Pregame: Illinois vs Florida Atlantic, Saturday, September 23rd, 2:30pm CT, BTN

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#51      

redwingillini11

redwingillini11
White and Sixth
North Aurora
redwingillini11
Just got a last minute invite to a wedding during the game this weekend. Not pleased to be missing the one remaining game we should blow another team out.
 
#53      

Illini-Rule

I
Illini-Rule

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#63      

IlliniKat91

IlliniKat91
Chicago, IL
IlliniKat91
pvaughn8 said:
Have you considered buying AR glasses? They have some that look just like sunglasses so you could covertly watch the game
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Or just do what we did when some inconsiderate bride planned her wedding in the middle of one of the Blackhawks Stanley Cup runs: watch it on your phone at the table during dinner. As long as it doesn't interrupt the speeches, shouldn't be a big deal
 
#64      

aaeismacgychel

A
aaeismacgychel
IlliniKat91 said:
Or just do what we did when some inconsiderate bride planned her wedding in the middle of one of the Blackhawks Stanley Cup runs: watch it on your phone at the table during dinner. As long as it doesn't interrupt the speeches, shouldn't be a big deal
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Oof. I'm imagining it being Game 7 of that Hawks-Red Wings series in 2013 when the Hjalmarsson would be gamewinning goal was called back... I would've been escorted out, if not straight up arrested.
 
#65      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
IlliniInBuckeyeState said:
Recap of attendance for Penn State:
My official guess was 48,920 and actual announced attendance was 49,099, for a difference of 179...yeah, I'll take that.

Looking ahead to Florida Atlantic:
I'll be honest, I feel really in the dark this week. The tickets website actually does not have that many available tickets for sale (e.g. in the Horseshoe there are a grand total of 33 tickets available for purchase....), but I'm highly skeptical that some of the sections that had several hundred unsold seats for Penn State are nearly sold out for FAU. Instead, it's probable that there are dozens of rows of unsold seats that are being held back from the website as of now. There's no fool proof way to have the ticket tracker account for that, so I have to use judgment in assuming which rows are likely 100% unsold and not showing as available for sale.

Regardless, this week's Memorial Stadium Sellout Watch is currently showing an estimated 44,979 tickets sold. This is about 2,000 less than the tracker had for Penn State a week out from the game. Again, I tend to doubt that gameday attendance for FAU will be pushing 47,000 -- at this point I think the 43,000-45,000 range is more likely. I'll keep an eye on the movement of tickets throughout the week and will revise that guess as appropriate.

Edit: As I type this, I see that next Saturday is Band Day where high school marching bands are coming to perform. I'm not 100% how that impacts attendance/ticket availability, but probably safe to assume that an additional ~750-1,000 spectators will be there.


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Bravo on the PSU estimate! I said this in the PSU postgame thread, but actually being there made it SO clear how much better we could be laying out our seats. I sat in 102 row 38, so I would have been a couple of rows in front of a hypothetical brick wall to match West Main and block off the seats underneath the East Balcony overhang ... and there were literally thousands of fans behind us. Take your pick between bringing the Horseshoe seats down to field level or having a past East Balcony or whatever, but the point is that 49k for PSU had the lower part of our stadium looking absolutely packed but the East Balcony having empty areas. Why the hell is anyone being seated where they can't be seen on TV when we have empty seats in such a prominent balcony and the Horseshoe seats are too far away from the end zone?! I digress, lol...

On a more positive note, while we all want to get to the point where we are pushing 60k for every game, 45k would represent a steady but significant improvement in fan interest, especially considering FAU is (A) not going to bring many fans and (B) not exactly a "draw" for our fans. Consider these average attendance figures of the past decade compared to our attendance so far this year...

2023 vs. Penn State: 49,099
2023 vs. Toledo: 48,898
2016 average: 45,644 (bolstered hugely by a sellout of 60,670 vs. North Carolina)
2012 average: 45,564
2023 guess vs. FAU: 45,000 (prior years for this type of game averaged about 35,000...)
2013 average: 43,787
2022 average: 43,048
2015 average: 42,647
2014 average: 41,549
2017 average: 39,429
2019 average: 36,587
2021 average: 35,347
2018 average: 36,151

It takes time, but our attendance so far this year is absolutely moving in the right direction. If we can win the next three of the next four (vs. FAU, at Purdue, vs. Nebraska and at Maryland), we would be looking at 4-3 (2-1) with Big Ten West rival/contender Wisconsin coming to town for Homecoming. I think that game could push into the mid-50s...
 
#68      

GrayGhost77

GrayGhost77
Centennial, CO
GrayGhost77
IlliniKat91 said:
Or just do what we did when some inconsiderate bride planned her wedding in the middle of one of the Blackhawks Stanley Cup runs: watch it on your phone at the table during dinner. As long as it doesn't interrupt the speeches, shouldn't be a big deal
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One of my best buddies, who's also a die hard Illini fan, got married during the Wiscy game in 2019. I'd like to think he brought them a little bit of luck that day and it made the day even that much better when we all found out we won.
 
#69      

Illini2010-11

I
Sugar Grove
Illini2010-11
aaeismacgychel said:
Oof. I'm imagining it being Game 7 of that Hawks-Red Wings series in 2013 when the Hjalmarsson would be gamewinning goal was called back... I would've been escorted out, if not straight up arrested.
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I was at that game, and I am pretty sure I lost my voice during that exchange. Luckily there is no swear jar there, otherwise I would have been out a paycheck. I also recall at least 20% of fans showing the refs the bird (though that might be a low estimate).

Also, can't believe it has already been over 10 years ago!
 
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#71      

aaeismacgychel

A
aaeismacgychel
Illini2010-11 said:
I was at that game, and I am pretty sure I lost my voice during that exchange. Luckily there is no swear jar there, otherwise I would have been out a paycheck. I also recall at least 20% of fans showing the refs the bird (though that might be a low estimate).

Also, can't believe it has already been over 10 years ago!
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I'm really jealous that you got to be there in person. My voice was hoarse the next day and that was just from watching on tv. I'll still say that if we hadn't have won it in ot, I don't think that ref would've made it out of Chicago alive. Fans might've killed him right there on the ice. I'm a long-time Hawks fan, and while I remember the old Norris division rivalries and cheapshots, I don't think I've ever been as fired up as I was that game. You saw a great one.
 
#72      

CharliedonSurf

C
CharliedonSurf
Excited to head down for this get right game and to tailgate in Grange Grove. I have not been to GG so I'm curious if anyone knows how busy the food trucks they bring in get. I'd rather not bring a grill in to cut down on the hassle but also don't want to stand around for a long time in a long line waiting to order food.go illini.
 
#75      

aaeismacgychel

A
aaeismacgychel
mhuml32 said:
Ignoring the game thread, which is toxic on every single message board: If Illinois doesn't cover the spread and win this game going away, the tone on this board will start to turn.
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Eh, I think a win that doesn't cover the spread would be accepted by most as it's a game against a lesser opponent sandwiched between Penn State and Purdue. I think how we perform in the Purdue game though will be the make or break one for the board assuming we beat FAU. Lose to FAU though and you're correct.
 
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