lets drop baseball and add hockey

[skolbrother]

http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/...&seasonid=5967

I can't find our stats but the season high was 4200. Some games were 2200. Average was probably around 3k. That's with an average to below average team in a crap BSA.

I can tell you I've been to more Force and Redhawks games than Bison Basketball and Baseball. Of course I haven't missed a football game in 10 years. I will go see more basketball games when the new BSA is done.

I had no desire to see the Force but my family wanted to go so I went and I've actually become a fan of the team. I know some friends that skip football games to see the Force. They are also big club hockey fans.

Its crazyhow the force built a tradition in 3 years without a history or fan base. You see NDSU and UND stuff at the games. NDSU has a legit fan base and a little history with club hockey. The arena is a big part of it. Its a very well run organization and we could take some tips from them.

Great post!!!! ++++++ Rational!

You basically described my viewing tendency.

The Force, while getting off to a "strange" start have done a ton right.

You just became my bisonville bff.

[NorthernBison]

Forget the budget and Title IX issues and concentrate on just the question of attendance.

If you are a Force fan who says NDSU Hockey could draw, will you now suddenly increase your hockey attendance 100% and go to both?

If not, then either NDSU hockey will fail to gain a following or the Force will suffer.

Or maybe the fan suppport for NDSU hockey will come from the people who are now attending basketball games at the BSA. So basketball attendance will suffer and you're advocating hockey at the expense of basketball. (actually there is an excellent example of that in the region already)

Somebody has to lose in this whole discussion because neither the BSA or Scheels Arena sell out consistently.

BTW, have you seen the initial attendance figures for MLB? Teams are setting records for empty seats. This might be the future for plenty of sporting events.

[344Johnson]

Ok, how about this. If the bigtime NDSU hockey supporters can provide numbers than indicate that we can be both competitive and be financially well off.

I do not want us sacrificing anything from basketball or especially football. If we can pull out the funding somehow that'd be fantastic. Would we share the forces arena or what?

[roadwarrior]

Where would these NDSU hockey teams (mens and womens) practice?

[EndZoneQB]

Where would these NDSU hockey teams (mens and womens) practice?

The Coliseum!

[HerdBot]

Forget the budget and Title IX issues and concentrate on just the question of attendance.

If you are a Force fan who says NDSU Hockey could draw, will you now suddenly increase your hockey attendance 100% and go to both?

If not, then either NDSU hockey will fail to gain a following or the Force will suffer.

Or maybe the fan suppport for NDSU hockey will come from the people who are now attending basketball games at the BSA. So basketball attendance will suffer and you're advocating hockey at the expense of basketball. (actually there is an excellent example of that in the region already)

Somebody has to lose in this whole discussion because neither the BSA or Scheels Arena sell out consistently.

BTW, have you seen the initial attendance figures for MLB? Teams are setting records for empty seats. This might be the future for plenty of sporting events.

Since D1 Hockey is a much higher level of play we would hurt the Force. Guarantee it. But basketball is underperforming. There were years we averaged 8k fans as a D2 team so the potential is there. I think hockey is a different market. If it's done right we could sell out the BSA, Scheels Center, and Fargodome. The Force are doing well because they are the only option.

[HerdBot]

Where's the money gonna come from for that? NDSU can't even finish the SHAC financially.

Were only 2 million away and we would have been there hadn't we put in a new practice field, video boards, and built new Bison offices. The money is there we can start focusing on it once the shac is done.

The best part is we don't need a hockey facility. Plus the Scheels center is adding practice facilities.

[Facts]

Since D1 Hockey is a much higher level of play we would hurt the Force. Guarantee it. But basketball is underperforming. There were years we averaged 8k fans as a D2 team so the potential is there. I think hockey is a different market. If it's done right we could sell out the BSA, Scheels Center, and Fargodome. The Force are doing well because they are the only option.

That's not entirely objective...
I'll way in on all this later, I'm sure BV can't wait.

[lakesbison]

like i said, I cant GIVE AWAY 4 force tickets at center ice . ive had them 4 times. no one even wanted them.
last game i was at there, they said 3,400, and I laughed, no way over 2000/game.

ndsu basketball says 3400, i see 3400, thats with a 7th place team in a dump of an arena.

put NDSU basketball in the UPCENTER with a court and watch that fill 5000+, with beer sales, try sold out!

[NorthernBison]

Just a quick comment. No way did we ever average anything close to 8,000 for BB in DII. Must have been the same people counting as those who figured out the Dacotah Field attendance. I think they counted feet and forgot to divide by 2.