(04-01-2019 12:54 AM)PurpleK Wrote:  I've been enjoying your discussion about declining attendance. I believe it is largely a product of a number of factors such as,

* ESPN and other sports outlets constantly trying to beat the life out of programs which aren't in their marketing orbit. Schools not part of the self proclaimed Power Conferences are routinely belittled even when they do well. A very solid non-cartel school win over a bottom feeding school in a "power" conference is typically portrayed as an upset when it really isn't, with many pundits stating such games with "lesser conference" schools shouldn't even be played. This perpetuates the false notion that there's an official NCAA division separation among FBS programs. Essentially, non "power" conference schools are the new, unofficial 1AA. Many fans want to attend what they perceive as the highest level of college football.

* The rising costs of attending a game. I am seeing fewer families at games and it's easy to understand why. Based on what it costs me as an individual to attend a game, I can't imagine taking a family of four. 40-50+ bucks for ONE game ticket, 10+ bucks each for a crappy individual sized pizza that tastes like cardboard, $5+ for a soda and so forth. This really adds up quickly. My wife used to attend games regularly with me, but now has other things she'd rather spend that much money on. So now I go alone. That amounts to a 50% attendance reduction just in my household. I know others from several schools who have the same situation, even of the so called "power" programs. I think many families are having to be more cognizant of where their money is going and can't reconcile the cost to the value of the experience of attending a football game. This reduces exposure of kids to the team. Many lifelong fans are developed at an early age when they consistently see and identify with a program they grow to consider their own. With reduced exposure to their local team, they develop allegiances to the teams they see given the primary spots on television and don't feel as inclined to attend local games featuring teams in the "new" 1AA.

*I was a huge fan of my team. I've been to nearly every stadium they've played from New York to New Orleans and virtually every home game over decades of seasons, but now I attend only a few games each season. This is partly because a career move took me from a twenty minute walk to a five hour drive from the stadium. When I do go, game day has become a sort of ordeal. I used to arrive an hour ahead of game time just to sit in the stadium and hang out with my season ticket neighbors pleasantly chatting about the season, the team, traveling to away games, bowl possibilities, families, careers, hobbies, etc. Now, thanks to brand new state of the art sound equipment and super sized scoreboard screens, sitting in the stadium pregame is a painful deluge of super loud, horrific music and commercial pitches for local auto dealerships. I've seen this exact scenario at other schools, too. I live only twenty minutes drive from the UNCC stadium and since I still have an affection for the ol' CUSA mates, I thought I would attend the UNCC home conference games. I went to my first UNCC game when a friend's daughter was starting school there. We sat in the stadium pregame and couldn't even talk to each other. It was a constant, exceptionally loud barrage of one rap song after another, with barely one second between when one rap song ended and the next began. It was literally painful to the ears and stomach and I haven't been back. Had the experience been more tame, the music more varied and/or the volume level down to where I could engage in conversation with my friend without yelling, I would have probably attended many more games over the years.

This is only a sampling of what I believe are the factors behind declining attendance. I think there are fixes, but some of them may take some pretty bold moves against current convention. Then again, I'm probably an old f*rt and what I want or expect in a game is probably outdated these days.

clt says thanks for the feedback on the pregame music.

(03-31-2019 05:18 PM)goherd24herdfans Wrote:  I still laugh when i see rice posting 20k average attendance numbers

Yeah I know that’s pretty low but we’ll be higher than that this year with a stronger OOC.

Also: Rice was one of five schools up this year from last year.

(04-01-2019 12:18 AM)Lizard Breath Wrote:  It’s Free for us, but they are paying us 300k to play at the Dome. $300k

That is simply not true. Read the article. $300k for each game in Waco. $0 exchanged for game in Alamodome (took a lower payout in Waco to avoid having us pay them to come to the Dome).

(04-01-2019 11:49 AM)DarrellEW Wrote:  

(04-01-2019 12:18 AM)Lizard Breath Wrote:  It’s Free for us, but they are paying us 300k to play at the Dome. $300k

That is simply not true. Read the article. $300k for each game in Waco. $0 exchanged for game in Alamodome (took a lower payout in Waco to avoid having us pay them to come to the Dome).

I think we also get 1.4 million from LSU when we play. So ya you’re right




4d4 roll

associated head coach?? Nice editing.

You've got to be careful about trying to make conclusions from one-season attendance drops in a G5 league.

There's two key differences in our attendance numbers and those of P5 conferences:

1. Our attendance numbers are much more sensitive to how the team is doing. A lot of Power 5s are going to sell out their stadiums whether they're 7-5 or 11-1, or at least there's not a big difference. When we have down years, our attendance takes a beating.

With WKU 3-9, FAU not being as good as they were in 2017, La Tech 7-5, Southern Miss 6-5, and Marshall coming off a season where they lost 4 of the last 5 why wouldn't overall attendance drop some?2

2. Power 5 home games. These things skew attendance averages. How many did CUSA have in 2017 versus 2018? IIRC, there weren't many last year.

IMO, most of the meaningful attendance declines are going on in non-elite Power 5s that are charging more for tickets than people are really willing to pay for. Could be wrong, but haven't seen anything convincing this is a G5 phenomenon yet.

(04-01-2019 11:07 PM)USM@FTL Wrote:  associated head coach?? Nice editing.

What do you mean?

Associated Head Coach?

Should be 'associate head coach'.

Brad Lambert was our "Associated Head Coach" last year. That's about the best way to describe him.

Oh lol

(04-01-2019 12:51 PM)Lizard Breath Wrote:  

clt keeps pushing play but video will not work, espn plus?

How much is TAMU paying UTSA in 2019? Gotta be over a mil . So UTSA is going to cash in over next few years

(04-02-2019 05:10 PM)Lizard Breath Wrote:  How much is TAMU paying UTSA in 2019? Gotta be over a mil . So UTSA is going to cash in over next few years

If only someone had posted an article upthread with that very info...

It's $900k.