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

Status
Not open for further replies.
#183      

pruman91

pruman91
Paducah, Ky
pruman91
Bleedorangeandblue44 said:
I've enjoyed the discussions back and forth about ticket prices, and find it interesting that perhaps we set at at $75 originally to make money off the Iowa fans who figured they would be coming to watch another easy Hawkeye win. If that's the case, glad to see we did it because it's really depressing to see these home games with so many of our rival fans having so much fun at our expense. I'm so ready to be done with that.

Now that the tables have turned, count me in as the group that's about to buy four tickets to bring the family there and watch Illinois finally end this dreadful streak. I was there in 1990 for the thrilling MSU win that Altged brought up earlier and remember rushing the field, but even worse are the memories a few weeks later of Nick Bell, Hayden Fry and Iowa absoutely crushing us on top of what Bruce Pearl and their basketball program was doing to us at the same time - just cemented forever my hatred of Iowa which will NEVER change.

Just me, but i'd rather pay $75 to see a huge game like this than $20 or whatever to see a cupcake or whatever earlier in the season. These are the games you'll remember (hopefully) for decades and decades to come

And those complaining about DIA, it seems to me like they have offered plenty of affordable family packs for games and done their part to try to make a price point to get more fans to show up through the years. To me, getting fans in the seats all comes down to winning, and that's exactly what Underwood has done and now Bielema is doing and that's what I'm going to throw my $$ support behind. Let's go - it's the Illini's time to shine and I'll be there to support it with my attendance, with my voice and with my wallet.
Click to expand...
mqwNN0qSTtDwCkV1TY.gif
 
#186      

altgeld88

altgeld88
Arlington, Virginia
altgeld88
Regarding Memorial Stadium attendance, am just wondering (for those who were around in '80 & '81, as I wasn't) how long did it take for fans to catch on and attend the games en masse after White turned the program around?

Was it during '81 when we finished 7-4 or not until '82?
 
#191      

BRucks

BRucks
BRucks
altgeld88 said:
Regarding Memorial Stadium attendance, am just wondering (for those who were around in '80 & '81, as I wasn't) how long did it take for fans to catch on and attend the games en masse after White turned the program around?

Was it during '81 when we finished 7-4 or not until '82?
Click to expand...
1979 -45,005
1980 - 51,741
1981 - 62,885
1982 - 70,785
1983 - 73,871
1984 - 76,391
 
#192      

bluemountain

B
bluemountain
BRucks said:
1979 -45,005
1980 - 51,741
1981 - 62,885
1982 - 70,785
1983 - 73,871
1984 - 76,391
Click to expand...
1979 - HS Junior - program dead in the water
1980 - HS Senior - still losing, but playing exciting ball
1981 - college FR - kind of like this year; started coming into our own, fan base gets back into it
1982 - college SO - the start of absolute pandemonium. Hard to describe the excitement surrounding the program and the noise at the games
1983 - college JR - Beatles level excitement
 
#193      

bluemountain

B
bluemountain
I was at the MSU game in 1999 after we won our first 3 non-con games. The crowd at MS was probably 55k as we were coming off a rough few years, but it was pretty loud and into the game. We had a couple false starts, then by 2001 we started selling out at 70k as people started believing.

I think we are at the 1999 MSU game stage right now. We are starting to bring back some fans, but there is still some lingering hesitation - I'd like to think we can get to 50k on Saturday but who knows. We win Saturday and we could get close to a sellout against Minny.

I've said this before, but there is an undercurrent of fan support that will explode if we string together a few good years. It's not realistic to expect OSU/UM/PSU type attendance or support, but it's not unrealistic to think we could attract similar crowds as MSU or Wisky if we can sustain some level of success
 
#196      

ChiefIllinois

C
ChiefIllinois
illinoistradition said:
Best bet is looking at the seating charts on the tickets site. There are a LOT left. Need to give free tickets to students for this one. Get them there liquored up and loud!
Click to expand...
I think at minimum providing tickets to locals and students at some sort of discounted rate is an absolute must. There are different ways of doing that. Offer 4 pack deals at a 50% discount. I can’t imagine that doesn’t generate at minimum an equal amount of revenue as what they’re doing now with the added benefit of having more butts in the seats. Given the quantity that remain I don’t think that’s a tough sell. Heck, cap the total amount at those deals at like 250 or something low, there gonna be a heck of a lot more bites.
 
#200      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
bluemountain said:
I was at the MSU game in 1999 after we won our first 3 non-con games. The crowd at MS was probably 55k as we were coming off a rough few years, but it was pretty loud and into the game. We had a couple false starts, then by 2001 we started selling out at 70k as people started believing.

I think we are at the 1999 MSU game stage right now. We are starting to bring back some fans, but there is still some lingering hesitation - I'd like to think we can get to 50k on Saturday but who knows. We win Saturday and we could get close to a sellout against Minny.

I've said this before, but there is an undercurrent of fan support that will explode if we string together a few good years. It's not realistic to expect OSU/UM/PSU type attendance or support, but it's not unrealistic to think we could attract similar crowds as MSU or Wisky if we can sustain some level of success
Click to expand...
A good Illini team should absolutely expect those kinds of numbers. When we become “good” or whatever can be up for debate, but we aren’t a small private school … the University of Illinois can and WILL draw very big numbers for attendance and ratings when the fans buy back in, and we’re seen the proof with basketball. People can say that’s not the same as football, but I disagree … and those of you lucky enough to see our athletic programs in the ‘80s know this!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.