Attendance is a barometer of the health and potential of your programs. It also affects revenue, which has an impact on recruiting (revenue improves facilities), which has an impact on on-field performance. Actual attendance and game atmosphere also has some effect on recruiting.

I don't see a problem with discussing it. Everyone wanted to discuss it last season when the Cajuns had a modest drop off because of inclement weather and Week night games. What was that about?

When one of our conference games is televised and there are 1000 people there, it reinforces the stereotype that this is a small time conference. Everyone should be worried about attendance; (actual attendance, not tickets distributed)

(01-04-2014 08:13 AM)CW Fishman Wrote:  Attendance is a barometer of the health and potential of your programs. It also affects revenue, which has an impact on recruiting (revenue improves facilities), which has an impact on on-field performance. Actual attendance and game atmosphere also has some effect on recruiting.

I don't see a problem with discussing it. Everyone wanted to discuss it last season when the Cajuns had a modest drop off because of inclement weather and Week night games. What was that about?

When one of our conference games is televised and there are 1000 people there, it reinforces the stereotype that this is a small time conference. Everyone should be worried about attendance; (actual attendance, not tickets distributed)

In a nutshell ^this^.

With only two bowl games left on this year's agenda, it's looking like the New Orleans Bowl will finish at #12 attendance-wise officially.

This too is important when one realizes that there are so many variables considered by the powers-that-be when teams are selected to appear in bowl games. That's to say, if we're not talking about an automatic tie-in for the conference champion, the team with the best record on the field might not always make the cut.

(01-03-2014 07:45 AM)panama Wrote:  There is nothing to fix. And as ArkStFan points out its only the SBC board that is obsessed ad nauseum about this topic. Tennessee and Kentucky and Illinois fans are not talking about attendance this past season and certainly nobody is talking about announced vs. actual.

Those programs rely on TV revenue first and attendance second.

(01-03-2014 07:45 AM)panama Wrote:  There is nothing to fix. And as ArkStFan points out its only the SBC board that is obsessed ad nauseum about this topic. Tennessee and Kentucky and Illinois fans are not talking about attendance this past season and certainly nobody is talking about announced vs. actual.

Attendance is a major source of concern for all conferences,
even more so in those like the Sun Belt where it's actually the bread and butter.
If SEC attendance failed to fill half the stadiums, their recruiting would suffer.
SEC may not need the money from stadium attendance as much, but losing recruits due to
poor attendance would get their attention immediately. Tennessee has had a major concern
over that the last few years.