I have been going to the Iowa/ISU game since I was 5 in both Kinnick and Jack Trice and have only missed one in 25 years. I also go to every ISU home game and at least 2 Iowa home games. BOTH SCHOOLS raise ticket prices for the Iowa/ISU game depending on who the home team is.
PAC12 OOC games and drop ISU...thoughts
- Thread starter uihawk82
- Start date
trj
Well-Known Member
link? Proof, other than your word.
Its a proven fact, Iowa fans get a little chubby and tickle in their throats when talking about how they think they help Iowa State. The thing they forget, Pollard spins circles around Barta.
Hawkfromnorwalk
Well-Known Member
ISU was bottom of the barrel when Jamie took over. Any improvement achieved is going to make him look good.
NorthFlorida
Active Member
Keep the game....don't want nothin to do with the Hawks having to travel west.
Hawkfromnorwalk
Well-Known Member
With the Pac-12/B1G agreement I don't think Iowa has a choice in the matter.
Here is what we are paying this season per ticket
Single-game tickets: $55 for game against Central Michigan; $60 for game against Northern Iowa; $65 for games against Minnesota, Penn State and Purdue; $70 for Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series game against Iowa State and the 2012 Hy-Vee Heroes Game against Nebraska
BUT BUT...
ICHawk24
Well-Known Member
ISU grossly inflates the ticket price for the Iowa game. Iowa prices ISU, along with other big games, slightly higher on their schedule.
The ISU game is a guaranteed sellout for Iowa, but most games are. When ISU hosts Iowa, they get a guaranteed sellout that is unlike most of their other games.
Under the previous terms of the series, when the teams would pay the visiting team a small amount (under $500k), ISU would receive more from Iowa than Iowa received when they played at ISU.
So I guess you can claim ISU "benefits more", and it would be true. But that isn't the comparison. The accurate comparison for Iowa is comparing the ISU game to any other possible OOC matchup they can schedule. They make more money off the ISU series than they could from two LA Tech payout games. They make more money off ISU that any other BCS game they schedule (Pitt, Arizona, etc.). Why? A road trip to ISU is very cheap when compared to anyone else. And ISU is a guaranteed sellout that can charge a slight premium while Pitt/Arizona are a likely sellout with either no premium or a slight premium.
And the game is fun for the state.
The ISU game is a guaranteed sellout for Iowa, but most games are. When ISU hosts Iowa, they get a guaranteed sellout that is unlike most of their other games.
Under the previous terms of the series, when the teams would pay the visiting team a small amount (under $500k), ISU would receive more from Iowa than Iowa received when they played at ISU.
So I guess you can claim ISU "benefits more", and it would be true. But that isn't the comparison. The accurate comparison for Iowa is comparing the ISU game to any other possible OOC matchup they can schedule. They make more money off the ISU series than they could from two LA Tech payout games. They make more money off ISU that any other BCS game they schedule (Pitt, Arizona, etc.). Why? A road trip to ISU is very cheap when compared to anyone else. And ISU is a guaranteed sellout that can charge a slight premium while Pitt/Arizona are a likely sellout with either no premium or a slight premium.
And the game is fun for the state.
trj
Well-Known Member
ISU was bottom of the barrel when Jamie took over. Any improvement achieved is going to make him look good.
Agreed.....following Van de Velde it would not have taken much.
Just like when Nebraska was in the Big 12, the most expensive games at Jack Trice were Iowa and Nebraska. Iowa has done the same thing for the ISU and Nebraska games. And the ISU game has always been more than big games for Iowa.
ICHawk24
Well-Known Member
Are you disagreeing with something I said? Or agreeing?
Section136
Well-Known Member
Laughable. Take a look at the projects Barta has raised funds for since he has been here and rethink your statement. You are an idiot.
No, we don't.
I do think in a way it's honestly hurting more than it's helping.
While I think there is a portion of the fanbase that is obsessed with Iowa and certainly does circle the game, IMO the bigger problem is the casual fans. I think ISU has a great core of absolute diehards. I think there are about 30k-35k diehard fans that will purchase tickets and attend games even if we went 2-10 the next 5 years. I think there are about 20k more people who will buy tickets and attend as long as we don't suck balls.
There are more people than that in the area that are interested in the Clones and would love to see a game, but absolutely will not care if they think we won't be good.
Here is where the Iowa game is a problem IMO. There are years like last year, where we get a nice bump because of the Iowa game win. We won a very exciting game against an Iowa team a lot of people thought would be pretty good. It's a game that even the most casual of observers was watching. I think it has a positive effect on attendance and fan excitement through the rest of the season as a result, although I've never really checked the stats.
However, if we get our butt kicked, I think that's a cue for the casual fans to tune out. We got beat by Iowa, we obviously aren't on a competitive level with them, so we probably won't be good this year, wake me when next season starts.
IMO the positive feelings have a much better chance to exist consistently if we play 3 cupcakes all at home before conference play. The fans get to see their team play, there is positive media coverage/word of mouth, and everybody is happy with their team.
The best era in ISU football was the 70s, when we won at a high level within the conference, and went to bowls when it actually meant something. That also coincided with not playing Iowa.
I don't think not playing Iowa will automatically return to that, but I think the chance is better and I don't know why ISU fans are afraid of that possibility. As much as the 6 wins to a bowl thing is borderline embarrassing, I'd like to see a 4 year period where we hit that mark every year and have all the players experience that those extra 15 practices going into the bowl games every year. I want to see what kind of effect that can have on our program.
That said I'm a dual fan (although I obviously swing way more to the ISU side) and the game honestly isn't that much fun for me. I enjoy to win, I enjoy well played games when they happen, but I hate the office smack talk and the fact somebody has to lose.
Edit: holy crap this is long.
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trj
Well-Known Member
ISUer this is the argument you make........This is correct.
I agree and disagree. Iowa's most expensive ticket (outside of scalping) is almost always the ISU game and I see they have done what ISU did with the Nebraska game, increase the prices.
I think both are good AD's. Pollard has literally doubled the athletic budget in the 7 years he's been the AD at ISU. He has drug us out of the stone age (grudgingly at times) and has done a phenominal job. Honestly I don't know the business but I doubt anybody could have done better.
Now, he did hire Greg McD, so he'll always have that hanging over his head.
ICHawk24
Well-Known Member
Iowa categorizes ISU in their premium level, but ISU grossly increases the Iowa game. It "feels" wrong to Iowa fans, even though the series is a financial win for Iowa. I bet Barta and co. like having this game on the schedule.
I will take that a step further and say the ISU game, if it is at Kinnick, is usually the most expensive ticket of the year (minus this season with Nebraska). I have been to a lot of games at Kinnick and paid a lot of money in tickets outside of just the Iowa State games and the ISU is always the most expensive buy, just like the Iowa game is in Ames.
Section136
Well-Known Member
I never said Pollard is doing a poor job. ISUer's statement that Pollard is running circles around Barta is the laughable part. Pretty much like everything else that he types.
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I'm fine either way. I think it would be good to not play them every year however. Twice every 4 years, then the 2 years we play a different BCS team. When we don't play ISU we play UNI 1 of the years. That way the emotional aspect of Instate games are at most once per year.
