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Originally posted by Matt Burglund View Post
I've lost count of how many people over the years, who when I ask them if they're coming to the football game on Saturday, say something like, "I'll see what the weatherman says."
Perhaps you could argue The Lou Tepper era saw some fall off the wagon. Curt, while successful, wasn't exactly Mr. Personality toward the fan base.
The basketball program has shown you can get a rowdy and electric atmosphere at IUP. Why that doesn't translate to football is just strange.
My yearly wish list for football (to improve the atmosphere): would be:
* Relocate the band (what's left of it) immediately. It is too far removed down behind the end zone. Move it back to where it used to be. Combine the fact that they are in Siberia along with the awful music they've played the past several years ... and the band is absolutely a non-factor.
* $45 per tailgate spot is essentially a criminal act ... that should be $10 max.
* The mass halftime departure has to get fixed. Having 70 percent of the home side leave at halftime -- and, not come back -- is not only an embarrassment but also a slap in the face to the players. Not that any of those who leave come back, but make re-entry prohibited. If possible, sell over-priced beer inside the stadium just like the KCAC does. Just like basketball games, the people who buy the beer can afford it.
* I've been a proponent for years of making the first 8-10 rows of the home side -- the whole width of it -- general admission. Get the few students who attend behind the bench -- not down inside the 10-yard line. The middle section on the home side, per capita, is very old -- and, they don't cheer at all. The team feeds off the crowd, which could explain the play inside Miller the past several years. IUP has won a lot of ugly, boring games in there.
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Two items from a prior post -
"This idea you have to market the game to students seems odd to me."
Forget the students - how about marketing to areas within a 30- 40 minute radius of IUP? I know too many alumnI that live with 80 minutes of campus and have never been back to campus or to a game..
"The atmosphere is better. The music is better. The in-game entertainment is better (dance teams, etc.). The food inside the KCAC is vastly better than Miller Stadium. The arena seating is extremely close to the floor."
All true but there is no reason much of that can't be done at Miller also. Think event and many things come to mind that are inexpensive to do, but they have to be promoted aggressively, which given the lethargy at IUP probably is totally wishful thinking.
The disaster we call a press box is an embarrassment. Fix it, do some serious panting around the stadium, get rid of the rusty fence near the fieldhouse and generally spruce up the surroundings would make for an environment that at least is not akin to what the old stadium of the Baltimore Colts use to be called, - the pig lot.
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Originally posted by IUPbigINDIANS View Post
Joe leads the basketball attendance every year and it's not even close. In fact, even in the 'funeral season' which is the horrendously long 7-8 week XMAS break, IUP still draws better during this time than the other schools average with students on campus.
Like I said above, the two 'events' are very different. The KCAC is lively. It's a state of the art arena. It sells (vastly) overpriced beer and wine inside. IUP has won the past (3) PSAC men's titles. And, Joe's never playing games at 12 p.m.
Now, keep in mind, basketball draws a much, much younger crowd than football does at IUP. While there is a lot of overlap, basketball has its own extremely loyal following.
The atmosphere is better. The music is better. The in-game entertainment is better (dance teams, etc.). The food inside the KCAC is vastly better than Miller Stadium. The arena seating is extremely close to the floor.
I take a lot of first-timers to IUP games. They are amazed after their first basketball experience. Football not so much. Obviously both teams are good. One feels like an event/experience. One does not.
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Probably because they haven't had a streak of winning years to sustain. Just when they have momentum the program turns over. The only mid-atlantic or northeast FBS school that draws well for both football and basketball is Maryland - VA and VT are culturally more southern than UM.
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Originally posted by IUPbigINDIANS View Post
Joe leads the basketball attendance every year and it's not even close. In fact, even in the 'funeral season' which is the horrendously long 7-8 week XMAS break, IUP still draws better during this time than the other schools average with students on campus.
Like I said above, the two 'events' are very different. The KCAC is lively. It's a state of the art arena. It sells (vastly) overpriced beer and wine inside. IUP has won the past (3) PSAC men's titles. And, Joe's never playing games at 12 p.m.
Now, keep in mind, basketball draws a much, much younger crowd than football does at IUP. While there is a lot of overlap, basketball has its own extremely loyal following.
The atmosphere is better. The music is better. The in-game entertainment is better (dance teams, etc.). The food inside the KCAC is vastly better than Miller Stadium. The arena seating is extremely close to the floor.
I take a lot of first-timers to IUP games. They are amazed after their first basketball experience. Football not so much. Obviously both teams are good. One feels like an event/experience. One does not.
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Originally posted by GregD View PostIf SRU did implant the chip you often cite, it is programmed correctly. SRU's game promotion is successful. IUP's efforts at promotion are pathetic and mostly non-existent, which is truly sad since it has a solid marketing group as part of the Ebery business school.
You have to make gameday an event, not merely an entry on a calendar. The sad part is that doing this does not take huge effort.
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Joe leads the basketball attendance every year and it's not even close. In fact, even in the 'funeral season' which is the horrendously long 7-8 week XMAS break, IUP still draws better during this time than the other schools average with students on campus.
Like I said above, the two 'events' are very different. The KCAC is lively. It's a state of the art arena. It sells (vastly) overpriced beer and wine inside. IUP has won the past (3) PSAC men's titles. And, Joe's never playing games at 12 p.m.
Now, keep in mind, basketball draws a much, much younger crowd than football does at IUP. While there is a lot of overlap, basketball has its own extremely loyal following.
The atmosphere is better. The music is better. The in-game entertainment is better (dance teams, etc.). The food inside the KCAC is vastly better than Miller Stadium. The arena seating is extremely close to the floor.
I take a lot of first-timers to IUP games. They are amazed after their first basketball experience. Football not so much. Obviously both teams are good. One feels like an event/experience. One does not.
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Originally posted by GregD View PostIf SRU did implant the chip you often cite, it is programmed correctly. SRU's game promotion is successful. IUP's efforts at promotion are pathetic and mostly non-existent, which is truly sad since it has a solid marketing group as part of the Ebery business school.
You have to make gameday an event, not merely an entry on a calendar. The sad part is that doing this does not take huge effort.Last edited by IUPNation; 06-28-2022, 08:39 AM.
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Originally posted by GregD View PostIf SRU did implant the chip you often cite, it is programmed correctly. SRU's game promotion is successful. IUP's efforts at promotion are pathetic and mostly non-existent, which is truly sad since it has a solid marketing group as part of the Ebery business school.
You have to make gameday an event, not merely an entry on a calendar. The sad part is that doing this does not take huge effort.
The $10/spot at SRU tailgates means students can pile in a car and split it up. The $45/spot at IUP means they laugh and say forget it.
The two atmospheres couldn't be any different. You are certainly correct. Fan-wise, it is an event at SRU. It's just another day/game at IUP.
Oddly, it's the total opposite in basketball. SRU treats basketball like an unwanted stepchild -- and they draw terribly aside from IUP's yearly visit. IUP's basketball games are big events -- and, feel like big events. Nothing at Miller Stadium feels like a big event.
IUP's football 'announced' gates last season were actually pretty good (on paper). That said, several of those were highly suspicious.
The other killer at Miller Stadium is the tailgaters all leave at halftime. Very few come back inside. In the debacle of that California game last year, the home side was empty after halftime. The band left for DuBois at halftime. That is still just a LOL moment if I've ever seen one. Cal's fans, travelling cheerleaders (what a thought) and travelling band (what a thought) completely took over that stadium in the second half. And, of course, the Vulcans fed off it.
IUP's best crowd of the year was actually up at Slippery Rock. It was loud and engaged, and all clumped together. Give me those 500-600 any day at Miller, sitting together, over those phony, announced 5,500 crowds inside the Funeral Home/Crypt.
The culture surrounding home football games at IUP is just so odd.
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If SRU did implant the chip you often cite, it is programmed correctly. SRU's game promotion is successful. IUP's efforts at promotion are pathetic and mostly non-existent, which is truly sad since it has a solid marketing group as part of the Ebery business school.
You have to make gameday an event, not merely an entry on a calendar. The sad part is that doing this does not take huge effort.
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Originally posted by Fightingscot82 View PostI think SRU does it right. When the weather is nice, they do as many late games as possible. This gets students & community there (most are in conjunction with other big events). This year the first three home games are 6pm (Village Fest), 6pm (Hall of Fame), and 2pm (Homecoming). Every remaining home game is 1pm.
SRU also has a thriving tailgate culture. $10 per car space, $25 per bus/RV space. The policy is pretty strong. It makes money for the school. Gets people there. https://rockathletics.com/sports/201...901113043.aspx
Football attendance is a university priority.
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I think SRU does it right. When the weather is nice, they do as many late games as possible. This gets students & community there (most are in conjunction with other big events). This year the first three home games are 6pm (Village Fest), 6pm (Hall of Fame), and 2pm (Homecoming). Every remaining home game is 1pm.
SRU also has a thriving tailgate culture. $10 per car space, $25 per bus/RV space. The policy is pretty strong. It makes money for the school. Gets people there. https://rockathletics.com/sports/201...901113043.aspx
Football attendance is a university priority.
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Originally posted by ShoNuff View Post
So how you think this will affect attendance?
As Nation said the Early Bird Special crowd won't like that 'late' 2pm kick but it will be well received by everybody else.
Would have loved one night game but that's a broken record at this point.
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