Sports Marketing

[LB#11]

NDSU and UND are both state flagships and will be for the foreseeable future, end of story.

I don't why it is so difficult for some people to admit we have two great schools in this state.

Agree...I live in Fargo and wish the best for NDSU. I am and always will be a Sioux fan. I think it's awesome that we have 2 great universities in our small state.

[4mcrue]

I wish the best for both schools. I am disappointed that people forget NDSU has a very good Pharmacy program. One of our professors even brought back Montana's pharmacy program from the brink of extinction.

[GeauxSioux]

Wow, good thread we have going here.

Speaking of marketing, specifically in football. Has anyone heard if they have gotten any more done yet to make the Alerus feel more like home to Fighting Sioux football? More than anything, I would love to see them get large banners that run the length of the front of the grandstands. This would go the farthest as far as making the place look like UND's. And if UND paid to have the banners created, it would give them the opportunity to sell sponsorship on it and make some advertising money. One big hurdle about playing football at the Alerus is that it limits the options that UND has as far as making money on advertising. This is one small way that UND could try make more ad money with football.

You get your wish...Alerus looks at a major face lift

A major face lift could be in the works for Grand Forks’ Alerus Center starting in the next few months.

That would mean changes to the exterior to enhance the appearance of the 7-year-old facility and new graphics in the interior to better portray its ties to UND — the football team is the prime tenant — and to the community

Inside the Alerus Center will be the logos of different colleges in the Great West Conference, which UND recently joined as it moved all of its athletic programs to Division I.

[SiouxMD]

From the email newsletter (no link)...AroUND:

Check out www.fightingsioux.com to get a glimpse of the new DI campaign.

More on the way?

[SiouxMD]

New wallpaper available featuring the "WE ARE 1 WE ARE NORTH DAKOTA" slogan...

[Riverman]

Inside the Alerus Center will be the logos of different colleges in the Great West Conference, which UND recently joined as it moved all of its athletic programs to Division I.

The display could show, for example, highlights from the Sioux

[MplsBison]

New wallpaper available featuring the "WE ARE 1 WE ARE NORTH DAKOTA" slogan...

Maybe it's just me, but I read it as "We are D1 We are North Dakota".

And FYI, it's DI, not D1. But it's not like the general population knows or cares.

[Herd]

Maybe it's just me, but I read it as "We are D1 We are North Dakota".

And FYI, it's DI, not D1. But it's not like the general population knows or cares.

The we are 1 phrase has classic overall meaning. Its suggests . . .

We are together

We are Division I

We are #1 in ND

Whatever other ideas you have . . .

MPLS, it is correct for its intended purpose. Good marketing poster!

[dakotadan]

Maybe it's just me, but I read it as "We are D1 We are North Dakota".

And FYI, it's DI, not D1. But it's not like the general population knows or cares.

The campaign is "We are 1. We are North Dakota."

The whole DI(1) is just a visual cue to tie in with this first season of DI.

[SiouxMD]

Maybe it's just me, but I read it as "We are D1 We are North Dakota".

And FYI, it's DI, not D1. But it's not like the general population knows or cares.

So its DI-AA not D1-AA?

[MplsBison]

No, it's DI FCS.

[SiouxMD]

No, it's DI FCS.

DI FCS?

[MplsBison]

DI FCS?

The official name is DI Football Championship Subdivision.

Some media still refer to it as DI-AA out of spite.

[GeauxSioux]

The official name is DI Football Championship Subdivision.

Some media still refer to it as DI-AA out of spite.

I live in the South, where Division I football is everywhere. Most folks call it Division I and I-AA. They don't call it FBS and FCS. No spite involved. I would venture to say that most people nationally don't call it FBS/FCS. It's just the way it is.

[SiouxMD]

The official name is DI Football Championship Subdivision.

Some media still refer to it as DI-AA out of spite.

Nuts.

I was hoping that you would have responded with only:

"The official name is DI Football Championship Subdivision."

Then I could have countered with examples of DI-AA still being used by ESPN, CNNSI, etc.

Thanks for playing along.

[SiouxMD]

WE ARE 1 WE ARE NORTH DAKOTA - Radio Commercial

[bincitysioux]

WE ARE 1 WE ARE NORTH DAKOTA - Radio Commercial

Max has a cheesy voice. I don't like it but at least the ad exists.

[slulionsfan]

I prefer to call it I-AA. FCS is just so cheesy and contrived, it reeks of inferiority complex.

Has nothing to do with inferiority complex. The impetus behind the change had more to do clearing up confusion between I-AA and D-II and some of the biggest proponents of the change were coaches of other sports, such as basketball and baseball. I can't count how many times we had basketball or baseball recruits say they were under the impression we were D-II because our football program was classified with two As. I'd much prefer something like I-B (Division I Bowl) and I-P (Division I Playoff) as opposed to FCS and FBS which is more confusing.

[Hammersmith]

I've said from the beginning that the unwieldiness of the new names was deliberate. I think the non-football coaches at I-AA schools wanted a moniker so clumsy it would be used as little as possible. This would keep non-football coaches from larger schools from easily implying(or saying straight out) that the programs at I-AA schools were not in the same division while recuiting.

[Herd]

Has nothing to do with inferiority complex. The impetus behind the change had more to do clearing up confusion between I-AA and D-II and some of the biggest proponents of the change were coaches of other sports, such as basketball and baseball. I can't count how many times we had basketball or baseball recruits say they were under the impression we were D-II because our football program was classified with two As. I'd much prefer something like I-B (Division I Bowl) and I-P (Division I Playoff) as opposed to FCS and FBS which is more confusing.

Schools like Southern Illinois with a top flight basketball team understand the change and its importance for Basketball and the fact that it has nothing to do with trying to act big. For NCAA Divisions, there are only 3 . . . DI, DII, DIII. As a school, you are either DI, DII, or DIII. All DI schools compete for the same championships in all sports accept football where there are "Sub"-Divisions of DI. Again, there are not different divisions in DI, there are only football Sub-divisions.

If you are a DI school with football, there are two Sub-Divisions of DI. FBS (85 schollies) and FCS (63/0 schollies). Both are Sub-Divisions of DI.

The old Division labels DI-A & DI-AA are incorrect references, and do not create a fair playing field for recruiting in non-football sports. When Southern Illinois recruits in baseball and basketball against Louisiana Monroe, should Southern Illinois be referred to as being at a different level? Is Southern Illinois DI-AA or FCS in Basketball, of course not. Southern Illinois may play football at the DI FCS level, but you'd have a much better chance to win a basketball championship at Soutern Illinois than at Louisiana Monroe.

DI FCS should only be used when referring to football, a DI school is a DI school, not something less than DI.

[MplsBison]

NDSU is a DI school and UND is transitioning from being a DII school to being a DI school.

That's all that can possibly be said.

[GeauxSioux]

Max has a cheesy voice. I don't like it but at least the ad exists.

I like the content, but I agree about the voice.

[The Sicatoka]

If you are a DI school with football, there are two Sub-Divisions of DI. FBS (85 schollies) and FCS (63/0 schollies). Both are Sub-Divisions of DI.

I didn't dig too deeply, but the NCAA used to "de facto" consider there to be 3 sub-divisions: DI-A, DI-AA, and no football (e.g. Marquette). A quick scan of the 2007-08 DI manual shows they seem to consider now only "bowl" conferences and "non-bowl" conferences (meaning the old DI-AA is now lumped in with the non-football schools for committee membership breakdowns, see Section 21 of the DI manual).

[Herd]

Although everything you said is technically correct, from my own personal point of view we are I-AA schools. Being that the only college sports I follow are hockey and football, the fact that all other programs are D1 doesn't affect anything that is of interest to me. UND is D1 in hockey, I-AA in football. Schools that have I-AA football are I-AA schools as far as I'm concerned. I do not wish to attempt to make the argument that we're on par with the likes of the Notre Dames and USCs of the NCAA. Big-time NCAA schools are the ones that play D1 (aka D-1A/FBS) football. Those of us at the I-AA and D2 levels are what the big boys refer to as "small college" football. I'm secure enough with where my team is at in the pecking order of NCAA sports to not let that bother me.

Who is on par with ND and USC in football? MN certainly isn't, should we call MN less than DI? This isn't about football, it's about academics and athletics, all athletics. It's about the standards that are set for your school, the level that you are certified at, and the championships that you complete for. DI is DI, there are not different levels of DI.

Yes, everthing that I said is technically correct. Your arguements are not technically correct.

[Herd]

Technically, even though they suck, Minnesota is on par with Notre Dame and USC. They're Division I. Oklahoma and Miami are also at the same level. Even Duke, who is a joke and probably couldn't beat half the teams in I-AA, is at that level. They're technically on par with Notre Dame and USC.

We (UND and NDSU) are not. We're I-AA. That is technically correct according to the original terminology applied to the divisions (aka subdivisions). To imply that Division I and I-AA football teams are all at the same level is misleading and technically incorrect. Be secure with your team competing at the 2nd highest level of college football and stop trying to pretend they're competing at the highest level.

I'm not talking about academics and all athletics, I'm talking about football specifically. The only other college sport I care about is hockey, and they have teams from all divisions competing in D1. I'm not interested in discussing bounceyball, volleyball, golf, soccer, or any of those other lesser publicized sports.

If you are talking DI, all DI schools are DI.

If you are talking football only, then technically you classify DI teams by sub-division based on the championship they play for: (remembering all schools are DI)

FBS: Ohio State, Ball State, Louisiana Monroe, USC, Alabama, Tulane, Akron, Minnesota, Duke, Buffalo, etc

FCS: UND, NDSU, Valpo, UMass, Delaware, App St, Bulter, Drake, San Diego, UNI, S.IL, MT, etc

In all other sports in DI, everyone is just DI with no subdivisions, all competing for the same championship. Being DI and competing for the FCS championship isn't too bad of company. There are a lot of DI FBS schools that could not win the DI FCS championship, and a lot of DI FBS schools that have nothing on their DI FCS bretheren. Every year the talent pool increases and the DI FBS/FCS gap closes a little further.