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Post by kiyoat on Mar 3, 2017 15:17:44 GMT -6
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Post by kiyoat on Mar 3, 2017 15:19:22 GMT -6
Ask and you shall receive. Here are the average football attendance numbers by school for the MVFC over the last 11 years. Some of the data is missing due to poor links on teams' websites. I also included UND just for fun.
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Post by kiyoat on Mar 3, 2017 15:25:08 GMT -6
Feel free to draw your own conclusions based on this chart. My biggest take-away is that we desperately need to upgrade the dome's capacity if we want to keep up with the Jones's in this conference. We consistently fill our Dome 80%-90% capacity, but there is no room for the "big games" to expand our numbers. And that costs us $ each year.
Also, I was surprised at Missouri State and Southern Ill. In the early part of the year, they clear 10k to 14k fans, then when BB starts it goes way down.
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Post by Coyote Fan on Mar 3, 2017 16:51:22 GMT -6
I don't believe I ever remember USD turning away fans for a football game but maybe I am wrong.
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Post by kiyoat on Mar 3, 2017 17:49:32 GMT -6
I don't believe I ever remember USD turning away fans for a football game but maybe I am wrong. This year UNI and NDSU were sellouts. Last year we sold out YSU and SDSU. Hard to say if we could have had more, but I think it's clear that we have outgrown the current capacity. (smallest in the league)
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Post by usdtator on Apr 30, 2017 21:59:42 GMT -6
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Post by easmus on May 1, 2017 19:38:08 GMT -6
My hope is that we can get to a point where we are able to sell more seats on a consistent basis before the expansion. I fear we will be outnumbered in our own stadium at times after they add capacity. Winning would help, but it won't happen overnight considering the size of Vermillion.
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Post by Coyote Fan on May 1, 2017 22:47:44 GMT -6
The fan base isn't to the point of quite selling out the dome yet. It is close but I don't believe it has been a true sell out for multiple decades if at all. The expansion is not yet needed for additional seating capacity but more so at this point for just having a nicer facility to play football in. I think the dome is just fine for football as it is. The expansion is more of a luxury at this point. The basketball programs having their new facility was pretty much out of necessity. It is very unlikely that South Dakota will be out numbered by any opposing teams fans. Even NDSU fans as good as they are do not fill up half the Dakota Dome when they come to town.
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Post by kiyoat on May 2, 2017 7:09:48 GMT -6
The fan base isn't to the point of quite selling out the dome yet. It is close but I don't believe it has been a true sell out for multiple decades if at all. So what is your definition of a "true" sellout? The stated capacity of the Dome is 10,000 and we have had a couple of games each year exceed that number in the official count. I realize that not every season ticket holder shows up for every game, but the seat is still a sold ticket, and counts. Just like at every other university in the country. we have had the Dome consistently at 80% to 90% full when our teams are average-to-poor. What do you think will happen when we have a winning team? Football drives the bus in terms of Athletic Department revenue. IMO improving and expanding the dome isn't a luxury.
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Post by Yote 53 on May 2, 2017 7:46:33 GMT -6
Football is poised to pop. It's going to get real big, real soon. The Dome is going to be a madhouse. Not only that but we need to upgrade the facility for what is going to be coming down the pipe the next couple of years. We're probably looking at a re-shuffling of P5, FBS, FCS football and USD needs to have the facilities to be in a position to move to the second level of football when the dust settles. We'll probably need a venue that holds 15,000 minimum in order to do that. A Dome renovation that includes a grandstand on the west side would boost capacity to the 16,000 - 17,000 range. It's going to be needed.
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Post by yote14 on May 2, 2017 8:32:56 GMT -6
Its a must do ASAP.
I agree coyotefan we may not sell out the 16k or 17k seats but either are other schools that made big stadium renovations and seating capacity upgrades. Having seating on both sides turns the Dome from a DII football stadium to an FCS one.
I think you would have more people interested in season tickets long term simply from having more prime seats on the 40 and 50 yard lines too. Not many schools can afford to build a dome in FCS football. That alone is a recruiting tool. Add the seating capacity, new locker rooms, and other renovations and it really talks to recruits more than it already does.
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Post by gopheryote on May 2, 2017 12:25:33 GMT -6
I trust Herbster & Abbott are smart enough to know you don't wait until there are no seats left to look at expansion/updates. It seems the harder thing to do is evaluate the direction of the tiers of FB schools and FB popularity itself. No one wants to build big at the peak.
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Post by Coyote Fan on May 2, 2017 15:58:21 GMT -6
I have no problem adding the extra seats as I am sure going forward there may be some games that would draw more then the current dome will hold but that is far from a guarantee. In 2005 many would have said that attendance would sky rocket and it actually just stayed where it was over 8K but under 9k on average and it didn't seem to matter if the team was winning or losing. Basketball attendance did not really spike when the men's team started winning and that was despite a new arena. Who knows where the attendance will go for football. In the coming years the program may be better but fans may elect to stay home and watch on video or maybe just do something else all together. Me personally if the team is putting a competitive product out there I will probably not miss many games in person but I don't know if the common fan will follow that notion.
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Post by easmus on May 2, 2017 20:12:49 GMT -6
Increased capacity is definitely something needed in case we ever have to worry about conference change and meeting a minimum.
Attendance is just always going to be hard in a town the size of Vermillion. You aren't going to draw many casual fans out of surrounding large communities unless they have a tie somehow to a team. I've heard Matt Zimmer even say SDSU was hoping to draw casual fans out of SF market to Brookings and he didn't think that had been successful for them. So it has to come from engaging alumni and students to stay active post-graduation.
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Post by kiyoat on May 3, 2017 7:21:40 GMT -6
I think the phased plan they have now is a good model. Capacity will be increased moderately in phase 1, along with switching to permanent seating on the west side. Its not until phase 3 that they would think about adding an upper tier to the west seating, and by that time they will probably have a better idea IF that would be prudent. Maybe phase 3 doesn't happen, or changes course as far as a capacity goal. volanteonline.com/2017/02/plans-30-million-renovation-dakotadome-works/from the article (edited for length):
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