Disappointed in fans

The tailgating is cool now. Cops roll around shootin' the breeze with people. Unless they're acting like a-holes or flying drones.
 
Nebraska has lost 6 games and the stadium holds quite a bit more than Kinnick and its full every week. I agree with the original post its pathetic seeing empty seats when the team is on a once in a lifetime run. That being said its time the University show some love for everyone who supported the hawks through the past crap years and fill the stadium even if it means free tix.
 
deanvogs said:
Lets say you buy 2 season tickets at $350 a pop, and you donate $1000 a year to get better seats. Then you spend $700 a year to get a parking spot, and you spend money on beer and food, and you spend a whole day traveling to Iowa City and back for a game. All in you are talking upwards of $2500-$3000 investment to go watch Iowa play 7 home games. Just imagine how foolish you have to be to drive these people away from this. It wasn't about the W/L as much as it was about Sally Mason and her idiotic attitude toward the game day atmosphere in Iowa City. It isn't an accident that as soon as Sally announced she was leaving that the athletic department started taking drastic steps to improve it's relationship with the fans.

Now the problem is you have lost thousands and thousand of people who were willing to pay $3000 + a year to consume your product. What they found out is they could pay $200 to go to a single game in Kinnick if they weren't a season ticket holder. They also found out they can watch and cheer on the Hawks in their homes, their neighbor's homes, at the bar just as easy. They can get tons of stuff done before and after the game, while still cheering on the Hawks.

I wouldn't call anyone a bad fan if they don't go to the games. I would call it incompetency on an enormous scale to drive away your fan base by being tone deaf, and stupid. Good riddance Sally Mason. Why couldn't you just do your job and let the AD do his? Instead you have show your complete and utter disdain for athletics, and try to tear it down the best you could.....just utter incompetence really.
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You know there are side streets within walking distance where you can park for free??? $700 for parking that seems like someone buying premium space somewhere which is not needed. Also, end zone seats aren't bad and there is no premium. It can be done with a lot less money that what you state.
 
RushTogether said:
lol

You're the worst kind of fan.

So you only really care if we support them if they are good, got it.

I am betting after Iowa wins this weekend, it becomes a sell out. If you look on the Hawkeyes website, it's not like there are tens of thousands of tickets left....Maybe a few thousand, if that.

But hey, you keep scolding us for not going to games, when you have never even been to a game.
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there were 14,000 seats left just a few days ago, this game will struggle to get 60,000 people
 
RushTogether said:
lol

You're the worst kind of fan.

So you only really care if we support them if they are good, got it.

I am betting after Iowa wins this weekend, it becomes a sell out. If you look on the Hawkeyes website, it's not like there are tens of thousands of tickets left....Maybe a few thousand, if that.

But hey, you keep scolding us for not going to games, when you have never even been to a game.
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Your statements are blatantly ignorant. You know nothing of who I am or what kind of fan I am and you are wrong. I live far away, I would love to go to a game, and I don't understand why this particular game is not sold out. People on the radio said its not going to sell out. That scenario is disappointing, if it sells out, great I'll be less disappointed. If you live around IC and want to watch it on your 4k TV thats your decision.

As of Monday afternoon, there were 13,800 football tickets remaining for Iowa’s home finale Nov. 21 against Purdue.
 
4 years of below average football cannot be cured with one good season. String a couple decent seasons together and the stadium will be full again. Maybe not with season ticket holders, but average blue collar working fans wanting to bring their kids a couple times a year.
 
Drop a helicopter-full of those wonderful $10 food vouchers onto IC the night before the game and people will be lined up to buy tickets.
 
I only am able to go to a couple games a year, but I always try to go to Senior Day at Kinnick to cheer for those players. I will be there.
 
The problem started roughly around the same time the bars switched to 21 in Iowa City, I think it was 2009-2010. Instead of the police keeping the peace during tailgating, they started actively looking to get people in trouble. They realized writing PAULA tickets and Public Intox tickets can been a huge cash cow for the city, and of course Our Fearless Leader Mason was on board with anything that distanced Iowa from the party school reputation.

I have a friend who attended the Ole Miss/Alabama game last year. He said he saw two guys fighting, and the police came, took them each back to their tailgates, and told them to knock it off. In Iowa City, they would have been tazed and taken to jail.

The police state during tailgating is a major problem, that is slowly changing for the better, but we're nowhere near goal state. The next thing they need to address is what someone else mentioned. People who cancelled their season tickets are realizing the experience at home is better than the one at Kinnick. Play some up-to-date music. Play more night games. Get some more flash into Kinnick, something that makes the experience more memorable than it is right now, because honestly, it's bland. You hear the same songs played in the same order at every game!

Traditionalists are killing the experience. Not to say we need to change everything, but hearing some rap isn't going to kill Verne and Gertrude while they sit in their 50 yard line seats they've had for 30 years. But you know what, not staying up to date will kill any chance of Iowa gaining new fans! We already have nearly 50% of our students coming from IL, and with that, comes they typical Chicago Cubs fan attitude: "I'm here for the party, the game is just a reason to party." That needs to change. You need to get the students excited about the game experience, excited about THE GAME, not about the party.

Then, you can start filling those seats when those students graduate. This POV is coming from a 2012 graduate living in Des Moines who has attended 10+ games since graduation. I have been disappointed in experience from all of them except the Pitt game this year.
 
This all started in 2010. Iowa football was riding high, season tickets were a premium and there was a ton of momentum. The stars also aligned in 2010 with the home schedule: Iowa State, Wisconsin, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State all in Kinnick Stadium. They figured they could be real dicks to the fans and it wouldnt matter, they will show up anyway. What they didnt realize is Iowa isnt Ohio State, Iowa will have down periods and you have to absorb those and in those periods you need the fans. Well the fans said **** you. Now theyre still in the process of getting them back and it will not be easy. I still have my season tickets and enjoy going, but I can also see the other side where people say the hell with it, its not worth it. They shouldve just left it alone, it's 7 Saturdays out of an entire year. If it gets a little crazy then so be it, 7 days out of an entire year.
 
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Yes, it sucks to see the empty seats, but I think if you build it (the program), they will come.............And looks like we are building!

I just got tix to Purdue game, so will make at least one game this year.
 
Bring back the tailgating and you'll bring back the fans. People associate football with food, beer and friends. It's a simple solution. It remains to be seen if the leaders at Iowa have the education required to see what's simple.
 
Jonrn said:
4 years of below average football cannot be cured with one good season. String a couple decent seasons together and the stadium will be full again. Maybe not with season ticket holders, but average blue collar working fans wanting to bring their kids a couple times a year.
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Can it be cured with an amazing, unprecedented season that has never occurred in Iowa football history? Stay tuned!!!
 
The stadium has been almost filled. At the Maryland game there were some empty seating just in the upper S end zone more corners. Not bad.

It's just too expensive. I could pull it off and go when I was single, but that all changes once you have a family. Now I would feel guilty going alone so if take the wifey & our two boys (who luv f-ball), your looking at least $300 for one game. For my instance, the family changed everything. We go to 1-2 games a year. The economy has been down or volatile and raises have not been keeping up with inflation.

Another point is that if you have kids that are very active, when are usually their games/events? Unfortunately Saturday. Might not be exactly during the game, but before or after. Regardless, if you went to the game you couldn't pull the timing off.

So, for families, two deal breakers are the cost and family obligations for a Saturday. Times have changed.
 
bud2380 said:
The tailgating crackdown ended several seasons back. I believe it was 2010 after the Iowa state game that they finally relaxed the rules. It was really bad for awhile though. We had some cops get really ****** off at us because we had music playing. Like so mad I thought he was going to arrest someone. Those were dark days for tailgating in Iowa city. But then after much protest by fans they literally flipped a switch after isu in 2010 and tailgating has been great again ever since. Unfortunately by then many people were turned off and some haven't come back. If you want to make it to games for cheap, you can get a ticket for $30 or less for most games. I couldn't even give away a free ticket to Michigan in 2013. So if you don't care where you sit and you be a little patient you can get really cheap seats. I'll always be a season ticket holder regardless of our record though
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I haven't heard anybody talking about walking down Melrose with a big *** turkey leg for quite awhile.
 
shimps1 said:
The problem started roughly around the same time the bars switched to 21 in Iowa City, I think it was 2009-2010. Instead of the police keeping the peace during tailgating, they started actively looking to get people in trouble. They realized writing PAULA tickets and Public Intox tickets can been a huge cash cow for the city, and of course Our Fearless Leader Mason was on board with anything that distanced Iowa from the party school reputation.

I have a friend who attended the Ole Miss/Alabama game last year. He said he saw two guys fighting, and the police came, took them each back to their tailgates, and told them to knock it off. In Iowa City, they would have been tazed and taken to jail.

The police state during tailgating is a major problem, that is slowly changing for the better, but we're nowhere near goal state. The next thing they need to address is what someone else mentioned. People who cancelled their season tickets are realizing the experience at home is better than the one at Kinnick. Play some up-to-date music. Play more night games. Get some more flash into Kinnick, something that makes the experience more memorable than it is right now, because honestly, it's bland. You hear the same songs played in the same order at every game!

Traditionalists are killing the experience. Not to say we need to change everything, but hearing some rap isn't going to kill Verne and Gertrude while they sit in their 50 yard line seats they've had for 30 years. But you know what, not staying up to date will kill any chance of Iowa gaining new fans! We already have nearly 50% of our students coming from IL, and with that, comes they typical Chicago Cubs fan attitude: "I'm here for the party, the game is just a reason to party." That needs to change. You need to get the students excited about the game experience, excited about THE GAME, not about the party.

Then, you can start filling those seats when those students graduate. This POV is coming from a 2012 graduate living in Des Moines who has attended 10+ games since graduation. I have been disappointed in experience from all of them except the Pitt game this year.
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I agree with almost all of this, except the police and the cash cow ticket writing. They are just doing their jobs, but Mason pointed them in that direction. I went from four seats to two this year, and the thing that continues to annoy me, although it may seem minor is the bombardment of cheesy ads. You always got that at Cyclown stadium, but not Kinnick......not anymore. I think they toned it down a little this year, but not enough. And the announcer shilling ads drowning out the crowd and the music,.... enough, they continue to take the crowd out of the game. I am there for the game and the atmosphere, I already paid for it, if I want the other crap I'll stay home and watch it on TV.
 
I'm not disappointed in fans, they have every right not to go to games.

I am surprised that people don't want to experience one of the greatest Hawkeye seasons ever.
 
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