As the CEO of IU football, Curt Cignetti is right to address poor attendance at Indiana football games, and the time-honored tradition by the fans who do show up of leaving at halftime.
The first year head coach was initiated into that aspect of the program Saturday, when Indiana had roughly 8,000 unsold seats and a less than half-full second half stadium.
It’s a stain on the program that spans generations, and its current leader has no choice but to address the issue head on. After all, it’s his job to fix it.
The topic has come up multiple times in the past week, and Cignetti initiated the discussion on his postgame radio appearance with Don Fischer in the minutes following IU’s 31-7 win over Florida International.
Cignetti was very smart to frame the issue as something he and his team have a great deal of responsibility for.
“We got to learn to play with a lead, and we got to be a good enough ball club so that we can pack this stadium and keep these people in the stands in the second half and have a real football atmosphere,” Cignetti said, during his post-game interview with Fischer.
But Cignetti isn’t going to change hearts and minds with an impassioned plea or two.
IU fans who have been around long enough have seen this rodeo plenty.
Let’s go back to 1987, when IU hosted Rice to open the season. Cignetti was on that Rice staff, by the way, just as a fun side note. So he’s seen this rodeo too. And as the Owls’ QB coach, he was probably happy to see a less than full stadium.
The Hoosiers drew 38,132 fans that day, and just 41.145 a couple weeks later against Missouri, and then 38,553 the following week vs. Northwestern.
Typical IU football crowds, most would say.
And that 1987 team was coming off a 6-5 regular season and an appearance in a bowl game. So it wasn’t as if there was no reason at all to believe. But Indiana football fans have suffered enough losing to be entitled to a bit of skepticism.
And then something happened in week five of 1987. The Hoosiers went to Columbus and crushed Ohio State, 31-10. They won at Minnesota the following week to improve to 5-1 on the season.
Now what do you think happened when the suddenly No. 15 ranked Hoosiers hosted Michigan in week seven?
As if out of thin air, an additional 10,000 fans — 51,240 to be precise — showed up to watch IU beat the No. 20 Wolverines, 14-10. And not a soul left until the final whistle on that rainy October afternoon.
And if you think that was just Michigan fans packing Memorial Stadium, you’re wrong.
IU drew better than 50,000 for their final two homes games in 1987 vs. Illinois and Purdue. And then they drew better than 50,000 for every home game in 1988. That’s what three straight winning seasons, and three straight bowl appearances will do.
Cignetti knows better than anyone, if he builds it, they will come. And if the game is competitive, they will stay.
He’s starting from a pretty good place. IU reported attendance of 44,150 for the home opener vs. FIU. The tickets actually scanned were probably meaningfully less than that. And the number of folks still inside Memorial Stadium after halftime were far, far less.
But it’s not as if Cignetti is starting from zero. The core fan base is genuinely jazzed up about their new head coach, and there are thousands more who can be easily won over.
Again on Wednesday evening, on his weekly radio show with Fischer, Cignetti touched on the crowd. His request is fairly straightforward — be part of the solution.
“I did notice how empty the stadium was in the second half, and I know our players did too, and that does have an effect,” Cignetti said.
“And that’s why, you know the crowd is the 12th man. We need you there. We need you cheering, creating momentum and energy in the stadium. There’s a lot of things we got to improve on to get to where we want. Look I want to be the best in everything we do. And that should be the goal. And so, you know, baby steps.”
The steps to good attendance are very similar to Mallory’s 1987 Hoosiers.
If Cignetti can get off to a good start over the first six weeks, and the schedule sets up very well to do just that, he won’t be disappointed when Maryland comes to Bloomington on Sept. 28. If the Hoosiers are 3-1 there will be a good crowd. If they’re 4-0, maybe even getting some votes in the rankings, the place might just sell out. And if the game is reasonably close either way, no one will leave.
And then when Nebraska comes on Oct. 19, and Washington on Oct. 26, if Indiana enters that stretch as a five or six win team, look out. Stragglers might be hunting for tickets on the secondary market.
So yes, Cignetti is right to address this head on.
But all he has to do to truly fix the issue is what he’s always done.
Win.
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