NU adding student seats for RU game
- Thread starter BosCat
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Are they no-shows in the Wilson Club? Perhaps more a case of WC seats not being sold.
Good. Big game. Tough opponent. Hope the students pack it. People are starting to believe, which scares me as a jaded, beaten-down NU fan. Let’s WIN!
The Wilson Club is stupid. Tickets are too expensive, half the people don’t show, and the ones who have zero energy. Make it the student section!
Guess which sections have been almost completely unused and the most dead by far this season. Many nights you can count the total number of fans in the section on one hand … the student sections. Sorry but when they show up with energy for more than one game a year they can complain.
I have 2 Wilson Club seats and attend almost every game. When I can’t make a game, I give my tickets to an NU fan 100% of the time. But I do agree that energy & attendance are somewhat of a problem in our section.
As to energy, most of us are older and it is what it is (I cannot afford a time machine!). I can tell you that I am very loud and vocal, as are the folks in my immediate area.
My suspicion on attendance is that a fair number of WC ticket holders head to Florida and Arizona for the winter. These folks need to do a better job of putting their tickets into friendly hands! I know that in the past, the ticket office has made overtures about a ticket exchange but I have heard nothing about it for some time. We need to work this more aggressively or come up with some other ways to improve attendance in the WC section. We can discuss ideas on the message board but it would be more effective to share ideas with your NU ticket rep.
Attendance in the Wilson Club will increase with more wins - just like student attendance and attendance throughout the venue. People in the Wilson Club cheer just fine. They are some of NUs biggest fans.
Here are the basic facts of the situation: (1) this is one of if not the worst Power5 programs in any sport; (2) there was no reason to believe in this group or this coach and the team still has plenty of flaws with the notable exception that they really play hard; (3) most NU fans who pay attention know that the the preseason games are (a) largely scrimmages that they put on TV and (b) don't indicate big ten success; (4) fans who pay attention know that Chris Collins led teams have a bad habit of double digit losing streaks during the conference season (see the 2020-21 team that started 3-0 in conference and then lost 14 straight).
Bottom line - I don't blame people for not going to games. It's their money and this program has not earned the benefit of the doubt. You want the stadium to be full, put a winning product on the floor. Until then, you are stuck with the likes of me attending almost every game with a few other faithful while the rest of your ***** on an internet board that our cheering for the team does no meet your standards. Show up and then complain - don't back bench fans who actually show up because they don't adequately do the job you somehow think you would do better if you had purchased a ticket and had shown up. Especially don't try to give away their seats to a group of students who don't even know where the the basketball stadium is located because its all of sudden cool to attend games -- this week.
Here's a little fun stat - since Fitz moved the football team to the lakefront, the football players have largely stopped attending basketball games. They used to be a fixture in the stands and often made up the entire student section at early season games. I would guess missing the 10-20 football players who were regulars has cut student attendance in that section in half for most games. Yeah, the student section regularly has less than 20 students in it. So I really don't have any sympathy for the students complaining that NU has not accommodated them. Even if NU were to not win a game for the rest of the year, fans in the Wilson Club will still show up - the students won't.
The level of stupid on this board for attacking season ticket holders for buying tickets for this historically atrocious program has always amazed me. These people should be thanked not ridiculed. If you have that much of an issue, there are plenty of tickets available for games, I suggest you contact the ticket office and come to games and cheer with the few diehards rather than attacking them on this board while you watch from home. NU is not making you stay home - that's your choice but if you should change your mind, use this link and for god sakes stop trying to replace the fans who actually do show up for games with the mythical NU super fans who would wear coordinated purple outfits and participate in coordinated cheers throughout the game but are being stopped because Willie Whitehair owns all the seats:
Stop your bitching and buy a ticket
Here are the basic facts of the situation: (1) this is one of if not the worst Power5 programs in any sport; (2) there was no reason to believe in this group or this coach and the team still has plenty of flaws with the notable exception that they really play hard; (3) most NU fans who pay attention know that the the preseason games are (a) largely scrimmages that they put on TV and (b) don't indicate big ten success; (4) fans who pay attention know that Chris Collins led teams have a bad habit of double digit losing streaks during the conference season (see the 2020-21 team that started 3-0 in conference and then lost 14 straight).
Bottom line - I don't blame people for not going to games. It's their money and this program has not earned the benefit of the doubt. You want the stadium to be full, put a winning product on the floor. Until then, you are stuck with the likes of me attending almost every game with a few other faithful while the rest of your ***** on an internet board that our cheering for the team does no meet your standards. Show up and then complain - don't back bench fans who actually show up because they don't adequately do the job you somehow think you would do better if you had purchased a ticket and had shown up. Especially don't try to give away their seats to a group of students who don't even know where the the basketball stadium is located because its all of sudden cool to attend games -- this week.
Here's a little fun stat - since Fitz moved the football team to the lakefront, the football players have largely stopped attending basketball games. They used to be a fixture in the stands and often made up the entire student section at early season games. I would guess missing the 10-20 football players who were regulars has cut student attendance in that section in half for most games. Yeah, the student section regularly has less than 20 students in it. So I really don't have any sympathy for the students complaining that NU has not accommodated them. Even if NU were to not win a game for the rest of the year, fans in the Wilson Club will still show up - the students won't.
The level of stupid on this board for attacking season ticket holders for buying tickets for this historically atrocious program has always amazed me. These people should be thanked not ridiculed. If you have that much of an issue, there are plenty of tickets available for games, I suggest you contact the ticket office and come to games and cheer with the few diehards rather than attacking them on this board while you watch from home. NU is not making you stay home - that's your choice but if you should change your mind, use this link and for god sakes stop trying to replace the fans who actually do show up for games with the mythical NU super fans who would wear coordinated purple outfits and participate in coordinated cheers throughout the game but are being stopped because Willie Whitehair owns all the seats:
Stop your bitching and buy a ticket
The Wilson Club is absurdly sad, very sad on most nights.
Yet, it is probably composed by people who really love NU. They are "throwing away" money as a way to support the program, while not even enjoying the product on the court.
I just wish the school would be in a position where it made sense to say "we don't need this extra revenue", or this vehicle for fundraising, or whatever other purposes that area fulfills. Because, at the end of the day, it would be nice to see it filled.
Yet, it is probably composed by people who really love NU. They are "throwing away" money as a way to support the program, while not even enjoying the product on the court.
I just wish the school would be in a position where it made sense to say "we don't need this extra revenue", or this vehicle for fundraising, or whatever other purposes that area fulfills. Because, at the end of the day, it would be nice to see it filled.
On the plus side football players now show up in respectable numbers for WLAX games.
Let's see how attendance is vs. Rutgers. I was there last year for an exciting overtime game and there was practically no one in the arena. Worst attended Big Ten game I've seen at the new arena. Student attendance had been abysmal until the Illinois game so I understand why they gave tickets to youth groups to help fill the west end zone. That is how you create new fans! I get a little tired of people here dumping on the marketing department. Playing local schools helped fill a few more seats earlier in the season, and yet people want to complain about that. Let's live in the moment and enjoy a surprising season of some pretty good basketball.
I don't disagree with most of what's been said, but I have a hard time b*tching about the students. It's their school and it's their time. It's a different era than when most of us went to school. There's far more competition for the entertainment dollar/time. It's pretty obvious that college sports doesn't have the attention, clicks and coverage that it once had. It's unfortunate, but so be it.
If students want to be "outraged" as a response to one game ... well, that's what students do when you have all the time in the world.
What I would like to see changed is NU not reflexively respond to a whiny minority. This isn't the first time. Show some cajones.
There's been decades of a discussion out here on how to improve attendance. NU would be smart to try some of these strategies every couple years rather than wash, rinse, repeat.
During the holiday break, some of these ridiculous games have so much more energy because the little kids are all over the place. The easiest thing NU could do for long-term improvement is introduce these kids and neighbors to the program with incredibly easy to find tickets. Invest in the future, and give tickets away like candy to Evanston, Skokie and other neighboring area. Would anybody flinch if they gave away the top 3-5 rows or any tickets available on the days of the game? Hopefully it would pay off in 5 years.
It blows my mind how little the surrounding few miles care about NU sports, and how little NU does to grab them.
If students want to be "outraged" as a response to one game ... well, that's what students do when you have all the time in the world.
What I would like to see changed is NU not reflexively respond to a whiny minority. This isn't the first time. Show some cajones.
There's been decades of a discussion out here on how to improve attendance. NU would be smart to try some of these strategies every couple years rather than wash, rinse, repeat.
During the holiday break, some of these ridiculous games have so much more energy because the little kids are all over the place. The easiest thing NU could do for long-term improvement is introduce these kids and neighbors to the program with incredibly easy to find tickets. Invest in the future, and give tickets away like candy to Evanston, Skokie and other neighboring area. Would anybody flinch if they gave away the top 3-5 rows or any tickets available on the days of the game? Hopefully it would pay off in 5 years.
It blows my mind how little the surrounding few miles care about NU sports, and how little NU does to grab them.
I am adding "historically atrocious" to my collection of handy expressions.
NU fans hardly know what it means to have a competitive men's basketball team. There was "The First Dance" guys, and now there's these guys. Sellouts. Turning away students and others. Scalping. Exciting games. EXCITING GAMES! This year, we're not watching to see if they can beat a 10 point spread. Excitement aplenty tomorrow at WR.
Why should the surrounding neighbors care about NU sports if it doesn’t win? They aren’t the state team that people somehow feel affiliated with. They are the private school that VERY few locals can dream of getting into. In fact, it is harder for them to get their family members admitted than an equally qualified resident from Alabama. Like it not, Chicago is mostly a blue collar working class town and NU doesn’t fit the mode. People got behind football when they were a perceived as the little guy that could do it against the big boys. A Chicago versus NY type of approach.
No modern sports teams fit the "blue collar working class" mode. if a McCaskey-, Reinsdorf- or Ricketts-owned team of millionaires can connect with the Chicago sports fan, there is no reason NU can't.
Many good points made on this thread but sometimes I get the feeling that if us message board fans put as much energy into things that help us win vs. complaining we could really move the needle. Thinking of things like attending games & cheering, donating to NU Athletics and/or TrueNU, employing athletes over the summer, etc. In other words, less complaining and more doing. Go ‘Cats
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Yes-less bitching and more attending. It won't be cold out tomorrow-go to the game!!
1) Evanston, Skokie, north and west to 294 are NOT anywhere near blue collar. If you really think that, I don't know what to say.
2) You're right that maybe they shouldn't care about losing programs. That's why I'm giving the tickets away. That's generally what they're worth in November and December.
I'm also not saying 5000 fans for each game. 1500-2000 people per game would probably double November and December attendance.
Interesting to note that we drew close to 4,000 a game for the December non-cons (including Prairie View!) WITHOUT the students there. While only 2600 attended the nationally televised Pitt-ACC Challenge game, which used to be a big draw (yes, I know it was reading week). So attendance has been picking up lately. Let's see what happens tomorrow night.
Any one have a guess at what % increase in student attendance 200 seats is? Relative to the game where there was criticism because students were turned away.
40%. If you look at the NU web site for ticket purchases and count the number of seats in the student section, there are ~250 on either end.
So if they completely fill the student section, this means that <7% of the >8,200 undergrad students attend a game. Sad.
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I agree with the kids giveaway strategy. It's not a perfect analogy, but one of the reasons the Cubs have had such a strong following is for years WGN broadcast "every" game for free. Kids would come home from school and watch the final innings of games. Although it was a slow burn, it contributed to today's popularity.
There’s a surefire way to get into the game as a student. Show up early. The damn game is at 8pm. How hard is it to get there?
And if you can’t get in, don’t complain to your parents so they can ***** and moan on Facebook.
And if you can’t get in, don’t complain to your parents so they can ***** and moan on Facebook.
That seems like a lot. So good, I guess. Hope that that many students know how to raise a "good" ruckus. Thanks for the information.
We may have sold that many tickets, but I was there for most of those. There were maybe half that many in attendance. Often less.
Yeah there is now ay in the world that we averaged 4000 at those games.
1500 would be my guess.
Rather than just weighing in on here, I decided to fly in for the game. If I’m only going to get to one home game this year, I had limited options and made the call to hop on a flight. Go ‘Cats! Hope this doesn’t guarantee a loss 
So now, the marketing dept is lying about the numbers? They probably include Wilson seats sold but not used but I was at every game but Brown and the crowds were bigger and more lively than those in November.
Frankly, I’m shocked any parent would even learn *that night*. Don’t mean to be all “kids these days”, but I talked to my parents ~monthly while I was at NU.
Don’t text your mom because you’re stuck outside.
I don't recall writing that anyone was lying.
They are counting tickets sold, I'm sure.
I was at a bunch of games. It was quiet.
I was pretty surprised at the low attendance for the Pitt game - no way was it more than 30% full.
The Brown game drew a somewhat better crowd.
Before that the upper level was maybe 10-15% full.
Not likely that they texted their moms. More likely they put it on the FaceGram or whatever is popular right now because otherwise it never happened, and mom's at home with nothing better to do than stalk Kaydyn or Ashleigh's social media feed.