Good year with attendence
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TheTruth said:
Perhaps to a point, but we also do not want to be NIU where their stadium holds 22K and it looked like they had about 1000 in the stands last night.. Could we sell 15000 plus on Parents Weekend or Homecoming??? If so, then maybe expanding should be considered..
fourthandshort
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Jon99 said:
our avg home attendance this year is 9,242 .. where did you get your number ?
fourthandshort
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TheTruth said:
JMU is the standard now ?
Don't they have the highest student fee subsidy % of athletic budgets by far in all of FCS ?
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fourthandshort said:
You are correct, someone text me that number and I went with it... Still a decent number, if we can average close to 5000 for basketball should put our budget in solid shape with enrollment increasing slightly..
Virginia Redbird
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fourthandshort said:
I don't think anyone but NDSU is the standard for FCS...still JMU has had more success recently than the Redbirds (one could argue, without doubt, substantially more success the past couple of years) and they have improved their facilities. Their horseshoe type stadium holds 24,877 and the record attendance was 26,069 (Oct. 24, 2015 vs. Richmond). The Plecker Athletic Center is home base for the JMU football program. Read the history of the center in the link ... http://www.jmusports.com/facilities/robert-frances-plecker-athletic-performance-center/26
Their indoor facility was completed in 2018. Supports all sports but obviously a big benefit to the football program ... http://www.jmusports.com/facilities/jmu-athletics-training-center-at-sentara-park/30 All are good recruiting tools.
Marshall is currently part of Conference USA in the FBS (the group of 5). I know they were FCS (1-AA) at one time but that was quite a long time ago now. Not really relevant to today's discussion I think.
Hancock stadium holds 13,391 according to a website (goredbirds.com did not even list the capacity! Good PR stuff folks!) I only searched for a short time but I could not find the highest attendance for Hancock. I did find this little blurb, "The first football game at Hancock was played Sept. 21, 1963, against Millikin. ISNU won 12-7, and at the time it was the largest ISNU crowd (7,500) to see an athletics event to date." So they had 7500 fans in Hancock in 1963. Granted a new stadium but still close to 8000 people showed up in 1963!
I am planning on attending JMUs first playoff game. I am still a Redbird but frankly, ISU would benefit from following some of their lead...indoor facility for one. JMU really only need it for rain. ISU is in a much more severe weather area. Ridiculous they do not have an indoor facility or at least a bubble already. IMHO. JMU has a really solid program that they support and they do play some very good football outside the MVFC.
The JMU stadium is really pretty sweet....take a look
http://www.jmusports.com/facilities/bridgeforth-stadium-zane-showker-field/1
fourthandshort
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Am I Larry Lyons ? Yeah ok, busted .. you got me.TheTruth said:
Then why bring up JMU, unless you are proposing we make students pay thru the nose for nearly everything to help you look like a bigger fish in a small pond. Maybe you should nest compare us to NDSU .. that would be an equally rediculous comparison for different reasons. I don't know enough about Marshall ... but throwing JMU name out there as an example doesn't make any sense. No one is proposing ISUr do what they do to look like a big time program .. that is, make students pay for everything.
Virginia Redbird said:
It's still relevant because the premise remains the same. When Marshall built their stadium in '91 they were no great force in 1-AA. Suddenly they have far and away the best on campus facilities in 1-AA, becoming the dominant program in the subdivision.
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TheTruth said:
I see your point Truth. I was thinking of the difference in early '90s dollars and today. What Marshall did back then was impressive but the college football landscape is so very much different now than it was back then. I still don't see it as a relevant comparison but it is okay to agree to disagree on it. I think we both agree the ISU is not really in the facilities race. That may be a good decision fiscally. Outside my area of expertise for sure!
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in Redbird nation!
TheTruth said:
Marshall played in the 1-AA Championship game in '87 and made it to the playoff quarterfinals in'88. That's when the new stadium planning really got underway. Marshall fans did a great job of supporting the team at the 1-AA level leading to even greater success.
Total Red said:
Agreed, they weren't the 1-AA juggernaut they were until after the facilities came about. Illinois State made it to the championship game in 2015 and Larry's still sitting around with his thumb up his arse waiting for that pension. Marshall's administration had vision, Illinois State's? ..... not so much.
redbirds2000
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They also hosted the 1-AA Naty for 5 years after it was built.Total Red said:
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TIMMY
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I've never understood why anyone outside of current students (OK and their parents) give a rip about student fees. We all had the choice of paying them or not. There are a lot of schools out there. It's kind of like caring about the Cubs payroll. Why would I? I think the Ricketts family will get by.
JMU apparently has no problem attracting students willing to pay to attend. And they've got some kick ass facilities to show for it. Good for them.
JMU apparently has no problem attracting students willing to pay to attend. And they've got some kick ass facilities to show for it. Good for them.
I agree with Timmy on the fees part - as long as it is disclosed up front, and it is - there is no argument. Do not like it - find another school, most likely at a lower level of sports. Your choice.
What I would like to see - what is the breakdown of money spent - on the revenue sports versus the non-revenue sports for ISU. The overwhelming majority of funding should be on the revenue generating sports. Otherwise, there is a problem with priorities and how revenue is generated.
What I would like to see - what is the breakdown of money spent - on the revenue sports versus the non-revenue sports for ISU. The overwhelming majority of funding should be on the revenue generating sports. Otherwise, there is a problem with priorities and how revenue is generated.
fourthandshort
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TheTruth said:
Definitely agree with that aspect ... AD Lyons is not looking to do anything bold .. he prefers safe and within budget today. But I think the next step is the IPF he promised in the Redbird Rising Campaign Video. He said IPF was the #1 athletics priority, which was supposed to come from the 150m once it was reached ... well, we reached it and suddenly it was not part of the plan anymore ... sure as hell wasn't #1 like he said in the promo video.
fourthandshort
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TIMMY said:
I think it's a slippery slope to assume students should pay to do big things for the football program. That should come from people with means who want to and can afford to support thru big donations .. alumni, community, big businesses, etc. This is where AD Lyons has fallen short .. Ive heard stories about things he's done to turn off the donor base .. promises not kept stuff. In the end, you have to want to and know how to ASK FOR MONEY, and know the value of keeping your promises.