Pregame: Illinois vs Iowa, Saturday, October 8th, 6:30pm CT, BTN

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#276      

illinoistradition

I
illinoistradition
It’s not so much devaluing the tickets as it is getting people into the stadium for the first time ever or in a long time to see how this is different.

I’m disappointed that nothing has been announced to try to get these tickets sold. We have what seems like 20+ recruits for a night game, and they might see 45k fans for a team that is 4-1? That will not look good.

Kansas was able to sell out their game against Duke because they had pricing where it should have been for a team that has been bad for years. They also have under 50k seats, but I’m convinced that having the pricing right helps with that.

Stop the comparisons to the NFL or other Big Ten teams. We have been the worst team, on average, in the league over the last 10 years. How is it that we have such expensive tickets for a season in which no one would have guessed we would look this good? This is a failure of creativity in working with what we have, and it is one of the many reasons why some that want to believe are hesitant to think this is a turning point in the program.
 
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#277      

727ill

7
727ill
With respect to attendance, this is a weird game. People are starting to believe after the Wisconsin win but have been burned enough times in the recent past to have some pause on whether this is for real.

I think if we take care of business on Saturday, HC v Minny is going to be close to a sellout (with chance to lock up a bowl appearance and put yourself in the drivers seat for the West).
 
#278      

SuperintendentChalmers

SuperintendentChalmers
SuperintendentChalmers
bluemountain said:
For gender equity reasons, we'd rather have them play in an empty and tomb-like Hall vs a loud and sold out Huff
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I understand the potentially significant atmosphere upgrade at Huff, but try telling B1G/NCAA, “We’ve got our men in a large, recently updated arena with high-level facilities and our women in a century-old gym, because it’s cooler there with the small crowds they draw.”
 
#279      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
illinoistradition said:
It’s not so much devaluing the tickets as it is getting people into the stadium for the first time ever or in a long time to see how this is different.

I’m disappointed that nothing has been announced to try to get these tickets sold. We have what seems like 20+ recruits for a night game, and they might see 45k fans for a team that is 4-1? That will not look good.

Kansas was able to sell out their game against Duke because they had pricing where it should have been for a team that has been bad for years. They also have under 50k seats, but I’m convinced that having the pricing right helps with that.

Stop the comparisons to the NFL or other Big Ten teams. We have been the worst team, on average, in the league over the last 10 years. How is it that we have such expensive tickets for a season in which no one would have guessed we would look this good? This is a failure of creativity in working with what we have, and it is one of the many reasons why some that want to believe are hesitant to think this is a turning point in the program.
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Because Illinois hasn’t been “creative” with it’s ticket prices is why people are hesitant to think the program is turning the corner? Well that’s an interesting hypothesis. You lost me on that one.
 
#280      

phats22

P
phats22
skyIdub said:
I think I've found the problem...

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JASON HEGGEMEYER​

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  • TITLE Associate Director of Athletics, Ticketing and Sales & Customer Service

Past Experience:
Before joining the Illinois staff, Heggemeyer served as the Associate Ticket Manager at the University of Missouri from 2004-2005
From 1998-2001, he served as Assistant Ticket Manager at the University of Missouri.
Personal:
A native of Sterling Heights, Mich.,
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austin-powers-mole.gif
 
#282      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
727ill said:
With respect to attendance, this is a weird game. People are starting to believe after the Wisconsin win but have been burned enough times in the recent past to have some pause on whether this is for real.

I think if we take care of business on Saturday, HC v Minny is going to be close to a sellout (with chance to lock up a bowl appearance and put yourself in the drivers seat for the West).
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Agree. And heading to a game for many isn’t just a hop in the car proposition. Wasn’t there someone on the board that had to cancel plans to go to this game because it was a night game rather than a day game? He couldn’t even make adjustments to make it work when he was already planning to go to the game, but expectations are that the 10-15k additional people needed to get over 50k can alter plans to go to this game in a week’s time? Not that it is impossible, but a pretty tall order considering where the belief in the program has been.
 
#284      

727ill

7
727ill
EyeoftheIllini said:
Agree. And heading to a game for many isn’t just a hop in the car proposition. Wasn’t there someone on the board that had to cancel plans to go to this game because it was a night game rather than a day game? He couldn’t even make adjustments to make it work when he was already planning to go to the game, but expectations are that the 10-15k additional people needed to get over 50k can alter plans to go to this game in a week’s time? Not that it is impossible, but a pretty tall order considering where the belief in the program has been.
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Depending on who you are it's not that hard. Plenty of young alumni in the Chicago area that probably are able to drive down to the game (myself included).

Take care of business on Saturday and I think you really start to make people believe. I hate to call this a "trap" game but it does feel like one. Our defense is firing on all cylinders and Iowa comes in with a historically bad offense. If we can just take care of business on defense and not turn the ball over this should be a win.

We likely would be favored in every single subsequent game up till Michigan (can you imagine a 9-1 Illinois vs a 10-0 Michigan team at the Big House?)
 
#287      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
EyeoftheIllini said:
Agree. And heading to a game for many isn’t just a hop in the car proposition. Wasn’t there someone on the board that had to cancel plans to go to this game because it was a night game rather than a day game? He couldn’t even make adjustments to make it work when he was already planning to go to the game, but expectations are that the 10-15k additional people needed to get over 50k can alter plans to go to this game in a week’s time? Not that it is impossible, but a pretty tall order considering where the belief in the program has been.
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To the maximizing revenue vs maximizing butts in seats thing, do you want to use your football tickets to cultivate donors among well-heeled alumni in the North Shore suburbs of Chicagoland who face a 3 hour trip if they're lucky and even with season tickets are probably only showing up to the more appealing games?

Or is the focus on fans in Central Illinois at a lower price point, with less competition for sports and entertainment options, and for whom making a Thursday night game is no big sweat?

The answer is always "both" but how do you set the dial between the two and how do you split up the inventory to allow that to happen?

(Is the answer different now that the Smith Center and Ubben are done? These are big-picture strategic questions I think professionals in this industry tend to answer in a rigidly business-focused one-size-fits-all way)
 
#289      

Illinir1

Illinir1
Camdenton, MO
Illinir1
RML said:
This Iowa board is quiet, but pretty rational about our game.

Iowa will win in Champaign.

This team, like many other Iowa teams, will perform better on the road than at Kinnick. Given the offensive struggles, the pressure is amped up at Kinnick. The boos at home make it all the worse. They will be more focused. Hawks 22 IIlini 13
iowa.forums.rivals.com iowa.forums.rivals.com
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Those Iowa fans are pretty accurate and realistic in their assessment of their football team.
 
#290      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
727ill said:
Depending on who you are it's not that hard. Plenty of young alumni in the Chicago area that probably are able to drive down to the game (myself included).

Take care of business on Saturday and I think you really start to make people believe. I hate to call this a "trap" game but it does feel like one. Our defense is firing on all cylinders and Iowa comes in with a historically bad offense. If we can just take care of business on defense and not turn the ball over this should be a win.

We likely would be favored in every single subsequent game up till Michigan (can you imagine a 9-1 Illinois vs a 10-0 Michigan team at the Big House?)
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I agree the crowds will get there if team keeps winning and is competitive. I wrote in previous post that I think crowd will be 50k+ for Minnesota game if Illini win Saturday — and possibly even if the lose in a close, competitive game.

This average fan didn’t have this Illini team on their radar. After the big win last weekend, I think the young, Chicago alums of which you speak are much more likely to say let’s get together to watch the game than they are driving down for this game. Win Saturday, and those same alums start thinking, hey, would be fun to go down for a game.
 
#291      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
EyeoftheIllini said:
I agree the crowds will get there if team keeps winning and is competitive. I wrote in previous post that I think crowd will be 50k+ for Minnesota game if Illini win Saturday — and possibly even if the lose in a close, competitive game.

This average fan didn’t have this Illini team on their radar. After the big win last weekend, I think the young, Chicago alums of which you speak are much more likely to say let’s get together to watch the game than they are driving down for this game. Win Saturday, and those same alums start thinking, hey, would be fun to go down for a game.
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I continue to be amused by the way people act like this is a mechanical 1:1 relationship with the results of the games.

Lose by 3 points, 5,000 extra fans, but lose by 7 points, only 3,000 extra.

As a "young" (😬) Chicago alum the biggest issues scheduling this are people's babies, the game time and whether we need to get a hotel or not, and other preexisting commitments.

Looking like it's going to happen this weekend though, see y'all at Kams!
 
#292      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
ChiefGritty said:
I continue to be amused by the way people act like this is a mechanical 1:1 relationship with the results of the games.

Lose by 3 points, 5,000 extra fans, but lose by 7 points, only 3,000 extra.

As a "young" (😬) Chicago alum the biggest issues scheduling this are people's babies, the game time and whether we need to get a hotel or not, and other preexisting commitments.

Looking like it's going to happen this weekend though, see y'all at Kams!
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I didn’t mean there is necessarily a direct correlation, but results get people thinking about going to a game, which likely needs to happen before they actually go to one. That’s why I won’t be surprised if Saturday’s crowd doesn’t hit 50k. Yes, Wisconsin was a great win, but for many alum/average “fan” it just put the team on their radar. Will take more positive results/efforts to get them to put the time and effort into going to a game. Not the same progression for you and everyone (or at just about everyone) on this forum because we’re not the average fan.
 
#293      

21ChampaignSt

21ChampaignSt
21ChampaignSt
redwingillini11 said:
I think you surely have a point. The reason attendance has been down for years is not because tickets have been too expensive, obviously. But I think this Iowa game is a special circumstance where from the moment the game ended in Madison, everyone, even the coach on national tv, has been pushing the fans to pack the stadium for a signature game of the year atmosphere, combined with the DIA's preseason gamble to prevent Iowa fans from flooding our stadium. There are many reasons we want this atmosphere to be incredible, including to put on a fantastic show for our major recruits that will be in the building. I think that is important enough to eat this potential losses to keep the momentum this program has chugging along. Moving forward, there's nothing really wrong with the pricing for the remaining games. Winning will cause the attendance to tick up a little bit at a time and next year maybe we are back to where we want to be.

Maybe it was a bad, impulsive move to push the "no reason not to show up for the Iowa game," but we are here now. What path do you want to take? Do we risk messing with the value of a ticket to a football game for one game in hopes we have a great atmosphere and game that catapults us to a new level of relevance in the B1G? Or do we leave it as is and expect winning to bring in a few more fans each game? I am very comfortable with the former. For everyone that prefers the latter, that's fine, but don't expect 50k people there on Saturday. That is just reality.
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I think everything you have here makes sense. In fact, you're kind of nudging me toward the "do whatever you gotta do to get butts in seats" camp. Heck, offer free entry to the tailgate lots with proof of a ticket.
Still not sure if it's the right business move. But oh well. Not my chair, not my problem.
 
#296      

redwingillini11

redwingillini11
White and Sixth
North Aurora
redwingillini11
DeonThomas said:
This could potentially be the reason that BB elects to seek greener pastures one day in the foreseeable future.......
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I thought the same thing. He left a good thing he had going at Wisconsin because of frustrations with the support he was receiving. I really hope by the end of next year this team is regularly getting all of the support it deserves. I think it will come, just how soon, I do not know.
 
#297      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
DeonThomas said:
This could potentially be the reason that BB elects to seek greener pastures one day in the foreseeable future.......
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“This” being that Saturday’s Iowa game didn’t draw 50k+ or attendance in general? If the former, I think you’re crazy. If the latter, sure if the team can never draw 50k, it might be. But if the team keeps stringing together strong results, they’ll draw 50k and beyond soon enough.
 
#298      

DeonThomas

DeonThomas
South Carolina
DeonThomas
PROGNOSTICATION TIME:
We seem relatively healthy heading into Saturday. I like our consistent play so far (except for the last 3 minutes of the Indiana game). I have extreme trust in our coaching staff to prepare the guys for each week's opponent. And I don't expect a letdown from our defense.

17 Illini
13 Hawkeyes

I depart tomorrow. Will be turning this into a 5-day weekend. ILL !!!!!
 
#299      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
DeonThomas said:
This could potentially be the reason that BB elects to seek greener pastures one day in the foreseeable future.......
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We drew more for Chattanooga on a Thursday than vs. Power 5 Virginia on a Saturday; unfortunately, as others have said, we still need to bargain to get fans there. We should be doing everything possible to get 55k there Saturday with every promotion possible. The fans will show up in huge numbers as soon as we show them their faith will be rewarded (look at crowds for 5-8 ‘08 team and 3-9 ‘09 team … carryover support that we’re on the mirror image of).
 
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