illiniswish09
- Northwest Suburbs
Question for our insiders… Are there any talks of returning to the United Center for a big non conference game in the near future?
United Center game in the near future?
Was a great tradition that a lot of the fan base would like to see rekindled
I went to the recent New Mexico State and OSU games at the United Center and the attendance was terrible. I have no inside knowledge but I think the game in Chicago has been replaced by the game in Evanston. I have been to the last few years of the Illinois vs Northwestern game in Evanston and the crowd is well over 50% Illini fans and a reasonable price ticket for that game is hard to find.
Break out the @Fighter of the Nightman signal!
(Here's his last opus on the subject: https://www.illinoisloyalty.com/post/illini-basketball-2023-2024.32581/post-1956014)
(Here's his last opus on the subject: https://www.illinoisloyalty.com/post/illini-basketball-2023-2024.32581/post-1956014)
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lack of success for program and the match ups i would assume.
If we were a top 25 team and faced, say Texas or something you would see a big crowd and excitement
Also I had no idea the Crossroads classic in Indiana ended
redwingillini11
- North Aurora
Being bad plus those UIC games just absolutely killed us. There is no way the Ohio State game should have been that poorly attended, especially with all of the OSU alums and fans that there are in Chicago it should have been better attended.
Also I just looked and we were 2-7 after that game. We just absolutely sucked and no one wanted to watch this team anywhere.
If they tried to do a United Center game again it would probably work, but we definitely would have to choose the right opponents.
Also I just looked and we were 2-7 after that game. We just absolutely sucked and no one wanted to watch this team anywhere.
If they tried to do a United Center game again it would probably work, but we definitely would have to choose the right opponents.
We were a bad team, we played bad teams and we couldn't get more than 10K in the stadium. The New Mexico State game, for me, was a low point. That was in....2017?
It's why it's laughable when people get upset about our current situation. How soon we forget where we were when BU took over.
I just brought up the New Mexico State game. Was that the last one? Reality of how truly abysmal our program was had set in.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I mean, the game in Evanston was also filled with Illini fans when we simultaneously had a game at the United Center.
As I have officially been called by @goillini30, I must say I indeed think this game is a no-brainer. And I just simply do NOT believe that the attendance issues we experienced in isolation during perhaps the most depressing stretch of this program's history is an indication of what we can expect now ... and I think people are either (A) simply being slightly too "chicken little" here or (B) using this fear to justify their already rock solid opinion that games should simply be held in Champaign. The (B) opinion is fine, but the rationale that we could not draw well at the UC on a Saturday in December is ludicrous, IMO. The post of mine linked above has our attendance figures, but consider these averages, as well:
- Our overall average attendance in regular season UC games since the 1999-00 season is 15,295, even when you account for the last three games that were total duds and drew around 5,000 fans each.
- If you take our average attendance before those games, the average crowd we drew was 16,861. That is over 8.5% higher than the capacity of State Farm Center.
- When the Illini have had a team ranked in the top 25 as we theoretically would be this year, our average attendance is 17,272.
- We have drawn crowds of over 18,000 EIGHT times. They are listed below for anyone looking to travel down memory lane.
21,885 vs. #7 Arizona in 2000-01 (Illini ranked #5)
21,224 vs. Oregon in 2004-05 (Illini ranked #1)
20,917 vs. Gonzaga in 2009-10 (Illini NR)
20,143 vs. #17 Duke in 1999-00 (Illini ranked #16)
19,833 vs. Xavier in 2005-06 (Illini ranked #12)
19,573 vs. #24 Arizona in 2006-07 (Illini NR)
18,671 vs. Arkansas in 2003-04 (Illini ranked #5)
18,136 vs. Auburn in 2012-13 (Illini ranked #12)
I would only support this game if the following two conditions were met - (A) our program is even in a SEMI-healthy spot and (B) the opponent we get is one that will excite fans, not frickin' UIC. (A) is very clearly met right now, and (B) should be doable. There are lots of programs who would jump at the chance to play us at the UC, and our return trip could ideally be in another major market where we in turn get some exposure. There are so many options available that could draw crowds at both places, including Texas (Chicago and Dallas/Houston), Virginia (Chicago and DC), UConn (Chicago and NYC), etc.
As another side note and as I mentioned in my linked post above, our peers and rivals are VERY clearly prioritizing playing games in their largest markets. IU/Purdue in Indy, MSU in Detroit, Iowa in Des Moines, OSU in Cleveland ... the list goes on.
TL;DR
The historical evidence is VERY, VERY clear that the Illini draw well at the United Center so long as the life has not been utterly sucked out of the program. Just last year on a Thursday night, we drew over 16,000 to watch our incredibly frustrating, 7th place team play Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament ... and for anyone else who was there, no fewer than 15,000 of those were clad in orange.
Again, if you want to oppose the UC game on the grounds that you simply think all games we control should be played on campus, fine! However, if attendance is your concern, the only question to ask yourself is this: Do you think the current level of passion, enthusiasm and loyalty for our fan base is closer to 2013 or 2018? I'd say it is quite obviously at LEAST back to 2013 levels and likely well above that, and I thus think it's quite clear we would fill up the United Center for a Saturday game in December vs. an even semi-decent opponent.
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I'm about to contradict myself...
I think the biggest thing preventing a return to the UC now is our schedule. With 20 Big Ten games and the Braggin' Rights game, we've really only got room for 3 or 4 other marquee games in the non-conference season. If we play in a holiday tournament, that usually takes care of 2 of those.
All that being said, we did lose the Big Ten/ACC Challenge game. And for example, we could have played Tennessee in Nashville and Chicago instead of Knoxville and Champaign.
I'm guessing the athletic department wants to give students and more local fans a chance to see marquee games as well. I'm also guessing the athletic department would love to have a successful game up at the UC annually, but there's just a lot of moving parts and things to consider when it comes to scheduling.
I think the biggest thing preventing a return to the UC now is our schedule. With 20 Big Ten games and the Braggin' Rights game, we've really only got room for 3 or 4 other marquee games in the non-conference season. If we play in a holiday tournament, that usually takes care of 2 of those.
All that being said, we did lose the Big Ten/ACC Challenge game. And for example, we could have played Tennessee in Nashville and Chicago instead of Knoxville and Champaign.
I'm guessing the athletic department wants to give students and more local fans a chance to see marquee games as well. I'm also guessing the athletic department would love to have a successful game up at the UC annually, but there's just a lot of moving parts and things to consider when it comes to scheduling.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I agree with pretty much everything you said in isolation, but my understanding is that the United Center game was always specifically designed to be during Christmas Break when students were not on campus. Using this year's schedule, this reshuffling would have worked nicely:
Monday 11/6 vs. Eastern Illinois
Friday 11/10 vs. Oakland
Tuesday 11/14 vs. #5 Marquette (nice one to have in Champaign!)
Friday 11/17 vs. Valparaiso
Sunday 11/19 vs. Southern
Friday 11/24 vs. Western Illinois
Saturday 12/2 at Rutgers
Tuesday 12/5 vs. #10 FAU in New York, NY (has to stay because it's an event)
--- Move the Tennessee game away from Saturday 12/9 so it makes final exams a bit less stressful and swap it with the Fairleigh Dickinson game ---
Saturday 12/9 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
Sunday 12/17 vs. Colgate
Friday 12/22 vs. Missouri in St. Louis (I personally like the Friday night thing!)
Saturday 12/30 vs. Tennessee at the United Center (return game in Nashville next year)
I think the only true logistical hurdle is to "straddle" the return games in other markets so that we always have at least one "big" game in Champaign and never skip the United Center in years where we need to travel to Nashville, Dallas, NYC, etc.
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
Make the Kansas/Illinois scrimmage an annual charity game at the UC? KU fans will travel. Plenty of great charities to hype the game, the venue, the programs, and the chosen charity.
It's ridiculous that we don't have an annual game at the UC. Or at the very least Allstate. The programs rise over the last 4 years is a wasted opportunity to plug back into Chicago hard core, especially after Ayo signed.
Now with MJJ coming and Tim Anderson on staff it's past time to make this happen.
It's also past time to have a pre-season hype night to showcase the team. Tie it into Halloween and make it a costume theme. Dunk contest, 3pt contest, costume competition for the team and the students. Bring in some home talent, Chance, Ludacris....etc.
The SFC would rock and the costumes would be epic.
It's ridiculous that we don't have an annual game at the UC. Or at the very least Allstate. The programs rise over the last 4 years is a wasted opportunity to plug back into Chicago hard core, especially after Ayo signed.
Now with MJJ coming and Tim Anderson on staff it's past time to make this happen.
It's also past time to have a pre-season hype night to showcase the team. Tie it into Halloween and make it a costume theme. Dunk contest, 3pt contest, costume competition for the team and the students. Bring in some home talent, Chance, Ludacris....etc.
The SFC would rock and the costumes would be epic.
Since the ACC/B1G challenge has ended, one ideal opponent would be an annual game with Notre Dame in Chicago, I think that would draw a lot of fan interest from both fan bases. As a season ticket holder and before I pay another $50 -$100 per seat, I would want to have a game with a team that has a lot of name recognition. I am not sure Tennesse is such a team for me.
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Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
My only issues with this:
1. I am ultra-skeptical of how many Chicago Area Notre Dame football fans are also Notre Dame basketball fans. Their basketball attendance/ratings are VERY "meh," and I am not sure they would actually be that great of a draw.
2. I think the United Center game HAS to be promoted as an Illini home game rather than a true neutral site game. For example, Mizzou is legitimately doing us a favor with Braggin' Rights, as the setup of the game promotes to St. Louis residents that we are both local teams. I do not want to give any other program that elevated status in Chicago. If we can fill the UC with opponents that are not from the immediate area, I think that would be best.
Personally, I think the following would be really cool setups:
Texas: Chicago and Houston/Dallas (wherever we have more alumni/fans and there are better recruits on average, lol)
Syracuse/UConn: Chicago and New York City (Madison Square Garden)
Florida: Chicago and Orlando (warm weather trip for our fans, and we would travel well)
Virginia: Chicago and Washington, DC
Arizona: Chicago and Phoenix
--- Absolute dream scenario to piss off Indiana together---
Kentucky: Chicago and Indianapolis
Sorry to break it to you, but there is zero chance Illinois schedules another annual opponent.
And unfortunately, not many people really care about Notre Dame basketball. Take a look at Fighter's post above which contains a sampling of our non-UIC opponents at the UC over the years. Those are the kinds of programs that would ideally be scheduled.
Tennessee was 5th in the country in average attendance at over 18k per game last year. Illinois was 13th at almost 15k. Notre Dame averages about 8k per game.
I think you're on to the most important part of this which is a set opponent like bragging rights. Too hard to get a home and away set. In the off year you don't have a UC game
Notre dame or Marquette seem to make the most sense and I think each would be a draw, obviously notre dame the most.
It's actually not hard to get a home and home series set up. It's much harder to get an annual opponent. Arizona is playing at Cameron now. They played at the UC before. All big programs schedule home and homes. Very few set up annual series.
In order to get an annual game you need to have two match ups going at the same time. And their schedule needs to satisfy yours. And every year you have to find the next one.
Bragging rights on the other hand is on auto pilot
A little birdy told me earlier in the year that it was definitely being floated in some fashion. I wouldn't write it off just yet.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Then we should have two staggered. Why on Earth would we, as the most popular team in this area, help promote Marquette or Notre Dame as our equal?