A lot of our fans are horrible

[phatcat]

I

I sat in the north stands for the first half, way at the top, and the south stands in the second half.

It was significantly better in the south stands

I did almost exactly the same and I was shivering uncontrollably in the South by the end of regulation. Should have dressed better

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

What is the percentage of NU students that are from Illinois? It is pretty low compared to say U of M, where a vast majority hail from Michigan. Most of the students rooted for the Wolverines as kids, unless they were around Lansing and north of Lansing for the most part. Still there is a bigger connection to the team than say a NU kid that was from upstate NY, etc. The winning tradition doesn't hurt either. Also, being the only private university in the B1G, with a pretty hefty tuition, the student body I would imagine is more focused on other things than football. With the expansion of the conference and the negation of the divisions, NU has a very small chance of winning the B1G title realistically, and that fact would probably play a factor in the future fandom as well.

In addition to these things, I would say NU students place a higher value on winning than most fanbases. We saw this very clearly with basketball. When NU was having those bad seasons (in between the first and second NCAA seasons) student attendance was embarrassingly awful. Once the team was playing better, students started showing up - and once it was clear to most that we were pretty good - all of a sudden it was standing room only for students.

In other words, for better or for worse, Northwestern students are more motivated and more focused on success (in general) than any other Big Ten school. So that makes them the most fickle when it comes to athletics. Winning is cool. Losing is not cool. We have seen it with football as well - when staying at a "day party" off campus (or going to the library) is more appealing than walking up to Ryan Field to watch the game and cheer for your team for free.

That has definitely changed since I did my stint in Evanston. The core of die-hards is much smaller.

 

[hdhntr1]

In addition to these things, I would say NU students place a higher value on winning than most fanbases. We saw this very clearly with basketball. When NU was having those bad seasons (in between the first and second NCAA seasons) student attendance was embarrassingly awful. Once the team was playing better, students started showing up - and once it was clear to most that we were pretty good - all of a sudden it was standing room only for students.

In other words, for better or for worse, Northwestern students are more motivated and more focused on success (in general) than any other Big Ten school. So that makes them the most fickle when it comes to athletics. Winning is cool. Losing is not cool. We have seen it with football as well - when staying at a "day party" off campus (or going to the library) is more appealing than walking up to Ryan Field to watch the game and cheer for your team for free.

That has definitely changed since I did my stint in Evanston. The core of die-hards is much smaller.

If they are winning it is the place to be. But if not, not. And there was 50 years of teams never breaking 0.500 in BIG prior to 2018 then Allstate so hard for them to be there and then less than successful followups so no tradition. So having success something new that people wanted to be part of. Gotta remember that we still have smallest student body by far and what we have at games is often a much larger % of student body than a lotta bigger schools so you really have to give them something to get any % to go

In FB, the equivalent is winning BIG going to Rose Bowl etc But there is less of an equivalent now and these days with 18 teams in BIG and no divisions there are really not even the rivalry games that would bring people out either

 

[TheC]

In addition to these things, I would say NU students place a higher value on winning than most fanbases. We saw this very clearly with basketball. When NU was having those bad seasons (in between the first and second NCAA seasons) student attendance was embarrassingly awful. Once the team was playing better, students started showing up - and once it was clear to most that we were pretty good - all of a sudden it was standing room only for students.

In other words, for better or for worse, Northwestern students are more motivated and more focused on success (in general) than any other Big Ten school. So that makes them the most fickle when it comes to athletics. Winning is cool. Losing is not cool. We have seen it with football as well - when staying at a "day party" off campus (or going to the library) is more appealing than walking up to Ryan Field to watch the game and cheer for your team for free.

That has definitely changed since I did my stint in Evanston. The core of die-hards is much smaller.

I don't think there is anything special about NU fans in that regard. I would suggest that the difference is that other fan bases are used to more success and so treat down years as anomalies rather than the expected norm. But when you have had programs go through droughts of losing (think Indiana football, for example), their attendance was down. They are just such a bigger school that even if a lot of students lose interest, there are still more hard core football fans left than we have.

 

[hdhntr1]

What is the percentage of NU students that are from Illinois? It is pretty low compared to say U of M, where a vast majority hail from Michigan. Most of the students rooted for the Wolverines as kids, unless they were around Lansing and north of Lansing for the most part. Still there is a bigger connection to the team than say a NU kid that was from upstate NY, etc. The winning tradition doesn't hurt either. Also, being the only private university in the B1G, with a pretty hefty tuition, the student body I would imagine is more focused on other things than football. With the expansion of the conference and the negation of the divisions, NU has a very small chance of winning the B1G title realistically, and that fact would probably play a factor in the future fandom as well.

Used to be higher as NU focused on the midwest with probably 40-50% coming from there (midwest) and half of those coming from IL. But that Midwest focus is pretty much gone now and the % from IL has gone down a lot as well. Now it might be 5-10%

 

[hdhntr1]

I don't think there is anything special about NU fans in that regard. I would suggest that the difference is that other fan bases are used to more success and so treat down years as anomalies rather than the expected norm. But when you have had programs go through droughts of losing (think Indiana football, for example), their attendance was down. They are just such a bigger school that even if a lot of students lose interest, there are still more hard core football fans left than we have.

The bigger programs have 5 times as many students and probably closer to 8-10 times as many local alumni and we generally do not have the local (state) connections that public schools have. At many of those schools. Because of the large number of students and alumni at these other schools, there are far more potential fans per available seat so there is a sort of rationing that goes on where the more passionate fans put up with what it takes to get those tickets. Our %s of fans in different groups may be similar but we have so many fewer students and alums vs the available number of seats there is generally no such rationing

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Used to be higher as NU focused on the midwest with probably 40-50% coming from there (midwest) and half of those coming from IL. But that Midwest focus is pretty much gone now and the % from IL has gone down a lot as well. Now it might be 5-10%

Why would we expect many locals to get seriously invested in NU. Admissions is next to impossible for many local star academic students. I have seen this up close in person. When you see a plethora of international students being admitted and you hear your kids go to a sensitive school or whatever you don’t develop a diehard approach to fandom. Win and it probably changes.

 

[TheC]

The bigger programs have 5 times as many students and probably closer to 8-10 times as many local alumni and we generally do not have the local (state) connections that public schools have. At many of those schools. Because of the large number of students and alumni at these other schools, there are far more potential fans per available seat so there is a sort of rationing that goes on where the more passionate fans put up with what it takes to get those tickets. Our %s of fans in different groups may be similar but we have so many fewer students and alums vs the available number of seats there is generally no such rationing

Yes, this was the point I was trying to make.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Reject the demographic thing? It is still two weeks before classes start so basically no students. A big portion of the fans are older and just to get there these days is a chore. A Friday night game after a week of work and close to 11PM. NU had played pretty so so all night and you are expecting a lot of noise and energy out of that? Not really gonna happen

Thanks for making excuses about being taciturn at an overtime game and revealing yourself as part of the problem

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Used to be higher as NU focused on the midwest with probably 40-50% coming from there (midwest) and half of those coming from IL. But that Midwest focus is pretty much gone now and the % from IL has gone down a lot as well. Now it might be 5-10%

According to this website, 18% of NU undergrads are from Illinois.

Northwestern University: Acceptance Rates & Statistics

Steady Application Numbers for the Northwestern Class of 2028 Northwestern received more than 50,000 applications for admission to the Class of 2028. This i

toptieradmissions.com

A fun little table showing trends (perhaps) based on NU's own documentation...

Ethnicity	class of 2024	class of 2027
White	52.3	47.8
Asian	26.1	29.3
Hispanic	15.6	17.2
Black	10.0	14.2
Native American	1.7	2.0
Foreign	9.4	10.5

Students who report as multi-racial are fully included in each category... which is a strange way of doing the stats, but thats not my concern.

 

[its_the_sauce]

Why would we expect many locals to get seriously invested in NU. Admissions is next to impossible for many local star academic students. I have seen this up close in person. When you see a plethora of international students being admitted and you hear your kids go to a sensitive school or whatever you don’t develop a diehard approach to fandom. Win and it probably changes.

Next to impossible for many local star academic students....?

Where are you hearing this? I've heard NU goes out of their way to grab ETHS & CPS students. My daughter went to NU as well as several of her Lane classmates.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Next to impossible for many local star academic students....?

Where are you hearing this? I've heard NU goes out of their way to grab ETHS & CPS students. My daughter went to NU as well as several of her Lane classmates.

While looking for info related to my previous table, I'm pretty sure I saw that 100% of the incoming NU class was ranked in the top half of their high school class.

So thats essentially "impossible" for half of the students out there.

 

[hdhntr1]

Why would we expect many locals to get seriously invested in NU. Admissions is next to impossible for many local star academic students. I have seen this up close in person. When you see a plethora of international students being admitted and you hear your kids go to a sensitive school or whatever you don’t develop a diehard approach to fandom. Win and it probably changes.

Other than ND in FB there is very little local connection to the program for private schools (or is Miami private) I was just pointing out that where our student body comes from has changed over the years and is less Midwest focused that it was. But just as big as that is only about 30% probably remain in Chicago and IL area after graduation

 

[hdhntr1]

According to this website, 18% of NU undergrads are from Illinois.

Northwestern University: Acceptance Rates & Statistics

Steady Application Numbers for the Northwestern Class of 2028 Northwestern received more than 50,000 applications for admission to the Class of 2028. This i

toptieradmissions.com

A fun little table showing trends (perhaps) based on NU's own documentation...

Ethnicity	class of 2024	class of 2027
White	52.3	47.8
Asian	26.1	29.3
Hispanic	15.6	17.2
Black	10.0	14.2
Native American	1.7	2.0
Foreign	9.4	10.5

Students who report as multi-racial are fully included in each category... which is a strange way of doing the stats, but thats not my concern.

Higher than what I had seen but whatever it is still down significantly from where it was

 

[hdhntr1]

Thanks for making excuses about being taciturn at an overtime game and revealing yourself as part of the problem

I have been a season ticket holder for almost 30 years (after being in other areas working for over 20 years) During that time I have(missed two home games (one for a wedding and another a reunion). Over the years I have probably gotten another 100-150 or more different people to games Unfortunately that amount of time means I have also gotten older. You might not like to hear it but it does change things and and perspectives make things a lot harder to do than they were years ago. It also makes it harder to justify your position so down in front

 

[NUinIowafan]

I would wait until the day of the game and then pull it for your tickets.

Arent they sell outs tho? Not sure where u are saying i would get tickets on day of game??

 

[fcmchi]

The north end zone was noisy. Fifty sixty something year old alums making noise; same for the groups of thirty something year old alums.

Weak point is that there aren’t many NU alums and only a few local non-alum fans.

I’ve been to four games in Madison and their 40 plus aged alums don’t make any more noise than ours.

 

[WaveJumper]

Where are you hearing this? I've heard NU goes out of their way to grab ETHS & CPS students. My daughter went to NU as well as several of her Lane classmates.

Indians, Indians . . . oh wait, not any more

"just take this as a little tip . . . . . ."

 

[Sheffielder]

Very few NU students grow up as NU sports fans (including those from the Chicagoland area). So apart from the numbers game, you don't have a ton of kids who grew up with generations of NU fans in the family all gathered around the tv like they do in Michigan, Ohio, Florida, etc. In fact, of the NU students who actually self-identify as college sports fans, I bet more than half of them have rooted for another program for most of their lives, and NU is their second favorite at best.

Now add the City of Chicago into the mix and you have to acknowledge social life at NU is not centered around sports in a one-horse college town.

It's frustrating but it all really makes perfect sense.

The problem for me, right now in front of us, is that the NU Athletic Department seems to have a boner for revenue and would rather preserve the market value of seats rather than ensuring there are actually asses in them. Please refer to the south end zone in perpetuity for evidence of this.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Very few NU students grow up as NU sports fans (including those from the Chicagoland area). So apart from the numbers game, you don't have a ton of kids who grew up with generations of NU fans in the family all gathered around the tv like they do in Michigan, Ohio, Florida, etc. In fact, of the NU students who actually self-identify as college sports fans, I bet more than half of them have rooted for another program for most of their lives, and NU is their second favorite at best.

Now add the City of Chicago into the mix and you have to acknowledge social life at NU is not centered around sports in a one-horse college town.

It's frustrating but it all really makes perfect sense.

The problem for me, right now in front of us, is that the NU Athletic Department seems to have a boner for revenue and would rather preserve the market value of seats rather than ensuring there are actually asses in them. Please refer to the south end zone in perpetuity for evidence of this.

When are we going to stop complaining about fans that actually buy seats and turn out dismay at those “fans” that sell their seats?

 

[hdhntr1]

The north end zone was noisy. Fifty sixty something year old alums making noise; same for the groups of thirty something year old alums.

Weak point is that there aren’t many NU alums and only a few local non-alum fans.

I’ve been to four games in Madison and their 40 plus aged alums don’t make any more noise than ours.

With age comes wisdom