Student attendance thoughts and How to Fix it

[Cratter]

National Runner-up Sam Houston State averaged 6,400 fans.

People here seem to act like the FCS average is 13,000.

[JohnboyND7]

National Runner-up Sam Houston State averaged 6,400 fans.

People here seem to act like the FCS average is 13,000.

the traditional powers seem to have good attendance.

[Cratter]

All three or four of them. If they do they usually move up to FBS. Montana G Southern Appy State are the only real powers on the national level the last few years.

Youngstown State has the second most FCS championships...and average a whopping 15,000 fans.

[nodak651]

Tailgating... a friend of mine came tailgating for the first time last week, but he didn't get his pass from the union beforehand. They made him pay 15 dollars and park by the non-students even though the whole student lot was empty.

The university/alerus make such a hassle out of everything, most students just say screw it.

[SWSiouxMN]

One thing that irritates me on campus is the lack of promotion that occurs for the football team. Last week, other than the football car going around handing out t-shirts and the usual facebook and twitter spartial promotion, there was nothing! What do I see today, all over campus. Poster promotion the women's hockey game for the U of M game. Where was this last week for the football team? Hello?

I said I would wait for a few responses before giving mine, so here it goes. Im going to break this down into 3 different areas. Promotion, Tailgating, and In-Game Atmosphere

PROMOTION

Educate the students on the teams: We are in a new conference, and while most will have heard of Mont, Mont St, UNC, etc. But how many have heard about ISU, PSU, etc.

Every Monday, put up posters promoting the game for the week. Put them everywhere and hype it up like no other. Get a few footbal players to talk on the radio to encourage people to come out, quote them in the student paper, quote them on facebook and twitter, do what it takes.

Have the players come to the dorms and encourage them to come to the game. At the very least, they will be able to put a name to a face and with a more connection, it would let them come to the game

Big games, what about a pep rally: Sounds stupid? The big schools do it, why not us? I mean a REAL Pep Rally.Hold it in the REA on a Wednesday night and get Muss and the coaches and the captains to get the crowd jacked up for the weekend game. Bring in the fire spinning guy, bring in Jim Kleinsasser, bring in Phil Jackson, anyone!

TAILGATING

I loved SiouxFan7 idea, so I am not going to add anything else on this. This is the exact thing that we need to do. Also let them come out and tailgate during half.

IN-GAME ATMOSPHERE

Fix the stupid speakers once and for all so the music can be cranked up as loud as possible, also reorganize the music and get student imput on what they want to hear at the Alerus.

Help the Yell leaders: UND has been doing yell leaders for the first time this year. This has acutally been a success, but with only 2 at hand, its kinda hard for them to get everyone to hear them. What it might take is about 20-25 fans gathered around them who will be rowdy and have fun. If more people see they are having fun, they will want to join. This is how new cheers get starting and new traditions.

The band needs to join: While the band brings atmosphere, they need a bit of a rehaul as well. They need to help the students coordinate cheers better, and the students need the band to help them. Pointing and yelling on 3rd is good. If you have a free seat, bang on it like everyone else.

My #1 concern with the student... its ATTITUDE. It is no joke that too many students have an attitude of hockey first, screw everything else. With these freshman and the next classes, this is an attitude that needs to be fixed and fixed fast. You can bring up NoDak Nation, but I'll bet you that most people only use it so they can get perfect attendance so they can get early pre-sale for next seasons tickets. There is ZERO excuse that we can't make football a big sport on campus. The football players want this! Everyone one of them on Saturday thanks the small contingent of students who stayed and gave hi 5's

[mg2009]

night games. I know you old people who get up at 6 am everyday don't get it, but students aren't going to bother at 2 pm except for homecoming, so deal with it. 4:30 games or later.

also, make tailgating free. I had no idea they charged for that. Stupid.

[Cratter]

I know a bunch of post UND G Funkers who would tailgate if it didn't cost then $45 or was such a hassle. They can't say hey save me a spot. Now its a pain in todays right now convenient society. It's more like let's meet at a mutual location. I will bring the grill. John will bring the food. Steve has the UND flag and bean bag game. Hope Toby has room in his truck for all this and us!......spot 648? I don't want this spot. We are by ourselves!....."this sucks!"

[Cratter]

Fyi the team always gives the fans high fives after wins.

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

Fyi the team always gives the fans high fives after wins.

Love this.

[UND-FB-FAN]

Improving the atmosphere would go a long way because most current students are hockey-only fans; thus, they compare the atmosphere of the Alerus to the atmosphere in the Englestad. That results in a disappointment each and everytime. So by improving the atmosphere with better intro, better speakers, better cheers and student leadership, etc., student participation should improve. But, I think the most important thing is to just win. Most students have it in their mind that the football team sucks. After the 3-1 start, some were starting to see the light but then we dropped two at home in a row and now its back to "UND sucks at football, UND hockey is the only way to go!" If UND can just WIN and gain popularity, students will pick up on it and show.

[watchmaker49]

Everybody seems to be talking about how to create an atmosphere for these games to attract people especially students. You can not create an atmosphere just because you want to. The football atmosphere at other schools has evolved on its own over a long time. It is not like Wisconsin, Ohio St., et al just one day decided hey we want a real party atmosphere on game day. It evolved on its own. UND is not and never will be one of these schools no matter how hard some people want it to be. An illusion of togetherness has been created along with an extreme social atmosphere.

From the attendence numbers that have been cited here tells me that only the large schools have such a social/togetherness atmosphere. Maybe simply the whole thing is nobody really cares what happens below the bowl series level. How many fans from UND in the Phoenix were at the bars last Saturday to watch an excellent game between UND and UM? 1! I was the only one and the rest were from Montana. Real nice people by the way and I had a nice time hanging out with them. They told me if you go to Duke's in Scottsdale for the game you need to be there at opening to get a table. That means that more Montana football fans show up for games than UND hockey fans do in the Valley. I find it hard to believe that there would be that many more of them in the valley than us.

[jdub27]

night games. I know you old people who get up at 6 am everyday don't get it, but students aren't going to bother at 2 pm except for homecoming, so deal with it. 4:30 games or later.

also, make tailgating free. I had no idea they charged for that. Stupid.

The first three football games were all night games. The next three were/are scheduled at 3pm, 2:40pm and 1pm. The first one was homecoming and there were other events including women's volleyball that night. The second one (last weekend) had a women's hockey game scheduled that night. November 3rd against SUU, there is a men's hockey game that night. Out of town people enjoy the ability to attend multiple events when the come to town.

Are you suggesting that they should have multiple events going on at once or that they should just work out so that there is only one athletic event in Grand Forks per weekend? It is tough to have the other events before the football game as many people are tailgating (though they did do this with WVB before the Poly game). Not saying that the women's volleyball game during homecoming (attend: 984) or the women's hockey game last weekend (attend: 1,414) drew a ton of people, but there is a contingency that like to attend both and attendance would have been lower had those games been during tailgating. Also, not sure on the logistics of scheduling dealing with other teams travel and conference rules, switching may not be a possibility in all cases.

[UNDColorado]

The first three football games were all night games. The next three were/are scheduled at 3pm, 2:40pm and 1pm. The first one was homecoming and there were other events including women's volleyball that night. The second one (last weekend) had a women's hockey game scheduled that night. November 3rd against SUU, there is a men's hockey game that night. Out of town people enjoy the ability to attend multiple events when the come to town.

Are you suggesting that they should have multiple events going on at once or that they should just work out so that there is only one athletic event in Grand Forks per weekend? It is tough to have the other events before the football game as many people are tailgating (though they did do this with WVB before the Poly game). Not saying that the women's volleyball game during homecoming (attend: 984) or the women's hockey game last weekend (attend: 1,414) drew a ton of people, but there is a contingency that like to attend both and attendance would have been lower had those games been during tailgating. Also, not sure on the logistics of scheduling dealing with other teams travel and conference rules, switching may not be a possibility in all cases.

I am going to the SUU game and then the BU game later that night. I will have plenty of time to eat, or do whatever in between. It is not hard to do nor is it overly expensive.

[Dustin]

night games. I know you old people who get up at 6 am everyday don't get it, but students aren't going to bother at 2 pm except for homecoming, so deal with it. 4:30 games or later.

also, make tailgating free. I had no idea they charged for that. Stupid.

The majority of college football games around the country are played in the afternoon (some even start before noon - when I was in college Gopher games started at 11 AM). Plus, when other teams have home games on Saturday (like hockey), they don't want them overlapping.

[Shawn-O]

I feel bad for the players. Don't think for a second that they don't notice. They do.

...and recruits, too I'm sure.

[homer]

Depends. If it is a blowout, then people start to head out either at halftime or throughout the third quarter. If the game is good, you don't see a huge dropoff from where I am(first few rows). What you guys have been describing on here seems outlandish and we haven't had that issue before in my time in Fargo. Leaving a game at halftime when it is close en masse? Sad.

I'm going to throw the bull$%!# flag on this one. Not going to get into why but I know the student attendance in Fargo hasn't always been great and students have not always stuck around. I believe it was around the USD game 2 or 3 years ago that things began to change for the better but you still get some emptying out at half. I have co-workers bitching about it after Indiana St a coupe weeks ago.

[homer]

This years team has done a much better job of engaging the students from the very start of the school year. From helping freshmen move into the dorms to the high fives after games. I can't really blame students for not showing up in years past during the early part of the transition. I've been a season ticket holder since than and we can't kid ourselves, our team wasn't very good and games were boring to watch.

The steps that the team and program are taking to engage the student body off the field and put faces to names, along with a much improved product on the field that is winning and much more exciting to watch, I think are going to go a long ways. Student turnout this year, while not great, is so much better than the last couple years its not even funny. The students who are attending are much more engaged and the athletic dept. (Jason Hajdu) a few changes can/will be made to further improve the experience.

I think a big one would be to not dress true freshmen for home games and have them sit in the student section. Let them lead or join in on the cheers and let the students see how much the games mean to these guys.

[Siouxperfan7]

This years team has done a much better job of engaging the students from the very start of the school year. From helping freshmen move into the dorms to the high fives after games. I can't really blame students for not showing up in years past during the early part of the transition. I've been a season ticket holder since than and we can't kid ourselves, our team wasn't very good and games were boring to watch.

The steps that the team and program are taking to engage the student body off the field and put faces to names, along with a much improved product on the field that is winning and much more exciting to watch, I think are going to go a long ways. Student turnout this year, while not great, is so much better than the last couple years its not even funny. The students who are attending are much more engaged and the athletic dept. (Jason Hajdu) a few changes can/will be made to further improve the experience.

I think a big one would be to not dress true freshmen for home games and have them sit in the student section. Let them lead or join in on the cheers and let the students see how much the games mean to these guys.

I remember back in the D2 playoff era, that they had restrictions on how many players you could dress (for playoff games). They would put all the players that didn't dress in the student section! They were the most loudest boisterousness students in the entire section!! Can't blame them...its their fellow teammates out there. Not sure about what the rules are in that regard now...but that definitely was a great idea to do that!

[JohnboyND7]

I'm going to throw the bull$%!# flag on this one. Not going to get into why but I know the student attendance in Fargo hasn't always been great and students have not always stuck around. I believe it was around the USD game 2 or 3 years ago that things began to change for the better but you still get some emptying out at half. I have co-workers bitching about it after Indiana St a coupe weeks ago.

What your coworkers were complaining about was that there were empty student seats. We did not fill up the entire section. Probably about 2800-3000 of the 3800 seats were occupied. No obvious difference until Jensen's last interception which led the dome to empty itself. The second half will always be less full than the first half, even if ever so slightly.

The USD game was my freshman year. We have done a pretty good job since that season. Not so much that it was always packed, but we haven't had a modern rendition of the book of Exodus like UND fans have been describing on here as well as friends of mine who are students in Grand Forks.

I remember back in the D2 playoff era, that they had restrictions on how many players you could dress (for playoff games). They would put all the players that didn't dress in the student section! They were the most loudest boisterousness students in the entire section!! Can't blame them...its their fellow teammates out there. Not sure about what the rules are in that regard now...but that definitely was a great idea to do that!

Our redshirts sit in the student section. They are mediocre as far as being loud.

[mg2009]

The majority of college football games around the country are played in the afternoon (some even start before noon - when I was in college Gopher games started at 11 AM). Plus, when other teams have home games on Saturday (like hockey), they don't want them overlapping.

the difference is that those games are a huge deal for students, for alumni, for all sorts of random people. We are not the University of Michigan. Students won't turn out for a day game, aside from homecoming. If having a late afternoon game is too big of a problem for you, then stop bitching.

[homer]

What your coworkers were complaining about was that there were empty student seats. We did not fill up the entire section. Probably about 2800-3000 of the 3800 seats were occupied. No obvious difference until Jensen's last interception which led the dome to empty itself. The second half will always be less full than the first half, even if ever so slightly.

Thank you for clarifying what my coworkers were complaining about. I appreciate you clearing up a conversation you had no part of.

[SWSiouxMN]

I think a big one would be to not dress true freshmen for home games and have them sit in the student section. Let them lead or join in on the cheers and let the students see how much the games mean to these guys.

That's not a half bad idea, it not only would get that across, but it would also get the student to know these freshman players a little bit better so when they do get on the field they know exactly who they are.

[siouxforeverbaby]

the difference is that those games are a huge deal for students, for alumni, for all sorts of random people. We are not the University of Michigan. Students won't turn out for a day game, aside from homecoming. If having a late afternoon game is too big of a problem for you, then stop bitching.

Students used to be able to turn out for them...so what changed? I find it completely odd that my 4th year at UND (5 years ago), students could turn up at 1pm for a game...but the next year, it was "too hard" for some of them to show up and the next year, it suddenly became impossible to show up at 1:00pm. Yes, for some students who work...it is harder....but you are telling me that 4,000+ students work too late to get up the next morning?

[David Primus]

Figured it was time I jumped on here and post a response – just a little delayed from waiting for the mod approval to post. My name is David Primus and I am the Director of Marketing for UND Athletics. I’ve been here in GF just over a year now, coming from Indiana, but I’m truly “from” Wyoming. Part of the reason why I was excited to take a job here is the passionate fan base that UND has. It’s great to have such a dedicated fan base and I hope this post can bring some information and help to the topic at hand.

Last year I came in mid-season so this was our first real chance to focus on students. Student attendance at this point is up approx. 30% from last year (2012 avg: 1987- although only 1100 at Montana….2011 avg: 1387….2010 avg: 1467). Certainly the Big Sky and stronger opponents has helped, but I must also credit the Residence Halls (ARH and their affiliated staff), UND Student Ambassadors as well as the Greek community for buying in and helping to make tailgating and games a bigger deal to students this year. Each has played a significant role in getting more involved on gamedays. I was told the Homecoming tailgate was the biggest in years (from a student perspective) and we’ve had some good success in “reserving” student tailgating spots for groups from the residence halls and Greek community who commit to coming to every game. Their willingness to see the big picture and what's possible long-term has certainly helped.

In addition to working direct with groups, I feel we do a lot to get students to the game. Between on-campus promotion, free tickets, free tailgating (first 250ish to pick up a pass), free shuttle (moved from Chester Fritz to front of Wilkerson), free food at 3 games (Thanks Texas Roadhouse!), rally towel & shirt giveaways, and more – we’ve definitely taken a step forward this year. No doubt there’s more work to do though. For what it’s worth, I feel like some of the suggestions floating around we have already implemented, but it may take some time to take root and grow. There were also many ideas we had this year that we didn’t have a chance to implement and hope to in the future (and we sure wish the Helmet car had been operable prior to last week). Even better, it's great to see some feedback from students on this thread.

For the person who posted about the friend who didn’t get a pass from the union beforehand for tailgating and ended up paying $15 – please realize that we control the student tailgating lot passes, the Alerus Center controls the rest. I don’t think it’s that much to ask to pick up the pass early in the week (we do provide them free after all). The simple/general rule this year – pick up before gameday and ticket/tailgating are free – pick up on gameday and you may end up paying for a ticket and/or tailgating.

We’ve also made some strides in-game, but have a LONG way to go. We have a vision of what we want UND Football to be in-game, and while this year has been a significant step forward, there is much work to be done. No doubt the audio/visual side of things is the most apparent (*ahem* louder). And while some people cherish the idea of outdoor games, there are many advantages to being inside besides climate control – we need to exploit these advantages. Yell leaders are new for us and it was a decent start – we’ve learned a lot and now will have 9 months to plan and improve.

No doubt the Montana game was frustrating. We felt we put a good amount into telling the students how important this game was – in addition to the promo side of things with the Blackout – but it certainly didn’t work as well as we wanted. Obviously there are still some issues including students leaving at halftime (though this is better than last year), a lack of student “unity” (cheering, etc.) and a slow decline of student attendance through the season. We’ll keep after it, but we also know it doesn’t all change in one year.

One thing if I could ask: As some of you have identified, Football seems to get put down by some of our so-called “Hockey only” fans. Please help us to continue to carry the message of the quality of the games, student athletes and event that is UND Football. Football/Tailgating (Gameday) is a completely different experience than Hockey. I don’t expect every UND fan to be a fan of both, but certainly appreciate it when our more passionate fans help to change the conversation. Help us to educate our fan base about the quality of conference we’re in and what teams like Montana, Montana State and E. Washington have done (coincidentally, all 3 on the home schedule next year plus SDSU). The performances put up last week against Montana (a good team no matter their tough season) are a great starting point.

Keep the ideas coming, I watch this forum time to time and Jayson alerts me when ideas come up. For those of you who sent him ideas (from his twitter post), please know that he passed those along to me as well. I’ll try to jump in and provide info when I find time – and respond to any questions in this thread.

Thanks for reading, I look forward the exciting Hockey and Basketball season ahead and the continued growth of UND Football in particular. Let’s show the seniors off with a great crowd next Saturday!

PS - Help us break the all-time Women's Hockey attendance record Saturday against the top-ranked Gophers - 2pm puck drop, $1 tickets for all (students free)!

[watchmaker49]

the difference is that those games are a huge deal for students, for alumni, for all sorts of random people. We are not the University of Michigan. Students won't turn out for a day game, aside from homecoming. If having a late afternoon game is too big of a problem for you, then stop bitching.

Nor any other big school in the country. mg2009 you seem to get the picture that you can not create something that evolves, sorry Mr. Primus, on its own. Mr. Primus you can try all the little promotions that you can think of but it will not work. You can not make something that needs to have its own life.