UNT in facilities battle five years after Apogee opened



By Brett Vito

Staff Writer

[email protected]

Published: 16 July 2016 08:59 PM

EDITOR’S NOTE: North Texas will reach the five-year anniversary of its first game at Apogee Stadium this fall. Over the next three days, the Denton Record-Chronicle will examine the state of UNT’s program as it reaches a milestone that coincides with a critical point in program history. Today’s story focuses on the facilities arms race among UNT and the schools it competes with in the region.

Optimism about North Texas’ athletic program reached new heights on a warm summer afternoon in 2011 when the school announced a naming rights deal for its brand-new football stadium.



Louisiana Tech, Rice and Houston are among the schools that have responded with major facility upgrades since UNT opened Apogee, which hasn’t made the impact that school officials and fans hoped it might.

http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/sports-he...-is-on.ece

WIN.Keep Winning.Attendance increases.Keep winning,etc.,etc.

--A LOT easier said than done.

(07-17-2016 03:30 PM)TOPSTRAIGHT Wrote:  WIN.Keep Winning.Attendance increases.Keep winning,etc.,etc.

--A LOT easier said than done.

Winning is certainly a huge factor for increasing attendance, but it is not enough. Toledo, a program I have a great deal of respect for, has had 6 straight winning seasons, but is still only averaging around 21,000 a game.

Smart creative marketing is also a major component. Denton County has a population of over 800,000 people. North Texas needs to focus on attracting the attention of the other cities within our county (billboards, commercials, school visits, appreciation days,...). Once those communities have embraced the Mean Green as their regional FBS football program, we apply the same strategy to the other counties in the North Texas region. There are more the 1,000,000 people with a 30 minute drive to our campus. If we win and are smart about our marketing, North Texas could be talking about stadium expansion with the next 5 to 7 years.

(07-17-2016 04:41 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  Winning is certainly a huge factor for increasing attendance, but it is not enough. Toledo, a program I have a great deal of respect for, has had 6 straight winning seasons, but is still only averaging around 21,000 a game.

While I am surprised by Toledo's attendance as well, the Glass Bowl only seats ~27k, the average high in November in Toledo is 48 degrees and Toledo is just ~50 miles to Ann Arbor, ~120 miles to East Lansing and ~150 miles to Columbus. I'd bet there are a ton of Big Ten fans in Toledo.

(07-17-2016 06:13 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(07-17-2016 04:41 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  Winning is certainly a huge factor for increasing attendance, but it is not enough. Toledo, a program I have a great deal of respect for, has had 6 straight winning seasons, but is still only averaging around 21,000 a game.

While I am surprised by Toledo's attendance as well, the Glass Bowl only seats ~27k, the average high in November in Toledo is 48 degrees and Toledo is just ~50 miles to Ann Arbor, ~120 miles to East Lansing and ~150 miles to Columbus. I'd bet there are a ton of Big Ten fans in Toledo.

playing on weeknights probably hurts a bit too.

(07-17-2016 06:26 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(07-17-2016 06:13 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(07-17-2016 04:41 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  Winning is certainly a huge factor for increasing attendance, but it is not enough. Toledo, a program I have a great deal of respect for, has had 6 straight winning seasons, but is still only averaging around 21,000 a game.

While I am surprised by Toledo's attendance as well, the Glass Bowl only seats ~27k, the average high in November in Toledo is 48 degrees and Toledo is just ~50 miles to Ann Arbor, ~120 miles to East Lansing and ~150 miles to Columbus. I'd bet there are a ton of Big Ten fans in Toledo.

playing on weeknights probably hurts a bit too.

Western has had a winning season last 4 years but only averaged about 18k last year. Its a real blemish.

(07-17-2016 06:13 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(07-17-2016 04:41 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  Winning is certainly a huge factor for increasing attendance, but it is not enough. Toledo, a program I have a great deal of respect for, has had 6 straight winning seasons, but is still only averaging around 21,000 a game.

While I am surprised by Toledo's attendance as well, the Glass Bowl only seats ~27k, the average high in November in Toledo is 48 degrees and Toledo is just ~50 miles to Ann Arbor, ~120 miles to East Lansing and ~150 miles to Columbus. I'd bet there are a ton of Big Ten fans in Toledo.

Almost every program faces similar challenges in regards to seasonal temperature, and proximity to P5 programs. I've seen temperatures so high (100's) in early September, that Mean Green fans had to be carted out of Apogee during games, and we have to share the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex with TCU and SMU. Plus, we have Baylor just about 85 miles away from our media market. Dallas/Fort Worth has tons of Big12 fans.

Again, winning isn't the only factor in increasing attendance.

UNT has a huge alumni base in DFW. UNT needs to make a push to engage those alumni. Having so many alumni that get jobs and live right next door should be a huge plus for UNT

(07-17-2016 09:05 PM)Dawgxas Wrote:  UNT has a huge alumni base in DFW. UNT needs to make a push to engage those alumni. Having so many alumni that get jobs and live right next door should be a huge plus for UNT

I absolutely agree. Our next AD needs to be able to recognize the advantages we posses and develop an efficient plan to capitalize on our sizable alumni base. We have a larger alumni base in Dallas/Fort Worth then both TCU and SMU. When you look at the numbers, a winning North Texas football team should have no problem selling out Apogee.

(07-17-2016 08:57 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(07-17-2016 06:13 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(07-17-2016 04:41 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  Winning is certainly a huge factor for increasing attendance, but it is not enough. Toledo, a program I have a great deal of respect for, has had 6 straight winning seasons, but is still only averaging around 21,000 a game.

While I am surprised by Toledo's attendance as well, the Glass Bowl only seats ~27k, the average high in November in Toledo is 48 degrees and Toledo is just ~50 miles to Ann Arbor, ~120 miles to East Lansing and ~150 miles to Columbus. I'd bet there are a ton of Big Ten fans in Toledo.

Almost every program faces similar challenges in regards to seasonal temperature, and proximity to P5 programs. I've seen temperatures so high (100's) in early September, that Mean Green fans had to be carted out of Apogee during games, and we have to share the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex with TCU and SMU. Plus, we have Baylor just about 85 miles away from our media market. Dallas/Fort Worth has tons of Big12 fans.

Again, winning isn't the only factor in increasing attendance.

Sure we all have similar challenges, but seriously? Did you just give me TCU, Baylor and SMU?

2015 attendance

Michigan 110,168
tOSU 107,244
MSU 74,661

Baylor/TCU/SMU 113,970

Toledo metro ~600k
DFW MSA ~6.5M

(07-17-2016 07:17 PM)SigNuTopper Wrote:  

(07-17-2016 06:26 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(07-17-2016 06:13 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(07-17-2016 04:41 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  Winning is certainly a huge factor for increasing attendance, but it is not enough. Toledo, a program I have a great deal of respect for, has had 6 straight winning seasons, but is still only averaging around 21,000 a game.

While I am surprised by Toledo's attendance as well, the Glass Bowl only seats ~27k, the average high in November in Toledo is 48 degrees and Toledo is just ~50 miles to Ann Arbor, ~120 miles to East Lansing and ~150 miles to Columbus. I'd bet there are a ton of Big Ten fans in Toledo.

playing on weeknights probably hurts a bit too.

Western has had a winning season last 4 years but only averaged about 18k last year. Its a real blemish.

We have had 5 straight winning seasons.

I haven't researched this to see who else has this situation, but I would assume it's fairly unique. If you look at Huntington's location, you can get in your car and within a 3 hour drive attend your choice of a Big 10, Big 12, SEC, ACC, AAC, MAC or CUSA game. Only the Pac 12, SunBelt, and Mountain West don't have a team within 3 hours of us.

Toledo's ticket prices are quite high though.

Game day prices @Toledo:

Maine $63
Fresno State $75
Bowling Green $70
Central Michigan $63
Ohio $63
Ball State $63

http://utrockets.com/sports/2015/3/17/GE...01161.aspx

(07-18-2016 11:39 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  Toledo's ticket prices are quite high though.

Game day prices @Toledo:

Maine $63
Fresno State $75
Bowling Green $70
Central Michigan $63
Ohio $63
Ball State $63

http://utrockets.com/sports/2015/3/17/GE...01161.aspx

It looks like the vast majority of the tickets sell between $12.00 -$30.00 except for the premium seats.

(07-19-2016 08:43 AM)ODU Oldtimer Wrote:  

(07-18-2016 11:39 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  Toledo's ticket prices are quite high though.

Game day prices @Toledo:

Maine $63
Fresno State $75
Bowling Green $70
Central Michigan $63
Ohio $63
Ball State $63

http://utrockets.com/sports/2015/3/17/GE...01161.aspx

It looks like the vast majority of the tickets sell between $12.00 -$30.00 except for the premium seats.

$63.00 for an FCS game?!?!?!?!?!? WTF? No way in hell.

(07-17-2016 06:26 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(07-17-2016 06:13 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(07-17-2016 04:41 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  Winning is certainly a huge factor for increasing attendance, but it is not enough. Toledo, a program I have a great deal of respect for, has had 6 straight winning seasons, but is still only averaging around 21,000 a game.

While I am surprised by Toledo's attendance as well, the Glass Bowl only seats ~27k, the average high in November in Toledo is 48 degrees and Toledo is just ~50 miles to Ann Arbor, ~120 miles to East Lansing and ~150 miles to Columbus. I'd bet there are a ton of Big Ten fans in Toledo.

playing on weeknights probably hurts a bit too.

Toledo Rockets Home Schedule and Attendance:
2015:
Stony Brook -cancelled due to weather.
Arkansas State-21,355
Kent State-23,118
Eastern Michigan-18,204
Northern Illinois-23,089(Midweek)
Western Michigan-16,151(Noon game Black Friday, students not on campus)

2014:
New Hampshire-20,184
Mizzou-24,196(Major storm Friday caused High School games moved to Saturday)
Ball State-17,229
Central Michigan-18,087
UMass-20,104
Bowling Green-17,436(Midweek game)