EWU Football culture

[FormerEag]

As members of this message board, you are probably some of the most die hard fans EWU football has. For the past 13 years, EWU has been one of the best teams in the FCS. However, attendance at home games is lackluster at best and student attendance is atrocious. What will it take to turn Saturdays in Cheney into a game day experience. A national championship? The red turf was a good start. A video board will do wonders. But a stadium expansion would be completely superfluous. It would only be worth it once every two years.

I just wanted to start a discussion about this. Who is to blame? The athletic department? The University? The media? Students/fans? With one of the best programs of any sport in the state, we struggle to fill our stadium. Just a frustration of mine...

 

[ewunerd]

We're I-AA. Spokanes a large enough market to support both ewu and wsu. Look at the attention of ewu basketball during our run to march madness. Imagine if it were a regular occurance. I doubt we'd get that much attention if our basketball program were D2 and made their tournament. Sustained success at IAA would certainly increase the fanbase dont get me wrong. Heck we're already on track to breack our regular season attendance record. But Spokanes bout as fair weather as they get and it doesnt bode well when I-AA is considered second tier for a place like that. Between the red turf and a winning season ewu is turning heads though.

 

[LDopaPDX]

As members of this message board, you are probably some of the most die hard fans EWU football has. For the past 13 years, EWU has been one of the best teams in the FCS. However, attendance at home games is lackluster at best and student attendance is atrocious. What will it take to turn Saturdays in Cheney into a game day experience. A national championship? The red turf was a good start. A video board will do wonders. But a stadium expansion would be completely superfluous. It would only be worth it once every two years.

I just wanted to start a discussion about this. Who is to blame? The athletic department? The University? The media? Students/fans? With one of the best programs of any sport in the state, we struggle to fill our stadium. Just a frustration of mine...

I disagree, and this has been a pet peave of my for over a decade. While adding 6,000 seats on the East side may not mean we're filled to capacity every week, it affords us the opportunity to grow to a size we could all be comfortable with. Beyond that, putting paying customers in cheap low-rise aluminum seats hurts the game day experience for those customers. If we can create a stadium that ensures all our fans have nice seats, a nice view of the game, and send them home knowing Eastern is going to be player for the BSC title each and every year, I think our fanbase will grow exponentially.

The Red Turf was a great start, because it created the buzz. But now we need to continue to win games and finish the stadium so our facilities become on par with everyone else in the conference sans Montana.

 

[EWURanger]

Venue improvements, period. People see our stadium, and those that don't know much about FCS football will automatically think of us as a small time program. If we wait around until we are filling every game to capacity to expand the stadium, it's never going to happen. Good news is I think we finally have a president and AD who "get it". Bad news is that any further expansion or rennovations will most likely have to be done with private donations vice state dollars. There's no denying that our venue hurts us in recruiting. Erect a 4k seat grand-stand on the visitors side, and we'll be stealing more recruits from Montana, not the other way around. It's all about public perception and game day experience. We already have the talent, coaching, and winning tradition. If we can get Roos field to a point where it's somewhere that recruits want to play at, and more people want to go watch a game there because it's a kick-ass game-day experience, we'll be a NC contender *every* year.

 

[FrontFive4Life]

Venue improvements, period. People see our stadium, and those that don't know much about FCS football will automatically think of us as a small time program. If we wait around until we are filling every game to capacity to expand the stadium, it's never going to happen. Good news is I think we finally have a president and AD who "get it". Bad news is that any further expansion or rennovations will most likely have to be done with private donations vice state dollars. There's no denying that our venue hurts us in recruiting. Erect a 4k seat grand-stand on the visitors side, and we'll be stealing more recruits from Montana, not the other way around. It's all about public perception and game day experience. We already have the talent, coaching, and winning tradition. If we can get Roos field to a point where it's somewhere that recruits want to play at, and more people want to go watch a game there because it's a kick-ass game-day experience, we'll be a NC contender *every* year.

Exactly. I've heard rumors that when Husky stadium begins its renovation, we may be able to get a good price on their Huskyvision jumbotron (how awesome would that be?!) which would be a start. But, as Dopa has been preaching for years, those visitor stands gottta go! I found this website breaking down the cost structure of what goes into a new stadium build. Towards the bottom, it states the average cost per seat works out to be $200. So, 4,000 seats = $800,000. Interesting to look at, if nothing else.

People seem to forget that Montana was mired in mediocrity until the initial construction of Wa-Griz, with relatively small attendance #s (I'd dig them up now, but I'm working on my master's thesis :lol: ). Only after they got a decent venue in place did the fans (and the donations) start coming in. Obviously we are in a different market than UM, but I totally agree about the casual fan from Spokane writing us off as less than awesome. I also agree that this MUST be a private donation endeavor. Look at it this way...if we can find 1,000 alums who are able and willing to donate $1,000 in the next year, there's $1M right there. I don't think a 1000 for 1000 campaign is that unrealistic, do you? Shoot, give everyone who donates at least $1k an engraved brick displayed somewhere on the new structure. Ok....back to the paper. :roll: Go Eags!

 

[EWURanger]

Venue improvements, period. People see our stadium, and those that don't know much about FCS football will automatically think of us as a small time program. If we wait around until we are filling every game to capacity to expand the stadium, it's never going to happen. Good news is I think we finally have a president and AD who "get it". Bad news is that any further expansion or rennovations will most likely have to be done with private donations vice state dollars. There's no denying that our venue hurts us in recruiting. Erect a 4k seat grand-stand on the visitors side, and we'll be stealing more recruits from Montana, not the other way around. It's all about public perception and game day experience. We already have the talent, coaching, and winning tradition. If we can get Roos field to a point where it's somewhere that recruits want to play at, and more people want to go watch a game there because it's a kick-ass game-day experience, we'll be a NC contender *every* year.

Exactly. I've heard rumors that when Husky stadium begins its renovation, we may be able to get a good price on their Huskyvision jumbotron (how awesome would that be?!) which would be a start. But, as Dopa has been preaching for years, those visitor stands gottta go! I found this website breaking down the cost structure of what goes into a new stadium build. Towards the bottom, it states the average cost per seat works out to be $200. So, 4,000 seats = $800,000. Interesting to look at, if nothing else.

People seem to forget that Montana was mired in mediocrity until the initial construction of Wa-Griz, with relatively small attendance #s (I'd dig them up now, but I'm working on my master's thesis :lol: ). Only after they got a decent venue in place did the fans (and the donations) start coming in. Obviously we are in a different market than UM, but I totally agree about the casual fan from Spokane writing us off as less than awesome. I also agree that this MUST be a private donation endeavor. Look at it this way...if we can find 1,000 alums who are able and willing to donate $1,000 in the next year, there's $1M right there. I don't think a 1000 for 1000 campaign is that unrealistic, do you? Shoot, give everyone who donates at least $1k an engraved brick displayed somewhere on the new structure. Ok....back to the paper. :roll: Go Eags!

Great post and thanks for looking into some of the logistics on this. I also agree that this is certainly something that's achievable, and I would donate money towards such a cause. With the red turf campaign still on-going for the video board, etc they may not be able to make a significant push in the near future, but if I am the head shead at the University, I would go ahead and start the campaign now and let people know, "look, this is what we want to do here". People would be excited by such a propisition, IMO. The number of big time contributors EWU has to draw from are limited, but if they did a grass roots level campaign they could get it done. Just look how fast the red turf happened and how succesful it's been. Also, I don't want to be too presumptious, but there's also more to the University re-dedicating Roos Field than just the big donation for the red turf, if you get my meaning.

If you consider that the current press box side grand stand plus end-zone seating seats somewhere around 8500, scrapping the crappy bleachers on the other side and putting in a 4000 seat grandstand would put us around 12500 - enough capacity for growth. This seating would have to be able to accomodate further expansion if needed in another 15-20 years.

Bottom line is that across the board, Big Sky schools are making improvements to their venues. Look at what Sac and MSU are doing. NAU also just announced massive renovations. PSU is benefitting from the city of Portland renovating PGE Park and will play in one of the nicest venues in the conference.

I know there's a lot going on finance-wise with the athletic department, and most of us on this board don't even remotely come close too seeing the big picture, but I also know that if EWU wants to be a consistent player in the NC picture - if they want folks to know about athletics and the University in general, then improvements are going to have to happen.

 

[kalm]

Those 4000 new seats should be the student section and it should be filled ever game.

 

[flyingnail]

Those 4000 new seats should be the student section and it should be filled ever game.

Until the city of Cheney is willing to accept its moniker as a "college town" and puts some EFFORT into promoting EWU, the chances of stadium expansion are dead!! They need to help promote and expand their student experiences downtown and help create the gameday atmosphere!!!! It's a ghost town on game day and closes down by 8 pm !! Definetly lacking!!! GOEAGS!

 

[EdubAlum]

everyone has made some excellent points. I also agree we don't get people out to the games because other than the new Red, our stadium looks like a high school stadium. If we build permanent grandstands on the visitor side, and moved the aluminum seats to the end zone, I think Roos wouldn't be too bad at all. It all needs to be built in a way that we could eventually bowl the arena if we wanted to in the future...who knows, maybe in 20 years would could average 20k a game.

Also, I wonder if covered seating would encourage people to come to the games later in the season.

 

[93bird]

In my opinion, a visitors side grandstand is way down the line. I have a hard time believing that the improved visual appearance will bring in another 4000. My preference would be to build a better food and beverage venue outside the stadium entrance in the upper parking lot. It would also be a place to get out of the wind and cold, watch football, or enjoy live music. I personally love standing around a fire eating and drinking with my friends and family before and after the game. We always have a huge tailgate. Most people need some entertainment provided, though.

 

[98ewugrad]

Cheney – the attitude towards EWU is better. Cheney’s growing and could be drawing in some commuters from Spokane.

Spokane – It’s full of front-runner and bandwagon fans – they won’t change, and I’ll take them if they jump on the EWU bandwagon. An aggressive marketing campaign consisting of bus or shuttle routes, food and bookstore coupons, and cheap or even free (to an extent) game tickets would help.

Print – WSU fb and GU bb dominate the coverage. If WSU were in the WAC or MWC it wouldn’t be as tough to knock them off the front page, but their PAC-10 opponents alone draw a lot of ink. Unfortunately, until Eastern is making deep playoff runs every year the average local won’t notice.

TV coverage – I’m glad the games are on SWX, but it is an excuse for some to stay home. Hopefully, people see a product they like and make the extra effort. A good example is the 2005 home-opener (10th largest home crowd – and school wasn’t in session) - the 2004 team got people out for ‘05.

University – Sounds like the video boards at Roos and Reese are next on the docket. The advertising revenue from those alone should be a nice boost, and the 1k from 1k fundraiser idea is a good one. Speaking of the university, the bookstore’s gotta expand hours on game day – they need to be open after the game, too, not close during the 3rd quarter.

Students – If EWU’s winning, they’ll be there: the 1997 Albi games, ‘04 playoff game and ‘05 reg season. I wish our tailgate atmosphere was more like Montana’s or WSU’s “allowing” college kids to do what college kids do without a healthy fine hanging over their heads.

The gameday atmosphere will take time, but the groundwork’s there. Montana started with a 12,500 seat stadium in 1986 and didn’t expand (1995) until they’d been to the playoffs three times, the semifinals twice and won the Big Sky. A win Saturday means playoffs two years in a row, and 5 of the last 7. It has to have caught the attention of local fans – hopefully it gets them to games!

 

[Obzerver]

1) Need to get real seating on visitors side. Not only for Football but aesthetically to the public. Potential students when checking out the school this structure is one of the 1st things they see...1st impressions mean everything. Those visitor stands cheapen the whole school.

2) TV coverage of the games may keep some fans away but also may introduce potential fans to this great product and get them to come out and sample a game.

3) Must increase student attendence.

 

[kalm]

Cheney – the attitude towards EWU is better. Cheney’s growing and could be drawing in some commuters from Spokane.

Spokane – It’s full of front-runner and bandwagon fans – they won’t change, and I’ll take them if they jump on the EWU bandwagon. An aggressive marketing campaign consisting of bus or shuttle routes, food and bookstore coupons, and cheap or even free (to an extent) game tickets would help.

Print – WSU fb and GU bb dominate the coverage. If WSU were in the WAC or MWC it wouldn’t be as tough to knock them off the front page, but their PAC-10 opponents alone draw a lot of ink. Unfortunately, until Eastern is making deep playoff runs every year the average local won’t notice.

TV coverage – I’m glad the games are on SWX, but it is an excuse for some to stay home. Hopefully, people see a product they like and make the extra effort. A good example is the 2005 home-opener (10th largest home crowd – and school wasn’t in session) - the 2004 team got people out for ‘05.

University – Sounds like the video boards at Roos and Reese are next on the docket. The advertising revenue from those alone should be a nice boost, and the 1k from 1k fundraiser idea is a good one. Speaking of the university, the bookstore’s gotta expand hours on game day – they need to be open after the game, too, not close during the 3rd quarter.

Students – If EWU’s winning, they’ll be there: the 1997 Albi games, ‘04 playoff game and ‘05 reg season. I wish our tailgate atmosphere was more like Montana’s or WSU’s “allowing” college kids to do what college kids do without a healthy fine hanging over their heads.

The gameday atmosphere will take time, but the groundwork’s there. Montana started with a 12,500 seat stadium in 1986 and didn’t expand (1995) until they’d been to the playoffs three times, the semifinals twice and won the Big Sky. A win Saturday means playoffs two years in a row, and 5 of the last 7. It has to have caught the attention of local fans – hopefully it gets them to games!

Excellent post. Cheney is getting much better - with restaurants and bars etc. The more small indie owned shops downtown, the better.

And while I disagree about the importance of the East side grand stand, I do agree about the reasons people go. At least 1/2 of my tailgate party are there because they got an invite from a true fan, and it's a social event. And once the temps get below 40, you count the woman and kid folk out for the most part. So anything along the lines of improving the atmosphere and comfort will definitely help later in the season.

I also really like the idea of 1000 for $1000K. If I knew it was an official drive, I would be on board.

 

[fccubed]

I have been trying for years to get people to EWU football games. Anyone who goes is hooked. However, most of them will only come to games early in the season because of the weather. These same individuals, will go to a Seahawks game in December and/or head to the Apple Cup. So, I asked them why they love to travel and pay more to watch a crappy product and they state it's the atmosphere. They all state that the stadium is small time and the fans sit on their hands. If the weather is cold, the game is on TV, and they are not an alumni of the university, they don't care. They would rather watch a good product from the comfort of their home.

1) I think that we need to get the fans who are at the game to be more vocal during the game. That will be a start to enhance the atmosphere. Maybe give away more noise makers.
2)The east side grand stands need to be improved. Maybe the fans just need a little more pride.
3)Video board. Helps with the small time comments.
4)Need to improve the tailgating experience for the woman and childern.

I am in total agreement with the 1k for $1k idea since they will allow you to donate on a monthly agreement.

 

[FrontFive4Life]

I am in total agreement with the 1k for $1k idea since they will allow you to donate on a monthly agreement.

I also really like the idea of 1000 for $1000K. If I knew it was an official drive, I would be on board.

I also agree that this is certainly something that's achievable, and I would donate money towards such a cause.

Thanks for the encouraging comments! I think I might have stumbled upon something here... Maybe I'll start detailing something up to present to Chaves while I'm home for Christmas. I've got some pull in the athletic department, so who knows what could come of it? It'll give me something to do while I find a tech firm that wants to hire a shiny new MBA

 

[EWUeag]

Those 4000 new seats should be the student section and it should be filled ever game.

Until the city of Cheney is willing to accept its moniker as a "college town" and puts some EFFORT into promoting EWU, the chances of stadium expansion are dead!! They need to help promote and expand their student experiences downtown and help create the gameday atmosphere!!!! It's a ghost town on game day and closes down by 8 pm !! Definetly lacking!!! GOEAGS!

I've been barking up that tree for years.

I say we recycle the visitor's stands right now to kick start the funding. It won't be a whole lot worse for the visitors to stand on the track

 

[Wwbig9]

I agree the 1000 people donating $1000 would be great. I would be in for that also. In our town
we have several foundations that do matches for the fundraisers. It makes it nice to tell someone
if you donate $1000 we have a matching $1000. Obviously, your not going to find a foundation to
match this kind of fundraiser. My question is could you find a group of alumni to step up? Could you find
10 alumni to do a $50,000 match? 20 to do $25,000? It seems to me that alot of ex eagle players
if asked might be willing to do $1000. Although I've attended several games at Eastern, I've never tried
the tailgating there. I read the rules and it says no alcohol is permitted. In my opinion, that kind of ruins the tailgate experience. How strict are the police on this?

 

[kalm]

I agree the 1000 people donating $1000 would be great. I would be in for that also. In our town
we have several foundations that do matches for the fundraisers. It makes it nice to tell someone
if you donate $1000 we have a matching $1000. Obviously, your not going to find a foundation to
match this kind of fundraiser. My question is could you find a group of alumni to step up? Could you find
10 alumni to do a $50,000 match? 20 to do $25,000? It seems to me that alot of ex eagle players
if asked might be willing to do $1000. Although I've attended several games at Eastern, I've never tried
the tailgating there. I read the rules and it says no alcohol is permitted. In my opinion, that kind of ruins the tailgate experience. How strict are the police on this?

Not at all. It's totally unenforceable so as long as it's in a red cup and your not acting like an asshole you may imbibe.

 

[FrontFive4Life]

I agree the 1000 people donating $1000 would be great. I would be in for that also. In our town
we have several foundations that do matches for the fundraisers. It makes it nice to tell someone
if you donate $1000 we have a matching $1000. Obviously, your not going to find a foundation to
match this kind of fundraiser. My question is could you find a group of alumni to step up? Could you find
10 alumni to do a $50,000 match? 20 to do $25,000? It seems to me that alot of ex eagle players
if asked might be willing to do $1000. Although I've attended several games at Eastern, I've never tried
the tailgating there. I read the rules and it says no alcohol is permitted. In my opinion, that kind of ruins the tailgate experience. How strict are the police on this?

Not at all. It's totally unenforceable so as long as it's in a red cup and your not acting like an asshole you may imbibe.

Wwbig9: Kalm is spot on with this one. Some of my buddies on the force have told me directly that they are merely there for crowd control. If it's in a red (or blue or whatever) cup, they wont bother you at all. Just don't be a complete asshat :lol: I'll be up there around 9 getting set up, swing on by if you feel like it. Look for the white car with the EWU flagpole behind it. That goes for anybody who wants to have some fun. I've got some of my secret recipe pulled pork and terriyaki chicken also-and of course, plenty of sodas. Can't wait for saturday! Go Eags!

 

[marceagfan5]

This is a great thread and there have been some great posts so far. My thoughts are there are several things that need to happen and continute to happen to grow and expand the EWU Football Culture.

1.) Eastern needs to continue to win and stay competitive. The more eastern wins, the deeper they go into the playoffs, the more the fans, money, and publicity will come in.

2.) We need attendance to continue to grow. We have made a big step this year, which I'm sure has a lot to do with both the Red Turf and team success, but we need to continue to keep the attendance up. There is no way new stands will be built on the visitors side of the stadium if we can't fill the home side week in, week out.

3.) We need boosters money and donations to make the improvements. Putting in the turf was another big step, but we will need more money, outside the school funding to make this stadium bigger. Montana changed their culture, but a lot of their stadium was do to outside donations, the same with MSU, look at what they have done in the past couple years and their improvements planned in the future. A lot of donations will come in if we can hold true to the 2 points above.

Bottome line is that Easterns Football Culture is changing...we have some GREAT fans and we have a GREAT team. This has been a special year and I see a deep playoff run coming. The future looks bright. If we can continue to have success like this year, the rest will take care of itself. For the fans that we do have at the games every week, they are special, and I know most of them are members of this board.

Happy and Proud to be an eastern alum and looking forward to winning the Big Sky this weekend!

Go Eags