Werner had said there were only around 23k season ticket holders in 2022. So sounds like at least 33k now.
Pregame: Illinois vs Toledo, Saturday, September 2nd, 6:30pm CT, BTN
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Joel Goodson
- ties will be resolved
I have to ask. I'm sure everyone knows this and l'm just an old-timer who is way out of the loop, but what are these foam helmet things that players are wearing today?
I have to assume this is for safety, but then I think they kind of look like a beer can cooler, but for their noggins. Then that doesn't make sense. I question why they would ever want to keep their helmets cold like a can of beer. Then I get frustrated by the whole thing and go to sleep.
TL;DR: wtf are the foam things on helmets these days?
I have to assume this is for safety, but then I think they kind of look like a beer can cooler, but for their noggins. Then that doesn't make sense. I question why they would ever want to keep their helmets cold like a can of beer. Then I get frustrated by the whole thing and go to sleep.
TL;DR: wtf are the foam things on helmets these days?
BTN announcers for Saturday night's game will be Mark Followill and Matt Millen.
Haha, you are correct that they are for safety. "Guardian Caps" They are worn in practice to add protection and cut down on head injuries.
Guardian Caps: Are the soft-shelled football helmet covers effective at limiting head injuries?
Wearing protective shells over helmets are becoming more popular as a means of possibly limiting head injuries in football -- but are they actually effective?
Alright. I'm trying to reconcile my tracker to these numbers. And as I get to compare my tracker outputs to actual announced attendance numbers this season, I plan to refine my methodology as needed to make it as accurate as possible.
Reminder of my assumptions and methodology:
1. We have no public data available on student ticket sales, so my tracker assumes that every seat (4,350) in the North End Zone is full. Same goes for the Colonnades Club (1,164) and 77 Club (204). I just ignore those seats and assume they are all sold.
2. Sections near the end zone often show as having no tickets for sale since they are used for student ticket overflow, visiting fans, recruits, etc. I have to assume the majority, if not all of these seats are unsold if they are not showing on the ticket site.
3. The ticket site often shows rows with no tickets available even when they are 100% unsold. Typically the site makes lower rows available for sale and then opens up higher rows for sale when the lower rows' tickets are purchased.
4. Once I have a count for all the unsold tickets in the stadium, I subtract that from the capacity of 60,670.
Comparison of the 2022 ticket tracker to announced crowds:
I did the ticket tracker for the MSU and Purdue games last year, so I went back and looked and had the following variances:
Revised Tracker for Toledo:
I mentioned above that typically only higher up rows are held back and show zero tickets available for sale despite actually being 100% unsold. Unfortunately today, the ticket site had several lower/middle of the section rows in about 8 different sections start showing with anywhere between 20-30 seats now available for sale. These would have been rows that were counted as 100% sold in my tracker up to this point, so the tracker actually moved in the wrong direction today. That said, it still shows an estimate of 46,315, following all of the methodology above.
Conclusion:
I'm prepared to eat my words, but I still believe this estimate is a bit conservative and actual attendance will be above this. I have to believe that Jeremy Werner's 40k estimate is either old or simply inaccurate - which is rare for him. Cassie Arner's 44-45k estimate is likely much closer to actual attendance, but I still think it's a bit light!
TheFlyingIllini1317
- Chicago, IL
I'm looking forward to coming over to see our Illini and join my son for the game. I was confused by the depth chart at the 2 safety spots. I hope this is not a bad sign.
Watched the 8th grader from Decatur MacArthur, in Decatur last week. The man child is legit. High school freshman 6.3 ft. 220lbs.. and hasn't ripped up at such a young age which is good. Touched the ball 5x/ 200 yards and 3 TD's. Defense phenomenal, kick return 98 yards and effortless. He's doing things a football freshman just simply doesn't do. He will be recruited by every college in America. Mason Johnson Cook,. Coach B was smart to offer him as 8th grader.
Watched the 8th grader from Decatur MacArthur, in Decatur last week. The man child is legit. High school freshman 6.3 ft. 220lbs.. and hasn't ripped up at such a young age which is good. Touched the ball 5x/ 200 yards and 3 TD's. Defense phenomenal, kick return 98 yards and effortless. He's doing things a football freshman just simply doesn't do. He will be recruited by every college in America. Mason Johnson Cook,. Coach B was smart to offer him as 8th grader.
. Gonna make a big difference IMO! Do Not like coordinators on side lines calling plays nor formations. With today's technology and their Intelligence. Smart move.Krombopulos_Michael
- Aurora, Illinois (that’s a suburb of Chicago)
Zero reason to eat your words here even if you’re off. Can’t fault the thought process and I enjoy the updates bc if nothing else it’s an interesting read and adds to the excitement of a new season starting
It’s going to be interesting to see if Keadin Feagin will get some snaps in this game. Maybe rotate him in with McCray? He’s going to be kind of tough to handle with his size. They list him at 6-3 250 lbs and they have him as a RB. 
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Harvest hasn't started yet. Beautiful evening for football. Hope for a strong walk-up crowd.
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
I always wonder how much of an impact Labor Day weekend has on attendance. If we can get to winning consistently, these Labor Day weekend games should be packed with a full house. We need to make Champaign a destination for Labor Day weekend compared to an afterthought.
Is it possible Werner is estimating actual attendance, which will probably lag tickets sold unless it's a big time opponent? If that's the case, we'd probably be happy with 40k actual attendance, given last year's opener against Wyoming was something like 10-11k no shows.
The Big Ten will move away from the East and West division format in 2024, so it's one last chance to watch a traditional Big Ten race before the former Pac-12 schools join the fray.
www.sportingnews.com
Big Ten football predictions 2023: Conference standings, impact players, best games | Sporting News
Michigan will overcome Jim Harbaugh's season-opening suspension and win the league title in the final season before the Big Ten expands to 18 teams.
www.sportingnews.com
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
RE: the no-shows, I literally can’t imagine having a single game ticket and just not going, haha. Maybe a student ticket and you decide to hit the bars or a season ticket you can’t give to somebody, but a single?? I get stuff happens but 10k+ no-shows is wild.
zzzzzzzzzzzz. Pretty lazy article, but I suppose he has all the same old narratives covered. Really hope BB and company can surprise this year again and keep building momentum. And expansion is likely to force some new narratives to unfold.The Big Ten will move away from the East and West division format in 2024, so it's one last chance to watch a traditional Big Ten race before the former Pac-12 schools join the fray.
Big Ten football predictions 2023: Conference standings, impact players, best games | Sporting News
Michigan will overcome Jim Harbaugh's season-opening suspension and win the league title in the final season before the Big Ten expands to 18 teams.
the national
- the Front Range
There was only one mention of Illinois and that was Walters leaving Illinois.
waste of a click I suppose.That could be. I have no interest in trying to predict actual butts in seats, so I'm just going to stick to the most tangible thing we have which is tickets sold.
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