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Is TV hurting attendance?

Psyclone Brian

Psyclone Brian

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
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So far I have watched every game on TV. (Thanks in part to Mediacom or their sports-pak.) I'm beginning to wonder if the rest of the season will be aired. Eventhough, televised games should somewhat help recruiting, I still wonder if it's hurting us more than helping.
 
Psyclone Brian said:
So far I have watched every game on TV. (Thanks in part to Mediacom or their sports-pak.) I'm beginning to wonder if the rest of the season will be aired. Eventhough, televised games should somewhat help recruiting, I still wonder if it's hurting us more than helping.
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Never will TV coverage hurt us in anyway.
 
I HOPE we can get to the point that TV is hurting our attendance but I don't think we're there. I've got Dish Network and have been able to see 2 games, so while some have been able to see us with some regularity, it's not like we're 'Bama as far as coverage goes.
 
NO.

There are tons of things that hurt our attendance but TV is not one of them. Pretty much every BCS team right now is on TV in some way. And a lot of them are doing great for attendance
 
ca4cy said:
I HOPE we can get to the point that TV is hurting our attendance but I don't think we're there. I've got Dish Network and have been able to see 2 games, so while some have been able to see us with some regularity, it's not like we're 'Bama as far as coverage goes.
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Yeah, you may have only been able to see 2 games at your house, but you could have easily gone to a bar like me to see the games your TV package doesn't carry. The thing is that there was an option to see the game without actually going to the game. If there was no TV at all, I think more people would be inclined to attend the game.

Personally, if the game is one TV, it affects my decision of whether or not I am willing to make the effort to go to Ames. I'm just one person but I'm guessing others have the same thought process. Sorry if that makes me a bad fan, I'm just being honest.
 
Our fan base is really lazy, and doesn't like to put much effort back into Cyclone athletics. Way, way, way too many of our fans look for reasons not to go to games, rather than reasons to.

Of course the game being on TV hurts attendance for us. Hopefully, someday it won't matter.

That said, I don't get these attendance figures. JTS looked pretty close to full to me last weekend. More so than the week before, but yet somehow, attendance was nearly the same.
 
Chances are, every Big Ten team is on TV every week during the non-conference portion of their schedule. They're definitely on TV during the conference portion. Yet, the more successful teams seem to still fill their stadiums, while teams without recent/current success don't.

I'm not entirely sure people are going to show up in Ames to watch an ISU team with a .500 or worse record. Even if they can't watch the game on TV.

I think success (or the lack thereof) trumps the ability to be lazy and watch on TV.
 
Al_4_State said:
Our fan base is really lazy, and doesn't like to put much effort back into Cyclone athletics. Way, way, way too many of our fans look for reasons not to go to games, rather than reasons to.

Of course the game being on TV hurts attendance for us. Hopefully, someday it won't matter.

That said, I don't get these attendance figures. JTS looked pretty close to full to me last weekend. More so than the week before, but yet somehow, attendance was nearly the same.
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This.
 
The only thing hurting our attendance is the number of ISU fans per capita in the state of Iowa. A tradition of winning increases the fanbase as well as the desire to watch the team. 1 good game does not make a tradition of winning. Not even 1 good season makes a tradition of winning. Our fanbase is small compared to many schools. We are in a small state and compete with a much bigger fanbase in Iowa. Sometimes I think people expect too much.

Someone please prove me wrong, but I believe ISU filling our stadium with 50,000 fans is far more impressive than Iowa filling their stadium with 70,000 fans. The state of Iowa does not have a 5:7 ratio of ISU to Iowa fans. It's probably more like 1:4, making ISU's fan turnout far more impressive. Sorry for the Iowa comparison, but it is the easiest one to make.
 
If it was possible to measure the size of our fanbase, then determine the percentage of that fanbase that attends games...my bet would be that ISU actually turns out a far better percentage than most schools of a similar win/loss record over the last decade.
 
dtclones said:
Yeah, you may have only been able to see 2 games at your house, but you could have easily gone to a bar like me to see the games your TV package doesn't carry. The thing is that there was an option to see the game without actually going to the game. If there was no TV at all, I think more people would be inclined to attend the game.

Personally, if the game is one TV, it affects my decision of whether or not I am willing to make the effort to go to Ames. I'm just one person but I'm guessing others have the same thought process. Sorry if that makes me a bad fan, I'm just being honest.
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I don't think that makes you a bad fan. Everybody has their own motivation as to whether or not they go to games. I had season tickets for men's basketball and football up until I started having kids. Then I dropped the hoops tickets as the middle of the week games weren't practical. After a couple years, I dropped the football tickets. Now, with two young kids at home and a 2 hour one way drive to the stadium, I've got better places for my money to go. I love the Clones as much as I always have, but priorities have taken over.

And while we're being honest, let's call a spade a spade. Games like Saturday night are a big part of why we never quite get where we want to be. We brought a ton of momentum out of the Tech game, but it's the classic one step forward, two steps back thing. The season ticket holders and regulars will be at the next home game, but until we build on momentum, we're never going to get the fence sitters to buy in.
 
Is TV hurting attendance? Yes, two decades of having a precious few games televised (1980s and 1990s) is still hurting attendance.

Thankfully we are getting more and more games on every year, which will only increase fan interest in ISU football.
 
MartyFine said:
Is TV hurting attendance? Yes, two decades of having a precious few games televised (1980s and 1990s) is still hurting attendance.

Thankfully we are getting more and more games on every year, which will only increase fan interest in ISU football.
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Exactly!

If the games weren't televised we might have a few more fans come into Ames, however, we will lose out on the many who wouldn't see the game at all.

Think about the young fans. When I was a kid I didn't have parents who would take me to ISU games. I also couldn't watch the games on TV much. I didn't really become a real fan until I went to ISU and started seeing them play.


Now, with a decent number of games on TV, parents who don't take their kids to ISU games can still watch the games on tv with the young kids. That helps ISU in the future.


Winning will get more games on TV and more butts in the seats.
 
There will always be those that want to stay at home and watch the game on TV rather than making the trip. I have a family member that would have been in that category. As they've gotten older, they understand more about the atmosphere and being around people that are just as dedicated as you. Having games on TV increases awareness of the game and could get them hooked into possibly going in the future.

People who don't have the time aren't going to be affected. You may get some that, since it's on TV, are going to stay home instead, but there are more advantages including getting people more interested in Iowa State as a whole.
 
It's not rocket science.....put a good product on the field on a consistent basis and fans will fill the stadium. "People will come Ray, people will come".
 
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