(03-02-2021 08:42 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(03-02-2021 02:23 AM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  

(03-01-2021 05:17 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  The more-consistent MAC schools do fine in attendance.

My observation its been more situational.

Best all time crowd for a MAC conference game came in 2016 during the MACC between WMU and Ohio which drew 45,616. WMU was having a great season and had the alums in metro Detroit to pull off that support.

MAC teams draw well for important campus dates like homecoming and parent's weekend. Nice weather will bring out more fans. They'll draw well for P5 games or cross town rivals.

Whenever a MAC team is undefeated they'll sell out when a big season is on the line. Even at a place like Ball State which is normally a weak draw they sold out in 2008 when in the Top 25 with an undefeated season.

G5 which are consistent 25,000+ tend to be in remote mid sized cities where its too far to travel and support another school or NFL team. AAC has bucked that trend by throwing a lot of money behind its programs resulting in high profile coaches, consistent Top 25 presence, appearance of a bigger football conference ect.

Most G5 simply do not have the fan base to support their football programs at FBS level. They are running on fumes, or $20 million annual transfers from students while drawing fewer than 20k fans in the stands and resorting to accounting gymnastics to meet NCAA requirements. MAC seems particularly prone to this.

MAC fans as I said tend to key in on particular games. They are more selective with their support than attending each and every game.

When something is on the line they put up fan numbers which are more in line with other G5 conferences. A lot of the season ticket base at MAC schools comes from alumni that are 50 miles or more away so they aren't always right there for the games.

One thing this board does not talk about is the impact on program development by making the move from FCS to FBS. The MAC has participated in FBS for 40 seasons now and had the time to fundraise for facilities. Due to this its now on a different level than MVC or CAA football. Huge gap from those conferences across the board.

It shows on the MAC's record against FCS too which is above 90%. Ohio is 15-0 against FCS under Frank Solich, including Top 25 FCS programs on the slate. Its not like MAC programs are only winning 60% against FCS.

Attendance is not the only metric and the MAC as I've said with the right situations will put up good numbers.