When Do We Reach The Point Where Schools and Teams Lose The Interest of The Fans

[Crossblock]

With the movement of Players Through The Portal and Coaches From Job to Job, Where Do We reach the Point where Fans are Disinterested and Irrelevant? The NIL Deals and TV Money Now Run the Show. I've seen several players in the Portal for the third time looking for their 4th School in 4 Years. When We are dealing with paid Mercenaries (Coaches and Players) Who lack Loyalty to any School or Teammates. How do You follow a Team and Have interest when 3 Quarters of Rosters for some Schools are turning over. Do You ever reach a point where Schools say Ticket Sales and Attendance is no longer relevant, and We aren't going to market as We do now?
The one thing We can say is that Career School Records at many schools are safe and will never be broken because very few Players will stay at the same School for 4 years.

 

[Indymoon]

I’m there; who’s with me?

 

[ams66]

I’m there; who’s with me?

Pretty much. I'm very much wait-and-see on this upcoming season. I am hoping for an improvement over the last few years, but we hired a coach who didn't even make the tournament so who knows.

 

[bbafficionado]

You already saw it by looking in the upper deck this year. Empty for many games. Good seats on the main level which would have gone for hundreds years ago went for under 50. I agree 100%. Its hard to get into it like the days of a team staying together for years. Glad I was around for the glory days of old.

 

[RegionHoosiers]

I think a lot of fans are losing interest, at least for IU. Students aren't showing up either. But it probably doesn't matter as long as the donors keep writing checks. Maybe it's more this particular team - football was a ton of fun this year and it's the same NIL/transfer deal.

This year was the first time I went to a game and I was bored. There's a lot of pageantry but the game has become dull. Watching the tourney games is the same thing. Hard to stay interested.

 

[ams66]

I think a lot of fans are losing interest, at least for IU. Students aren't showing up either. But it probably doesn't matter as long as the donors keep writing checks. Maybe it's more this particular team - football was a ton of fun this year and it's the same NIL/transfer deal.

This year was the first time I went to a game and I was bored. There's a lot of pageantry but the game has become dull. Watching the tourney games is the same thing. Hard to stay interested.

TikTok attention span amongst the kids. Basketball is too slow paced. Need to shorten the shot clock to 10 seconds and play 4 three-minute quarters.

 

[BA47591]

It's going to take a new type of coach moving forward. The more some version of this becomes the norm the more it will be accepted.

 

[Wiedersehen]

I’m there.

 

[frikkenfrakken]

Winning will solve most of the malaise. Nobody cheered Max Bielfeldt less because he was a "mercenary."

 

[kurt cloverdales]

Winning will solve most of the malaise. Nobody cheered Max Bielfeldt less because he was a "mercenary."

winning will cure everything, plus will lead to more stability

 

[Thyrsis]

With the movement of Players Through The Portal and Coaches From Job to Job, Where Do We reach the Point where Fans are Disinterested and Irrelevant? The NIL Deals and TV Money Now Run the Show. I've seen several players in the Portal for the third time looking for their 4th School in 4 Years. When We are dealing with paid Mercenaries (Coaches and Players) Who lack Loyalty to any School or Teammates. How do You follow a Team and Have interest when 3 Quarters of Rosters for some Schools are turning over. Do You ever reach a point where Schools say Ticket Sales and Attendance is no longer relevant, and We aren't going to market as We do now?
The one thing We can say is that Career School Records at many schools are safe and will never be broken because very few Players will stay at the same School for 4 years.

I'd look around at schools with rosters that don't turn over like that. Purdue is one of them. Supporting good things would be a start.

The things you describe are bad (though I don't begrudge the players getting paid). I'd try to avoid supporting the bad things.

I don't mean any of that in a condescending way. I personally don't want to contribute to unprincipled badness.

 

[Pryght]

It's not NIL and coaching transitions that reduce my enthusiasm, but rather lack of effort on the court (from coaches and players). I think the portal adds an extra layer of excitement to the basketball season.

 

[GR8IUFAN]

Pretty much. I'm very much wait-and-see on this upcoming season. I am hoping for an improvement over the last few years, but we hired a coach who didn't even make the tournament so who knows.

Stop beating the same tired drum anbot.the tourney. They beat 4 teams ranked in the top 10 when they played. 3 of those were without their best player. CDD did this by putting a team together that had only 1 returning player.
They got screwed worse than IU and o$u.
He inherited a dumpster fire and turned it into 19-13.
GoHoosiers

 

[T.M.P.]

With the movement of Players Through The Portal and Coaches From Job to Job, Where Do We reach the Point where Fans are Disinterested and Irrelevant? The NIL Deals and TV Money Now Run the Show. I've seen several players in the Portal for the third time looking for their 4th School in 4 Years. When We are dealing with paid Mercenaries (Coaches and Players) Who lack Loyalty to any School or Teammates. How do You follow a Team and Have interest when 3 Quarters of Rosters for some Schools are turning over. Do You ever reach a point where Schools say Ticket Sales and Attendance is no longer relevant, and We aren't going to market as We do now?
The one thing We can say is that Career School Records at many schools are safe and will never be broken because very few Players will stay at the same School for 4 years.

I don't Know And don't really Care what Any Fan thinks. It's nothing but Entertainment and holds Very little Importance ...

 

[OpenWheels]

Indiana and the rest of the B1G won't really have a college basketball team. But we will sponsor a semi-pro basketball team.
Heck I rooted for the nearby metal and scrap hauling little league baseball team over some others because they sponsored my team when I was that age.

I can root for a team that says INDIANA on the jersey and represents our school. They still need to go to school and make progress. So while well paid, they're still our team. And as already said, it's just entertainment.

Part of the fun that makes it still our team, will be seeing how our university support and the coach pull it all together. And see the players learn and get better. And hopefully win.
,

 

[Stuffshot]

With the movement of Players Through The Portal and Coaches From Job to Job, Where Do We reach the Point where Fans are Disinterested and Irrelevant? The NIL Deals and TV Money Now Run the Show. I've seen several players in the Portal for the third time looking for their 4th School in 4 Years. When We are dealing with paid Mercenaries (Coaches and Players) Who lack Loyalty to any School or Teammates. How do You follow a Team and Have interest when 3 Quarters of Rosters for some Schools are turning over. Do You ever reach a point where Schools say Ticket Sales and Attendance is no longer relevant, and We aren't going to market as We do now?
The one thing We can say is that Career School Records at many schools are safe and will never be broken because very few Players will stay at the same School for 4 years.

ZZZ-z-z-z.

Geewhilikers. I just don't know. When do we lose interest to responding to speculative posts like this.

 

[Stuffshot]

TikTok attention span amongst the kids. Basketball is too slow paced. Need to shorten the shot clock to 10 seconds and play 4 three-minute quarters.

God. That's awful. But you surely are right.

Do you think students will ever run those 5K races again? They take at least 12 minutes (for Olympians).

And chess is entirely out of the question -- 20 minutes for just one chess game?? Who's got time for that?!!

And Monopoly?? That takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r.

 

[wi_hoosier]

With the movement of Players Through The Portal and Coaches From Job to Job, Where Do We reach the Point where Fans are Disinterested and Irrelevant? The NIL Deals and TV Money Now Run the Show. I've seen several players in the Portal for the third time looking for their 4th School in 4 Years. When We are dealing with paid Mercenaries (Coaches and Players) Who lack Loyalty to any School or Teammates. How do You follow a Team and Have interest when 3 Quarters of Rosters for some Schools are turning over. Do You ever reach a point where Schools say Ticket Sales and Attendance is no longer relevant, and We aren't going to market as We do now?
The one thing We can say is that Career School Records at many schools are safe and will never be broken because very few Players will stay at the same School for 4 years.

I honestly told my 20 something sons that I still watch Indiana, and just Indiana, out of tradition. The basketball game today is just not that interesting to me anymore. I have watched any tourney games in any length. I have watched some high school games and a few Pacer games with my son, but that is it.

 

[wi_hoosier]

Stop beating the same tired drum anbot.the tourney. They beat 4 teams ranked in the top 10 when they played. 3 of those were without their best player. CDD did this by putting a team together that had only 1 returning player.
They got screwed worse than IU and o$u.
He inherited a dumpster fire and turned it into 19-13.
GoHoosiers

He also lost his second best guard.

 

[Hoosierific]

winning will cure everything, plus will lead to more stability

I was going to say the same thing. Winning will solve all those problems in regard to fan interest in the team

 

[82hoosier]

Winning will solve most of the malaise. Nobody cheered Max Bielfeldt less because he was a "mercenary."

I think Max may have been the last Indiana transfer that overachieved. And that’s why he was a fan favorite.

 

[Warison]

After reading the posts in this thread, please consider, 94% of this board is really old. If you’re losing interest in your favorite team it’s strictly because you favorite team has sucked for 20 odd years.

IU fans had very little problems with buying a team this year. In fact we won another off season championship in doing so. We just had a problem when we learned that actual coaching still matters, which has never changed in the eons of sports.

 

[frikkenfrakken]

I think Max may have been the last Indiana transfer that overachieved. And that’s why he was a fan favorite.

Kel'el Ware might disagree.

 

[WhyisIUBBcursed]

I don't Know And don't really Care what Any Fan thinks. It's nothing but Entertainment and holds Very little Importance ...

If you didn’t care you wouldn’t have posted this

 

[ButHerEmails]

With the movement of Players Through The Portal and Coaches From Job to Job, Where Do We reach the Point where Fans are Disinterested and Irrelevant? The NIL Deals and TV Money Now Run the Show. I've seen several players in the Portal for the third time looking for their 4th School in 4 Years. When We are dealing with paid Mercenaries (Coaches and Players) Who lack Loyalty to any School or Teammates. How do You follow a Team and Have interest when 3 Quarters of Rosters for some Schools are turning over. Do You ever reach a point where Schools say Ticket Sales and Attendance is no longer relevant, and We aren't going to market as We do now?
The one thing We can say is that Career School Records at many schools are safe and will never be broken because very few Players will stay at the same School for 4 years.

I’d be ok with a stipulation that you can only transfer twice during your undergrad years. You can do a third transfer if you’re a grad transfer. Or schools are going to start having NIL contracts that you only get all your money after two years. Who knows. It will get old potentially seeing players play for four different teams in four years.

Gonna have to implement drafting players out of HS and allowing trades, with mid season trades during Christmas break.

 

[UncleMark]

Part of the fun that makes it still our team, will be seeing how our university support and the coach pull it all together. And see the players learn and get better. And hopefully win.

This is what I miss most. Not something you see much of anymore with many/most of the players being short timers.

 

[CG Paul]

Pretty much. I'm very much wait-and-see on this upcoming season. I am hoping for an improvement over the last few years, but we hired a coach who didn't even make the tournament so who knows.

That’s very mature of you. Don’t tell me you’re this short-sighted.

Wait…you just did.

FFS!

Just curious, since you’re in such a bad place right now, regarding the team, what are your projections for next season (don’t give me the wait and see bs) what are your sad predictions? Thanks!😊

 

[zeke4ahs]

I'd look around at schools with rosters that don't turn over like that. Purdue is one of them. Supporting good things would be a start.

The things you describe are bad (though I don't begrudge the players getting paid). I'd try to avoid supporting the bad things.

I don't mean any of that in a condescending way. I personally don't want to contribute to unprincipled badness.

It will be interesting if Purdue can stay with that model. They basically had their team together as freshmen when NIL was starting. They all knew they had a really good team, so it would make sense most of them would want to stay.

 

[CG Paul]

It will be interesting if Purdue can stay with that model. They basically had their team together as freshmen when NIL was starting. They all knew they had a really good team, so it would make sense most of them would want to stay.

We’ll see what they do with Smith. Lot of talk on X that he’s worth a bunch, and some teams are willing to give it to him.

Will puke give it to him, will he stay at a discounted rate, or will he go get what the market says he’s worth? We’ll see.

 

[ams66]

That’s very mature of you. Don’t tell me you’re this short-sighted.

Wait…you just did.

FFS!

Just curious, since you’re in such a bad place right now, regarding the team, what are your projections for next season (don’t give me the wait and see bs) what are your sad predictions? Thanks!😊

So, there were cheerleaders for Archie 8 years ago. And cheerleaders for Woodson 4 years ago. And cheerleaders for CDD today. That's great, but I don't care what he did at Drake or West Virginia. People are already calling him "elite" and he didn't even make the tournament. He hasn't won a game here yet, and as of now he has what, two players on the team? Three? And no staff. Scorched earth may well be necessary but he's clearly set himself up having to fill an emtpy tank.

I drank the koolaid the last two hires and I'm not doing it again. Had the same feeling when we hired Cignetti by the way. A lot of talk and excitement but all that matters is can he win. Cignetti showed that he could. DeVries has not yet. Not here. Hope he does.

 

[82hoosier]

Kel'el Ware might disagree.

Max was an integral part of Indiana being the conference champs and winning the sixth man award.

 

[CG Paul]

So, there were cheerleaders for Archie 8 years ago. And cheerleaders for Woodson 4 years ago. And cheerleaders for CDD today. That's great, but I don't care what he did at Drake or West Virginia. People are already calling him "elite" and he didn't even make the tournament. He hasn't won a game here yet, and as of now he has what, two players on the team? Three? And no staff. Scorched earth may well be necessary but he's clearly set himself up having to fill an emtpy tank.

I drank the koolaid the last two hires and I'm not doing it again. Had the same feeling when we hired Cignetti by the way. A lot of talk and excitement but all that matters is can he win. Cignetti showed that he could. DeVries has not yet. Not here. Hope he does.

So we should treat him like dog sh!t until he proves himself worthy? After at least one full season?

Thanks for keeping it real.

 

[ThreeToMakeTwo]

Winning will take care of everything.

 

[ANOTHERBANNERYEAR]

So, there were cheerleaders for Archie 8 years ago. And cheerleaders for Woodson 4 years ago. And cheerleaders for CDD today. That's great, but I don't care what he did at Drake or West Virginia. People are already calling him "elite" and he didn't even make the tournament. He hasn't won a game here yet, and as of now he has what, two players on the team? Three? And no staff. Scorched earth may well be necessary but he's clearly set himself up having to fill an emtpy tank.

I drank the koolaid the last two hires and I'm not doing it again. Had the same feeling when we hired Cignetti by the way. A lot of talk and excitement but all that matters is can he win. Cignetti showed that he could. DeVries has not yet. Not here. Hope he does.

Ok, then jump back on the wagon if the TEAM does win, and say I told you so if they don’t. You’re a winner every time.

 

[Bippy]

With the movement of Players Through The Portal and Coaches From Job to Job, Where Do We reach the Point where Fans are Disinterested and Irrelevant? The NIL Deals and TV Money Now Run the Show. I've seen several players in the Portal for the third time looking for their 4th School in 4 Years. When We are dealing with paid Mercenaries (Coaches and Players) Who lack Loyalty to any School or Teammates. How do You follow a Team and Have interest when 3 Quarters of Rosters for some Schools are turning over. Do You ever reach a point where Schools say Ticket Sales and Attendance is no longer relevant, and We aren't going to market as We do now?
The one thing We can say is that Career School Records at many schools are safe and will never be broken because very few Players will stay at the same School for 4 years.

We reached that time years ago and before all the NIL and transfers. The changes to the shot clock, the penalty for playing defense, everything to make NCAA ball look like the NBA had a profound impact on how compelling college ball is to watch.
At least the women seem to still think it's a team sport.

 

[kkott]

With the movement of Players Through The Portal and Coaches From Job to Job, Where Do We reach the Point where Fans are Disinterested and Irrelevant? The NIL Deals and TV Money Now Run the Show. I've seen several players in the Portal for the third time looking for their 4th School in 4 Years. When We are dealing with paid Mercenaries (Coaches and Players) Who lack Loyalty to any School or Teammates. How do You follow a Team and Have interest when 3 Quarters of Rosters for some Schools are turning over. Do You ever reach a point where Schools say Ticket Sales and Attendance is no longer relevant, and We aren't going to market as We do now?
The one thing We can say is that Career School Records at many schools are safe and will never be broken because very few Players will stay at the same School for 4 years.

For me, I have already been there much of the last 2 seasons. I keep hoping the flame will reignite, out of tradition and because IU Bball holds so many great memories. But to answer your question: I'd say about the time ISU hangs a 20 spot on us in the first game. I think that was the beginning of my IU bball doldrums.

 

[Crossblock]

We reached that time years ago and before all the NIL and transfers. The changes to the shot clock, the penalty for playing defense, everything to make NCAA ball look like the NBA had a profound impact on how compelling college ball is to watch.
At least the women seem to still think it's a team sport.

And for Us older guys, don't forget the total lack of fundamentals. Maybe I'm an out of touch old fart, but I cringe everytime I see a Player dribble the ball with his hand on the side of the ball or almost underneath it. In my day that was an automatic palming violation. Same thing with traveling, double dribble and 3 Second Violations. Somewhere along the line Coaching became roll the balls out and full Court Scrimmage for 3 Hours with no designed drills to improve fundamentals and correct problems and technique.

 

[82hoosier]

Let’s see, the Hoosiers have one freshman recruit, one transfer, and one player petitioning for an extra year of eligibility. And now they are going to go out and buy a team, which probably will only be around for one year. Next year, I will be watching as a curiosity.

 

[iubhounds]

Yes I am old so by some here my opinion might be skewed. I've been a sports fan my whole life. I only played sports at the high school level. There were a few years in the late 1970s living on the beach in Southern California I had zero interest in sports but once I came back it was more intense than ever. My sister in Indiana would tape and overnight the VCR tape to me of IU games in the mid to late 80s. So I never missed an IU game.

My VCR collection of IU basketball games grew to over 450 tapes with 3-4 games per tape in addition to the IU football bowl games. Now you can get all of those games on YouTube, with highlights at a minimum. During those years I might watch a game 3-4 times until the next one. Losses bothered me, made me grumpy until the next IU game.

So what I am getting at ... I went from "an addict" to "it's only a game, they will decide if they win or not." After a few Woodson games I saw the hand writing on the wall and lost interest but still tuned in when I said I wouldn't. Due to teams nationwide running the same offenses basically and too much like the NBA my interest level continued to decrease. Winning or losing didn't matter it was just a game. Not so for IU football.

Locally I hated seeing USI go D1. I have hated seeing what the NIL does/did to UE and USI but the interest is till there. Yet winning or losing doesn't matter that much anymore. Is that a lack of interest in the game?

The people on X that put the graphic together for school emblems for the starting 5 of each team in the Sweet 16 is interesting. Then last night someone did the same chart for those teams with their state or country from where each starting player originated from. Pretty amazing to see and proves just how much the college game has changed.

Change is most things is inevitable whether we like it or not. After this court ruling in April NIL will change but behind the scenes large payments will never stop no matter what. The bag is open and even if congress gets involved (terrible idea), the money will still flow under the table.

Yet, if there wasn't change they would still be shooting at peach baskets.

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

Pretty much. I'm very much wait-and-see on this upcoming season. I am hoping for an improvement over the last few years, but we hired a coach who didn't even make the tournament so who knows.