‘Cats To Play Five Games At Wrigley In Coming Years

Posted by Lake The Posts on Tuesday, February 5, 2013 · 22 Comments

Wow. I don’t know about you, but the ‘Cats-Cubs partnership that was just officially announced was more robust than I anticipated. NU VP of Athletics & Recreation, Jim Phillips, announced a reciprocal partnership with Crane Kenney and the Chicago Cubs that will go through 2017 and include five NU football games at Wrigley Field. The partnership includes both brands getting to market their respective brands at one another’s facilities. Yes, the Cubs will have an integrated presence at Ryan Field and likely more importantly, Northwestern will have the right to market Northwestern football throughout Wrigley Field, including ‘Cats marketing throughout the concourses of Cubs games including giveaways. The Cubs will have access to Ryan Field and Welsh-Ryan Arena.

As was earlier reported, NU will have several non-revenue sporting events at the Friendly Confines kicking off with baseball on April 20 against Michigan. As we also discussed this weekend, the variables in future B1G schedules based on Rutgers, Maryland and potential expansion to a nine or ten game schedule will likely dictate the potential opponents and dates.

Jim Phillips was pretty candid in his time at the podium, earnestly addressing the challenges of filling Ryan Field with nearly 47,130 mostly purple (the stated goal of this blog). Jim acknowledged that relying on the 11th ranked (in terms of size) alumni base in Chicago and current students (only 8,000) isn’t a big enough pool for NU to be successful in filling seats. The impetus for this move is to try and really bring the product to potential fans, avid college football fans of other schools, or casual football fans, and convince them to give NU a shot. Personally, the marketing opportunity is one that is of intrigue and it will be interesting to see what kind of metrics are put in place to directly correlate to capturing new fans.

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Mark

My only question is whether these “home games” will be included in the season ticket package or not?
cheesemacaroni

I’ve been on the fence about Wrigley since before the first Wrigley game, and I still am. Lots of pros and cons, and I’ll let everyone else hash them out. The one thing I care about the most is also LTPs goal — packing our games (at Wrigley or anywhere else) with purple. The Purple-to-Orange ratio at the first game was good, but not great. How can we make it better? Can I propose, now that we have so much advance notice, that you need to be a season ticket holder for the year prior to the game, as well as the year of the game, to get tickets to Wrigley? If non-NU people *really* want to see the game at Wrigley, then you’re basically compelling them to see a game at Ryan Field that doesn’t involve their team. Isn’t that the whole strategy? “Chicago’s second favorite Big Ten Team, behind the one from the state you were born in” Right?
cece

the people who got screwed over with tickets the last time because of the field fiasco should be cut a money break.
http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Waymire/565560350 David Waymire

If this game continues to be on Thanksgiving weekend, not sure how this will play out. Will out-of-town fans (Michigan guy here) come in and be able to find a hotel room at reasonable cost? Thanksgiving weekend is a bit of a crapshoot for some with families anyway.
- cece
  
  is the first game to be on TG weekend?
Aaron

Has NU ever (or do they currently) reach out to the other Chicago universities without football (Loyola, DePaul, UIC, etc.) in regards to selling reduced tickets to their students? Seems like a great way to get build a local fanbase and it would be more relevant now with this agreement.
- cece
  
  interesting idea!
- DanMan1976
  
  Have always thought this was a good idea. Run a couple buses from Loyola/DePaul/UIC up to Evanston for games. A lot of alumni from those schools stay in the Chicago area after they graduate. Get ‘em while thy’re young and make them Northwestern fans for life!
NUWildcat2012

I very clearly seeming to be in the minority apparently, but I love this. Seems like those of you asking for more restrictive access to these games are getting the completely opposite conclusion. The first time may have been about a big special event, but I think you’ll have no problem getting people in Chicago to go to a regular Big Ten game in Wrigleyville. If we’re serious about expanding our fanbase to the casual fans in Chicago, we need two things: consistently good product on the field and constantly pushing the brand front and center so we’re not that small school on the outskirts of a big city.
- Just the Facts
  
  I agree that Chicagoans who aren’t regular college football fans may attend the game because it’s an event (although I think that may diminish if the game is played regularly). I am skeptical that this will translate into more fans at Ryan Field. Of course, NU has that data, but won’t release it. How many “fans” that picked up season tickets for the Wrigley game last time renewed those tickets the following season? How much of the bump that year was simply because opponent was Illinois?
  
  I would be very interested to see what the attendance would be if the opponent was a team that normally doesn’t draw many opposing fans to Ryan Field. That would show me what the bump is due to the venue and not the opponent. Having the game against OSU or Nebraska wouldn’t tell me much because those games would sell out at Ryan Field anyway.
  
  As for restrictive access, I am fine with selling the single game tickets but I just don’t think the long-time season ticket holders should have to pay a massive premium to go to this game and be treated no better than a “fan” who is just buying either single game tickets or the new season ticket holder who has no intention of renewing. From a revenue perspective, perhaps NU doesn’t care if the seat is empty at Ryan Field as long as the seat is paid for, but that doesn’t improve the game day experience. Track the number of new season ticket holders who actually come to the Ryan Field games by analyzing the scanning data from the tickets (although the data won’t be perfect because many of those will be tickets dumped on the secondary market). It doesn’t help the brand if you can get good sideline seats below face value every game.
  
  I think the number one recruiting disadvantage other than the academic standards (which I complete support) once the new facilities on campus are complete is the game day experience. If you are recruiting against other teams and the recuit makes a gameday visit to most big name schools (and these are the schools we hope to be recruiting against) you are going to get a sold out stadium with a rabid fan base. Come to Ryan Field and it is usually 1/2 to 2/3 full and the only sellouts are when the visiting fans come and take up the rest of the seats. If the Wrigley games translate to butts in the seat at Ryan Field, great. If not, it doesn’t matter so much.
  
  Bottom line — I am skeptical about the long-term effects of having multiple Wrigley games over a short period of years, but willing to try. However, don’t treat the long-time season ticket holders like they don’t matter during the process. Simply offering the option of NOT buying the tickets isn’t enough, especially after the shoddy handling of the first Wrigley game.
- cece
  
  “Seems like those of you asking for more restrictive access to these games….” what the heck does that mean? You want more restrictive access, then play at Wrigley, with a smaller seat size for the crowd, no parking, higher ticket prices, and obsessive homage to the twee Wrigleyville. We play football at Ryan Field. If you can’t fill that NU athletics, moving the venue to a smaller place and filling that on occasion is not winning. It’s admitting you have not figured out the regular job of making our stadium work.
Just the Facts

Hopefully they will take better care of their existing season ticket holders better than they did last game. The price was multiples of a game at Ryan Field, and the view from the seats was much worse. As a one-time event, or an event that happens maybe once a decade, it was worth it from a “I was there” perspective similar to when the Hawks played in the Winter Classic. But as an every year, or nearly every year, perspective, it loses that charm.

So what happens is there is a one-time boost in season ticket sales from those who want to make sure they get tickets to this game (although likely to be diminshed as it becomes more frequent), then those new NU “fans” dump the rest of the tickets to the Ryan Field games on the secondary market plummeting the price (if those tickets even sell since most of the rest of the games aren’t close to a sellout). After that season, they dump the season tickets. Similar thought should be given for other games that are in demand by opposing fans such as OSU and Nebraska. Do we really want them buying season tickets for one year, dumping all the rest of the games, and dropping the tickets at season end, while getting the same prices as season ticket holders? Only give the discounts to the existing season ticket holders or to those who commit for multiple seasons, and then charge a mint for the single game tickets to those games.

How about charging (a lot) less to the existing season ticket holders compared to single game tickets, and not giving that discount to new “fans,” or at least requiring a multiple season commitment (or a non-refundable deposit) to get that price? Also, it would be nice would be to get over the logistical hurdles for the el ride for the fans from Evanston (team, band, fans) and a special tailgate (which would probably be indoors as there isn’t anywhere outside to do it near Wrigley). Another possibility is to have a huge tailgate in Evanston with parking, and then a special el ride to and from the game.

How about some other venues for the games? Soldier Field has been mentioned, but how about U.S. Cellular? The Cell has the advantage of already having adequate tailgate facilities, and it would be an outreach to fans on the South Side who seem to be ignored.

I know this type of event provides publicity (which hopefully translates into helping with recruiting) but is ABC/ESPN (or any other major network) going to treat these games as a big deal if they happen all the time?

In sum, I am cautiously optimistic if this is handled properly, but if they are going to treat long-term season ticket holders no better than the new “fans” and make us pay a bundle for at least one game a year, then it will not sit well with the current fan base. I am willing to give them a mulligan for the past Wrigley game but not for the future games.
- AdamDG
  
  No one cares about games at Soldier Field or The Cell. Wrigley is a nationally-recognized venue with “kitchen table” status. It’s a non-negligible recruiting tool and a huge marketing draw.
  - Just the Facts
    
    I’ll agree that the Cell isn’t America’s most beloved stadium and doesn’t have a lot of history but I think it’s worth holding a game there just for the different experience rather than a never ending stream of Wrigley games.
    I disagree that no one cares about Soldier Field. Solider Field is also a well recognized stadium with a lot of history (admittedly the flying saucer they added is an eyesore).
    Agreed that the first game was a helpful recruiting tool and a huge marketing draw, but I am not sure that having game after game there is going to create the same buzz. If they can line up ABC or ESPN to nationally televise the game, then I think it will help. If it is on the Deuce (or worse) it won’t be that big of a boost.
    - cece
      
      the game at Soldier Field in 1996 was fun, despite the D’Wayne Bates injury issue. why not try that again? at least we could tailgate. and tailgate is also a possibility at the Cell. why not there? The Sox won a world series in 2005, isn’t that what we want to do…..WIN?!?
- JM
  
  The way season ticket holders were treated at the first Wrigley game was a disgrace. Some of the stuff that was pulled –changing the price of tickets after they were sold– was literally illegal. I have never been that unhappy with NU at any other point.
  
  Hopefully they do a better job this time.
  
  As far as this partnership goes, I do think it is smart marketing and it will indoubtedly be special for all the athletes, which is great.
  
  Wrigley is an awful place to see a football game, because most of the seats are horrendous, but it is an “event” and the gameday atmosphere is unique and special.
DanMan1976

I’m all for this as long as existing season ticket holders get some better treatment. In 2010, this was leveraged as a way to attract new fans, and I’m all for those tactics. But don’t forget about your core. Between the jacked up prices and the debacle with how seats were assigned, I didn’t feel as though being a long-time season ticket holder made me any more or less important to NU. Does anyone remember in 2002 when we all got Willie the WIldcat bobblehead dolls? I still have mine and those are the types of small but thoughtful gestures that make your hardcore fans feel appreciated.
Bob Parkman

I’m not a fan of this arrangement. I didn’t like the event at Wrigley before, and I don’t think I want to be forced to buy a ticket to it in the future.
CliffG

It’s about marketing, and it’s pure gold from that standpoint. Chicago will notice, and that’s exactly what we want.
PurpleV

Crazy idea, I know, but what about upgrading NU club ice hockey to varsity and playing their weekend home games at wrigley? Partially solves the lack of arena problem.

Chicago loves hockey and the NHL winter classic was a massive hit. Hockey was meant to be played outdoors.
Stephen Zgrabik

hopefully, with the renovations, they will be able to run the field along either the first or third base lines, and maybe they would then be willing to bring in temporary stands along the other side of the field.
NG

I only like this move if we use it for our home games with less marquee opponents…I.e Rutgers, Maryland, Minnesota, etc. don’t think they can get away with it for no conference games since the Cubs will still have an ongoing season in August and September (insert futility joke here).

2013 NU Football Schedule

Date	Opponent	Result
08/31/2013	at California - TBA TBA	-
09/07/2013	Syracuse - BTN 5:00PM	-
09/14/2013	Western Michigan - BTN 8:00PM	-
09/21/2013	Maine (FCS) - TBA TBA	-
10/05/2013	Ohio State - ABC/ESPN OR ESPN2 7:00PM	-
10/12/2013	at Wisconsin - TBA TBA	-
10/19/2013	Minnesota - TBA TBA	-
10/26/2013	at Iowa - TBA TBA	-
11/02/2013	at Nebraska - TBA TBA	-
11/16/2013	Michigan - TBA TBA	-
11/23/2013	Michigan State - TBA TBA	-
11/30/2013	at Illinois - TBA TBA	-

2012 NU Football Schedule

Date	Opponent	Result
09/01/2012	at Syracuse - ESPN2 11:00AM - Highlights	42 - 41
09/08/2012	Vanderbilt - BTN 7:00PM - Highlights	23 - 13
09/15/2012	Boston College - BTN 2:30PM - Highlights	22 - 13
09/22/2012	South Dakota (FCS) - BTN 2:30PM - Highlights	38 - 7
09/29/2012	Indiana - BTN 11:00AM - Highlights	44 - 29
10/06/2012	at Penn State - ESPN 11:00AM	28 - 39
10/13/2012	at Minnesota - ESPN2 11:00AM - Highlights	21 - 13
10/20/2012	Nebraska - ABC 2:30PM	28 - 29
10/27/2012	Iowa - ESPN2 11:00AM - Highlights	28 - 17
11/10/2012	at Michigan - ESPN 11:00AM	31 - 38
11/17/2012	at Michigan State - ESPN2 11:00AM - Highlights	23 - 20
11/24/2012	Illinois - BTN 11:00AM - Highlights	50 - 14
01/01/2013	Mississippi State - ESPN2 Gator Bowl 11:00AM - Highlights	34 - 20

‘Cats To Play Five Games At Wrigley In Coming Years

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