IHSA football finals in 2022??

[Jon99]

IHSA contract with UICU/NIU ends after the 2021 season and lot of talking about the games moving back to ISU in 2022.. seems logical, gets a lot of high school kids on our campus.. thoughts?

 

[fourthandshort]

I think seeing a bunch of HS playoff games played at Hancock on TV with the huge and eaasily recognized Redbird logo at midfield being displayed for all to see .... is probably a good idea. Not sure how the economics work, but it would be great for recruitment of those players and branding to have our field advertised like that. Our Redbird logo really helps our brand, way more than U of I and their generic looking "I" ... and the stadium is finally something to be really proud of ... new east side, new turf, new scoreboard.

Do it if economics make any sense whatsoever.

 

[cpacmel]

Doesn’t IHSA State Finals weekend fall on the same weekend as round 1 of the FCS play-offs?

That seems like the biggest dilemma .

 

[TIMMY]

Mel is correct. The IHSA Finals are the same date as the first round of the FCS playoffs. We lost the IHSA Finals over this in the first place.

Personally I think the boost in recruiting is more important than the off chance we would host one of the 8 FCS first round games. But I remember a lot of whining over our not having Hancock available back in the day.

 

[Reggie Redbird]

U of I will have every other Thanksgiving weekend off. It likely doesn’t matter to them if they don’t make money on the deal if it is more a recruiting expense for them.

I say we go to hold it but let’s not lose our shirts on it like the deal NIU gave them before. I believe the NIU admins who made that call were quickly out of it.

Schools south of us have to be supportive of this. I think that was part of the problem before is they were not overwhelmingly supportive of it.

A lot of ISU connections with the IHSA; we need to hit those up. The same with the BNCVB getting involved in getting a successful bid put together.

One last point: when is the last time we hosted an opening round game? Wasn’t it during the Berry tenure and then never again? We always seem to either get a bye or go on the road (UCA).

 

[Jon99]

U of I will have every other Thanksgiving weekend off. It likely doesn’t matter to them if they don’t make money on the deal if it is more a recruiting expense for them.

I say we go to hold it but let’s not lose our shirts on it like the deal NIU gave them before. I believe the NIU admins who made that call were quickly out of it.

Schools south of us have to be supportive of this. I think that was part of the problem before is they were not overwhelmingly supportive of it.

A lot of ISU connections with the IHSA; we need to hit those up. The same with the BNCVB getting involved in getting a successful bid put together.

One last point: when is the last time we hosted an opening round game? Wasn’t it during the Berry tenure and then never again? We always seem to either get a bye or go on the road (UCA).

But from what I have heard, the IHSA would like one site to host every year, plus some feel that U of I is too big and a smaller venue would be a better fit for their 8 games. To me, to get between 75k-100K people onto campus and into town on a weekend is a plus plus. We have a university thats on a big uptick, lets showcase it for even more people!

 

[fourthandshort]

Considering all the above points, I would trade chance to host a 1st round playoff game ... what, once every 5 or 6 years ... for the chance to have all those IL HS football player, coaches, families, and fans flow thru Hancock and Normal and people's TVs every fall n a nano second .. assuming the economics work at all. Even if the net cost is a short term loss. The long term benefit would be way more for the football program, even all other sports, and especially the school and town .. this is win, win, win, win proposition ... even if it loses money in short term.

 

[TIMMY]

Back in the day, when one of the schools had to sit om the old McCormick bleachers Hancock lacked a little something, something. It would be pretty cool to have those games played their now. Memorial Stadium looks 2/3 empty because it is. They should get this back to ISU for so many reasons stated above.

 

[ChiRedbirdfan]

Considering all the above points, I would trade chance to host a 1st round playoff game ... what, once every 5 or 6 years ... for the chance to have all those IL HS football player, coaches, families, and fans flow thru Hancock and Normal and people's TVs every fall n a nano second .. assuming the economics work at all. Even if the net cost is a short term loss. The long term benefit would be way more for the football program, even all other sports, and especially the school and town .. this is win, win, win, win proposition ... even if it loses money in short term.

:text-+1: hosting helps both the athletics and university side as respects to exposure and would be a nice annual event that benefits the local economy. Too bad the campus environment is literally so dead on that weekend...all students gone and uni closed as well as all campus landscaping is dead.

 

[fourthandshort]

From football recruiting standpoint, it is absolute no brainers decision. Getting all the best programs in state .. that means easy opportunity to gather all the best coaches and players in IL every fall!!!

Plus they all have families and friends who would likely come to game.

What an opportunity to show off the entire campus ... granted empty.

 

[Jon99]

Maybe even get the IPF built so the teams for the next game can warm up...

 

[StLRedbird]

In addition to the upgrade to Hancock, substantial progress has been made on uptown Normal since we last hosted. We have a lot to show off.

 

[ISUBU]

We didn't "lose" the football championships - we gave them up. In 1998, the Birds first made the FCS (I-AA) playoffs and went on the road. Up until Todd Berry was hired, there really wasn't much thought about a conflict on that weekend. But after 1998, the administration thought that home playoff games might be coming in the future, and let the IHSA go. And in fact, the Birds hosted Colgate on that weekend in 1999, while the IHSA games were played in Champaign.

With the recent creation of the first round bye, only 1/3 of the FCS playoff teams are hosting on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. Maybe it is worth the risk to try to get them back.

But this should not be solely an ISU action. This needs to be a community wide play.

 

[fourthandshort]

We would have to outbid our opponent in playin game in order to host round 1. So if we're top 8 seed, or not in playoffs, not a problem. If were a playin round team, we have to put in the higher bid. So its about a 50/50 shot to host even then.

 

[Jon99]

In addition to the upgrade to Hancock, substantial progress has been made on uptown Normal since we last hosted. We have a lot to show off.

We currently have girls volleyball and basketball, would be awesome to add the football to get more people on campus.. this weekend the Illinois State Marching Band Championships are being held at Hancock.. those are the people we want on campus, a good target of demographics. Let them see the campus, downtown Normal, Veterans and the renovated Main St area by The Edge etc...

And not trying to be a douche here, but why would any kid come here and then chose EIU, WIU, SIU or NIU over ISU??? The competition for students is going to get tougher, this is a great chance to increase exposure. With the talk of adding an engineering school now is the time to pounce.

 

[StLRedbird]

We currently have girls volleyball and basketball, would be awesome to add the football to get more people on campus.. this weekend the Illinois State Marching Band Championships are being held at Hancock.. those are the people we want on campus, a good target of demographics. Let them see the campus, downtown Normal, Veterans and the renovated Main St area by The Edge etc...

And not trying to be a douche here, but why would any kid come here and then chose EIU, WIU, SIU or NIU over ISU??? The competition for students is going to get tougher, this is a great chance to increase exposure. With the talk of adding an engineering school now is the time to pounce.

Of course, the first time we lose a road game in the first round there will be much wailing and rending of garments around here.

 

[Jon99]

We currently have girls volleyball and basketball, would be awesome to add the football to get more people on campus.. this weekend the Illinois State Marching Band Championships are being held at Hancock.. those are the people we want on campus, a good target of demographics. Let them see the campus, downtown Normal, Veterans and the renovated Main St area by The Edge etc...

And not trying to be a douche here, but why would any kid come here and then chose EIU, WIU, SIU or NIU over ISU??? The competition for students is going to get tougher, this is a great chance to increase exposure. With the talk of adding an engineering school now is the time to pounce.

Of course, the first time we lose a road game in the first round there will be much wailing and rending of garments around here.

Bump program to FBS and thats a non-issue....

 

[fourthandshort]

We currently have girls volleyball and basketball, would be awesome to add the football to get more people on campus.. this weekend the Illinois State Marching Band Championships are being held at Hancock.. those are the people we want on campus, a good target of demographics. Let them see the campus, downtown Normal, Veterans and the renovated Main St area by The Edge etc...

And not trying to be a douche here, but why would any kid come here and then chose EIU, WIU, SIU or NIU over ISU??? The competition for students is going to get tougher, this is a great chance to increase exposure. With the talk of adding an engineering school now is the time to pounce.

Of course, the first time we lose a road game in the first round there will be much wailing and rending of garments around here.

zero doubt, you are right ... but not from me.