(05-08-2015 06:01 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote: I'm going to jump in on the fun and give you a little perspective. I don't have any idea how your schools treat the visiting fans, however, just about every school in the nation fills the worst seats in the house with the visiting team's fans. This model used to work when schools were in conferences that were much more regional.
Let's look at Duke, NC State, Wake, UVA, UMD, Clemson, and USC each charter members of the ACC. For the most part these schools were all within a four hour drive and most much less. With the exception being when the outlying schools played each other like USC visiting UMD. During those days the host school could easily get away with sending the opposing team's fans to the far reaches of the stadium. They were close enough to each other that people would come regardless of how bad the seats were. The costs to go to the game was significantly less as they didn't have to worry about overnight lodging. The short distance meant the travel expense like gas to get there was not a deterrent and the meals while traveling were at least two less than needed today.
UNC could get away with making the UVA crowd feel like second rate citizens. However, today we live in a different world and for all of the opposite reasons above, people have to select one or two away games to take their family. Then they arrive and the home school is using the same old tired model of selling them seats not worthy of a goat. The dad might still be able to get into the game as he is the diehard alumni, but the wife and two kids are bored out of their mind when the team is on the other end of the field.
Folk, I'm speaking from experience. I'm 56 and have fond memories of going to games with my parents back in the 60's. I have now gone through 4.5 more decades of watching the change. The problem is the schools have not changed along with the time. We need to roll out the carpet for our guests. We especially need to make their children have a good experience. We need to educate them on the rules of football at an early age and there is no better way than to sit in some 50 yard line seats with their team just below them and close enough a child can see the trainers taping the ankle of a star player.
It kills me to see visiting fans all bunched together in some far corner. Then a couple of sections of sparsely filled seats before we get to the home team's crowd. Our schools must take a hard look at the model. They need to think like its 2015 rather than 1965. I'm sure many will not agree and that's okay, but I ask you to think about what it would take to for you to pack up the wife and kids to attend an away game 250 miles away and then make you want to come back to that venue the next time your team has to travel to the same school.
Tenn (UT) is the only school to give visiting fans seats from the 40 to the 40. Western had the first 10 rows on the visiting side...40 to 40. Some of the nicest fans I meet anywhere sit around us. When you turn the ball over 5 out of 6 plays....yes 5 times in 6 plays it makes for a rough day. But even while Western was in the game those fans sitting close enough were very friendly. Not only friendly but policing their own. There's going to be a drunk in every crowd and no exceptions at that game...it didn't last long before 4 or 5 UT fans told the drunk to shut up. Five minutes later a officer helped the guy out of the stadium. Those same UT fans sent a text and video to someone.
Not only do schools give you the seats at the end of the stadium (Western does it also) but the prices for those seats are $30 to $47 for Western road games. Not many families are welling to pay a extra $60 to $94 and take little Johnny and Suzy.
Over the last 3 seasons I've made every Western home (which is a road game for me) and road games...other than Tech and FAU last year because my Wife had to have major surgery. Well I also missed our bowl game because we don't fly...and no passports.
I made all but 3 home and away road trip for basketball in those same 3 seasons ...missed 2 home games because of Western football and I missed the WKU at Minn this past year. Basketball is different most of the time we have 2 to 5 rows of seats behind the team bench or the corner section at worse.
Most of the away games I'm on the team list..not all because sometimes a player will be from that area and need those tickets for family. In basketball if you're not on the team list...you have to buy tickets at the box office of that school. But not football...football you can buy through your school (Western in my case). Basketball ticket prices are way more family friendly than football to the visiting fans..usually $15 will get good seats and $25 mid court lower arena. I have upgraded to a few that sit us at the end of the arena and at the top ...ARK ST is one of those schools and it's a dump.
A lot more fans travel for football than basketball.Western gives the visiting fans (team list) the first 2 rows behind their bench and my seats are 4 rows above those. FIU a few years ago is the only school to fill the 2 rows...
it wasn't FIU fans, all of those were filled by Chicken Rick (Pitino) and his friends. On average my guess is less than 15 visiting fans from CUSA teams showed up for basketball. Marshall, then Rice had the most. Forgot about the muts...while they didn't play at Diddle last year the do bring a nice crowd if they are winning..few hundred.
I've read message boards and seen..."we'll bring 5,000" fans to a road football game. Well I've yet to see that....most of the time it's less than 200 visiting fans and other than the muts ...not over 500 by anyone team and that was Ark St 2 years ago.
