University of Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh said during a radio show appearance Tuesday that the school is working to address fan complaints about the in-stadium experience following the Badgers' home football opener Sept. 2.
The athletic department was flooded with complaints about the volume level of canned music, as well as the in-house DJ playing music over the Wisconsin marching band, PA announcements and referee penalty explanations.
As reported by Todd Milewski of the Wisconsin State Journal, McIntosh said officials turned the volume down to where it had been in previous seasons for the second half of Saturday's game, and further adjustments are in the offing moving forward. McIntosh said UW officials "learned a lot" from the feedback. "We'll take that and when we're back here in two weeks we'll apply it," he said.
The Badgers' next home game is Sept. 16 game against Georgia Southern.
In the face of declining attendance, Wisconsin contracted with game production company Van Wagner this season to change the fan experience at Camp Randall Stadium. Pregame hype videos were updated to reflect the arrival of head coach Luke Fickell, there was seemingly more emphasis on DJ music, and there was more intensity on some PA announcements from longtime Camp Randall voice Mike Mahnke, especially before defensive third downs. Branding on the video boards in those situations labeled it "Madtown Mayhem" and included pleas to "increase the noise," Milewski reported.
"The reality is our fans come to the stadium because they want to be part of something," McIntosh said on his radio show, as reported by Milewski. "They want to experience something, something they can't get on television. There's this balance of honoring the rituals and the traditions that allow our fans to participate and to be part of something. And obviously at big moments of the game, when Camp Randall is at its loudest because the fans are into it, that's a feeling that you get only from being in the stadium at that time.
"On the other hand, we've gotten feedback from our fans historically and in last year's survey that there are lulls in the game in which there's not a lot happening. And we viewed those as an opportunity to enhance what was happening. And so that was our intent going into the game on Saturday."
Matt Lepay, who hosts McIntosh's radio show, said there were 53 minutes of TV commercials during Saturday's game, suggesting Wisconsin has a lot of time to fill for people who are watching the game in the stadium.
According to Milewski's report, McIntosh said the environment at Camp Randall needs to be "fun and exciting and intense" for fans but there's a wide variety of generations and tastes among the people in attendance.
"There's no shortage of people that we're trying to please or entertain," McIntosh said on his radio show. "And so the right mix of that, the right blend of that is really crucial. Especially in an era ... in which attendance at games has been declining year over year over year. That's another contributing factor in addition to the feedback that we've received historically of why we needed to make some changes."
