On any given Saturday in the fall, Camp Randall Stadium is typically packed to the brim. That’s not necessarily the case at kickoff, which students usually miss because they’re busy cashing the keg at their buddy’s cousin’s girlfriend’s pregame on Breese Terrace, but they get there eventually. By about midway through the second quarter, most of the student section finally joins its already-seated Camp Randall cohorts, who come from both nearby and the far reaches of Wisconsin to cheer on the Badgers.
Shift your focus (quickly, because there’s literally nothing remotely cool to look at along the way) 251.9 miles south down I-39 to Memorial Stadium, a horseshoe-style venue situated on the campus of the University of Illinois. It’s a typical fall Saturday, and, like their conference-mates in Madison, the Fighting Illini are set to take the field. Unlike their conference-mates in Madison, the Illinois football team faces two unique obstacles foreign to much of the Badger faithful: Memorial Stadium typically sits about two-thirds full, and the sentiments and attention of the state is blurrily, if at all, honed in on Champaign.
Illinois has filled Memorial Stadium to 63.2 percent of its 62,870-person capacity this season, based on attendance statistics from FightingIllini.com and stadium capacity facts on ESPN.com. Obviously, stadium attendance isn’t a conclusive metric, but it is partially reflective of the meager interest the program draws, both throughout the state and on campus. It’s disheartening to see a state team play in a stadium spotted with pockets of empty seats, especially when the other main in-state competition at the collegiate level is Northwestern, which has struggled with branding and attendance issues for some time.
Whether its continued unpopularity as a destination stems from the action on the foggy gridiron of Ryan Field, a place that knows neither love nor enthusiasm, or the convenience of watching football from home, Illinois home football games continue to fall short of embodying its full potential.
This contrasts sharply with the sports culture in Wisconsin, where a common belief in the Badgers, Brewers and Packers seems to permeate the state as a whole. The Bucks are trying to get on that same level, with its preseason game at the Kohl Center in Madison and its adoption of a lumberjack-chic color palette aimed squarely at bringing in a younger generation fans from outside the city of Milwaukee. That rebranding effort is still in its early stages, but represents an aspiration to be what makes Wisconsin teams uniquely special.
The world the Badgers walk into this Saturday is vastly different from the tri-tone fandom that colors Wisconsin sports. While Wisconsin athletics live in harmony with the Packers and Brewers, and increasingly the Bucks, the Illini contend with a cluttered market that includes the Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox and, yes, Evanston’s own Wildcats. Supporting both Illini and any of the aforementioned teams is by no means mutually exclusive, but it’s hard to disagree that the hold Chicago sports have on Illinois makes it all the more difficult on the Illini to firmly grasp the state’s attention.
What the Badgers have established in Wisconsin really is one-of-a-kind. In Alabama, you align with the Crimson Tide or the Tigers, in Oregon you’re either a Duck or a Beaver, Floridians have the choice between the Gators, Seminoles and Hurricanes and the 35-year-old war between Western Michigan and Central Michigan rages on.
While UW comfortably holds its monopoly on college football fans in the state, Illinois continues to battle for relevancy. The product that head coach Bill Cubit is putting on the field should eventually draw fans in but, until Illinois sustains continuity both in the coaching staff and in its level of play, it will continue to play in front of frighteningly sparse crowds.
Will the Fighting Illini ever earn the full attention of Illinois? Or is the type of fandom surrounding the Badgers unique to Wisconsin? Let Jake know at jake.powers@dailycardinal.com.
