Student attendance not a problem just at Iowa...

[Billso]

It's a problem even in the SEC, and even at winning programs:

College Football: Declining Student Attendance Hits Georgia - WSJ.com

Note how aggressively they're going after it. I'd love to see the same from Iowa's AD. "We can't afford to lose a generation", for sure.

 

[Eda]

Agreed, Billso. I liked the quote about losing a generation.

I also like how they are going after the young alumnus. Getting a younger crowd in there could help livening the atmosphere.

I'd also like to see some of this to transfer to Iowa's brass.

 

[uihawk82]

First you have to lower the ticket prices because if you aint got the scratch you aint going.

Second give them a reduced priced brat/dog and drink. They have open seating which is already good but maybe the endzone seats are a liability .

The students want to party so think up some things they can do to have fun during the 2 minute long tv commercials.

They all tweet and text so have them do text voting on subjects and post the voting on the scoreboard (hottest coed contest) yeah

Give them chances to win some eats and drinks,.

Maybe have a place for those that need to sober up rather than taking them straight to jail.

 

[1hawkeye1]

First you have to lower the ticket prices because if you aint got the scratch you aint going.

Second give them a reduced priced brat/dog and drink. They have open seating which is already good but maybe the endzone seats are a liability .

The students want to party so think up some things they can do to have fun during the 2 minute long tv commercials.

They all tweet and text so have them do text voting on subjects and post the voting on the scoreboard (hottest coed contest) yeah

Give them chances to win some eats and drinks,.

Maybe have a place for those that need to sober up rather than taking them straight to jail.

These are good suggestions. Therefore, no one will adopt them.

 

[Billso]

If they just play "Old Time Rock and Roll" more often, the students will come.

 

[NCHawker]

A lot of young Alumni leave the state to find work in their field. Just sayin.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

I've been to Sanford Stadium several times for SEC games. The crowd at Georgia can be very subdued...surprisingly quiet at times. There is a different atmosphere compared to Kinnick...it's more high society at Georgia. I mean for Christ's sake the girls dress up for the football games...dresses and heels...I'm not complaining, but I never saw that at Iowa.

How can a student at the University of Iowa from the area or surrounding states not support the football program? Kids these days. I have to tell you things have come full circle with the student body. In the 60s the student morons felt they owed everybody something (volunteering, peace corp., etc). Today's student morons feel everybody owes them something just for being around. It's part of the college experience at Iowa...and it was a big one at that for me. I loved going to the games, partying my butt off, and trying to remember what happened after the 3rd quarter. It's been a right of passage for years. Someone needs to give these kids a swift kick in the ***.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

One of the reasons given; the cellular reception at the stadium is weak.

good god, we have completely stupi-fied an entire generation. (I know...this is but one piece of evidence)

And the HD TVs in the frat house are so good?

Real life has officially been replaced by digital and virtual representations there of.

We're done as a society.

 

[Doublewide]

One of the reasons given; the cellular reception at the stadium is weak.

good god, we have completely stupi-fied an entire generation. (I know...this is but one piece of evidence)

And the HD TVs in the frat house are so good?

Real life has officially been replaced by digital and virtual representations there of.

We're done as a society.

While I agree these are lame arse excuses it just the truth with the young idiots nowadays. Students at ISU bitc hed and moaned when they couldn't get good enough cell service to tweet during the games. GTFO idiots.... I don't get it and I am only in my early 30's.

 

[bhawk326]

I am surprised no one has mentioned a very obvious reason for this issue ... the university moved the student section in the early 2000s! I was an Iowa undergrad from 02 - 06. During my first three seasons (02, 03 and 04), the student section extended to the 25 yard line in the Northwest corner of Kinnick Stadium. My friends and I use to wait outside the Kinnick Stadium gates for hours (even overnight for ISU and Michigan games) so we could get great seats (first 3 rows - 15 to 18 of us) around the 20 yard line. I remember the student section was always packed and made so much noise during those years (of course the product on the field helped).

The 2005 season comes around and the university decides to move the student section to the southwest end zone so "the student can cheer on the team as they come out of the tunnel" (i.e. we can get some great donations for those sideline seats from donors). It was a huge let down for our group and we no longer arrived early to get seats that don't even stretch out of the end zone. Ever since then (I still go to a number of games with my father-in-law), I cannot remember a game (even the 2008 Greene Out Game) that the whole student section was packed.

As has been discussed many times on this forum, the environment inside Kinnick has gotten a bit stale. I remember a different atmosphere when the students were sitting right behind the Iowa bench (I even met a few active and returning players during my years at the 20 yard line). The students were raucous and the team appreciated our fervor. I know the university will never move the students back, but if having more students at the game is important to the top brass, they have to make an effort to improve the game day environment now that the student section occupies a less than desirable part of the stadium.

 

[hawkfan340]

Generation N always thinks Generation N+1 are idiots.

 

[INTIMIDATORHawk]

Unfortunately, money talks and bull$hit walks in Iowa City.

The students should get better seating and better ticket prices because they are students. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to be in college and cheer on your team.
Without them, what do we have? No school = no team.

Iowa's students are being jacked around by high ticket prices for crappy seats. Add in the fact that the product on the field hasn't exactly been very spectacular in recent years and it all makes perfect sense.

I don't blame them for not showing up.

 

[bhawk326]

Unfortunately, money talks and bull$hit walks in Iowa City.

The students should get better seating and better ticket prices because they are students. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to be in college and cheer on your team.
Without them, what do we have? No school = no team.

Iowa's students are being jacked around by high ticket prices for crappy seats. Add in the fact that the product on the field hasn't exactly been very spectacular in recent years and it all makes perfect sense.

I don't blame them for not showing up.

You are completely right on both sides. I remember season tickets my first season (2002) being $98 for 7 games ($14 a game) and second season (2003) being $105 for 7 games ($15 a game) for 20 yard line seats. I see student tickets (end zone) now cost $175 for 7 games ($25 a game).

Worse seats, poorer game day atmosphere, greater TV (production value and picture quality) = less students at the game

 

[trj]

As Billso and the article pointed out it is not just an iowa problem, imo it goes beyond just a generational gap. A lot of NFL teams are having attendance problems as well. The football product is so good on TV right now, people are choosing not to go to games. The NFL and college need to step their game up, if you are going to charge a gazillion dollars for tickets, then you better make the experience/atmosphere worth it.

 

[HawkeyeDenis]

Overall sports stadiums are becoming more of a hassle with high prices, unruly fans, parking chaos, money grubbing venues, small seats. Sports is a business. It's not about the fans that show up it's about TV contracts.
The biggest rivalry game in the B1G last weekend was Ohio State @ Michigan. And there were empty seats because it is on a holiday weekend. Outside of Kinnick there have been curbs on the fans, venues. Crackdowns by law enforcement, and according to some, the crackdowns are targeting the students. Administration overreaction to incidents. Loss of public parking access. Almost all (if not all) of the parking ramps at Kinnick require special passes. I am not a student but the last game I attended by myself(that I paid for) cost me nearly $125.00. Even at half that price there aren't many students that can afford to attend or want to go through the hassle of attending a game when you can watch it with friends without being hassled.

 

[MNHawkeyeFreak]

Even Alabama has trouble filling their student section. Their tickets went from $5 to $10/game so $70 for a season. That seems cheap to me. They have a great team. What's their excuse? When I went to Iowa in the 80's, student tickets weren't cheap. I remember $90/season so really there's not much change to now. $10/ game? Guess they must be spending all their money on their fancy phones and games?


Kids these days....

 

[TychoBrahe]

Even Alabama has trouble filling their student section. Their tickets went from $5 to $10/game so $70 for a season. That seems cheap to me. They have a great team. What's their excuse? When I went to Iowa in the 80's, student tickets weren't cheap. I remember $90/season so really there's not much change to now. $10/ game? Guess they must be spending all their money on their fancy phones and games?


Kids these days....

When I was at Iowa in grad school in the late 80's. I recall a ticket price of $8 a game. My last year there, my student seats were almost on the 40. Yes, you read that correctly: the 40 yd line.

The first change I would make is to move the student seats back to someplace decent in the stadium. I would not charge more than $15 a game, either, noting that almost half of the home games are usually against some non-conf patsy no one cares about. I would given them a coupon to get a discount soda and hot dog/brat. I would give crap away to students, like t-shirts, sweatshirts, meet-and-greet sessions, outdoor club upgrade tickets, and so on.

I'd do the same for young alumni just entering the work-force: discount tickets, special events, and so on. I'd have a separate alumni website (don't bother with a magazine) for them, too, aimed more at their age group, with special offers and junk on it.

These students and just-graduated students are future donors, possibly for generations. The U of I could certainly do more for them, couldn't they?

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Generation N always thinks Generation N+1 are idiots.

and sometimes they're right.

 

[CRHawk25]

and sometimes they're right.

As a 25 year old, I take offense to all of these people lumping everyone from a specific generation into one bucket. Yes, my generation likes to have information at our fingertips all the time. My biggest gripe lately when going to games at Kinnick (I attended 4 this year) is that I can't tweet and have a social interaction with others about the game. One of the reasons I love watching at home is to get trends, stats and player updates throughout the game. If I could get Twitter in Kinnick or any internet connection at all on my phone, I'd be able to stay informed on what is going on with players. Marc Morehouse, Pat Hardy, Rick Brown, ESPN, etc all do a great job of tweeting updates throughout the game on injuries, stats, if history is being made etc. If you've been to any games at Kinnick you'd know that there is only one section of the video boards that has stats throughout the game. There are scrolling stats, but they really aren't helpful on the new video boards. The announcer is as dry as mud, he needs to be replaced with someone that will get the crowd into the game. There are a whole slew of other issues that I see as well but those are for another post.

 

[MNHawkeyeFreak]

As a 25 year old, I take offense to all of these people lumping everyone from a specific generation into one bucket. Yes, my generation likes to have information at our fingertips all the time. My biggest gripe lately when going to games at Kinnick (I attended 4 this year) is that I can't tweet and have a social interaction with others about the game. One of the reasons I love watching at home is to get trends, stats and player updates throughout the game. If I could get Twitter in Kinnick or any internet connection at all on my phone, I'd be able to stay informed on what is going on with players. Marc Morehouse, Pat Hardy, Rick Brown, ESPN, etc all do a great job of tweeting updates throughout the game on injuries, stats, if history is being made etc. If you've been to any games at Kinnick you'd know that there is only one section of the video boards that has stats throughout the game. There are scrolling stats, but they really aren't helpful on the new video boards. The announcer is as dry as mud, he needs to be replaced with someone that will get the crowd into the game. There are a whole slew of other issues that I see as well but those are for another post.

You sir, are apparently not drunk enough at the games.