Indiana State game.

1999---Thursday nite------Indiana State---------33,936
2005---Saturday nite------Illinois State---------44,058
2006---Thursday nite------Toledo----------------42,531
2007---Thursday nite------Kent State------------47,313
2008---Thursday nite------S.Dakota State-------46,617


I would note that in the above statistics that we had a record number of 36,000 plus season tickets purchased in 2007. With the second largest number of season tickets purchased in 2008. IIRC, in 2006 we topped 30,000 season tickets for the very first time.

So statistically speaking, I would say that given all things similar that a Saturday game or a Saturday nite game on Labor Day weekend might offer just as good or better attendance than a Thursday nite game. Heck, back in 2005 we didn't even have close to 30,000 season tickets and had an attendance of 44,058 for our opener. This was the last time we did not open on a Thursday nite.

As far as the students and their attendance to games on a Labor Day weekend. I would say that the students who pay the money for season tickets will stay for the game anyway. They are not your suitcase carrying students that go home every weekend. The ones who are going to go home and miss the home football opener are not buying season tickets anyway.

Also, does anyone know what our season ticket sales are this year. I am sure they are down somewhat with the economy. Add in a Thursday nite game that can be difficult to attend and you have a lot less incentive to get season tickets. I will definitely be there for our opener. But I would think that a Saturday night opener on Labor Day weekend would be a fantastic way to open the season next year. Not so hot. Night game. Better tailgating. It is time to mix things up a bit. In 2005, we had maybe 28,000 season ticket holders and drew 44,058 to see Illinois State. I would like to see what we would draw with a Saturday nite opener against Northern Illinois next year. I would be willing to bet it would be larger than this year. Any takers?

 

[isuno1fan]

I don't have any problem making the Thursday night games. In fact, this year, I am taking Wed, Thurs, Fri off from work.

That said, I HATE them with a passion! Please move this one back to Sat. JP!