@hoosierdaddy It shouldn't be impossible. I get IU is cutting back on spending, but there has been nothing up here in Indy that says 'Hey! IU went to the CFP this year, get some seats'. In years past they have tickets at Costco. They did different events in Indy as well. It just seems like poor marketing.
@thehoosierhuddle It shouldn't be impossible - I just think IU has some weird things going against it that other schools dont really face as headwinds. For a B1G school, IU is located in a small town, even Iowa is only a short drive from Cedar Rapids. The only other school in a similar setting (rural small town) is Illinois, and I believe Penn State. Penn St has a 80+ year history of being a top 10 program
The real kicker though, is the number of reversible jacket fans. We have a non-insignificant portion of the fan base who dont want football to succeed because they think it takes resources away from the basketball program, and then we have a significant number of alumni who adopted Notre Dame as their football program to cheer for. I cant think of any other P4 program where its like that
Im just happy to see Memorial packed to the point where its a true home game. When I was a student, it always felt like an away game when we hosted B1G teams
I agree with you on the marketing front. Adding some premium seating options (i.e. box suites) and more shuttle buses around gamedays from Indy to Btown would also be a way to bring in more out of state alum
Purdue got 59.5K for their cupcake opener last year, and they weren’t ranked and coming off a CFP. They have similar dynamics to us in terms of driving distance and town size.
At the end of the day, our FB fanbase is small. It’s growing, but small.
All fair points. I still think the highway was more an excuse than an impediment.
I think the problem with the highway is more related to the first half of last century. The old road that went through Dolan was absolutely terrible. Many teams like UM and OSU refused to travel it. There were many head on collisions that resulted in several deaths. Those were the days when IU football had to go on the road for many more games than they had at home so it made winning more difficult and set the tone for the program to be poor.
All fair points. I still think the highway was more an excuse than an impediment.
I think the problem with the highway is more related to the first half of last century. The old road that went through Dolan was absolutely terrible. Many teams like UM and OSU refused to travel it. There were many head on collisions that resulted in several deaths. Those were the days when IU football had to go on the road for many more games than they had at home so it made winning more difficult and set the tone for the program to be poor.
Besides, those leather helmets were ugly.
@hoosierdaddy Just try something, anything. I know the history. I understand the history. However, at the same time IU has played into that history. Some times you just have to just do things to get stuff started. I have in laws who never were huge IU football fans, but I was annoying as hell for the last 17 years about IUFB and now they are going into year 6 with season tickets (added two this year because their kid begs to go).
IUFB really is a pretty good deal in the world of sports entertainment. If you're on a budget, season tickets were $40/game -- not great seats, but there are no really bad seats at Memorial. Parking can be free or cheap if you are able to walk 15-20 minutes, plus you can hang out in Bloomington if you like, which is a lovely place. Season ticket holders get the parking pass option if they want to tailgate all day. You get to watch a good to very good team. The atmosphere all day is lively. Cupcakes #2 and #3 will be lowkey, but the conference slate will be intense and exciting, as will the opener, because it's the opener.
Not many better deals than that. Colts games cost more than 2x the IUFB options and the gameday atmosphere around Bloomington is approximately infinitely better than the area around Lucas Oil.
We've just got to keep getting people to try it, because they'll get hooked on the experience like Sammy's in laws.
I'm loving The New INDIANA FB!
@tammany well put. There are few things I do that are as much fun as going to the football games. I love tailgating, walking around the stadium before the game all the people there, etc.
Agree with Sammy, as frustrated as I get with IU fans (not the diehards on here) sitting on their wallets for the non con, IU also does nothing to promote anything. And when they do, it’s like a week before. Maddening.
Having said that, all four conference games are getting close to and will absolutely sell out so having 8 straight conference sellouts is a nice step forward.
I was excited when Coach Allen's team went into the stadium in Nebraska and came away with a close victory. Coach Cig's team destroyed Nebraska last year; that's when I realized what a difference a great coach (along with a coaching staff that stays together) can make . . . even at INDIANA !!!
@iu2win very good comparison....and you are right about the continuity in the staff is oh so important.
BEAT PURDUE
Cig feels like a Coach Bob Knight for the football program. Not as inflammatory but hated by many for his personality and generating all kinds of attention to the school. In many respects, Cig is right: this is an entertainment business. And, the coach knows he needs to be entertaining.