FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Robert Zimmerman]

SCTimes now has a substantial story:
https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/2019/12/10/scsu-st-cloud-state-football-golf-teams-eliminated-title-ix/2634708001/

I do not work for the Times either.

[OzJohnnie]

SCTimes now has a substantial story:
https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/2019/12/10/scsu-st-cloud-state-football-golf-teams-eliminated-title-ix/2634708001/

I do not work for the Times either.

It's long been wondered if you work at all, to be honest.  Many suspect you now spend your days (or should I say daze) in your own personal opium den, Bobbie, sucking on a hookah and drinking homemade hooch.

That or teaching.  It's a close call.

[Retired Old Rat]

https://www.inforum.com/sports/football/4816110-Report-St.-Cloud-State-planning-to-drop-football

Wow!!

UM Crookston as well......

Hmm ... if it's not in the S.C. Times how can it be true? 

Scooped by the Fargo Farm.

The one reporter remaining at the Times was busy covering a car accident in Sartell.

Sad. I bought a digital subscription this fall, but dropped it a week or so ago. When I called to cancel, I was offered a $6.99 rate, then a $5.99 rate and then ("I'm not supposed to do this") $4.99 rate. I'd love to support them, but with that sparse SJU coverage and the shrinking high school range, there's not much of interest.

The staff list shows 11 folks in the newsroom. Wonder what it was during the Auggie/Reusse days ...

I canceled last week as well. With Frank on staff the SJU coverage beats what the Times has been offering.

[TheChucker]

SCTimes now has a substantial story:
https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/2019/12/10/scsu-st-cloud-state-football-golf-teams-eliminated-title-ix/2634708001/

I do not work for the Times either.

This article peaked my curiosity on fan attendance at St. Cloud and the NSIC in general. St. Cloud, UMD and Mankato all got about 3,000 fans per game last year. Augustana led the NSIC with 3,800. St. Johns, Bethel and Concordia all exceeded any NSIC team in attendance. A little surprising that St. Thomas was only at 2,600.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2018.pdf

edit add to the above: the article claims St. Cloud only attracted about 1,000 fans per game which is a lot lower than NCAA data.

[jamtod]

SCTimes now has a substantial story:
https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/2019/12/10/scsu-st-cloud-state-football-golf-teams-eliminated-title-ix/2634708001/

I do not work for the Times either.

This article peaked my curiosity on fan attendance at St. Cloud and the NSIC in general. St. Cloud, UMD and Mankato all got about 3,000 fans per game last year. Augustana led the NSIC with 3,800. St. Johns, Bethel and Concordia all exceeded any NSIC team in attendance. A little surprising that St. Thomas was only at 2,600.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2018.pdf

Not sure why you'd be that surprised about St Thomas. Home attendance is not our biggest strength and work will need to be done on that with the move to D1/FCS. Of note is that we played all of our toughest games in 2018 on the road. @ SJU, @ Bethel, @ Gustavus, @ Concordia.

I'm trying to remember what homecoming was and what the weather was like. It may have been raining again that day which kept that attendance down also.

[jamtod]

SCTimes now has a substantial story:
https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/2019/12/10/scsu-st-cloud-state-football-golf-teams-eliminated-title-ix/2634708001/

I do not work for the Times either.

This article peaked my curiosity on fan attendance at St. Cloud and the NSIC in general. St. Cloud, UMD and Mankato all got about 3,000 fans per game last year. Augustana led the NSIC with 3,800. St. Johns, Bethel and Concordia all exceeded any NSIC team in attendance. A little surprising that St. Thomas was only at 2,600.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2018.pdf

These per game stats also unfairly work against SJU because of the playoff games which drag down per game attendance, especially if you are home the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I suspect excluding the playoff games would have SJU in their beloved #1 attendance spot.

[TheChucker]

SCTimes now has a substantial story:
https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/2019/12/10/scsu-st-cloud-state-football-golf-teams-eliminated-title-ix/2634708001/

I do not work for the Times either.

This article peaked my curiosity on fan attendance at St. Cloud and the NSIC in general. St. Cloud, UMD and Mankato all got about 3,000 fans per game last year. Augustana led the NSIC with 3,800. St. Johns, Bethel and Concordia all exceeded any NSIC team in attendance. A little surprising that St. Thomas was only at 2,600.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2018.pdf

These per game stats also unfairly work against SJU because of the playoff games which drag down per game attendance, especially if you are home the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I suspect excluding the playoff games would have SJU in their beloved #1 attendance spot.

Yeah. USJ cleaned up in total fans by a wide margin at 47,000 in attendance.

[DuffMan]

I perceived a drop in attendance at SJU this year.  Granted, the weather was a suck bomb for the first half of the year and playoffs are always a bit sparse, but it just seemed like we didn't draw very well this season.

[faunch]

SCTimes now has a substantial story:
https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/2019/12/10/scsu-st-cloud-state-football-golf-teams-eliminated-title-ix/2634708001/

I do not work for the Times either.

This article peaked my curiosity on fan attendance at St. Cloud and the NSIC in general. St. Cloud, UMD and Mankato all got about 3,000 fans per game last year. Augustana led the NSIC with 3,800. St. Johns, Bethel and Concordia all exceeded any NSIC team in attendance. A little surprising that St. Thomas was only at 2,600.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2018.pdf

Not sure why you'd be that surprised about St Thomas. Home attendance is not our biggest strength and work will need to be done on that with the move to D1/FCS. Of note is that we played all of our toughest games in 2018 on the road. @ SJU, @ Bethel, @ Gustavus, @ Concordia.

I'm trying to remember what homecoming was and what the weather was like. It may have been raining again that day which kept that attendance down also.

If U$T plays in the Pioneer League their attendance numbers will tank however if they eventually makes it into the Missouri Valley those numbers will bump upward played the Dakotas.

[Retired Old Rat]

I perceived a drop in attendance at SJU this year.  Granted, the weather was a suck bomb for the first half of the year and playoffs are always a bit sparse, but it just seemed like we didn't draw very well this season.

Agreed. Weather was less than ideal for a majority of games.  There were a lot of empty seats in reserved seating, student attendance was pathetic.

Tommies will show high attendance this year thanks to 15,000 Johnnie fans at Allianz.

[MUC57]

Duffman

Check your PM. Thanks. 

[OzJohnnie]

I perceived a drop in attendance at SJU this year.  Granted, the weather was a suck bomb for the first half of the year and playoffs are always a bit sparse, but it just seemed like we didn't draw very well this season.

I've been wondering, Duff, about Johnnie community participation.  One thing in Australia that I found interesting and different from back home is that the AFL teams are heavy on the community outreach.  Every year or two our girls had AFL players from one team or another dropping by the primary school to take questions and do a quick handballing clinic.  It revs up the kids and gets them to nag their parents to go to a game.

It could be an effective community outreach program for the Jays to do similar.  And could help attract more local families (a staple of the Johnnie fan base) to the games.  Imagine Barch in a room full of second graders.  He could eat half of them before taking a breath.

[jamtod]

SCTimes now has a substantial story:
https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/2019/12/10/scsu-st-cloud-state-football-golf-teams-eliminated-title-ix/2634708001/

I do not work for the Times either.

This article peaked my curiosity on fan attendance at St. Cloud and the NSIC in general. St. Cloud, UMD and Mankato all got about 3,000 fans per game last year. Augustana led the NSIC with 3,800. St. Johns, Bethel and Concordia all exceeded any NSIC team in attendance. A little surprising that St. Thomas was only at 2,600.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2018.pdf

Not sure why you'd be that surprised about St Thomas. Home attendance is not our biggest strength and work will need to be done on that with the move to D1/FCS. Of note is that we played all of our toughest games in 2018 on the road. @ SJU, @ Bethel, @ Gustavus, @ Concordia.

I'm trying to remember what homecoming was and what the weather was like. It may have been raining again that day which kept that attendance down also.

If U$T plays in the Pioneer League their attendance numbers will tank however if they eventually makes it into the Missouri Valley those numbers will bump upward played the Dakotas.

That's going to be a big challenge and Esten has talked about efforts to boost student and alumni participation. On the other hand, our current attendance numbers (in the top half of the MIAC which has generally solid attendance relative to D3) aren't too far out of line with other Pioneer League teams and as non-scholarship (for now) it's not going to be expected to be a huge revenue sport for now.

[OzJohnnie]

On the school visits, this is my favourite of all time.  Cyril Riolli, an absolute legend of the game, visited a school to do a little Q&A and give one student his membership pack.  The reaction to Johnnies in the local primary schools may not be like the one Cyril got, but I reckon a few of us here may be a little teary if Erdmann showed up at work to give us an SJU scarf.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3krpPPof9w

[jamtod]

This 2018 attendance data is interesting to look through though. For all the crap UST (deservedly) gets for attendance and support struggles (those of us that are dedicated to the program are the first to be frustrated about it and the s***-show that can be the drunken student sections for Tommie-Johnnie), UST support is actually pretty solid in the big picture.
Considering the lack of big home games in 2018, attendance of 2,634 was still well above:

* Mount Union (2,281 probably impacted by the playoff run though and I assume they played @ JCU which averaged 2,878)
* Wheaton (2,057)
* North Central (2,140)
* UW-Oshkosh (1,555)
* UW-LaCrosse (2,253)
* Frostburg St (1,721 just before moving to D2)
* Ithaca (1,750 - Cortaca was @ Cortland)
* Linfield (2,376)
* Wartburg (2,173)

Of course, UST is positioned in the metro and has a much larger alumni base than most of these schools, which just tells me there is still a ton of untapped potential in the D1/FCS move.