Also some interesting comments from assorted CUSA ADs toward the end of the article.

http://www.sunherald.com/sports/college/...05609.html

This isn't to knock CUSA. The MAC has always had, and always will have, bad attendance issues. Especially those glorious empty stadiums on national TV in November.

Although for a conference with far warmer weather, closer to growing population bases, and games on Saturdays as it should be, they oughta have better crowds than we do.

Still, it's a bummer to see and likely a reflection on how "bandwagon" of a sports society we are, a la the Walmart Wolverines and the like. That, and how the insta-gratification of other forms of entertainment like video games and social media have made 3-4 hour commitments to watching a game less appealing unless it's a football factory where it's the place 'to be seen.'

I think there are two major issues here:

1). There is SO MUCH TV that it is killing game day attendance at games. Lot of fans stay home and channel surf for the most interesting game.

2). The schools, mostly big ones, P5, which draw well are those who have great GAME DAY atmosphere such as robust tailgating and very lively crowds.

Not meant to go O/T or on a tangent, but D.C. United shut down RFK Stadium this fall. The crowd was 40K+ but the story is RFK. The stadium literally rocks and shakes when a large crowd really gets into the game. That was the Redskins back in the day and also D.C. United.

I was at the EMU/@Army game. The Army crowd was really, really into the game. Great Game Day atmosphere. Not too much of that in the MAC.

We have too few crowds like a WMU/CMU or TOL/BG where the crowds are raucous and being there is half of the fun.

Most obviously we saw it during WMU's run, including the ESPN Game Day appearance, last year.

This may sound obvious, but we need a couple teams who are rated say in or near the top 25. That generates a lot, lot of interest in those teams' games and makes each week an exciting week for MAC football. I remember the heyday of MAC FB, believe it was the 2000 season with TOL and BG in or near the top 25 and excitement was very high.

The same is true of MAC MBB. We need a top 25 team, another top 40, and say another top 60. When that happens there are marquee games with a lot of hype and interest. Two teams ranked between say 100 - 125 might be good basketball but it doesn't generate a lot of hype and excitement.

I think the conference and schools need to give fans a better in-stadium experience. At Toledo, they RARELY show replays on their 2 videos boards. I don't care if it was a good play for UT or a bad play for UT, if it was a big play, I want to see a replay! ESPECIALLY when there is a review or close play! This is something that the NFL and MLB has made a point to change - they show more replays because they know fans need to see that!

Same thing with stats. I want to see some stats on the video board throughout the game. Cell service is sketchy at best at UT games, so I cant always use my phone to look up stats. Which leads me into wifi - stadiums need to install wifi.

Schools need to take away as many reasons as they can for people to not come to games. Show replays so we know everything that's going on, put stats up, and have wifi!

As a fan of a school who like Marshall and USM experienced an attendance drop this year some of it is ticket prices for marquee games have killed walk up crowds.

Moving game times around last minute for TV hasn't helped. Ohio draws better at night usually when fans can start the tailgate in the afternoon. Homecoming is different as its expected to be a day game.

The student body of 2017 is less interested in sports than the ESPN generation of the 90's which pushed schools to add student recreation centers and "move up" in athletics.

The nationalization of the sport with so many TV options. This in my opinion has more of a negative for the second division P5 programs who get lost in the shuffle. Wake Forest vs. NC State on ESPNNews going against Memphis and East Carolina on ESPNU. It muddles who is at what level for the fans when it comes to the second tier universities.

(12-09-2017 06:10 AM)emu steve Wrote:  This may sound obvious, but we need a couple teams who are rated say in or near the top 25. That generates a lot, lot of interest in those teams' games and makes each week an exciting week for MAC football. I remember the heyday of MAC FB, believe it was the 2000 season with TOL and BG in or near the top 25 and excitement was very high.

The same is true of MAC MBB. We need a top 25 team, another top 40, and say another top 60. When that happens there are marquee games with a lot of hype and interest. Two teams ranked between say 100 - 125 might be good basketball but it doesn't generate a lot of hype and excitement.

Definitely when the competitive level is higher fan interest is a lot higher.

The best way to bring the competitive level in the MAC is to increasingly bring in better coaches. Coaches in the 750k to 1 million range with big buyouts. Coaches that are serious recruiters.

Creighton was ok for EMU because their program was at the bottom of the MAC but Bowling Green should have gone bigger than Jinks. Of course Bowling Green has no money to spend on anything so eventually their FB program is destined to drop off.