Pregame: Illinois vs Eastern Illinois, Thursday, August 29th, 8:00pm CT, BTN

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#26      
Orange_Blue
From FightingIllini.com:
UI EIU.png


2006 - Tim Brasic, Pierre Thomas, and Rashard Mendenhall led the Illini in Ron Zook's 2nd season.
2008 - Juice Williams and Daniel Dufrene scored 4 touchdowns in 13 minutes.

It is kind of fun to see these former Illini names again. Those teams were fun (but scary) to watch. Juice was the perfect example of a player who was going to be magical or disaster based upon the play/series. According to the recap, Juice threw two INT's and had a fumble.
 
#28      
Mr. Tibbs
as part of the media rights deal, are we obligated to host a Thursday night game once every 2 or 3 years ?
 
#31      
robertgoulet
Orange_Blue said:
From FightingIllini.com:
View attachment 36012

2006 - Tim Brasic, Pierre Thomas, and Rashard Mendenhall led the Illini in Ron Zook's 2nd season.
2008 - Juice Williams and Daniel Dufrene scored 4 touchdowns in 13 minutes.

It is kind of fun to see these former Illini names again. Those teams were fun (but scary) to watch. Juice was the perfect example of a player who was going to be magical or disaster based upon the play/series. According to the recap, Juice threw two INT's and had a fumble.
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Juicetin Fields
 
#32      
Fighter of the Nightman
mhuml32 said:
What's your estimate?
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I leave that handy work to @IlliniInBuckeyeState !

However, I think there are two competing variables:

1. On a positive note, we drew almost 49k for the home opener last year, and our crowds generally increased from there (with multiple crowds above 53k). Additionally, it has been reported that ticket sales have continued to improve.

2. On the other hand, it sucks that it is on a Thursday, and that will no-doubt hurt attendance. Our average weekday attendance is quite a bit lower than our average weekend attendance:

2022 Saturdays: 43,960
2022 Weekdays: 37,579

2023 Saturdays: 51,774
2023 Weekdays: 46,703

So I would assume the game being on a Thursday is good or a 10-15% reduction in "baseline" attendance. I would imagine with the higher "floor" that we have now, it would be closer to a 10% reduction. In conclusion, here is my super-serious guess, haha:

Considering all of the factors, I think a similar setup to last year for the home opener (Saturday at 6:30 pm) would have drawn between 52k and 54k. So, taking a 10% reduction of 53k, I will estimate that attendance is somewhere around 47,700. :cool:
 
#33      
Mr. Tibbs
given the current state of the program , it’s tough to expect more than 50,000 to drive to CU (many people driving 150-180 miles ) for a game on a Thursday night vs EIU.

has Michigan , ohio st or Penn St hosted on a Thursday night yet ?
 
#34      
Fighter of the Nightman
Mr. Tibbs said:
given the current state of the program , it’s tough to expect more than 50,000 to drive to CU (many people driving 150-180 miles ) for a game on a Thursday night vs EIU.

has Michigan , ohio st or Penn St hosted on a Thursday night yet ?
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Not sure and I definitely agree with your basic first point (that we are not at a place as a program to expect consistently stellar attendance), but I would argue PSU is even more reliant on fans traveling to their games than we are. Champaign MSA is 235k vs. 158k for State College MSA. The simple fact, as many here loving pointing out, is that PSU has trained its fans over generations to make a habit out of making the trip to State College because it will be worth it for both the product on the field and the gameday experience. PSU basketball is what happens when you have Illini-football-esque history (except actually way worse) and those fans don't bother coming into town, haha.
 
#35      
TheFlyingIllini1317
Fighter of the Nightman said:
I leave that handy work to @IlliniInBuckeyeState !

However, I think there are two competing variables:

1. On a positive note, we drew almost 49k for the home opener last year, and our crowds generally increased from there (with multiple crowds above 53k). Additionally, it has been reported that ticket sales have continued to improve.

2. On the other hand, it sucks that it is on a Thursday, and that will no-doubt hurt attendance. Our average weekday attendance is quite a bit lower than our average weekend attendance:

2022 Saturdays: 43,960
2022 Weekdays: 37,579

2023 Saturdays: 51,774
2023 Weekdays: 46,703

So I would assume the game being on a Thursday is good or a 10-15% reduction in "baseline" attendance. I would imagine with the higher "floor" that we have now, it would be closer to a 10% reduction. In conclusion, here is my super-serious guess, haha:

Considering all of the factors, I think a similar setup to last year for the home opener (Saturday at 6:30 pm) would have drawn between 52k and 54k. So, taking a 10% reduction of 53k, I will estimate that attendance is somewhere around 47,700. :cool:
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If we are pushing 48k for this game i think that would be great, 53 is the # we need for it to look full. 48k is a massive success for EIU on a Thursday night, I'd guess we'll be at 42k.
 
#37      
Illinir1
Mr. Tibbs said:
given the current state of the program , it’s tough to expect more than 50,000 to drive to CU (many people driving 150-180 miles ) for a game on a Thursday night vs EIU.

has Michigan , ohio st or Penn St hosted on a Thursday night yet ?
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Heck, has Mecheatagain, Ohio St or Ped St hosted on a Friday night yet? I'd be willing to bet that if any of them actually has, that Illinois has hosted 3 times as many Thurs/Fri night games as all three of them combined.
 
#38      
Dkayak
Mr. Tibbs said:
given the current state of the program , it’s tough to expect more than 50,000 to drive to CU (many people driving 150-180 miles ) for a game on a Thursday night vs EIU.

has Michigan , ohio st or Penn St hosted on a Thursday night yet ?
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We’re struggling with the decision. It’s an awfully late night for a weekday. Friday night’s not bad, but Thursday?
 
#39      
Chukwuwumba
Dkayak said:
We’re struggling with the decision. It’s an awfully late night for a weekday. Friday night’s not bad, but Thursday?
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grade schools will already start right? Adults could take off Friday and make it a 4/5 day weekend, but if school has started hard to justify a late night with the kids. Plus fall sport practices ongoing.
 
#40      
fuddrules
Illinir1 said:
Heck, has Mecheatagain, Ohio St or Ped St hosted on a Friday night yet? I'd be willing to bet that if any of them actually has, that Illinois has hosted 3 times as many Thurs/Fri night games as all three of them combined.
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And it's going to stay that way for the foreseeable future. They aren't putting the heavys on a Thursday night. That's not how you get the monster media contracts for the B1G. Against EIU, die hard college football fans and Illinois fans will watch. That's it. Nobody else cares to watch EIU play at Illinois.
 
#41      
Dkayak
Chukwuwumba said:
grade schools will already start right? Adults could take off Friday and make it a 4/5 day weekend, but if school has started hard to justify a late night with the kids. Plus fall sport practices ongoing.
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Maybe I’m unusual, but not interested in being out that far into the wee hours of the morning, not when an earlier time is every bit as feasible. Why not 6 or 7pm? Are they thinking folks will jump out of work at 4-5pm and drive up to 3-4 hours to get there? Then home at 3-4am? Sound like fun? It’s fine for those staying the night of course. I’m only two hours away but might stay home for this one. Maybe poor attendance will send a message re: scheduling.
 
#43      
Illinivek23
Dkayak said:
Maybe I’m unusual, but not interested in being out that far into the wee hours of the morning, not when an earlier time is every bit as feasible. Why not 6 or 7pm? Are they thinking folks will jump out of work at 4-5pm and drive up to 3-4 hours to get there? Then home at 3-4am? Sound like fun? It’s fine for those staying the night of course. I’m only two hours away but might stay home for this one. Maybe poor attendance will send a message re: scheduling.
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I would think the 8 pm start was a BTN thing. Totally agree - home is 3 hrs away from Champaign with siblings no closer than 90 min - 6 or 7 would have been much preferred for us
 
#44      
fuddrules
Dkayak said:
Maybe I’m unusual, but not interested in being out that far into the wee hours of the morning, not when an earlier time is every bit as feasible. Why not 6 or 7pm? Are they thinking folks will jump out of work at 4-5pm and drive up to 3-4 hours to get there? Then home at 3-4am? Sound like fun? It’s fine for those staying the night of course. I’m only two hours away but might stay home for this one. Maybe poor attendance will send a message re: scheduling.
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Howard at Rutgers - 5 pm. EIU at Illinois - 8 pm - Both on BTN. It's how Illinois gets $60M+ annually.

Fox gets the prime game on Thursday. North Carolina at Minnesota at 7 pm. North Carolina or EIU is an easy call for a network to make.

Illinois could get the prime slot or a win. They chose the win. I would too.
 
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#46      
fuddrules
AZILL said:
Does anyone know if we even get a choice? I'm thinking not.
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Is "we" the fans or Illinois? If it's Illinois......

If Illinois scheduled, say Ole Miss, it would be on prime viewing. EIU, not so much. So Illinois does have a choice. Illinois alone is not a top draw for viewership, they know this.
 
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#49      
GILL-INOIS
fuddrules said:
Howard at Rutgers - 5 pm. EIU at Illinois - 8 pm - Both on BTN. It's how Illinois gets $60M+ annually.

Fox gets the prime game on Thursday. North Carolina at Minnesota at 7 pm. North Carolina or EIU is an easy call for a network to make.

Illinois could get the prime slot or a win. They chose the win. I would too.
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Operator Owner GIF by Home Care Ops



Biggest win last season was by 6 points. Time to break the trend and get an easy win with no sweating out of the gate......
 
#50      
AZILL
fuddrules said:
Is "we" the fans or Illinois? If it's Illinois......

If Illinois scheduled, say Ole Miss, it would be on prime viewing. EIU, not so much. So Illinois does have a choice. Illinois alone is not a top draw for viewership, they know this.
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Mr. Tibbs said:
our choice is the non conference opponents
the B1G determines the conference schedule
our TV partners pretty much control when (date & time) we play the games
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Illinois itself. Us fans have zero pull in who we play and when. I just didn't think that the University had much pull on which Network we were on or the TV time slot. Which makes perfect sense. I know I've read on here in the past that Josh Whitman was instrumental in making certain games happen in a certain way. I believe it is this years Michigan game that he had some impact on maybe? Time/Day/Network/something......
 
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