McFeely's DRIVE FOR FIVE at Upcoming UND/BISON Matchup

[unbison]

In the email, I mentioned that when you have lost the student section, you have lost almost everything. To me, that would be the first priority. College athletics is nothing without student participation.

This is on Matt and his staff people will sponsor a fun night for these kids get out there Matt and staff and work
You guys have not even worked hard enough keep football attendance up
Laziness is not accepted in a North Dakota full of hard working people
You do not belong ML
please find yourself another job

[AlumniGreen]

In today's Forum - Monday - there is another article by McFeely on the DRIVE FOR FIVE matchup. I could not read it but a quick glance showed that a reader had sent in some ideas for increasing fan turnout. For those who can read the Forum, please do so.

[garbageman]

In today's Forum - Monday - there is another article by McFeely on the DRIVE FOR FIVE matchup. I could not read it but a quick glance showed that a reader had sent in some ideas for increasing fan turnout. For those who can read the Forum, please do so.

The writer had a lot of great ideas but I bet the A D and his staff cant read

[kab1one]

In today's Forum - Monday - there is another article by McFeely on the DRIVE FOR FIVE matchup. I could not read it but a quick glance showed that a reader had sent in some ideas for increasing fan turnout. For those who can read the Forum, please do so.

Music selection

The arena should not be afraid to play "football" or "hockey" music.

Phog Allen Fieldhouse at Kansas plays rock and throwback songs all game long. Breslin Center at Michigan State plays pump-up "hockey" music at every critical aspect of a game.

UND even plays more engaging music.

During the 2/8/24 game against Kansas City, the game was tied with 30 seconds left and a mid-2000s pop song was played. Why not take that opportunity to play some music you typically play at a football game?

Just stick to the basics. Music doesn't need to be cutting edge, there are songs that have energized crowds for decades. Why fix what isn't broken?

Show replays on the big screens


There is no bigger kill to the games than when the refs are reviewing a key play, and the crowd just has to sit there and wait.

We show replays at football games, SDSU shows replays at basketball games, multiple teams in the Summit League do.

Showing replays allows fans to engage in the game. Why keep fans in the dark on critical calls? So what if fans boo a call? You let 18,000 do it across the street for football

Cut the pregame video

Play that video when the team runs out or something. Standing around for 90 seconds and watching a video kills any mood in the arena.

In the mid-2000s they would just bang on a drum for 5 minutes and people were more engaged. Not saying go back to that, but send someone to a few other D1 games, you'll find multiple better ways to do lineups.

Some less subtle changes:

Move the student section


I understand the point is to sell tickets and maximize every dollar. Wouldn't more people attend the games if there was an engaged and excitable student section?

The rundown, ancient BSA sold 5,000+ tickets to "average games."

Would you rather sell 2,000 tickets or sell 3,000-4,000 tickets by coughing up some of the "higher priced" seats?

So what if your ticket margins take a hit? The point should be trying to increase overall revenue, the margins elsewhere would more than cover the loss.

Engage campus more

Offer a $500 donation to a student/Greek life organization that gets the most members to a game. The organizations on campus account for thousands of students.

Have some coaches or players go to student organization meetings and sell the program.

Give every student at the game a $20 gift card to Herd and Horns if the team wins.


Engage local prep

Give discounted tickets to local high school teams.

Play more local high school games in the arena, get locals excited.

Do a game where every seat in the house is $5.

It's OK to experiment and try new things, the athletic department will survive.

In conclusion, I could go on for another 10 bullet points, but I think the point has been made. I will always remain committed to supporting NDSU basketball and envisioning a future where the game day experience gives the program more leverage to being a quality mid-major seed in the NCAA tournament again.

I understand basketball games are different than football, but why can't we lean on game day aspects that we know work? The "basics" work, there is no reason to be cutting edge in gameday experiences. Let people be a part of the games, stop giving them reasons to disconnect throughout.

Just make it easier to have fun. That's what it should be about.

[southcliffbison]

The writer had a lot of great ideas but I bet the A D and his staff cant read

I was thinking of driving up from SF to attend the NDSU/undie basketball doubleheader. Haven't been to a basketball game at Fargo in a long time; maybe drag some grandkids and friends along, help McFooley out with his Drive for Five. Charging for the women's game, then clearing everyone out, then charging again for the men's game is really turning me off. The admin should be trying to get people who have to drive a couple of hundred miles to want to continue to drive a couple of hundred miles to attend games. What the hell, Matt LarsOn, you suck........please leave!!!! Screw it; not going.

[BISONBRI53]

Agree with all of this... EVERYTHING needs a re-fresh... Football is stale as shit. Same videos, songs, etc. Same pre game. The Gold Star only knows 5-6 songs... Haven't been to a BB game yet this year but I bet they are boring as fuck like last year.

[Mr. Burgundy]

Wait, I feel like I am fairly well connected, but we are double charging on that date? They are clearing the arena? Has there been a reason that I am not aware of that makes sense? Because at first glance this is tragic.

UND just had a great event. Old school double header. Both games had drama. We have a lay up opportunity here. Can we please do something to help these teams out? They deserve it. Honestly shocked.

Do we even do replays?

[runtheoption]

Wait, I feel like I am fairly well connected, but we are double charging on that date? They are clearing the arena? Has there been a reason that I am not aware of that makes sense? Because at first glance this is tragic.

UND just had a great event. Old school double header. Both games had drama. We have a lay up opportunity here. Can we please do something to help these teams out? They deserve it. Honestly shocked.

Do we even do replays?

I will answer your questions in order.

Yes. Yes. No. Yes, but Matt Larson needs to fix it. No.

[garbageman]

One of the best articles for Mcfeelhimself to bad someone had to write it for him

[AlumniGreen]

So many good ideas were listed. Thanks for posting them. I had been thinking some and I would echo that having contests to increase fans is good. Greek, dorms, and other student organizations to see who can get the most out to the game. Make it fun. Try different things. If it does not work, try something else. We need peppy stuff. When there are time-outs or ref review stuff, maybe some short song from the band. Try anything and see if it makes a difference.

Mr. Burgundy, I am going to purchase tickets tomorrow (old school, I am physically going to SHAC to get them) and I am under the impression that we pay separately for the WBB and separately for the MBB. I will see, however.

Hubby is not a Bison. He is actually a Dragon alum, but he is still "pumped" to see the Bison play. I am even getting him outfitted in my gender-neutral Bison gear!