(04-20-2015 12:51 PM)Saint3333 Wrote: (04-20-2015 12:45 PM)FlyHawk98 Wrote: Marshalls problem is the same that most of us face. When we have P5 teams at home we are around 36,000-40,000 fans.
Anything around 30,000 in the G5 is pretty good imo.
We always have a few games over 30,000 but also end up with at least one game around 24-25,000 that drags the average down. Last year we played Rhode Island in a monsoon, of course we had poor attendance for that game.
This year we open up with Purdue at home, if it doesn't sell out it will be close. I'd say we get around 36,000 for that game.
Also hurts that most G5 teams (teams we all play at home the most) do not bring many fans.
You guys have 22,000 for games right now. Imagine if South Alabama and other Sun Belt schools brought around 3,000-5,000 every game. Your attendance would instantly spike because of this.
I actually wish that Marshall would spear head a new conference that is only on the East coast and more regional. Build some rivalries and grow with each other. It will never happen, but a guy can dream!
If CUSA and SBC would split the conferences down the AL/MS border it can be reality.
This all goes back to the dreaded "Perception" issue we have with schools and their fans. If everyone would just stop worrying about what each conference once was and focus on recreating them to fit today's landscape we would all be better off.
Merge the Eastern halves together and the Western halves together then negotiate a new TV deal that covers both conferences and maybe even the MAC. You'd get a lot more selling power if you had 24 or 36 schools to offer to a network.
We all know most of this will likely never happen but this would be fine with me:
New Conference #1
North- Marshall, ODU, WKU, App, UNCC, MTSU
South- GSU, GS, Troy, USA, FIU, FAU
New Conference #2
East- USM, ULM, ULL, Ark. St, La. Tech, UAB/Iadho(This would keep all current school in a league. Remove Idaho if UAB ever restarts FB)
West- Rice, UNT, UTSA, Tx. St, UTEP, NMSU(Full Member)