NIU needed to buy back $273,619 worth of tickets to hit NCAA attendance requirements

"Northern Illinois announced their home attendance for the 2017 season at 67,748, but an audit obtained by the paper showed that scanned tickets totaled only 44,084 in the same time period. With six home games, that latter figure would have put the school below the NCAA’s FBS attendance threshold of 15,000 per home game.

The end result? NIU had to purchase 56,345 tickets for a whopping $273,619 in order to comply with the regulations and hit the minimum number of paid tickets for each home game."

https://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/10/18/niu-needed-to-buy-back-273619-worth-of-tickets-to-hit-ncaa-attendance-requirements/

$5 a ticket is whopping?

Reminds me of one of the directional Michigan schools. If you look at reported attendance over the last 20 years it's very clear they basically eat all of them.

The 15k rule needs to just go away, because obviously the spirit of the rule is being completely ignored. The rule is completely pointless if the schools or sponsors can just buy the tickets and claim those seats count as sold. All it does is force schools like Costal Carolina to spend millions on stadium expansion for seats that won't even be filled. Eliminate the rule, or start enforcing it. If the this rule was enforced, the FCS would be stronger and the gap between the p5 and g5 would be smaller.

Enforcing the rule would definitely help FCS.

All the fans that didn't show up in the stands were probably able to watch the games on a high
quality broadcast, thus negating the need to show up in person. This lack of attendance does not diminish their eligibility to participate in a much anticipated toilet bowl game at the end of the season (that they won't attend either) which will allow a gigantic trophy to be displayed on campus for all to see. The fans can then beat their chests with pride and congratulate themselves on not being a lowly FCS participant.

nodak651 said:

The 15k rule needs to just go away, because obviously the spirit of the rule is being completely ignored. The rule is completely pointless if the schools or sponsors can just buy the tickets and claim those seats count as sold. All it does is force schools like Costal Carolina to spend millions on stadium expansion for seats that won't even be filled. Eliminate the rule, or start enforcing it. If the this rule was enforced, the FCS would be stronger and the gap between the p5 and g5 would be smaller.

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It's the NCAA; what do you expect?

So where did the money come from and where did it go? Did NIU somehow buy the tickets from themselves?

nodak651 said:

The 15k rule needs to just go away, because obviously the spirit of the rule is being completely ignored. The rule is completely pointless if the schools or sponsors can just buy the tickets and claim those seats count as sold. All it does is force schools like Costal Carolina to spend millions on stadium expansion for seats that won't even be filled. Eliminate the rule, or start enforcing it. If the this rule was enforced, the FCS would be stronger and the gap between the p5 and g5 would be smaller.

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With or without the 15k requirement, teams are not moving down to the FCS level. Period.

EverettGriz said:

nodak651 said:

The 15k rule needs to just go away, because obviously the spirit of the rule is being completely ignored. The rule is completely pointless if the schools or sponsors can just buy the tickets and claim those seats count as sold. All it does is force schools like Costal Carolina to spend millions on stadium expansion for seats that won't even be filled. Eliminate the rule, or start enforcing it. If the this rule was enforced, the FCS would be stronger and the gap between the p5 and g5 would be smaller.

Click to expand...

With or without the 15k requirement, teams are not moving down to the FCS level. Period.

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Unless you count Idaho ... but were they ever really FBS? Really?! :lol:

IdaGriz01 said:

EverettGriz said:

nodak651 said:

The 15k rule needs to just go away, because obviously the spirit of the rule is being completely ignored. The rule is completely pointless if the schools or sponsors can just buy the tickets and claim those seats count as sold. All it does is force schools like Costal Carolina to spend millions on stadium expansion for seats that won't even be filled. Eliminate the rule, or start enforcing it. If the this rule was enforced, the FCS would be stronger and the gap between the p5 and g5 would be smaller.

Click to expand...

With or without the 15k requirement, teams are not moving down to the FCS level. Period.

Click to expand...

Unless you count Idaho ... but were they ever really FBS? Really?! :lol:

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When Idaho first moved up they had to play half of their home games at Washington State in order to meet the quota.

This thread is full of penny pinching Montana logic to give up millions.

The MAC requires some Thursday night games for ESPN. Not many people are going to those games in November.

NIU has been to an Orange Bowl with a multi million payout, and gotten million + plus games from Boston College, Florida St, Vanderbilt, Iowa, BYU and other and this board squawks about a few dollars. Dropping out of FBS they also forfeit their million dollar CFP payout and their bowl trip payment last season.

Screw your head on right and actually do some math. As O’Day has said, FCS is a losing proposition everywhere, which would lose more for NIU than FBS. FCS has at most one big payday a year: playing an FBS school. Nothing else.

https://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/niu-northern-illinois-huskies-contention-plan-florida-state-ambitious-schedule-iowa-utah-byu-rod-carey-041417

Idaho without a FBS league had an nearly impossible and incredibly difficult financial task of getting five home games. They actually chose to stay FBS when they had a league affiliation in the Southeast as it had several million dollar payouts but they lose the CFP and bowl payouts. A league affilaition is absolutely required for a “smaller” school to move or remain in FBS. Liberty only moved as an independent because they have megabucks and the FBS advertising pays off. This board just can’t compute the financials. If Idaho had the Montanas and other Big Sky schools had the balls to move up to FBS, they would still be FBS.

If Idaho had the Montanas and other Big Sky schools had the balls to move up to FBS, they would still be FBS.

I defy any poster on here to first identify the first language of the poster and then try to define any three word stanza of this "authentic frontier gibberish" Open challenge.

SaskGriz said:

If Idaho had the Montanas and other Big Sky schools had the balls to move up to FBS, they would still be FBS.

I defy any poster on here to first identify the first language of the poster and then try to define any three word stanza of this "authentic frontier gibberish" Open challenge.

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Seth will have the balls when a CFP check for over a million annually is waived before him starting in 2025. But they have start the transition earlier to qualify with at least seven other FCS teams. But that concept is beyond the STEM and financial capabilities of posters here.

The upcoming FBS transition is why a several Big Sky school seem trigger happy with fb coaches that don’t have FBS experience. Your very own Stitt, and UCDavis, Sac St, and Montana St. not all of them are FBS experienced but an upgrade was needed.

But they have start the transition

It was a hell of a try but the bet is still in play, name the first language of the poster, and let's simplify, just explain "but they have start the transition"

We are so lucky to be in the FCS which has no minimum requirements of any kind...Not...