(04-15-2011 07:57 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(04-14-2011 02:27 PM)Goldenbuc Wrote:  

(04-14-2011 12:08 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  I didn't know 2 hours was that far to drive for a game? I make that distance drive every home game. I also drove 14 hours 2 years in a row to go to the Liberty Bowl 2 years in a row. Maybe I have a problem.

Two hours isn't far for a true fan...but it's not something people not tied to the school do so much. In Orlando....the local casual college football fan isn't going to drive up to Gainesville each week. True Gator fans will make that drive. UCF fans will drive plenty of hours to go see UCF play...but there's a difference between a casual fan (no real ties...just a local checking it out) and a true fan.

Oh I agree, but the issue is you have to find a way to turn casual fans into true fans. Casual fans will buy tickets when the team is really good, but the second a couple of bad losses happen they disappear. The big thing you guys have going for you isn't your large market, it's your massive enrollment. People who go to school somewhere are always going to be more likely to become true fans who will buy season tickets and donate money, while it's much harder to get casual observers to do the same things. That's why I think you guys are a really attractive candidate, more so than even TCU in the long run, who if this amazing run comes to an end could start to struggle to fill their stadium again.

I'll agree with you, and add that the fact that so many of our graduates stay in the nearby vicinity helps this even more. It leads to the politicians/media/town as a whole embracing the school much faster than if we weren't so massive. Honestly, when I first enrolled at UCF (2003), the support for us was so low it was sickening. I remember going to a sporting goods store not even 5 miles away from UCF in downtown orlando and seeing 15 different types of UF/FSU/UM hats while only seeing 2 types of UCF hats. It's unbelievable how much that's changed recently, partly due to our success but also because of the changes in our campus combined with our massive enrollment. People are actually proud to say they're UCF fans now, it's a good feeling.

On that same note, ECU has a large enrollment too, and has been around a lot longer so I wouldn't be surprised if their overall market share is bigger than one would guess. Which is also probably part of the reason they get such good fan support at their stadium.