I am legitimately interested in how ECU could garner such support for their football team over past 20+ years. I know ECU had some good teams (Jeff Blake) back in the day and have a history of some pretty good upsets. But there are 4 P5 teams in NC already.
It seems like Duke and UNC have a pretty good contingent of t-shirt fans, NC ST gets their share and Wake has to have their corner of NC. So how does ECU get 50K+ at its games?

UC had a pretty good book chronicling their rise called "Bearcat Rising" a few years back. Just curious. A lot of programs over the years have had good success, but they have not been able to expand/grow and keep it like ECU. Thanks.

ECU fans can/will provide a much better hypothesis (cool ... have not used that word in a long time! ) but I'll speak as a semi-third party but who lives 2½ from Greenville with family there and has probably but to ECU/Greenville at least 98% more than the other average AAC fans:

ECU long ago put their emphasis on football long ago within a "basketball state" where the four ACC schools (sans possibly NC State ... they'll have to help out regarding NCSU's football rabidness) are hoops, hoops, hoops.

Add to that a respect that has been delayed creates a healthy chip on the shoulder. Example of that is when C-USA was formed and they were initially excluded so that just SIX schools (outrageous) started to appease bag of wind Howard Schnellenberger and his "collision course with the national championship".

I also think there is a "We're our own world" for that portion of the state that is east of I-95.

Due to the location, I often wonder just how may AAC fans have travelled to Greenville for a game? It is fun. For me, though, I am just getting older and less mo-BILE.

How is that?

There is something to be said for being "the only game in town" in a small-ish town like Greenville...winning helps, too :-)

North Carolina/Virginia is general is passionate with college sports. If we ever need a conference member, odu or Charlotte should get a look. Both need to increase their stadium size.

Not a full explanation here, just a few points.

Wake doesn't have a whole lot of fans who have no connection to the university. Duke only has tshirt basketball fans, but not nearly as many as unc. NC state benefits from causal fans but is also the largest school in the state.

Ecu has a lot of loyal students and alumn. Most people know what they're getting into before they come here, it's a big draw for some.

Ecu also benefits from casual fans in the area. My girlfriend's boss went to state and her (the boss) son went to unc. Both pull for ecu because they've always lived near ECU. Thr school spirit in a college town is infectious.

Plus a lot the things that MemTGRS said. East of I-95 is a different world from the rest of the state.

(11-17-2014 12:04 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  There is something to be said for being "the only game in town" in a small-ish town like Greenville...winning helps, too :-)

They are one of the few g5 schools in a small town that can do that. Reason why they are the only small town program in the aac.

(11-17-2014 12:08 PM)KNIGHTTIME Wrote:  

(11-17-2014 12:04 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  There is something to be said for being "the only game in town" in a small-ish town like Greenville...winning helps, too :-)

They are one of the few g5 schools in a small town that can do that. Reason why they are the only small town program in the aac.

Yes, you only have to look at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg to see how tough that is. And up until recently, I believe that USM was the largest school in the state enrollment-wise.

Of course North Carolina is a far larger state in population than Miss., so a little slice of NC fans is much greater than the same in Miss.

I think it's mostly from cultivating a great tailgating environment. I'd say most people come more for the festive atmosphere pre-game than actually are as emotionally invested into the game. That's why even if we lost about every game we'd still get 30k fans showing up for the pre-party.

I never bought the only game in town as a legit reason when most of the people coming these games are coming from other places and many from Raleigh, or even the ones from rural Eastern NC could just drive the hour to the beach in September/October. There are certainly plenty of other things these people could be doing in the fall of the year than spending hundreds of dollars and the time it takes many to travel to watch ECU football.

ECU is like a big family. We can say bad things about our team or school but if you do it then "them's fightin' words". We love our school and our teams. The football games are a big party. In the 70's and 80's there was not much tailgating going on and attendance was just ok, but then the university started a marketing campaign called "ain't it great to tailgate" and attendance started to increase each year. It has caught on and more and more people started to attend games in order to be at the tailgate parties. Those people became supporters of the team and then their children and so on. We Pirates love a good party.

Marketing...from the student Pirate Club to the grass roots efforts of recruiting new members tothe Pirate Club to the game day atmoshpere(football) have all had a lot to do with how ECU has grown the football fan base.

Now we need to get the basketball marketing program in gear.

While ECU is in a small town location, the better question should be is why isn't the schools located in the larger cities not doing the same. You could say that there is more to do in the larger cities but I highly doubt there are other college football games on Saturdays to go watch in Memphis or Cincinatti. I guess college sports is not that important in those two cities???

When you choose to come to ECU a lot of the reasons for going there are
-Football/tailgating
-College town
-pirate pride/school pride etc.

Every bar/restaurant in ENC has ecu stuff in it just about (along with state and unc). So even though the casual walmart fan cheers for UNC/Duke/State, youd be surprised at how many also cheer for ECU in big games (before we lose to temple and cincy)

While its a lot of times not the first choice for many students out of high school, I think a lot of that changes and they at least have some pride in their school mainly because we have so many students that are on campus or that live in greenville. Its more than just a school

Neither of my parents went to ECU but one of my uncles who did brought me to a game when I was about 10 years old and my impression immediately after that was I got to come here after seeing all the students drinking beers and partying and having a blast because this is pretty damn cool place. Pretty much after that he saw I liked going he'd bring me to 2 or 3 games a year and I'd follow the team as best I could in the others and I always like the underdog aspect as well which at that time we'd play 5 or 6 P5 type programs.

It also helped that some of the games were carried on local TV so as an eastern NC guy you got to watch them. You got to remember this was also a time with no internet or at least as we know it today and many families with out cable so if you are exposing people that only have a few channels and entertainment options in your primary target areas too. I think the distribution at least in that time period was more important and helped a lot as well. I know as just some kid who was looking for a team it certainly helped pull me in.

Rowdydowdy I think the difference is that you are expected to follow ECU football or at least attend the tailgates. People dont feel like they are obligated from day 1 to support ECU basketball and look at the interest in it. From the moment I went to orientation is 2008 you knew that ECU football was a big deal and it was often stressed during that weekend.

(11-17-2014 12:01 PM)MemTGRS Wrote:  ECU fans can/will provide a much better hypothesis (cool ... have not used that word in a long time! ) but I'll speak as a semi-third party but who lives 2½ from Greenville with family there and has probably but to ECU/Greenville at least 98% more than the other average AAC fans:

ECU long ago put their emphasis on football long ago within a "basketball state" where the four ACC schools (sans possibly NC State ... they'll have to help out regarding NCSU's football rabidness) are hoops, hoops, hoops.

Add to that a respect that has been delayed creates a healthy chip on the shoulder. Example of that is when C-USA was formed and they were initially excluded so that just SIX schools (outrageous) started to appease bag of wind Howard Schnellenberger and his "collision course with the national championship".

I also think there is a "We're our own world" for that portion of the state that is east of I-95.

Due to the location, I often wonder just how may AAC fans have travelled to Greenville for a game? It is fun. For me, though, I am just getting older and less mo-BILE.

How is that?

The bolded is one of the best paragraphs I've ever read on a sports message board. Humor, opinion, conjecture, and a good hint of fact all in 2 sentences and all stated correctly and well in my opinion.

"Gameday" is the key.

The Stadium sits on top of the hill and people come from far and wide to tailgate...for 6 hours. It's a social thing and ECU alums are very social anyway. They had a good time in college at ECU and they have a good time after college too. They rally around their football team.

This is why the Thursday night thing does not work great at ECU...it reduces the Gameday environment and puts only the emphasis on the game itself. The reality is that on that Gameday when ECU plays UNC, it tailgates about 60K with 51K in the stands. That's immaterial of what conference you are in or in many cases what opponent you are playing. The students are also very involved in gameday activities and that social scene.

(11-17-2014 11:47 AM)bearcat29 Wrote:  I am legitimately interested in how ECU could garner such support for their football team over past 20+ years. I know ECU had some good teams (Jeff Blake) back in the day and have a history of some pretty good upsets. But there are 4 P5 teams in NC already.
It seems like Duke and UNC have a pretty good contingent of t-shirt fans, NC ST gets their share and Wake has to have their corner of NC. So how does ECU get 50K+ at its games?

UC had a pretty good book chronicling their rise called "Bearcat Rising" a few years back. Just curious. A lot of programs over the years have had good success, but they have not been able to expand/grow and keep it like ECU. Thanks.

It has several fathers, but the grandaddy of our program was a former chancellor we had named Leo Jenkins, a Rutgers grad, decorated Marine WWII vet, and Dean who when he became our chancellor, by then had become a 'native' and was in love with ECU. He dreamed big dreams and felt that our university, whom he ushered through not only fights with UNC over a nursing school, University status, and a med school, but wanted us to compete at the highest level of college athletics. He felt our best shot was to emphasize football at the advice of Frank McGuire, who thought basketball would be too much of a hurdle to overcome in ACC territory. He was passionate and was a 'why not us?' type person. The grads and fans just fed off his vision. It stems from there and just has been an incremental deal ever since.

winning has a lot to do with it. when john thompson was coach, crowds werent so robust, but they've been successful for so long, its reached critical mass attendance wise. fair play to em.

It's is a part of us. From the time you enter college at ECU you learn the tradition and you're washed in it until it becomes a ritual.

This is passed on from generation to generation with each holding the next to a higher standard.

(11-17-2014 01:03 PM)gopirates11 Wrote:  Rowdydowdy I think the difference is that you are expected to follow ECU football or at least attend the tailgates. People dont feel like they are obligated from day 1 to support ECU basketball and look at the interest in it. From the moment I went to orientation is 2008 you knew that ECU football was a big deal and it was often stressed during that weekend.

How refreshing. Guess who was on the big screen at my son's orientation in 2010? Josh.