NU adding student seats for RU game
- Thread starter BosCat
- Start date
7:42. Student sections jam packed and they’re letting them into the top rows of the upper level. Still a line of kids waiting to get in. Keep ‘em coming! Meanwhile, large swaths of empty seats on the lower sidelines and Wilson Club, as usual.
The students were phenomenal and ended up filling extra sections all over the stadium. They should move them into the Wilson Club as far as I’m concerned.
A modest proposal: every ticket should have a provision where NU reserves the right to remove you to make room for students. Student section fills up and game is sold out? Tap on the shoulder to those wearing opposing colors. Time for SRO or to head home.
Fill the arena with purple. It was LOUD in there and the players fed off of it. Perfect storm of circumstances with a non-Midwest team like Rutgers in town, but that was awesome. Hope it’s not the last time.
A modest proposal: every ticket should have a provision where NU reserves the right to remove you to make room for students. Student section fills up and game is sold out? Tap on the shoulder to those wearing opposing colors. Time for SRO or to head home.
Fill the arena with purple. It was LOUD in there and the players fed off of it. Perfect storm of circumstances with a non-Midwest team like Rutgers in town, but that was awesome. Hope it’s not the last time.
I don’t think that’s realistic — but I do think that as long as there are chunks of seats available around game time, students should not be turned away (this was good tonight). Also, NU has smart people. Try to anticipate student attendance demand for certain games (B1G) and expand student section in advance accordingly. Like a flex anticipatory plan.
a) Pitiful ... let me repeat ... pitiful turnout in the Wilsons.
b) Thanks students
Sec. 112, I sat in section 112 from '83 until the new stadium opened so I appreciate your love of NU and your especially your moniker and I generally agree with 99% of what you post about NU hoops but I must take issue with what you wrote:
a) Pitiful ... let me repeat ... pitiful turnout in the Wilsons.
So this shows to me that you either were not at the game or have issues with your eyes. The Wilson club was occupied on par with or more so than any other section of the stadium. Why are ticket holders in the Wilson Club judged differently than any other sections? Did you see the corner sections on the lower level last night? Empty. Where the hell were those people! Give the students their seats, drag them onto the Court at half time and lets have a public beheading!!!!
There is no pent up demand for Wilson Club seats or NU tickets in general. The get in the door price last night was $19.50 so why was the place (other than the student section) mostly empty last night?
You know that NU offered to sell four seats per donation this year instead of two to get people to add seats in the Wilson Club. This idea that somehow the real NU fans are being boxed out by people who are deliberately buying seats and not using them is insane. You know how much the seats cost: you have to start by donating $6000 which gives you the right to pay $1700 each for four seats. Yep, over $12k for 4 seats. You know what NU's record has been the last few seasons -
So the people you are hating on are shelling out over $3k a seat for a team that has not been over .500 in five seasons. These people clearly hate NU basketball! People have this so wrong it kills me. The people in the Wilson Club are the fans who love NU sports so much that they pay this much for tickets when cheaper options are available. Why do people spend so much of their time hating on a few hundred fans who buy expensive seats? No one ever complained if my seat was empty when I sat in Section 109 - had a better seat there -- but hot damn if we can't make a game now the posters on this board and on other sites have pitchforks and torches out.
Here is the real problem with NU attendance and again, its not the people who buy most expensive seats and decide not to use them and its not even the students (who don't attend games at much higher rate than any other section in the stadium): 15-17, 13-19, 8-23, 9-15 and 15-16.
One of my friends attended his third NU game and first game in the Wilson Club last night. You know what he said after the game - "I never knew this was here. I can can drive 20-30 minutes and get a premium sports experience better than a box for the Bulls or Blackhawks." He will be back and I would not be surprised that if NU keeps winning he buys tickets in the Wilson Club for next season and he did not attend NU. But you see the key in that sentence - "NU keeps winning."
Winning is fun! Heck, even losing a heart breaker where your team leaves it all on the floor is fun. The problem that NU has runs so much deeper than attendance in the Wilson Club for one 8pm start on a Wednesday night.
I have said this repeatedly, NU needs to find a way to be competitive in men's basketball and football in the new era of college sports. Alternatively, shut it all down. But what is really exhausting is coming to the board year in and year out and hearing people who don't attend games (for whatever reason) complaining about the people who buy tickets and attend games, especially anyone who lives within driving distance of the stadium.
b) Thanks students
Doubly annoying this year is that fact are people are all over Wilson Club ticket holders because the team has had a decent start and the students all of sudden decide its fun to go to games .... I have said this again and again - the students have not been at games for 5 years so I welcome them back with open arms but FFS stop demanding that the fans in the Wilson Club give you your seats. Being a student at NU does not give you priority access to the best seats in the stadium. I have two alternative solutions for this issue:
(1) We hold students to the same standards for attendance that posters on this board and other sites want for the Wilson Club, they show up at the games or they lose their seats - in the case of students since the seats are free, NU expels them and replaces them with students who can prove they attended the games at their prior university. If you think that is too harsh:
(2) do what NU did last night - put the kids in the upper level. But then, at the first media timeout or at half time, let them take over the unoccupied seats in the empty corner sections of the lower bowl. If that ticket holder shows up, move them into an empty seat in a better section.
So yeah - Get the Hell off my Lawn! and GO CATS! Let's at least get one of the next two!
a) Pitiful ... let me repeat ... pitiful turnout in the Wilsons.
So this shows to me that you either were not at the game or have issues with your eyes. The Wilson club was occupied on par with or more so than any other section of the stadium. Why are ticket holders in the Wilson Club judged differently than any other sections? Did you see the corner sections on the lower level last night? Empty. Where the hell were those people! Give the students their seats, drag them onto the Court at half time and lets have a public beheading!!!!
There is no pent up demand for Wilson Club seats or NU tickets in general. The get in the door price last night was $19.50 so why was the place (other than the student section) mostly empty last night?
You know that NU offered to sell four seats per donation this year instead of two to get people to add seats in the Wilson Club. This idea that somehow the real NU fans are being boxed out by people who are deliberately buying seats and not using them is insane. You know how much the seats cost: you have to start by donating $6000 which gives you the right to pay $1700 each for four seats. Yep, over $12k for 4 seats. You know what NU's record has been the last few seasons -
| 2 | 2021-22 | Big Ten | 15 | 16 | .484 | 7 | 13 | .350 | 8.91 | 7.11 | 73.0 | 69.9 | Chris Collins (15-16) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2020-21 | Big Ten | 9 | 15 | .375 | 6 | 13 | .316 | 9.71 | 11.76 | 70.3 | 70.0 | 19 | Chris Collins (9-15) | ||||
| 4 | 2019-20 | Big Ten | 8 | 23 | .258 | 3 | 17 | .150 | 5.35 | 10.51 | 64.9 | 70.1 | Chris Collins (8-23) | |||||
| 5 | 2018-19 | Big Ten | 13 | 19 | .406 | 4 | 16 | .200 | 9.97 | 9.16 | 65.9 | 65.1 | Chris Collins (13-19) | |||||
| 6 | 2017-18 | Big Ten | 15 | 17 | .469 | 6 | 12 | .333 | 9.63 | 8.37 | 68.8 | 66.5 | 19 | 19 | Chris Collins (15-17) |
So the people you are hating on are shelling out over $3k a seat for a team that has not been over .500 in five seasons. These people clearly hate NU basketball! People have this so wrong it kills me. The people in the Wilson Club are the fans who love NU sports so much that they pay this much for tickets when cheaper options are available. Why do people spend so much of their time hating on a few hundred fans who buy expensive seats? No one ever complained if my seat was empty when I sat in Section 109 - had a better seat there -- but hot damn if we can't make a game now the posters on this board and on other sites have pitchforks and torches out.
Here is the real problem with NU attendance and again, its not the people who buy most expensive seats and decide not to use them and its not even the students (who don't attend games at much higher rate than any other section in the stadium): 15-17, 13-19, 8-23, 9-15 and 15-16.
One of my friends attended his third NU game and first game in the Wilson Club last night. You know what he said after the game - "I never knew this was here. I can can drive 20-30 minutes and get a premium sports experience better than a box for the Bulls or Blackhawks." He will be back and I would not be surprised that if NU keeps winning he buys tickets in the Wilson Club for next season and he did not attend NU. But you see the key in that sentence - "NU keeps winning."
Winning is fun! Heck, even losing a heart breaker where your team leaves it all on the floor is fun. The problem that NU has runs so much deeper than attendance in the Wilson Club for one 8pm start on a Wednesday night.
I have said this repeatedly, NU needs to find a way to be competitive in men's basketball and football in the new era of college sports. Alternatively, shut it all down. But what is really exhausting is coming to the board year in and year out and hearing people who don't attend games (for whatever reason) complaining about the people who buy tickets and attend games, especially anyone who lives within driving distance of the stadium.
b) Thanks students
Doubly annoying this year is that fact are people are all over Wilson Club ticket holders because the team has had a decent start and the students all of sudden decide its fun to go to games .... I have said this again and again - the students have not been at games for 5 years so I welcome them back with open arms but FFS stop demanding that the fans in the Wilson Club give you your seats. Being a student at NU does not give you priority access to the best seats in the stadium. I have two alternative solutions for this issue:
(1) We hold students to the same standards for attendance that posters on this board and other sites want for the Wilson Club, they show up at the games or they lose their seats - in the case of students since the seats are free, NU expels them and replaces them with students who can prove they attended the games at their prior university. If you think that is too harsh:
(2) do what NU did last night - put the kids in the upper level. But then, at the first media timeout or at half time, let them take over the unoccupied seats in the empty corner sections of the lower bowl. If that ticket holder shows up, move them into an empty seat in a better section.
So yeah - Get the Hell off my Lawn! and GO CATS! Let's at least get one of the next two!
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You're right, Max. I don't know if I totally agree it was on par. But you're right: It was close enough. The turnout all around was pretty sad except the students.
But the money doesn't give the Wilsons a pass. In fact, it's a major part of the problem. With the TV contract, NU athletics isn't exactly starving for money. OTOH, they are getting killed by a lack of attention, attendance and participation.
And don't even try to use the record as an excuse. This is a longtime problem that goes far beyond the last five years. It goes beyond the last ten years. Anytime things became interesting in the old WR, the purple seats were always last to the party in attendance.
You've probably read this from me in the past, but participation is such a huge problem that it needs to be addressed and given a value. I'd argue there should be a Wildcat Fund points assigned to ticket usage. I can't imagine how discouraging it can be to run out of that tunnel and see the place 3/4 empty ... in an incredibly small arena. And where do the recruits and high school coaches always sit? On the side opposite of the Wilsons - staring at those premium empty seats. There's a perception that these are NU's best fans. And I wonder how many recruits have come into the Welsh and been affected by the bad atnosphere ... the empty seats.
So yes, they are higher visibility to more important eyes than any of us. NU should work harder at having those seats and the entire lower deck filled, even during the often-lean years.
I would love to hear theories on why it happened. More than just “conditions were perfect”. Was anything done to attract then? Was there a viral TikTok video?
Wednesday is conditions are perfect day. You will not regret spending 4 minutes on this:
I am sorry you take this so personally, Max, but the attendance in the Wilson seats sucked on Wednesday, pretty much as it has most games since the new arena was built. And shitting on rich people for sucking is a tradition as old as America itself. Yeah, my corner section was empty. I've already acknowledged that I was the only person in my row. Does it bother me that you called out us corner section fans for sucking? Not at all. Facts is facts.
Being a fan is not the same thing as being a consumer. As a fan you are in something of a partnership with the team, especially when it is a team of unpaid college kids working their *** off for your entertainment. Just shelling out the cash does not get it done. Programs grow based on energy and excitement. It doesn't take much to drive to Evanston on a crisp January night with no weather issues to watch two hard-working, exciting college basketball teams. I know you do it, Max. This is not about you. Ticket-holders who do not show up make the coaching staffs job harder. It's harder to recruit. It's harder to motivate. It's harder to create a buzz in the community.
I don't want you and/or your fellow Wilsons to give up your seats or stop donating. I just want the rest of them to act more like you and show the heck up. I've been driving in from Glenview for games since 1997 and from Chicago for a decade before that. I don't have to tell you that the program was terrible for the enormous majority of that time. I do it because I am a fan, not a consumer. These kids chose to go to school and play basketball where I went to school. Because of that I feel a kinship with these students, and want to do whatever I can to support them. I just want the Wilson folks to do the same.
Being a fan is not the same thing as being a consumer. As a fan you are in something of a partnership with the team, especially when it is a team of unpaid college kids working their *** off for your entertainment. Just shelling out the cash does not get it done. Programs grow based on energy and excitement. It doesn't take much to drive to Evanston on a crisp January night with no weather issues to watch two hard-working, exciting college basketball teams. I know you do it, Max. This is not about you. Ticket-holders who do not show up make the coaching staffs job harder. It's harder to recruit. It's harder to motivate. It's harder to create a buzz in the community.
I don't want you and/or your fellow Wilsons to give up your seats or stop donating. I just want the rest of them to act more like you and show the heck up. I've been driving in from Glenview for games since 1997 and from Chicago for a decade before that. I don't have to tell you that the program was terrible for the enormous majority of that time. I do it because I am a fan, not a consumer. These kids chose to go to school and play basketball where I went to school. Because of that I feel a kinship with these students, and want to do whatever I can to support them. I just want the Wilson folks to do the same.
I've also been attending almost every home game since the mid 90s and my experience has been that the best seats in the house are the least occupied. It's great that donors spend silly amounts of money funding NU sports. It's a shame that the folks who actually go to the games have been priced out of the better seats. It's infuriating seeing the Wilson seating either empty or littered with folks from the other team.
My condolences to those of you who both buy the seats and also attend the games, good on you. It's just too bad you are such a small minority regardless the quality of the team. Those seats would be great filled with rowdy students, too.
My condolences to those of you who both buy the seats and also attend the games, good on you. It's just too bad you are such a small minority regardless the quality of the team. Those seats would be great filled with rowdy students, too.
New allotment process for student tickets being announced soon, per Twitter. I hope demand remains as high as it’s been these last two games.
"students will now have to fill out a form to request tickets ahead of time in order to reserve a seat at men’s basketball games in Welsh-Ryan Arena. Around two days prior to the game, students will get an email sent to their inboxes with a link to submit a ticket request. Once students are notified they have a ticket reserved, they will have their tickets sent to them in advance and be able to enter up to 30 minutes before tip-off. After the 30-minute threshold is passed, tickets will be given to waiting students on a first-come first-serve basis."
"...the move to permanently expand the student section from 800 seats to 1,000 was necessary."
Please tell me the form will at least be form-fillable and online submission.
'forms can be picked up in person at Ryan Field between the hours of 1pm and 1:15pm every alternate Tuesday.'
"...the move to permanently expand the student section from 800 seats to 1,000 was necessary."
Please tell me the form will at least be form-fillable and online submission.
'forms can be picked up in person at Ryan Field between the hours of 1pm and 1:15pm every alternate Tuesday.'
I'm not offended or taking this personally in any way. I just think that the attendance problem is not the fault of people in the Wilson Club and the usage issue is across all season ticket holders. Finally, I don't think that the issue is fixed until NU starts to win games. If the rest of the arena is 80% full and the Wilson Club is 50% then people can ***** away but that is not what is happening. Same with the students, two games is awesome but there are more than two home games a year.
I just don't think fans of a program that has not been .500 for five years and has been to the NCAA tourney once, people should be bitching about attendance or the fact that any group of ticket holders is using their seats or not.
The solution to attendance is winning games and creating a fanbase. Until that happens we are all screaming into the wind (or typing into the abyss of the interwebs).
More importantly than all this attendance, NU blew a winnable game and now has to steal another road game against two teams very capable teams or they are going to come back next Saturday under .500 in the league and I guarantee the student attendance won't be an issue.
I just don't think fans of a program that has not been .500 for five years and has been to the NCAA tourney once, people should be bitching about attendance or the fact that any group of ticket holders is using their seats or not.
The solution to attendance is winning games and creating a fanbase. Until that happens we are all screaming into the wind (or typing into the abyss of the interwebs).
More importantly than all this attendance, NU blew a winnable game and now has to steal another road game against two teams very capable teams or they are going to come back next Saturday under .500 in the league and I guarantee the student attendance won't be an issue.
To be fair, this was the home schedule
Nov 7 vs Chicago State
Nov 11 vs Northern Illinois FRIDAY NIGHT GAME (as if)
Nov 18 vs Purdue Fort Wayne FRIDAY NIGHT GAME (as if)
Nov 28 vs Pitt MONDAY FOLLOWING THANKSGIVING WEEKEND TRAVEL
Dec 11 vs Prairie View SUNDAY AFTER FINALS WEEK - ALL STUDENTS GONE
Dec 17 vs DePaul WINTER BREAK
Dec 20 vs UIC WINTER BREAK
Dec 29 vs Brown WINTER BREAK
Jan 1 vs Ohio St STUDENTS TRAVEL DAY, DORMS RE-OPEN
Jan 4 vs Illinois overflow crowd
But don't worry, we gonna kick Michigans butt. Or Iowa's. Or both.
Damn, they're really playing with fire now. The basketball gods are going to laugh at this and put NU on a five game losing streak.
My seats are in 108 and I go to most all the games. While they're great seats if my AE offered me seats in the WC for a game I wouldn't say no lol.
My son is at Michigan and they have to buy student season tickets. There is then a secondary market for students to sell their tickets to other students. However, if you are the owner of a ticket and it doesn't get used (scanned in at the gate), then you are punished in future years when you try to buy season tickets. Your seats are downgraded as opposed to upgraded as you get older.
Not sure if that is done for regular season ticket holders, but that would be one solution. Punish those season ticket holders whose tickets go unused and reward them if they have consistent attendance.
Not sure if that is done for regular season ticket holders, but that would be one solution. Punish those season ticket holders whose tickets go unused and reward them if they have consistent attendance.