Asmussen | Reduced ticket prices for football the right move
Mar. 1—CHAMPAIGN — One announced sellout crowd has happened at Memorial Stadium in the past 11 seasons, with the moment taking place at a 2016 Illinois home football game against North Carolina.
While the official box score showed a full capacity of 60,670, only 47,877 actually made it through the turnstiles to see the visiting Tar Heels win 38-23.
Mitch Trubisky threw for two scores and ran for two others. Probably helped him draw the interest of the Chicago Bears, who moved up to draft him. Oops.
Before that sellout, the last time the stands were full at the House of Grange was in 2011 against Michigan. Another Illini loss.
In fact, Illinois has dropped six in a row when Memorial Stadium was packed, and all six losses were by 10 points or more.
To find the last Illini victory when Memorial Stadium was full, you have to go back to 2008 when Ron Zook's team edged Iowa 27-24. Matt Eller nailed the winning 46-yard field goal in the final minute. If that seems like a long time ago, it is coming up on 15 years. In college athletics, that is an eternity.
As the story goes, the best way to fill your stadium is to win a lot.
For those 15 years, that didn't happened at Illinois. Three winning seasons out of 15. Not exactly the way to inspire confidence in the product.
But Bret Bielema's team turned the corner in 2022 ... on the field. Eight wins were the most since the 2008 Rose Bowl team won nine games.
Even better, Illinois was in every game. The five losses came by three, eight, seven, two and nine points. The 8-5 record could have easily been 10-3 or even 11-2.
The theory on attendance in all sports is that the bump comes the year after the breakout season. So, for Illinois football, that should be in 2023.
But the Illinois athletic department isn't taking any chances. Last week, it announced a reduction in ticket prices for 2023, including the return of the popular $99 horseshoe/East balcony season tickets. I'm not very good at math, but that is $14 per game on the seven-game home slate.
What Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman and friends have done is cut into one of the reasons for fans to skip the games. "It cost too much" won't be the case this year.
End gameBielema has the program moving in the right direction. His eight-win second season followed a surprising five wins his first year.
The consensus in the Big Ten and beyond is that Bielema is right coach for Illinois. The school rewarded him with a contract extension and a raise. He also has a generous budget for his staff.
To continue the progress, Illinois needs to fix a few problems not related to the on-field product. Attendance is high on the list.
But the program is compared to the company it keeps. The Big Ten is full of schools that routinely fill their buildings and many hold more fans than Memorial Stadium.
Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State regularly draw more than 100,000 fans. Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan State operate at near capacity, all with home fields bigger than Memorial Stadium. The only Big Ten schools to draw fewer fans than Illinois in 2022 were Northwestern and Maryland.
Home attendance and enthusiasm for the product can be an issue in recruiting. Imagine, a top player goes to a game at Ohio Stadium with 104,000 diehards screaming their lungs out. It makes a positive impression. The next week, the player visits Champaign and sees 40,000 with visible pockets of empty seats. Which place is he more likely to choose?
The goal for Bielema and Illinois is to compete on the field not only with the teams in its soon-disappearing West division but also the top of the conference, like Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State.
Recruiting is never going to be a level playing field. Some schools have advantages because of tradition, NIL support, etc. Fan enthusiasm is part of the consideration, and give Illinois credit for doing what it can to address it.
What's next?If Illinois continues to win at the 2022 level, or even better, my guess is football tickets will again become a hot item.
It has happened before at Illinois. During the Mike White era in the 1980s and for parts of John Mackovic's and Ron Zook's time in charge. Ron Turner's 2001 Big Ten champions had sellouts against Wisconsin and Penn State. Just after Zook led Illinois to the 2008 Rose Bowl, the team had four sellouts the next season.
In a perfect world, that's what Bielema and Whitman are looking for in 2023. Maybe a more realistic target is to push average attendance in the mid-50,000s with an occasional sellout. Penn State on Sept. 16 and homecoming against Wisconsin on Oct. 21 seem like logical options.
If the lower prices work, I'd suggest keeping them at that rate for at least another season. Allow the fans to feel like they are getting a good deal and increase their buy-in to the program.
Bielema never misses a chance to tell the fans how important the support is to the program. Keep that message prominent on traditional and social media.
Do the lower prices cost the school money? Technically. But a seat filled for $14 is better for the program than an empty one. Plus, that fan is going to pay to park, buy some snacks and maybe a beverage or two. It all adds up.
Ticket revenue is important to the Illinois program. But the media rights deal for the Big Ten offers a financial cushion that lessens the effect of ticket sales
Much more important for the overall health of the football program is to have the place hopping for all seven home games.
