After 25 years as a season ticket holder, I chose not to renew. My first season was 1999, just before the 2000 history-making spread offense explosion. But I couldn't justify the total cost with the hefty "contribution". Hopefully I will find a better seat at less cost in the new stadium. Not interested in the fancy "amenities". Just a good view of the game and a functional PA system. Go "Cats"!
I'm out
- Thread starter diblakley
- Start date
I have only been a STH for 15 years, but I am in the same boat. I will contribute to the Wildcat Fund for continuity there, and will buy some single games this year.
Seems short sighted. Will the quitters forfeit all the priority points they’ve racked up over the years? With the new stadium on the horizon wouldn’t it make sense to tough it out one more year in order to secure the best seats possible in college football’s most luxurious, state-of-the-art stadium?
No, NU has said that STHs who pass for these two years on the lake will not lose any continuity points as STHs.
Of course it isn’t worth it. No different than any other sport. Can you imagine having Blackhawk ST’s? I just renewed after considering dropping for a year. I like the “amenities” and will be a STH next year in the new stadium. I will pay up to get an experience that differs from my TV. After that, my decision may change if I feel the place continues to get overwhelmed by opposing fans. I think Jackson will have a plan that differentiates us NU fans from the one timers from other schools. Brokers won’t buy blocks of tickets if they don’t make money. I find it odd that opposing fans are willing to pay way more than many NU fans. Most opposing fans I run into aren’t one and dones. They go to either home games or a few a year.
I am one of the biggest diehard cat fans and have both season tix for basketball and football. I did not renew for football. I am not going to usc game tonight in basketball you can get a ticket for $2.00. Last week against Rutgers you could have gotten a ticket for $2.00. It will be the same for football this upcoming season. They upset all the loyal fans and there will be plenty of open seats on the second hand markets for $2.00.
Good then those turn coat STH (ie brokers) won’t be able to get any cash for them. Might make them not consider buying the tickets. I would much rather sit next to an empty chair than an opposing fan.
So if you are a basketball STH why aren’t you going tonight? How much would it have costed you for a ticket on the secondary market for Indiana in football or Illinois in basketball? This is how brokers make money. You can go to USC or Washington on the cheap but you aren’t touching a good team that travels for below face.
I don’t care if people don’t renew, but all the bitching on this board can make it insufferable at times.
This is actually my big fear as a supporter of the program, and it's something many of us have known for years. Tickets for OOC games can typically be acquired for less than $10 on the secondary market, and mid-tier B1G games for less than $25. If you're willing to skip when Michigan or Ohio State come to town (and pay face for Iowa, Wisconsin), then you can put a season of single game tickets together for a discount of more than half off face.
I've always bought season tickets in spite of this, specifically because I felt it was a tangible way to support the program, and I have renewed my tickets this year. We'll see what 2026 holds with the opening of the stadium. In all honestly, if Jackson's comments about affordability all just turn out to be lip service, or parking suddenly becomes inaccessible (I imagine they are losing the golf course and they really went to suspicious lengths to talk about biking/public transit in all the hype videos), it would probably do me in - would wait the 1-2 years once the novelty of a new building wears off, and buy $5 tickets for the Aug./Sept. games after that. If this is just a business relationship...so be it. My sincere hope is Jackson & Co. quickly see the long game when it comes to this small fanbase.
The cost for tonight’s hoop game is $1. How many that complain about prices will be there?
I sat out last year’s FB season but am considering getting STs this year, even though I live out of state.
Priority points are more or less meaningless. A decent contribution trumps points easily.
And a couple more wins will bring fans back to being season ticket holders
I thought that they had provisions to not hold not going to the lakefront against ST holders similar to what they had when we were at Allstate for BB
My Brother In Law dropped his Blackhawk STs when they jacked prices after terrible year
I would suggest getting the tickets at Wrigley. Usually it was a terrible value but after what they did with tickets at Lakeside...They are a better value than the Lakeside tickets . Pay the same per game but you get Mich rather than Western IL. The other game is MINN which is not as good a value.
I have been for 30 years and I had to think long and hard before renewing. Finally did but had to have people kick in. I mean having four tickets and having to pay $1000 a game is hard to justify
From the drawings not sure there is going to be an East lot so if they do not have the Golf lots isn't much parking in the area even for the reduced capacity
And being from the Western suburbs, those are sure not options for me and my group. Again if there is no East lot or golf course lots not much parking around
Yeah, I think parking will be tight ($) so tailgating will be tough. That was one of the anchors that helped bring people out in my party. We have been in all four parking lots, including ROTC way back. If Evanston had a brain they would sell parking at parks or schools to generate revenue. I do remember parking in a school lot maybe 98 Wisconsin night game and tailgating, which was great.
I am not from Evanston or all that familiar with it, but I don’t recall schools or parks in close proximity. Meaning closer than the hospital, train station etc. either way, I agree that parking with be tight!
It was literally the only time I remember this being available. Perhaps it was the hype hangover from 95. The ONLY other time I have seen this is the scouts selling spaces in a small lot off Central but that had nothing to do with the city or public space.
If the market is there the school at McCormick & Green Bay will open up parking. They used to do it for sellouts. I haven't recalled them being open since a pre-COVID Michigan game. Another important thing to note is we're only talking about 30K in the new stadium so I don't think parking will be that stressed even with no more east lot.
Regarding the parking situation...did other people take away from the new stadium hype videos that they seemed to be going to great lengths promoting the "community" (read: non-parking/tailgating) spaces around the stadium? Or was it just me being suspicious/overly cynical?
My first year in Chicago I took the el up from Lakeview (red line to purple) to games, and it was miserable. Transferring at Howard on a Saturday is a grind with unpredictable wait times (and no one at the CTA is saying, "oh, Northwestern has a home game so we better run extra trains.") I fear this is another thing that grinds away at our fan base to do this seven times per season (versus the Iowa fan who will happily come up once when the Hawks are in town). We'll see...
My first year in Chicago I took the el up from Lakeview (red line to purple) to games, and it was miserable. Transferring at Howard on a Saturday is a grind with unpredictable wait times (and no one at the CTA is saying, "oh, Northwestern has a home game so we better run extra trains.") I fear this is another thing that grinds away at our fan base to do this seven times per season (versus the Iowa fan who will happily come up once when the Hawks are in town). We'll see...
I think that was more part of the PR dance to get Evanston’s support/approval.
NU is actually proposing to turn the existing outdoor football practice fields into new parking (~495 spots) in addition to the ~893 spots in the West Lot.
Hopefully they learned some valuable lessons from the new Welsh Ryan and don’t overprice tickets in the new stadium to start. After the first year there were some really lean ones at WR to the point of them having to drop the seat contribution amounts at one point. Either that or they need to figure out a way to have a more consistent winning team on the field of the new stadium, but that job likely got tougher with the age of NIL and Big 10 expansion.
People will only pay so much for “amenities”. Winning product sells seats better than anything else.
People will only pay so much for “amenities”. Winning product sells seats better than anything else.
I think that was the lot I tailgated in back in 98, wow. I had no idea they opened it up for big games.
After we moved out of Evanston, then got moved out of the West Lot to the hospital garage, we gave up our parking pass. I parked at the public school at Green Bay/McCormick, parked at St A’s, parked often by Metra tracks. Do these places not exist for parking anymore?
We eventually settled in by the Natatorium or my wife’s office at the Allen Center, but those were quite the walks.
We eventually settled in by the Natatorium or my wife’s office at the Allen Center, but those were quite the walks.
Our tickets and contribution requirements are still cheaper than most other Big Ten teams and we're ramping up prices for a new, incredible, state of the art stadium NEXT YEAR. I respect anybody who makes a personal financial decision or time decision, but the people whining about prices are pampered and out of touch. You have no idea how good we have it on that front. Soft whiners.
I’m not renewing my FB season tickets - at least at this point - which I’ve had since 2008. I may reconsider at a later date, if they drop the prices a bit, but $100/seat/per game to see 4 mediocre opponents and 1 marquee doesn’t seem worth it to me. As others have said, I’m sure I can scoop tickets off the secondary market for $20 or less per game for 2 of the games and $50 or less for 2 (UCLA and Purdue). My BB season tickets I’ll keep for eternity probably because it’s $400 (I’m in the upper deck - great view though) for 17-18 home games. Just a much better value.
Supposedly they are working on pricing for the new stadium right now. It looks like a bunch of us did not renew for this season. So hopefully that sends a message to them as they need to sell a lot more than 12,000 seats in the new building.
The current price increases are 100% a ramp up to the new stadium prices. They're increasing prices a bunch this year to avoid the spike being quite so drastic for next year. That's what every team ever does when building a new stadium. They are going to sell a **** ton of tickets.
Those places definitely still exist for parking. NU used the schools (there's two adjacent schools on Green Bay between Lincoln and McCormick) for parking in 2023 and I assume will resume when the new stadium opens. The City charges a gameday rate for parking at the Central St. Metra station. St. A's is available too. There's very few additional potential options though.
Was tired of seeing discussion of new stadium, tickets, and pricing without a primer which provides fans some basic generalities. Here’s some basics and assumptions with conclusions which like the assumptions are debatable
Everyone that visits this board/thread is well aware that Cats tickets at Dyche were priced at significant discount to other Big Ten program. This discount was in place to encourage Cats fans and other college football fans to attend Cats game at a fairly poor stadium, with uneven performing teams.
Unfortunately, on average the Cats game day experience at Dyche does not approach the experience of many other of its Big Ten brethren.
The small school footprint of NU hamstrings the Cats compared to most of the monstrous state schools further hampers efforts compared to other Big Ten programs
Unlike most other Big Ten programs, the Cats must compete against professional teams to gain and keep attention of sports fans
In addition, the Cats stadium location - residential Evanston and about a mile from campus - further limits fans stadium experience
NU with the generous support of the Ryan family and other alumni is replacing gold old Dyche with a new, more state of the art stadium
The Cats have decided to significantly upgrade the stadium experience and so dramatically increase ticket prices
Hopefully, the new stadium will provide enough of an upgrade to the game experience to justify the significant price increase
Unfortunately, a new stadium will likely not overcome the disadvantages that were noted and may likely not lead to growing the NU fan base.
Without a more consistent, winning team neither fans nor administrators should expect the new stadium to be the draw to keep Cat fans returning to Ryan Stadium beyond its first years of operations
Everyone that visits this board/thread is well aware that Cats tickets at Dyche were priced at significant discount to other Big Ten program. This discount was in place to encourage Cats fans and other college football fans to attend Cats game at a fairly poor stadium, with uneven performing teams.
Unfortunately, on average the Cats game day experience at Dyche does not approach the experience of many other of its Big Ten brethren.
The small school footprint of NU hamstrings the Cats compared to most of the monstrous state schools further hampers efforts compared to other Big Ten programs
Unlike most other Big Ten programs, the Cats must compete against professional teams to gain and keep attention of sports fans
In addition, the Cats stadium location - residential Evanston and about a mile from campus - further limits fans stadium experience
NU with the generous support of the Ryan family and other alumni is replacing gold old Dyche with a new, more state of the art stadium
The Cats have decided to significantly upgrade the stadium experience and so dramatically increase ticket prices
Hopefully, the new stadium will provide enough of an upgrade to the game experience to justify the significant price increase
Unfortunately, a new stadium will likely not overcome the disadvantages that were noted and may likely not lead to growing the NU fan base.
Without a more consistent, winning team neither fans nor administrators should expect the new stadium to be the draw to keep Cat fans returning to Ryan Stadium beyond its first years of operations
In other words, NU is saddled with opposing fans willing to pay the price and are therefore screwed.
Similar threads
Latest posts
-
-
-
Photos of Ryan Field Demolition/Construction- Latest: CoralSpringsCat
-