Who Owns the Des Moines Market ISU or Iowa (Iowa says they do)

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Ross Peterson has talked about this several times on KXNO. He keeps saying that Iowa needs to wake up because they've lost their foothold in the DSM Metro. He's watched it all unfold over the last 10 years or so and he will tell you at best it's a 50/50 split and that Cyclone fans will soon outnumber Hawkeye fans.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

I see so much Iowa State stuff taking over the Twin Cities, it's quite impressive actually.

There are a lot of Twin Cities kids that are going to Iowa State. I knew several MN kids when I was there and they all continue to support the Cyclones. The Twin Cities is a pretty sweet deal for Iowa State because nobody up there cares about the Gophers, so a lot of those kids remain Cyclone fans. You can't say the same thing about the Chicago Land kids that go to Iowa...

 

[legi]

I see so much Iowa State stuff taking over the Twin Cities, it's quite impressive actually.

I second this. It has changed drastically in the last 10 years.

 

[HFCS]

When I started at ISU in '97 we were barely winning the "gear battle" in ISU's dorm rooms and now it looks like a coin flip in Des Moines. It's pretty obvious ISU will have a majority of the market within a few years if they don't already.

More alumni, best basketball program in state for over 2 decades, and less horrible stretches in football have done it. A few huge years of success in football will probably make it a clear edge for a generation or two, or the coach or two after KF being a disaster. Either or on that.

 

[cyfamily]

66 of Iowa's 99 counties have more people that Choose ISU over Iowa.
ISU's enrollment is higher
More Iowa high school grads choose ISU then any other college.

So regardless of how many fans cheer for which school. ISU will have more fans if they already don't very very soon. Once all those kids have kids its doomsday for Iowa fans in terms of state numbers.

I guess IF Iowa has more fans currently, they are the most uneducated folk in the state. Just stating facts.

In regards to Des Moines... Dallas and Polk county have far more ISU students then Iowa. That is fact.

You can also add the fact that there are more ISU grads than Iowa grads in state.

All of this makes for a great grassroot fan base that will continue to grow. Add in the improved product on the field and the future is bright. Plus, being an ISU fan is awesome!

 

[Gunnerclone]

I see so much Iowa State stuff taking over the Twin Cities, it's quite impressive actually.

ISU is a good landing spot for kids from the Twin cities that don’t want a major city campus but also don’t want to disappoint their families by going to Wisconsin. Plus the weather is better.

 

[Prone2Clone]

My son was over that way earlier this year and said he saw a lot more ISU gear around than Iowa City gear. And that takes a lot with all the tiger hawk stickers on 1979 Pintos.

And, **** Iowa.

 

[srjclone]

I'm glad I'm not alone in this thinking. I was in a Target in Eagan this weekend and the first college apparel I saw was Iowa State. Had to take a picture and send it to my GF's brother in law who works at target. He sent the shrug emoji and said that the people are buying so they are stocking more and more. Well done clones.

 

[srjclone]

My point for posting that was that although Iowa fans find it hard to believe, there has been a steady increase of alumni and Iowa state fans in general popping up in the last 5 years or so, all over the upper midwest but especially in Iowa and Minnesota. I'd venture to guess that most of the posters who scoffed at the idea of DSM being anywhere close to 50/50 live on the eastern side of the state. As someone said earlier in the thread, Ross Peterson says as much, and hes not one to just give compliments to ISU so there is some merit there imo.

I wouldn't be surprised if it is 50/50 or even if it was still majority Iowa, but there is no denying the increase of ISU fans and it doesn't look like it's stopping any time soon.

 

[Al_4_State]

Des Moines and Central Iowa seems like a 50/50 split. The rest of the state is like 75/25.

 

[BCClone]

I said 20 years ago, ISU would start making up the gap versus Iowa per the next decade or two. I watched all the blue hairs yapping about Iowa. I would look at ISU fans and see 20-30 year olds. I figured we would let those old Zabel/fry/Mitchell/brooks followers yip away but they would pass away over time and ISU would keep turning out grads and fans.

 

[Cyched]

Des Moines and Central Iowa seems like a 50/50 split. The rest of the state is like 75/25.

We’ve gained a lot of ground in Central IA, but eastern Iowa is still solid Hawk territory. Still a significant Nebraska presence in far western Iowa as well.

 

[Remo Gaggi]

I usually stay out of these in-state arguments but thought I would throw this out there. Which of these 30 schools is not like the others (Hint: One of them only had 7 wins over the previous 3 seasons). I think there are still more Iowa fans in the Des Moines area but that gap is narrowing quickly.

That's an interesting chart. Pretty much all of the teams ahead of Iowa State with the exception of Arkansas have had a ton of success in the past. Just goes to show the amount of loyalty the fan base has and more importantly the POTENTIAL for future growth provide the program continues to improve, which I believe they will.

 

[benman82]

A bit off topic but this cracked me up. You know how schools have commercials for themselves during football games? Telling everyone how great they are and little knows facts about the university.

Iowa's commercial includes a shot to "the Bean" in Chicago. I know 30+ % of their students are from IL, but using an out of state landmark to promote your school?!?!? Come on Man!

What happened to "The University FOR Iowa" ad campaign they ran a few years ago?

This was a reaction to the Board of Regents tying funding to in-state enrollment. I'm pretty sure Iowa tried to solve their problem by buying AIB, but now they've decided to close AIB because they only had 140 students! I doubt we've seen the last of Iowa commercials targeting in state students, but it is surprising they haven't run anything similar recently.
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/s...ness-iowa-board-regents-des-moines/779111002/

 

[SoapyCy]

I see so much Iowa State stuff taking over the Twin Cities, it's quite impressive actually.

When I was growing up in the cities Iowa State was non-existent. I go back to visit my parents and you're right, there are fans everywhere. What happened?

 

[IASTATE07]

Iowa fans wear normal clothes during the week. ISU fans wear ISU garb every single day of the week. It's weird. Hats, Polo's, coats, sweatshirts, etc, etc. This doesn't mean there are more Cy fans, it just means ISU fans have no fashion sense.

This poster confirmed Wal Mart t-shirt fan. Well done.

 

[srjclone]

When I was growing up in the cities Iowa State was non-existent. I go back to visit my parents and you're right, there are fans everywhere. What happened?

Good sports..

Obviously joking somewhat, but I do think the success of our basketball team and football teams getting some big wins in the early 2010s was huge for people in that area to take notice of lil ole Ames.

I think for a while there, and this is my opinion not based in fact, people weren't taking the time to think of Ames as an option. I think the success of basketball on a national level helped people think, oh Iowa state? thats only how far from here? Maybe I should check it out.

Then like everyone else who ever gets on ISUs campus for the first time, the rest is history.

Obviously there's more to it than just that, but I do think that helped kickstart the upswing, though.

 

[1100011CS]

When I was growing up in the cities Iowa State was non-existent. I go back to visit my parents and you're right, there are fans everywhere. What happened?

I'm guessing a combination of ISU grads moving to the cities for jobs that are non-existent in Iowa and MN residents sending kids to ISU for Ag/Eng/etc... degrees.

 

[srjclone]

This poster confirmed Wal Mart t-shirt fan. Well done.

That's actually hilarious because my first thought was the other way around, Iowa fans LOVE wearing their Iowa gear whenever wherever. As much as I love my ISU gear, I very rarely wear it outside of Saturdays, when going out. I guess I do have a couple ISU polos I will wear to work when ISU basketball has a game that day or something.

 

[laminak]

We’ve gained a lot of ground in Central IA, but eastern Iowa is still solid Hawk territory. Still a significant Nebraska presence in far western Iowa as well.

I agree eastern Iowa is still solid Hawk territory, however there has been a change for the better as well. When I went back to Dubuque while an ISU student in the 90s and later moved to CR, I had difficulty finding ISU anything in stores, on tv, or seeing anything ISU out and about. Now I can generally find some ISU stuff in stores, I can watch many ISU games on tv and see better coverage in the eastern newspapers, and see more people/cars/homes sporting ISU stuff. They're no longer the afterthought here and now really a respectable #2.