Let’s play a game called make a deal!

It’s very simple. You have an object. I’ll offer you something and see if you’ll trade me for it.

Let’s see what you got.

You have two games against the Wisconsin football team. One in 2011 at Madison, and a 2009 date against the Badgers at Huskie Stadium. This would be the first Big Ten team to visit DeKalb.

I’ll offer you this. You get to keep two games against Wisconsin. But in 2009 you’ll play in Madison, and then in 2011 the Badgers will play you at Solider Field.

Not enough, you say?

Ok, I’ll throw this in. For moving the date around, I’ll pay you $800,000 instead of $300,000 for the road game, and give you the possibility to make more cash at Solider Field.

Do we have a deal?

Well, if you’re NIU, you do.

I understand why this deal was made. Football teams are not cheap. Scholarships, equipment, travel and heck, even athletic tape, cost a lot of money. By being flexible with Wisconsin, NIU brings in some additional funding that the athletic department gladly welcomes.

However, it seems to me that the Huskies are selling their soul by making this deal. Fans have been pumped for the chance to host a Big Ten team since the announcement in March 2007. And NIU needs that excitement for the program.

Last weekend, just over 22,000 came for the Huskies Homecoming game. This has traditionally been the most-attended home contest for NIU during the past seven years.

So what can NIU do to bring back fans?

Well, one thing is to win, and the Huskies are doing that. But another option is host exciting opponents.

When NIU men’s basketball coach Ricardo Patton was hired, I asked how he was going to get fans to the game. He told me it started by facing good basketball programs at home, like Southern Illinois.

Patton knew fans would come to this game not for NIU, but to see SIU. However, the Huskie head coach said the next step is to beat those good programs. Then fans will come to see your team.

This is what NIU football did in the early 2000s.

In 2002, the Huskies hosted, and beat, Wake Forest. Then in 2003, NIU brought Maryland and Iowa State to DeKalb. Both games finished with the Huskies on top.

But by eliminating the possibility of hosting BSC programs, NIU diminishes its student fan base.

The Huskies averaged only 23,575 fans per home game during the 2003 season. However, both the Maryland and Iowa State games attracted crowds of over 28,000.

In 2004, NIU drew 27,052 per game in DeKalb. It appears the effects of winning against BCS teams was reason for the attendance increase; the Huskies convinced students from the year prior to become fans.

But these fans graduate, and by 2005, the year NIU went to the MAC championship, the average attendance at Huskie Stadium was down to 22,176.

The trend continued into 2006, a year where NIU went to a bowl game and celebrated Garrett Wolfe’s senior season. An average of only 20,770 fans came per game that season.

It all comes back to the student population. You have to win over the new students each fall and convince them to become fans.

We saw in 2007 that however great an opportunity to play at Solider Field was, it didn’t increase the number of NIU fans. In fact, there were more Iowa fans than Huskie fans at Solider Field.

I understand why the Huskies made the deal. Money talks. But some things are more important than money – like a fan base.