2016 Attendance

[nodak651]

Any guesses for the home opener?  We drew 9,865 last yer for the opening game against Drake.  Pic shows the seats currently available for the South Dakota game.

[nodak651]

For comparison, this picture shows the seats available the Monday before the Idaho State game last year with attendance of 9,188.

[Siouxperfan7]

Really  not that much difference.  I say we get over 10,000.  But not by much.

[sprig]

http://www.undsports.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=211166413

One student at each home game will win a $5000 Bubba Bucks scholarship. They just have to be there for the drawing and announcement in the 4th quarter.

[jdub27]

17 minutes ago, sprig said:

http://www.undsports.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=211166413

One student at each home game will win a $5000 Bubba Bucks scholarship. They just have to be there for the drawing and announcement in the 4th quarter.

Before anyone gets ahead of themselves on this, as stated in the article, this promotion was paid for by private donations.

[UNDBIZ]

I still don't like it.

[nodak651]

2 minutes ago, UNDBIZ said:

I still don't like it.

Why not?  People want students to stay after halftime.  This helps.

[UNDBIZ]

29 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

Why not?  People want students to stay after halftime.  This helps.

Just feel like it cheapens the sport. I'm glad they got donations for it rather than giving out a tuition waiver, but I'd prefer those donations be used to help deserving students or improve the game for those who want to be there. If the eventual result is students learning to enjoy and stay for the entire game regardless of the scholarships (and we get rid of them), then I'll be able to accept the money was well invested.

[Dustin]

The biggest accolade the team can do for itself is to win this game with flashes of offense and stifling defense - keep a big crowd excited for the game, and then keep 'em excited for the season.  I unfortunately was planning to go, but got called in a different direction, but I should be able to watch on TV.  

[CMSioux]

Times have changed now students have to be bribed to support their team.

[geaux_sioux]

It's not just here, even Alabama has a problem with students leaving at halftime. Strange times we live in.

[UND-FB-FAN]

22 hours ago, Dustin said:

The biggest accolade the team can do for itself is to win this game with flashes of offense and stifling defense - keep a big crowd excited for the game, and then keep 'em excited for the season.  I unfortunately was planning to go, but got called in a different direction, but I should be able to watch on TV.  

Want to have great crowds the rest of the year? Win this thing going away.

UND stunk up the place last season in the home opener against Drake with a narrow victory that included no second half scoring. Add in the blowout the next week against NDSU and you get the downward spiral of attendance that progresses throughout the season.

UND needs to perform very well on Saturday to give the crowd a good reason to come back again and again in the subsequent weeks.

[UNDfaninMICH]

23 hours ago, geaux_sioux said:

It's not just here, even Alabama has a problem with students leaving at halftime. Strange times we live in.

It has been a topic at University of Michigan, too. I think Harbaugh injected some excitement, but at the games I've been to, the student section emptied surprisingly early. I'm sure there are generational reasons. I would guess one is that the typical 20 year old has grown up with entertainment immediately available, and even football may be "too slow" for them. Even for me, I much prefer to watch a game on DVR so I can zip through it. The only deterrent to that is having to work hard to avoid any spoilers in media or in communication with friends. 

[NoDakFan]

Been talking to some other students on campus, and theres still a lot of disinterest in going ot the football games. Even the sophomores think our team isnt good at all and don't want to go. Being a Senior, I've seen the team much worse before, but that's still the appearance of the team, like it or not. Best hope for high attendance is the Freshman. 

[siouxfan512]

41 minutes ago, NoDakFan said:

Been talking to some other students on campus, and theres still a lot of disinterest in going ot the football games. Even the sophomores think our team isnt good at all and don't want to go. Being a Senior, I've seen the team much worse before, but that's still the appearance of the team, like it or not. Best hope for high attendance is the Freshman. 

Kind of sad, unfortunately not everyone is an avid football fan. Only way to get the student attendance up is to win, and win consistently.

[Siouxperfan7]

3 minutes ago, siouxfan512 said:

Kind of sad, unfortunately not everyone is an avid football fan. Only way to get the student attendance up is to win, and win consistently.

That seems like the logical solution, but unfortunately that may not even work.  Look at student attendance at the Ralph the last couple years.  We have been a Frozen Four and National Championship team for the past 3 years and they took away an entire section of the students seats in the upper bowl!!  Winning should solve attendance issues, but it may be more than that. 

[UND1981]

On ‎9‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 5:16 PM, UNDBIZ said:

I still don't like it.

I was approached directly by Bubba and another rural business leader to jump on board with this promotion to increase student attendance at games.  Our company is one of the sponsors.  UNDBIZ thinks it's a bad idea, WOW!

[UND-FB-FAN]

1 hour ago, NoDakFan said:

Been talking to some other students on campus, and theres still a lot of disinterest in going ot the football games. Even the sophomores think our team isnt good at all and don't want to go. Being a Senior, I've seen the team much worse before, but that's still the appearance of the team, like it or not. Best hope for high attendance is the Freshman. 

I would guess NDSU's success produces a huge comparison issue for UND to put up with. 

People from here are familiar with both UND and NDSU, obviously, and relatively speaking, we all know which school's football team the average fan would label "good" and "bad". 

Its a tough pill to swallow for some of us longtime supporters, but it's reality. NDSU steals plenty of UND's potential momentum. Winning and this year's lack thereof (0-2) definitely contributes, but the pull factor and bandwagon-type situation with the school an hour to the south is a huge factor as well.

Want to see consistent sellouts? Hope for a bunch of UND wins and a bunch of NDSU losses. Obviously it makes the most sense to focus on what UND can control and that's its win and loss record. 

[siouxfan512]

44 minutes ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

That seems like the logical solution, but unfortunately that may not even work.  Look at student attendance at the Ralph the last couple years.  We have been a Frozen Four and National Championship team for the past 3 years and they took away an entire section of the students seats in the upper bowl!!  Winning should solve attendance issues, but it may be more than that. 

Wow, I didn't know they took away seats. What is wrong with kids these days. Though, back when I was in school, if we had upper bowl tickets, we would use them for the first period. Scout out open/unused reserved seats and try to sneak down.

[geaux_sioux]

1 minute ago, siouxfan512 said:

Wow, I didn't know they took away seats. What is wrong with kids these days. Though, back when I was in school, if we had upper bowl tickets, we would use them for the first period. Scout out open/unused reserved seats and try to sneak down.

Big ass tv, ice cold beers, comfy couch, HD broadcasts, good cell phone service, and not having to deal with venue officials keeping the student section dry. Still, for me, you can beat actually being there, ever.

[siouxfan512]

13 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Big ass tv, ice cold beers, comfy couch, HD broadcasts, good cell phone service, and not having to deal with venue officials keeping the student section dry. Still, for me, you can beat actually being there, ever.

Agreed, hockey at the Ralph is just a whole different experience. Absolutely loved all the nights I spent there back in college. I'm sure that is how a lot of Bison fans feel about their time at the Fargo Dome. I just hope eventually we can get back to packing the Alerus with students. It'll take time, effort and winning. I also go back to saying get an on campus stadium, but that is a whole other conversation.

[geaux_sioux]

Just now, siouxfan512 said:

Agreed, hockey at the Ralph is just a whole different experience. Absolutely loved all the nights I spent there back in college.

Same with football basketball and volleyball. There are too many sensory experiences at games that are strongly tied to good memories for TV to ever come close for me.

[siouxfan512]

15 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Big ass tv, ice cold beers, comfy couch, HD broadcasts, good cell phone service, and not having to deal with venue officials keeping the student section dry. Still, for me, you can beat actually being there, ever.

I get having to keep the student section dry, but it always seemed a little stupid too. No sipping a beer throughout the period; instead we'll make kids run out during period break, and chug a 32 oz beer 2-3 times per game. Much better in terms of keeping kid under control.

 

[siouxfan512]

2 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Same with football basketball and volleyball. There are too many sensory experiences at games that are strongly tied to good memories for TV to ever come close for me.

Agreed. Some of my favorite being UND beating NDSU in 03 (my freshman year), and beating North Alabama (same year) to go to the NCAA Championship game. Ended up going to that game in Florence, AL. Great experience, wish he could have beat Grand Valley though.

[Old School Guy]

In think geography has more to do with student attendance. Football is life down south. Up north? Not so much. There is very little student support at tailgate parties.