2019 Attendance

[nodak651]

10 minutes ago, CMSioux said:

Yikes - what they do for students now is incredible compared for the return they get. Free bus rides, free tailgating, free tickets, prize giveaways for attending (numerous sports), scholarship prizes - students got none of that a couple of decades ago and were much more a part of the game atmosphere (of course there were no smart phones to bury our noses in at every break in the games back then).  

Well, it's not free.

[CMSioux]

23 minutes ago, CMSioux said:

Yikes - what they do for students now is incredible compared for the return they get. Free bus rides, free tailgating, free tickets, prize giveaways for attending (numerous sports), scholarship prizes - students got none of that a couple of decades ago and were much more a part of the game atmosphere (of course there were no smart phones to bury our noses in at every break in the games back then).  

Do students pay for all sports tickets or just hockey? 

[UNDBIZ]

33 minutes ago, CMSioux said:

Yikes - what they do for students now is incredible compared for the return they get. Free bus rides, free tailgating, free tickets, prize giveaways for attending (numerous sports), scholarship prizes - students got none of that a couple of decades ago and were much more a part of the game atmosphere (of course there were no smart phones to bury our noses in at every break in the games back then).  

If I remember correctly, they about doubled the activity fee with the move to D1.

9 minutes ago, CMSioux said:

Do students pay for all sports tickets or just hockey? 

Student fees go towards all sports, but they only have to pay extra for hockey tickets. 

[jdub27]

1 hour ago, Kab said:

I sent Chaves an email about moving the students and he answered they have never considered moving the students because of all the support the students give to the university.

I also asked him why the men’s basketball schedule hasn’t been posted and he said they are waiting for one contract to be signed and that it would be better next year.

i guess more people need to email him about football seating arrangements.

You mean you emailed him with questions, concerns and comments and he responded with some answers??

 

[Kab]

14 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

You mean you emailed him with questions, concerns and comments and he responded with some answers??

 

Yes he did, only took a few days but he did respond and was friendly 

[UND-FB-FAN]

1 hour ago, Kab said:

I sent Chaves an email about moving the students and he answered they have never considered moving the students because of all the support the students give to the university.

I also asked him why the men’s basketball schedule hasn’t been posted and he said they are waiting for one contract to be signed and that it would be better next year.

i guess more people need to email him about football seating arrangements.

Ill contact him regarding seating. Obviously the students support UND football but not well enough to stick around the entire game. For the past decade plus, the student section is 75% empty come the 3rd quarter. It is an awful waste of great seating that season ticket holders would love to sit in from start to finish.

Not to mention the minor detail that the broadcast cameras face those seats! You think prospective student athletes want to play in a place where it looks dead empty on tv......

Move the students down a few sections. This is the Orientation in nearly every division I football venue! 

[JohnboyND7]

2 hours ago, Kab said:

Yes he did, only took a few days but he did respond and was friendly 

When I was in school I contacted Gene Taylor a couple times and he got back to me both times within a day. These guys are small D1 AD's. Not P5. Cant imagine they are being all that swamped.

[Sioux>Bison]

6 hours ago, CMSioux said:

Do students pay for all sports tickets or just hockey? 

Student fees are ridiculously high partially to fund athletics. I do see an issue with moving them unless the stadium is full except for the student section. Hopefully the students would attend regardless of where the student section is.

[jdub27]

7 hours ago, Sioux>Bison said:

Student fees are ridiculously high partially to fund athletics. I do see an issue with moving them unless the stadium is full except for the student section. Hopefully the students would attend regardless of where the student section is.

While I'd agree they are high, they are actually fairly low comparatively speaking in the landscape of sub-P5 schools. That being said, I wish that they would be even lower, though the students at the time did vote to help fund the athletics move.

[Siouxphan27]

9 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

While I'd agree they are high, they are actually fairly low comparatively speaking in the landscape of sub-P5 schools. That being said, I wish that they would be even lower, though the students at the time did vote to help fund the athletics move.

Thank you-  I was just going to ask about how UND compares to others in regard to student fees.  

 If UND student fees are similar to surrounding schools who already put kids football seats near the Endzone,  then that argument about fees doesn’t hold water and it’s time to make the seating switch. 

[jdub27]

45 minutes ago, Siouxphan27 said:

Thank you-  I was just going to ask about how UND compares to others in regard to student fees.  

 If UND student fees are similar to surrounding schools who already put kids football seats near the Endzone,  then that argument about fees doesn’t hold water and it’s time to make the seating switch. 

This doesn't count all school/state funds (which is a separate shell game), only direct, allocated student fees, shown as a percentage of total athletic "revenues":
UND - 12.6%
NDSU - 5.3%
SDSU - 10.4%
USD - 15.3%

NDSU has been pushing for a few years to increase their student fees and keep getting shot down by the student government. The last time was due to incredibly poor planning by the athletic department during their presentation, assuming they were going to get a rubber stamp. It ended with the students actually giving up some seats and reducing fees slightly, which made sense for both parties, students had few seats, which they weren't using all of most game anyway and the athletic department got more seats to sell and the money they were looking for in the first place. The athletic department can now also sell unused student tickets the few days before game day.

[UNDBIZ]

9 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

This doesn't count all school/state funds (which is a separate shell game), only direct, allocated student fees:
UND - 12.6%
NDSU - 5.3%
SDSU - 10.4%
USD - 15.3%

NDSU has been pushing for a few years to increase their student fees and keep getting shot down by the student government. The last time was due to incredibly poor planning by the athletic department during their presentation, assuming they were going to get a rubber stamp. It ended with the students actually giving up some seats and reducing fees slightly, which made sense for both parties, students had few seats, which they weren't using all of most game anyway and the athletic department got more seats to sell and the money they were looking for in the first place. The athletic department can now also sell unused student tickets the few days before game day.

What are those percentages of?  12.6% of what?

[jdub27]

26 minutes ago, UNDBIZ said:

What are those percentages of?  12.6% of what?

Total athletic "revenues"

[UNDBIZ]

8 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

Total athletic "revenues"

Got it.  Thanks.

[Kab]

Would like a student section that gets involved in the game

the only thing I see is students on the cell phones and they do get up and pound on the seats for 3rd downs’

get the cheer teams over their and get the students up and cheering, have a couch of the quarter and let them sit down on the end zone field level

do something different but they do need to move them

[forksandspoons]

The Hawks need to win tomorrow and next weekend, which is homecoming, should have a pretty good environment against a really good team. 

[lets eat]

14 hours ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Ill contact him regarding seating. Obviously the students support UND football but not well enough to stick around the entire game. For the past decade plus, the student section is 75% empty come the 3rd quarter. It is an awful waste of great seating that season ticket holders would love to sit in from start to finish.

Not to mention the minor detail that the broadcast cameras face those seats! You think prospective student athletes want to play in a place where it looks dead empty on tv......

Move the students down a few sections. This is the Orientation in nearly every division I football venue! 

you go girl

[Siouxperfan7]

16 hours ago, Kab said:

I sent Chaves an email about moving the students and he answered they have never considered moving the students because of all the support the students give to the university.

I also asked him why the men’s basketball schedule hasn’t been posted and he said they are waiting for one contract to be signed and that it would be better next year.

i guess more people need to email him about football seating arrangements.

I think the Chaves/Alerus/etc need to give the students 2 more years to show their support for the program to show that they are deserving of the midfield seats.  It's not like it any secret that those sections are far from full, even at the beginning of games.  I am sure its not the first time Chaves or the Atheltic Department have been emailed about the student support (or lack there of) at football games.  As we all are aware, student support around the country is down.  So they need to decide if the financial benefit to moving the students and opening those seats up to season ticket holders outweighs any negative results for moving the students to the corner. 

I think the Athletic Department should really monitor the situation the next two seasons.  Given that we are moving to the MVFC, that should increase interest in our fanbase bringing familiar foes back.  for the students, it doesn't mean the same as most of us because we remember playing the Dakota schools year after year.  they don't.  But I don't think it will take too long for students to get hyped playing other Dakota school rivals, especially NDSU.  I think the Athletic Department needs to put the students on notice before next season letting them know that while everyone wants the students to be at the games and to fill those sections, failure to do so may result in losing the prime seats at midfield.  That way, if they end up moving the student section to the corners, they should not have much excuse to complain as UND will have the numbers and pictures from the game to show the support they are or aren't showing in regards to their attendance at games.

[UNDBIZ]

I would support moving the band to the midfield section immediately.

[Hammersmith]

3 hours ago, Siouxphan27 said:

Thank you-  I was just going to ask about how UND compares to others in regard to student fees.  

 If UND student fees are similar to surrounding schools who already put kids football seats near the Endzone,  then that argument about fees doesn’t hold water and it’s time to make the seating switch. 

Here's a little wider group of regional schools(ND/SD/MT/IA/NE). The first set are sorted by student fee dollar amount, the second set by percentage of athletic dept revenue, the third set is student fees per year per full-time undergrad student(also per year per FTE for ND schools). All data sets are from the 2017-18 academic year. 

• $3.6M UND
• $3.0M USD
• $2.3M SDSU
• $2.2M UNO
• $2.0M MSU
• $2.0M UNI
• $1.5M NDSU
• $1.2M UM

• 15.3% USD
• 12.6% UND
• 10.5% UNO
• 10.4% SDSU
• 9.8%  UNI
• 9.0%  MSU
• 5.4%  UM
• 5.3%  NDSU

• $606 USD
• $425 UND ($312 by FTE)
• $273 SDSU
• $224 UNO
• $219 UNI
• $163 MSU
• $161 UM
• $139 NDSU ($122 by FTE)

Sources: USA Today NCAA Finances Report, US Dept of Ed: Equity in Athletics, NDUS Enrollment Report 

[UND-FB-FAN]

3 hours ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

I think the Chaves/Alerus/etc need to give the students 2 more years to show their support for the program to show that they are deserving of the midfield seats.  It's not like it any secret that those sections are far from full, even at the beginning of games.  I am sure its not the first time Chaves or the Atheltic Department have been emailed about the student support (or lack there of) at football games.  As we all are aware, student support around the country is down.  So they need to decide if the financial benefit to moving the students and opening those seats up to season ticket holders outweighs any negative results for moving the students to the corner. 

I think the Athletic Department should really monitor the situation the next two seasons.  Given that we are moving to the MVFC, that should increase interest in our fanbase bringing familiar foes back.  for the students, it doesn't mean the same as most of us because we remember playing the Dakota schools year after year.  they don't.  But I don't think it will take too long for students to get hyped playing other Dakota school rivals, especially NDSU.  I think the Athletic Department needs to put the students on notice before next season letting them know that while everyone wants the students to be at the games and to fill those sections, failure to do so may result in losing the prime seats at midfield.  That way, if they end up moving the student section to the corners, they should not have much excuse to complain as UND will have the numbers and pictures from the game to show the support they are or aren't showing in regards to their attendance at games.

Nothing will change in the next 2 years, I’m afraid. I heavily caution against complacency, because UND athletics and specifically UND football has been all too conservative lately and look where it has got them ...

Why does UND think they are too special (or simply the exception) when it comes to the seating orientation compared to nearly every other DI football venue? Students don’t get 50 yard line seating nearly anywhere else, ESPECIALLY when the student section is consistently empty in the second half of games year after year. 

[iramurphy]

I believe there is an assumption that if the students are moved that the seats between the 30’s would be gobbled up. There are an awful lot of seats on the home side 50 that remain empty virtually every game. I assume they are purchased by Champions Club patrons who occasionally use them. When I don’t use my Tix I either give them away or self them through UND website account. If we develop pressure from the public for better seats I would move the students. Usually when that happens, the team is playing better and even the students are more likely to stay longer. Right now I wouldn’t bet on those seats filling by additional season ticket holders. For the time being I think we are better off leaving the students there. When it’s time to move them, I would do it gradually.  One section at a time. 

[Longtime fan]

I mentioned this in years past by I would like the students to move as has been stated here.  Those students seats than become general seating seating ...not designated.  Just like memorial.  I know too many folk that tailgate that do not attend games because they are separated.  The catwalks are not for everyone.  I would like to think that alone would bring more interest if they can remain grouped up.  

[Kab]

There are ways to do this

even if the students were spread out in the bottom section to the end zone instead of going up and then selling the upper level with sold tickets 

it does look bad on tv 

just don’t be afraid to try things ‘I’m bringing  3 extra to the game next weekend, I challenge all season ticket holders to do the same 

[UND-FB-FAN]

On 9/28/2019 at 9:28 AM, iramurphy said:

I believe there is an assumption that if the students are moved that the seats between the 30’s would be gobbled up. There are an awful lot of seats on the home side 50 that remain empty virtually every game. I assume they are purchased by Champions Club patrons who occasionally use them. When I don’t use my Tix I either give them away or self them through UND website account. If we develop pressure from the public for better seats I would move the students. Usually when that happens, the team is playing better and even the students are more likely to stay longer. Right now I wouldn’t bet on those seats filling by additional season ticket holders. For the time being I think we are better off leaving the students there. When it’s time to move them, I would do it gradually.  One section at a time. 

You are mistaken. Sure, the 40-40 yard line Champions Club sections occasionally have a few empty seats, but it is by far the most filled up section in the entire building. 

The student attendance is simply too poor, particularly in the second half, to even consider that Champions Club seating would be inferior in terms of attendance. At the worst, it would be a parallel move, but moving the students would most likely drastically improve the distribution of attendance to the midfield seats - and rightfully so. 

UND football is in no way, shape, or form in a position where maintaining the status quo should be viewed as insightful. Moving the students is only one of many changes that the football program needs to undergo.