Football Ticket Information
- Thread starter cats1967
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Yes, that was the longest message I’ve posted in many years.
I concede that the future is exceptionally difficult to forecast at the moment, with so much in flux regarding player compensation. I think NU has retained a lot more talent than it has lost over the past few seasons, though (save for the post scandal decommits.)
If things get too far out of whack with NIL, most of our conference peers will be in the same boat as us. That’s when I could see a superconference forming and NU being ‘relegated.’
What I think we would be relegated to is the 1980s Big Ten, sans OSU and Michigan, with the additions of (sigh) Rutgers and maybe Pitt, assuming PSU departs with the big boys. I don’t think that sounds bad, at all. In fact, it sounds a lot better than playing UCLA with any regularity.
Either way, I don’t think gloom is called for.
I completely agree with you CSC in terms of a winning product and your concerns about admissions, transfers and NIL. Even with those disadvantages, I envision that the Cats will be able to sustain a team that competes in most seasons because they'll benefit from smarter student-athletes who can be coached.
Regarding the price of tickets and attendance, I strongly disagree. Northwestern doesn't have a large enough, local alumni network to drive sales and there is limited regional or state allegiance. I love the "Chicago's B1G 10 Team" campaign, but I haven't seen inroads to capturing the unaffiliated Chicago audience. Instead, like Stanford, Duke and Vanderbilt, we're a national -- and increasingly international -- university with a student body and alumni with only limited interest in sports.
Welsh-Ryan is a much smaller venue that has drawn students with a winning product, but most non-conference games are pretty empty. At it's best, I doubt that the student attendees surpass 1,500 at marquee games. I don't think football can draw many more, except for the "running of the freshmen" game, where they stick around for the first half only.
I wholly (and gleefully) agree!
That scenario would be great and, I believe, is plausible after the NFL takeover. No Rutgers, tho, as it will affiliate with the nearby Jets or Giants. Pitt with the Steelers. But Purdue, MSU, Iowa, Nebraska and other non-affiliates would make a fine conference committed to student-athletics versus cash generation and distribution.
Part of me thinks the purple powers-that-be are steering things in that direction with a smaller stadium, conceding NU won’t draw crowds of 50k in the future with no big boys to play.
Well, we’re getting closer together.
I suspect that revenue generation potential would determine superconference membership, rather than proximity to an NFL franchise. (So Nebraska would be in, and Rutgers would be out.)
You allowed me to picture Rutgers in a superconference, though, which was a highly amusing thought. They would have to change their mascot to the Scarlet Cannon Fodder.
Your vision is closer to what I proposed a few years ago on the rant board, namely that the NFL should create a developmental league with each team affiliated with a small number of local schools, not just one.
2/3 of each team’s roster would be required to be comprised of students in good standing at their schools, and the remainder of the roster would allow players with academic struggles to still play high level football. Regular (non athlete) students at the affiliated schools would get free/discounted tickets to the games. The players enrolled at affiliated universities would also be allowed to take the fall quarter/semester off to focus on football without jeopardizing their standing.
Strangely, the NFL hasn’t been relentlessly calling me for more ideas, though.
Edit: Granted, this would be the worst possible outcome for a small private school like NU. We would be left behind on the island of misfit toys.
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You are correct, of course, but we are one Pat Ryan check from having a competitive NIL. Not even a very big check. He just needs to get done with Edifice Rex.
Interesting plan and I miss the Rant Board. I was away for a few years, come back and there is no Rant Board. What gives? I loved the Rant Board. Did the CPD appear in the early hours and force everyone to de-Board?
Sorry, I digress.
I think the regional affiliation between NFL and big-enough college programs will take precedence over other criteria. So Indiana gets picked by the Colts (unless ND spurns the Bears or holds out as an independent) and schools like Nebraska just don’t have dance partners. The Broncos would never choose the Bugeaters over the Buffs. Rutgers will find their recruiting results improve dramatically.
I don’t think you can do this halfway, however, so teams will be comprised of players who can be called up by their pro affiliate. Imagine if Shadeur Sanders had played out the last three or four games of the Broncos season. TV ratings for those games would go from zero to off the charts.
NFL-Affiliated schools can do whatever they want regarding academic arrangements but relegated universities would drop their General Studies degrees as their players would truly be student athletes. There will be many differences between the broadcasts of NFL minor league and relegated conference football. Not insignificant is that relegated broadcasts will return to listing players majors in on-screen introductions (remember that!?).
I think maybe he already sees the future. That’s why his money is not going to NIL but to a concert venue which is a really nice insurance policy for NU in th event they are relegated.
NIL is going to move in-house soon enough anyway. With that I suspect we see salary caps, etc.
Also guessing you missed the interview where Braun explicitly said none of NU’s incoming recruits know what they will earn in NIL? That means they’re coming to NU for non-NIL reasons, will presumably also be likely to stay at NU for non-NIL reasons. NU has also shown a much stronger willingness to use NIL for retention than attraction.
Glad to see this happening guys, despite not being involved. I only came to 2 games last year, both wins, and the bowl game, and it was one of the most satisfying seasons I've ever experienced. I'm very optimistic about the future, I'll come as often as I can, and would hope to see you both at our tailgate in the West Lot. Go 'Cats!
I have no idea, but our former West Lot tailgate will be somewhere near the new stadium I'm sure.
The rant board went away because the discourse became absurdly vituperative and FloridAlum didn’t deserve to spend his days moderating that nonsense.
I haven’t thought about my proposal for a development league in years, but there was a lot more to it. For example, the games would rotate between the stadiums of the affiliated schools, preserving at least part of the atmosphere which makes college football so unique. For twenty years or so, the league would have to pay through the nose to license the school names and rent use of the stadiums on game days, in order to assist athletic departments drowning in debt after the facilities arms race. (Maybe the schools could generate revenue by holding concerts in the venues, too. *hat tip*)
Also, I see no reason why guys like Shadeur couldn’t get called up to the bigs mid season under my proposal. I suppose if their NFL team made the Super Bowl, they would have to withdraw from their respective schools for the winter quarter or spring semester, though. All in all, that would probably be worth it, given the payday they would be looking at.
Anyway, nothing like this will happen for decades, in my opinion. So long as the NFL is getting a “free” minor league system, the owners aren’t going to pay a dime. It will take the schools giving up under financial pressures and refusing to provide the free service before the league will act.
The goal of this proposal isn’t to ‘fix’ football, it is to save the soul of the higher education system in the U.S. Universities probably shouldn’t be in the business of running minor league sports franchises. They should focus on their academic missions.
The effects on the nonrevenue sports could be devastating. No change can come without pain.
And with football driving alumni engagement in many places, schools will be very hesitant to let go of the golden calf until they are more or less forced to.
Edit: My apologies to those who clicked on this thread to discuss ticket prices. I realize I helped drive it off the road. Don’t worry, I’m done.
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Huzzah! Our goals are the same and your proposal comprehensive and worthy of study.
Sadly, the soul of the university system may suffer the fate as the rant board: demise due to the untempered vices of human frailty.
Go U.
It is overly generous to call my proposal comprehensive. It would nonetheless be fascinating for someone plugged into multiple schools’ athletic departments, with access to the financials, to put together a fully formed proposal.
I realize that this all sounds like fantasy to some. And I can’t predict black swan events any more accurately than the next person. If pressed to provide a plausible example of a precipitating event which could result in such drastic change, I would suggest that a deluge of CTE related lawsuits — similar to the mesothelioma litigation which drowned manufacturers twenty or thirty years ago — might serve as the financial death blow to college football as we know it.
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I'm in no hurry but just checking to be sure you got my email and to see.if any Qs
And he has the right to determine what his objective is. Brick and mortar does not go anywhere for a long time and he has control while it is all happening. Kit harder to make that connection with an NIL donation
While true, the amount needed to make NU relevant in NIL is a pittance compared to Edifice Rex. Heck, change your donation to 698M and give 2M to TrueNU so Jacob Schmidt has something to work with besides the table scraps we send him.
Doesn't anyone else think a billion for facilities and zero for the players is...weird? Roman colosseum with nothing for the gladiators
Perhaps he is giving space for other donors to step up, perhaps the next big donor.
How many times was it said that facilities were holding us back? He basically almost single handedly took care of that. He is closer to the end than the beginning of his life and he will long be remembered for his generosity. That said, an annual donation to NIL would not have an effect beyond the year it is used. After he has done the heavy lifting, reasonable to expect others to deal with the more day to day
This was also true. Was.
Mr. Ryan is a businessman and understands that markets change. NIL has turned CFB on its ear. What's holding plus back now? At this moment? (May change at any time). An adequately funded NIL. And no amount of TrueNU garage sales will change that. We need a major donor to provide a bridge to revenue sharing. Maybe he doesn't believe in player compensation. That's his right, but it's reality now.
I am doing my small part. Modest donations. Purchase from memorabilia auction. Bid on (lost) behind the scenes package. Can't attend Weds event but will in the future.
Again it is his money to do with as he pleases. Just as you can do with yours what you want to
I live in Atlanta, so I only get to one or two games per year. Do you know if the Illinois game on Nov 30 is on the lakefront? If so I would be happy to cover the cost of those tickets.
Just received an email with more detailed season ticket information. Most notably:
each STH will be designated a unique time slot to our seat selection site to view and purchase seats.
This is very interesting to me, and I fear perhaps a dangerous procedural move. I am very concerned the "cheap "seats will sell out leaving only inventory out of (my) price range, which means it is a reasonable possibility I do not get season tickets at all this year, while a cluster of seats in more expensive sections go unsold.
This is in contrast to their historical process where seat arrangements happen out of view to the public, where they can easily upgrade higher-tier STHs to make room elsewhere for lower-tier requestors. In theory this can still happen - ticket reps can call higher-tier buyers with "good news - you've been upgraded" - I'm just a little surprised they're doing it this way and potentially exposing a lack of interest in higher-priced inventory.
each STH will be designated a unique time slot to our seat selection site to view and purchase seats.
This is very interesting to me, and I fear perhaps a dangerous procedural move. I am very concerned the "cheap "seats will sell out leaving only inventory out of (my) price range, which means it is a reasonable possibility I do not get season tickets at all this year, while a cluster of seats in more expensive sections go unsold.
This is in contrast to their historical process where seat arrangements happen out of view to the public, where they can easily upgrade higher-tier STHs to make room elsewhere for lower-tier requestors. In theory this can still happen - ticket reps can call higher-tier buyers with "good news - you've been upgraded" - I'm just a little surprised they're doing it this way and potentially exposing a lack of interest in higher-priced inventory.
I share your view. It may be their first test to gauge the demand for what is in the works for the new place. Perhaps this approach is structured precisely for that purpose.
However I am also guessing the first three tiers represent 5-10% of the base with the structure designed to compel lower tier members (i.e. most everyone) to make donations.
It sounds more like they are giving stadium club members and wildcat den members the best choice in seats. I don’t think a lot of them will choose the cheap seats but there are not enough of the expensive seats to cover them. Previously, all sth got to keep their seats or upgrade. Since the “seating chart” is now completely different, they probably are doing away with tenure and going with who donated the most gets their choice.
I totally disagree as they are also using STH tenure as determining factor for tiers. A 30 year STH who hasn't donated a dime gets tier 3. People on this page are always bashing NU for not taking into account long time STHs, well in this case they most definitely are taking care of them.
