Idaho: How will the fans respond after the transition?

[Pinnum]

While some fans are complaining about the move from FBS to the Big Sky, how do you think it will translate into attendance, once the program is settled into FCS?

What do you think the attendance will be in the 2020 or 2021 season for Idaho?

Below are the number attendance numbers for Idaho from the last five seasons.



Year

Attendance

Games


2011
….
11,980
….
6


2012
….
12,582
….
5


2013
….
14,744
….
5


2014
….
12,886
….
5


2015
….
11,652
….
6









Average
….
12,769
….
5




Note: The Kibbie Dome has a football capacity of 16,453 based on the last sell out when hosting Boise State.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Wow, I was just penning something fairly similar over in the other Idaho thread in relation to Marshall and what Idaho might expect.

Cool thread Pin.

If we look at Idaho attendance back in the former BSC days...it would look very similar to what you see there. That will not change after an initial upheaval. I would be willing to bet that their ticket revenue will actually go up in several years cuz they will be charging premium prices for the UM, MSU, and possibly EWU games.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Wouldn't there be a significant boost in attendance from Montana and Montana State games alone? Pretty sure Montana fans would travel better to Moscow than App State fans, to put it in perspective.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Wouldn't there be a significant boost in attendance from Montana and Montana State games alone? Pretty sure Montana fans would travel better to Moscow than App State fans, to put it in perspective.

I've been there several times. It's always been stuffed to the rafters. It's a couple hours further for MSU fans but they travel well and EWU and Idaho are so close that with EWU's success the last 5 years...I think attendance does very well overall for them.

[bobcathpdevil56]

I know that I am excited to make trips out to the Palouse. Great area and plus the drive takes you through Coeur D' Alene, which is always nice. I will try to make some games in Moscow.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

I know that I am excited to make trips out to the Palouse. Great area and plus the drive takes you through Coeur D' Alene, which is always nice. I will try to make some games in Moscow.

Oh I am absolutely gonna make that trip.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

I just went and looked at only 1980 which had Simon Frasier as part of the home schedule and they averaged 12,500 that year with no Montana at home (which wouldn't have been overly impressive at the time anyway) and they had MSU on the schedule and it was a packed house for that one at 15k.

In other words, even without Nevada Reno, or Boise State at home that year and including an NAIA team...they still had attendance equal to most of what they have done since.

I picked one of their worst home schedule years I could find.

[clenz]

If we look at Idaho attendance back in the former BSC days...it would look very similar to what you see there. That will not change after an initial upheaval. I would be willing to bet that their ticket revenue will actually go up in several years cuz they will be charging premium prices for the UM, MSU, and possibly EWU games.
I went with "Not sure what attendance will be but fans will be MORE INTERESTED IN THE BIG SKY RIVALRIES" because of this was my thought as I read the options.

I don't know the fans well enough to actually guess what the attendance will do, but I think those that "remain" will** find Montana, Montana State, EWU, etc... to be more interesting and more intense than any of their "FBS" rivalries.

Over time I think attendance goes up but short term - 2018-2022ish may stagnate or lower.

Having a team that plays football in a league different than all other sports I can tell you the games against teams we share olympic sports with are better in terms of fan interest than those not. Being rivals in other sports adds another layer of familiarity to the games that makes the games more special. NDSU/SDSU are "intense" but there's something about "Bear Week" for Missouri State or "Saluki Week" that NDSU/SDSU week don't match. Hell, WIU and UNI have shared a football conference for three decades but the game still feels different than MVC team games.

[Mayville Bison]

I went with "Not sure what attendance will be but fans will be MORE INTERESTED IN THE BIG SKY RIVALRIES" because of this was my thought as I read the options.

I don't know the fans well enough to actually guess what the attendance will do, but I think those that "remain" will** find Montana, Montana State, EWU, etc... to be more interesting and more intense than any of their "FBS" rivalries.

Over time I think attendance goes up but short term - 2018-2022ish may stagnate or lower.



This was the part the led me to believe attendance will be higher. You now have visitors that aren't thousands of miles away, so what attendance they may lose from UI fans, they will definitely have more visiting fans than they are used to. While it's fun to be around NDSU fans at home, it's just as much (if not more) fun to go to away games and interact with opposing fan bases.

My viewpoints may be different if/when NDSU starts losing more games as the drive home after a loss sucks!

[ursus arctos horribilis]

This was the part the led me to believe attendance will be higher. You now have visitors that aren't thousands of miles away, so what attendance they may lose from UI fans, they will definitely have more visiting fans than they are used to. While it's fun to be around NDSU fans at home, it's just as much (if not more) fun to go to away games and interact with opposing fan bases.

My viewpoints may be different if/when NDSU starts losing more games as the drive home after a loss sucks!

That is the thing not looked at here too much so far. Moscow and the surrounding area will be better off than they have in many years. If you own a bar, restaurant, or hotel, your life just got better in a few years.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Hell, if they sign a H&H with NDSU as a few BSC teams have then it got even better yet.

[Mayville Bison]

That is the thing not looked at here too much so far. Moscow and the surrounding area will be better off than they have in many years. If you own a bar, restaurant, or hotel, your life just got better in a few years.

Tell that to Brookings and maybe they will get some decent eating establishments

/mostly sarcasm cuz it's gotten a lot better since the D2 days

[kdinva]

I feel it may take 4-6 years, but by the next decade the Vandal alumni (that sounds funny) will embrace Big Sky football more than Ga. State, et al....this should work.

....and they can play @ Wazzu every 3 years for $400K or such....

[dgtw]

How far if a drive is it for Montana and MSU?


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[Grizalltheway]

How far if a drive is it for Montana and MSU?


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About 4 hours from Missoula, almost 7 from Bozeman.

Of course there's plenty of fans of both schools scattered around the Northwest.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

About 4 hours from Missoula, almost 7 from Bozeman.

Of course there's plenty of fans of both schools scattered around the Northwest.

There are a lot of Griz fans in Spokane too which is a damn close drive.

[Catbooster]

I said more. I'm not sure that it will be much more than their recent average. Visitors' attendance should be better, although it remains to be seen how the Big Sky will schedule football - possibly UM, MSU and EWU (maybe ISU but their attendance is still not real high at home) - might not play them every year and some of those will likely be away.

I'm assuming that they are competitive at that point ( I think they will be recruiting essentially from the same pool of players). If they're not winning more than they're losing, it won't be better attendance. It might take them a few more years to get the fans back.

[Laker]

Does anyone know how Idaho attendance compared before and after when it switched to the Big Sky in the other sports?

[walliver]

I picked an increase in attendance due to more visiting fans. How many SBC fans actually travelled to Idaho? There will be some drop off in home attendance. If the team wins, this will bounce back quickly. Prolonged losing would have a significant effect. After 5 years in the Big Sky, to almost all undergrads, Idaho would have always been in the Big Sky.

[Twentysix]

Initially people might be a little bitchy, but I think if you analyze them 10 years after re-entering the FCS. You will see their average attendance actually improved.

If Idaho was going to have any success in the FBS they needed to be in a conference with teams like Utah State, Wyoming, Montana, Montana State, etc.

[Catsfan90]

The fans that's are still there, should be the hardcore ones. I'm sure that they will be upset at first, but will eventually get over it. This isn't unlike hardcore fans of gaso or appstate that opposed the move up.

I actually believe that we will see a lot more new fans come in due to a more competitive chance, and regional opponents.

[Twentysix]

Not to mention Idaho was a nobody in FBS. I'm sure the new students who never attended UI when they were FBS won't even give a **** that they are FCS. I'm talking about in like 5 years from now.

[F'N Hawks]

I think they will respond similar to how they responded with the basketball move back to the Big Sky, even though it is a "drop in class". More of the same. Once teams like Montana, Montana State, Idaho State, and Eastern Washington start coming to town the interest will again be peaked and people will realize how meaningless their FBS existence was.

Idaho Men's BB Attendance
2015-16 - 1,352 (Big Sky)
2014-15 - 1,157 (Big Sky)
2013-14 - 1,430 (WAC)
2012-13 - 1,097 (WAC)

[Twentysix]

I think they will respond similar to how they responded with the basketball move back to the Big Sky, even though it is a "drop in class". More of the same. Once teams like Montana, Montana State, Idaho State, and Eastern Washington start coming to town the interest will again be peaked and people will realize how meaningless their FBS existence was.

Idaho Men's BB Attendance
2015-16 - 1,352 (Big Sky)
2014-15 - 1,157 (Big Sky)
2013-14 - 1,430 (WAC)
2012-13 - 1,097 (WAC)

I think their FBS existence didn't have to be meaningless.

But, for it to have meaning, they needed to be playing teams that are, or were at least similar to, the teams they are now playing in the Big Sky.

For Idaho FBS to work, they needed to be a conference with some of the bigsky teams and some of the MWC teams. The same thing is probably true of other current Big Sky members.

I don't foresee NDSU or Montana being much more successful than Idaho in the Sun Belt, those teams at least seem to have the sense to not get involved in it.

[Casey_Orourke]

If Idaho can keep its current freshmen and sophomores and is able to recruit up to the FCS limit, I think they will be competitive from the get-go. If the team shows that they aren't going to be the Big Sky doormat, the fans should respond and begin to see that dropping down was the best decision they could have made.

[Mattymc727]

Cant see how playing your old rivals wont help attendance.

Its the same with UMass. Much more interest when UNH or Maine comes to town than Bowling Green...