Some good points made in this thread. No, the university/athletic dept did not do a good job in communicating that the IPF was not included under the $150m goal figure. Also, while the academic depts surpassed their fundraising goals, the same cannot be said (surprise, surprise) of the athletic dept. Long story short, none of this gives any objective person a lot of faith in Illinois State’s athletic director.
"Indoor Facility ... #1 priority" ... AD Larry Lyons
- Thread starter fourthandshort
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Being a split alumni family - UofI/ISU, we have been moving more and more toward ISU activities and contributions over the last decade. Unfortunately, this past ISU year has left a tremendously bad taste, not from the teams performance but instead from what feels like a lack of concern for fans by the athletic dept. It felt like bait and switch on the IPF to us, whether one thing or another was said or meant is irrelevant, it’s about communication and what impression was left with donors.
The changes in Redbird Arena meant that many of us who had sat with others for a large number of years were required to move. While we have better seats, we learned right before the season started of the floor access restriction from donor rooms at Redbird requiring individuals who’d just selected seats based upon convenience of access, etc. to trudge up and down stairs. Not a word of this mentioned during seat selection the past summer. We don’t even go to Donor Rooms anymore.
And the Athletic Dept decision to have all spaces reserved in donor lots for football tailgating. No mention of the restriction until tickets were sent out. This has had a negative impact on those fans that have worked hard to bring a college football atmosphere to Hancock and generate additional attendance; we were told it was due to complaints by those with reserved spots on the perimeter that they couldn’t get to their parking spots right before the game - then ISU sold public parking in the donor lots for the last game??
We only ended up buying extra football tickets for guests for one time and so far once for basketball this year. Why? because the athletic department has made it more difficult to provide social activity that brings new people to games. Not everyone is a die hard ISU football or basketball fan, but the social experience of the donor rooms and tailgating provided a great opportunity to introduce prospective fans to the product.
It’s not about one thing like the IPF, but the lack of Athletic Dept. communication at these multiple levels means that more of our dollars and game attendance will be headed down I-74 next year. Hope this trend doesn’t continue.
The changes in Redbird Arena meant that many of us who had sat with others for a large number of years were required to move. While we have better seats, we learned right before the season started of the floor access restriction from donor rooms at Redbird requiring individuals who’d just selected seats based upon convenience of access, etc. to trudge up and down stairs. Not a word of this mentioned during seat selection the past summer. We don’t even go to Donor Rooms anymore.
And the Athletic Dept decision to have all spaces reserved in donor lots for football tailgating. No mention of the restriction until tickets were sent out. This has had a negative impact on those fans that have worked hard to bring a college football atmosphere to Hancock and generate additional attendance; we were told it was due to complaints by those with reserved spots on the perimeter that they couldn’t get to their parking spots right before the game - then ISU sold public parking in the donor lots for the last game??
We only ended up buying extra football tickets for guests for one time and so far once for basketball this year. Why? because the athletic department has made it more difficult to provide social activity that brings new people to games. Not everyone is a die hard ISU football or basketball fan, but the social experience of the donor rooms and tailgating provided a great opportunity to introduce prospective fans to the product.
It’s not about one thing like the IPF, but the lack of Athletic Dept. communication at these multiple levels means that more of our dollars and game attendance will be headed down I-74 next year. Hope this trend doesn’t continue.
Exactly!!! Loyl2u - I have experienced this type of odd behavior with every ISU AD - except for two. Greenspan and Zenger. Other than that - it is like they seem to think, donors and fans are annoying. Then it has been exacerbated with the current crowd trying to run Redbird Athletics - they seem to think one complaint is a reason to make wholesale changes - just nuts. Get a backbone!! Fireworks after a touchdown - gone. The unbelievable hassle over football parking last year - just bad. Heavens to Betsy in trying to bring extra people to a game - the response is close to "Why are you trying to give me a heart attack." Just does not make sense.
chuckie1980
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Appropriately Timed article...Indoor Training Facility Helps Bloomington Normal Ball Players....
https://www.pantagraph.com/business/local/indoor-training-facility-helps-bloomington-normal-ball-players/article_5c849135-1e62-5468-aeea-67e3b5fea98e.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_The_Pantagraph&fbclid=IwAR3hHmhMFHolkHUE1cArUtpNyXsfhk0Ukw2DBevWhTHFeNkwwVC_bl0-hzg
https://www.pantagraph.com/business/local/indoor-training-facility-helps-bloomington-normal-ball-players/article_5c849135-1e62-5468-aeea-67e3b5fea98e.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_The_Pantagraph&fbclid=IwAR3hHmhMFHolkHUE1cArUtpNyXsfhk0Ukw2DBevWhTHFeNkwwVC_bl0-hzg
I don't think any one says it's not needed. But this is quite a bit different in that they didn't build a facility and it has one purpose, baseball/softball. It doesn't also have track, gymnastics and football.chuckie1980 said: