Cignetti Calls on Indiana Fans to Fill Memorial Stadium for Big Ten Opener
The short version
- Cignetti is 30-2 as Indiana's head coach and won last season's national championship.
- He asked fans to arrive early, stay loud, and occupy every seat for all four quarters against Northwestern.
- The 2-0 Wildcats visit Friday night in Indiana's Big Ten home opener, with temperatures expected in the mid-to-lower 60s.
- Announced attendance averaged 54,521 over three home games, but crowds thin noticeably after halftime.
With the Hoosiers 30-2 under their coach, the focus has shifted to attendance habits ahead of Friday's conference home game against Northwestern.
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti used his weekly radio appearance on Thursday to ask supporters to show up on time and stay for the whole game when the Hoosiers host Northwestern on Friday night in their first Big Ten home contest of the season.
"First Big Ten game at home," Cignetti said. "We need everybody in the stadium early. Early. Need everybody in the stadium early. And we need them to be loud and gotta give them something to be loud about. And we need somebody sitting in every seat in that stadium from the first play to the last play."
The program has been remarkably successful on the field during his tenure, posting a 30-2 record, and it captured the College Football Playoff national championship last season. Even so, converting a school long identified with basketball into a consistent football destination remains unfinished business. Before the 2025 campaign, Indiana owned more losses than any other Division I football program, while its men's basketball team claims five national championships despite recent struggles.
Attendance frustration has been building. Indiana opened at home against North Texas, Howard and Western Kentucky, a nonconference schedule light on marquee opponents, and heat combined with lopsided scores sent many spectators heading out before the final whistle, or drifting back to the tailgate areas. Before the football program's ascent, those pregame gatherings in Bloomington were themselves the main attraction, spawning the old line that "Indiana never lost a tailgate."
Don Fischer, the longtime radio voice of Indiana athletics who hosts the coach's show, acknowledged the issue has come up repeatedly this week across more than 50 years of watching thin football crowds. "And our fanbase, I get it, I get it. There's a lot of people that kinda go back to how it used to be and thinking about it that way... You gotta change that," Fischer said.
Cignetti pushed back on complaints about the early-season experience, pointing to the results. "Well, it was hot, you know. It was hot, and I was hot on the sideline," Cignetti said. "And you know the stadium's made of limestone, so when you get those hot games, it's even hotter. And, you know, but (pause), you know, I mean, what are we 20-2, 29-2? When we came, I saw the pictures, 10,000 people in the stands. You know, don't bitch about a 38-0 win."
Memorial Stadium lists a capacity of 53,524, smaller than many Big Ten venues that hold roughly twice as many. Announced crowds for the opening three games actually exceeded that figure, averaging 54,521, though the visible head count falls off sharply once halftime passes.
Weather should not be a factor against the Wildcats, a 2-0 team, with a Friday night kickoff and forecasts calling for temperatures in the mid-to-lower 60s.
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