http://www.csnchicago.com/page/livecubs?awid=6512236657738955589-914

Gonna announce some details regarding football, baseball, and lacrosse at Wrigley.

Thanks for the link, MUD!

In 2014, Wrigley Field is gonna have NU vs. Michigan in Baseball, NU vs. Notre Dame in Lacrosse, and NU vs. TBD in football. Apparently TBD is favored by 4 already.

Nothing in 2013. Apparently they need to wait for all the renovations. They need a 12 foot perimeter around the field to meet the NCAA requirements.

Said they expect football will play a "variety of teams"... this implies that it won't be a regular NU vs. Illini game.

Game will have to be in November... reserving October for playoff baseball. <Insert Facepalm Emoticon here>

Good to see there was a sense of humor at that presser.

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I guess this truly makes NU Chicago's team.

Another facepalm.

Didn't you hear Phillips say that Chicagoans who didn't got to college can now root for NU?

If a lacrosse match between Notre Dame and Northwestern in Wrigley Field doesn't get the high school graduates of Chicago excited I don't know what will.

When will the polo match with Harvard take place?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I'm sure they also need to expand capacity.

NU at Wrigley was kind of a fun one time thing but why would I want to go regularly when NU is equally accessible and is a better venue for watching games?

I suppose they are relying on the same yokels from Iowa who come to the stadium in the summer to fill it up in the fall.

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Heard Larry try to tell us the Sox should look into this with the U of C...

Well Larry, "WE" own the Cell, so I guess you meant "WE" should look into this?

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I understand it's good publicity. But, it's also giving up a home game each year. Even with all the season ticket business to go through, it was at best a neutral field for the Illini game and I'd say it was probably an Illini majority from a fan perspective.

If they play Nebraska or somebody like that, it probably wouldn't be quite the same but you will get a much larger contingent of opposing fans than normal no matter who it is.

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Yes, the mighty Maroons football team would certainly fill the People's Park. Long live Jay Berwanger!

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Let's be clear, the Northwestern game at Wrigley was an unequivocal success. It got the city talking about Northwestern football... either positively or negatively. Season tickets skyrocketed and they were able to convert 90% of those new season ticketholders into seasoon ticketholders in the following season. The game itself was an absolute blast... other than the score, the entire party around the stadium was fun for anyone who attended (orange or purple). And does anyone really believe that ESPN Gameday would have come to the same game up in Evanston.

As for the future Wrigley games, I agree that the novelty may wear off. Nonetheless, I applaud the Northwestern AD Jim Phillips (Thank you, NIU Huskie) for doing SOMETHING to tap into the public consciousness of Chicago. We can either be content with our lackluster fanbase or try something bold to change it. I'm in the "any publicity is good publicity" camp. Now I'm not sure co-branding with a losing franchise like the Cubs is the best move, but I certainly think its better than sitting on your hands.

As for the marketing campaign "Chicago's Big Ten Team"... its an aspirational, not factual. We all know that other than PSU, Rutgers and Maryland (I'm guessing on the last two), Northwestern has the second LEAST number of alumni in the Chicagoland area. We have the lowest enrollment. Therefore our organic fanbase is simply not big enough to fill the stadium consistently. The only way to get that stadium filled is to convert the unaffiliated or encourage affiliated college fans to pick a "second team". I originally thought the latter group was just silly to pursue, but I've run into a fair number of Illini, Iowa, Indiana, etc. fans that have season Cats tix... they enjoy taking their kids up to Evanston for games. They usually dont wear purple and dont cheer particularly loud, but we'll take them! At the end of the day, I think the marketing campaign can work to a point, but you'll need consistent winning seasons to really propel season ticket sales. I can only hope that the team can keep producing 10-3 seasons to keep the momentum going.

And, who knows, maybe Spiegel will make it to the 4th quarter this time.

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My Maserati does 186.

damn, how could we have forgotten that for the "things speagol is better than" thread?

DER SPEAGOL 1, NU "FOOTBALL" 0, B6

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What's wrong with U of C attendance? Do people not go to the games because they disagree with Hayekian economic theory? What kind of excuse is that? Why don't they say what they really mean?

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That's partially true, but I would argue that there's a certain level of numbness and fickleness which resulted from decades of losing. The University has 10K+ undergrad and grad students at any time. Those students and Chicago area alumni packed Dyche for the Penn State game in '95. There were only a handful of PSU fans at that game. So filling the stadium can be done with the organic fanbase. Many alumni just choose not to go to an NU/South Dakota matchup.

I suppose so, but if you did a study and calculated the percentage of student population that goes to the games, I bet you would find that Northwestern averages very similar to other schools... it actually may be even better due to the *cough cough* availability of seats. What is the average student attendance at Illinois games and how does that relate to the enrollment in Champaign?

but I think NSJ is also saying that if NU played a mildly attractive pre conference schedule, people would show

It is great sitting there on a warm fall evening in September. Those night games allow you to get everything else out of the way and then get some relatively inexpensive family entertainment.

I don't know if NU has tried affiliating with some high schools but I had a great time at a St. Patrick's Alumni tailgate and game against michigan two years ago at night.

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Mildly attractive schedule? You mean tougher. I'm not sure there is much upside in that. I'd rather head into the conference play with everyone healthy and 4 wins under our belt. Truth is more 10-3 seasons will have a better impact on attendance than a marketing campaign ever will. If you win... they will come.

That has not proven to be true. While not 10-3, they are in about a two decade run of the best football NU has played in several generations. People aren't fooled.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I would indeed say they (fans) are encouraged by winning. The correlation between winning seasons and attendance remains strong. We saw a spike in season tickets after the 1995-1996 seasons. And similarly after the 2000 season. You should have seen the attendance during the dark ages of the 1980's and early 1990's... and that's when they didn't even charge students for tickets! The perception of a winning team definitely impacts season ticket sales. I don't see the upside of scheduling a top 25 program during your non-conference schedule. I tried like hell to organize a CSFMB outing the last several years for both BC and Vandy (both fairly decent teams)... and no luck.