UNI at Creighton - (Past Game)

[uniftw]

Beer.


Creighton sells it, UNI should too (and no, there is no NCAA rule or state law preventing it).

I really, really like being able to buy beer at basketball games. It's AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's Chuck Norris and Kung Fu Panda AWESOME!!!!!!

That said, I have never made a decision to attend or not attend a sporting event based on the availability of purchasing an overpriced beer. And while Wichita State fans like to throw the "they only go to the games to buy beer" card around, even they will admit that when the Shockers play at IBA, having beer handy is nice, but it has little or nothing to do with their decision to attend a game. The beer is great, but I only have a beer occasionally, I had zero last night.

And since they raised the price at the yellow beer hut and quit selling Schlitz, I will probably have fewer and fewer beers at The Qwest ..... errr Century Link Center.

Being able to buy beer won't make people attend games...however, it will make it a better "hang out" for people. A group of guys may be more likely to go and make it a social occasion than they do now. I know for a fact this is the case with hockey. The hockey team in W'loo has the fan base it does because it started as the "fun outing for the night" and the teams have been good. Couple a good team with drinking beer and a good memory is made, and they are likely to want to repeat it and will continue to come back.

[UNIFanSince1983]

We aren't Wichita and we aren't Creighton now get over it. We won't have the attendance others schools will have. Some of it is Cedar Falls only has 32k people in the town, and part of it is being the 3rd fiddle in the state.

Creighton has both a large metropolitan area, and they are one of 2 DI teams in Nebraska (maybe 3 now if UNO moved up). They are also by far the top basketball school in their state. Wichita might be third fiddle, but Wichita has close to 400k people in it.

It is tough, and I hate it! I wish there would be better fan support. There is no excuse, but lecturing people who come on a message board to chat about their teams athletics aren't the ones you need to be telling this to. We know the support sucks, we know we have a good team, and we know it should be better.

Except I never even considered UNI's attendance figures until they were mentioned by a UNI poster. Since it was mentioned, I was curious. Now that those numbers are brought to light, we should never speak of them again???

Now if you really want to know what fan base has puzzling attendance issues, look at Missouri State. They won their league last year, are in an MSA over 400,000, have a brand new 11,000 seat arena, are currently tied for first place and they don't sell out.

It is what it is.

I am actually curious to see how our ticket prices stack up against others in the Valley. I am going to have to look that one up. I don't know if ticket pricing has something to do with it or what. I do know that a group of people who sit in front of me have season tickets and have shown up to 2 games all year long. They don't give their tickets away either. It is nice to have somewhere to put my coat but still kinda pathetic.

[glm38]

MSU's attendance is puzzling. I've not ever understood why we don't draw better. Not that attendance is terrible. But it could/should be much better.

I'm curious do WSU and CU promote their basketball games within the community? Meaning do they do radio, and TV spots, go to the schools occasionally, etc? There really isn't any of that in the Springfield community which a lot of us are convinced is part of the problem here.

[MoValley John]

It is what it is.

I am actually curious to see how our ticket prices stack up against others in the Valley. I am going to have to look that one up. I don't know if ticket pricing has something to do with it or what. I do know that a group of people who sit in front of me have season tickets and have shown up to 2 games all year long. They don't give their tickets away either. It is nice to have somewhere to put my coat but still kinda pathetic.

I don't know UNI ticket prices, I don't know much about ticket prices throughout the Valley. I do know that face value of my tickets in the lower bowl at Creighton are $30, up from $28 last year. I buy them from another guy who pays the donation. For four seats, I pay in the neighborhood of $2,000/ yr. I have a pair of Nebraska tickets for football, they are $65/ game. They run me $900/ yr. I used to have several CWS tickets, but when they moved to the new stadium and jacked up their prices, I dropped them. I spent almost $2,000/ yr for those and rarely used them.

My wife is not a big fan of me buying tickets to sporting events. I can't understand why.

[LMS]

uniftw: I wasn't trying to be insulting. I like UNI! I don't think James or Koch are all conference players at least not 1st teamers but we can disagree there. And you confirmed what I said about great young talent.

From your own fan site, you cant tell me these guys don't sorta look like a church league squad.

http://www.panthernation.com/showthread.php?t=44477

Good luck to you guys.

[valleychamp]

Alcohol plays a big part. And there is no shame in that, but it is silly to argue otherwise. I really wish UNI would start selling alcohol. It would make a significant difference in attendance and revenue.

[MoValley John]

MSU's attendance is puzzling. I've not ever understood why we don't draw better. Not that attendance is terrible. But it could/should be much better.

I'm curious do WSU and CU promote their basketball games within the community? Meaning do they do radio, and TV spots, go to the schools occasionally, etc? There really isn't any of that in the Springfield community which a lot of us are convinced is part of the problem here.

I see a few billboards and they are promoted some on the Journal Broadcasting stations. Then again, Journal is the broadcast group that airs Creighton on radio and TV, so it's in their best interests. That said, there really isn't much promotion at all, there used to be more, but Creighton doesn't need to "sell" the product much anymore, either. The World Herald is now starting to cover them more, but I think that being ranked forces them to do so. Even the World Herald beat writer for Creighton admits that he's not a fan of Creighton.

[MoValley John]

Alcohol plays a big part. And there is no shame in that, but it is silly to argue otherwise. I really wish UNI would start selling alcohol. It would make a significant difference in attendance and revenue.

There is no shame in selling beer at games, it is what it is, GREAT!!!!! I just know that nobody that I know attends games to drink overpriced beers. They attend the event to watch the event, and while there, sometimes enjoy a frosty beverage. If ticket prices are too steep to fill up a 7,000 seat arena, $7.00 beers aren't going to draw that many people. Like I said, beer is nice, but it is hardly going to draw big numbers, if even noticeable numbers. Anyone that is motivated to attend an event because of beer would be more motivated to run down to the local tavern and partake in happy hour, it's much cheaper and you might get laid. Beer is a convenient excuse, but an excuse non the less.

[uniftw]

uniftw: I wasn't trying to be insulting. I like UNI! I don't think James or Koch are all conference players at least not 1st teamers but we can disagree there. And you confirmed what I said about great young talent.

From your own fan site, you cant tell me these guys don't sorta look like a church league squad.

http://www.panthernation.com/showthread.php?t=44477
Good luck to you guys.

Um...not really, not I don't see it.

There are two reason I can see for someone saying a team looks unatheltic

1. The team is mostly white...and being white is associated with being unathletic. Take the same players and make them black and the team automatically looks more athletic.

2. The players don't have the "ripped" body cut...meaning they aren't strong and athletic.


Both of which are completely uneducated. I'd argue the only player UNI has had that has played significant minutes the past 4 years that hasn't looked "athletic" is Big E.


Why the hate?

[MoValley John]

UNI does not look like a church league. With their tattoos, they look like punks and felons. I wish I could say otherwise, but I am at the closed minded age where I absolutely can't stand tattoos. If you remember back on the old VT board, I used to make fun of Chad Millard's ugly tattoo. Call me what you want, but when I see a bunch of tattoos, I think, punk first, felon second. Unless it's a woman with a tattoo, then I think slux, whor#, then felon.

Yep, I'm closed minded when it comes to tattoos.