FAU will lead the league in attendance this season. Then, we'll need to figure out how the heck this happened with so much to do in south FL.

(05-14-2018 04:03 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  FAU will lead the league in attendance this season. Then, we'll need to figure out how the heck this happened with so much to do in south FL.

I know that's sarcasm. But people gotta accept that it will never happen. Miami has mediocre attendance and won 5 national titles. Too many transplants and too much to do

clt says kiffin needs to make another hype video. That will help attendence.

The attendance "smack" came from a question by an FAU fan asking what Marshall can offer that FAU can't. I said fans and a college football atmosphere. That is factual.

Attendance matters. Ive been on the road to some conference mates schools and it feels like a practice or scrimmage. So much so that it is something they have to talk to the kids about bringing their own energy to the games. There is a difference in "fun" and the excitement of being in a 30,000 person crowd thats loud and cheering, and a 2000 fan stadium that feels like a tennis match.

I love being a Marshall fan. I know we are going to win some, lose some, and see both extremes from time to time. But Huntington is always a great place to spend a Saturday in the fall because of Marshall football, and whether or not we are winning titles, its a fun way to spend a Saturday, and something to be proud of.

As the others said, it's a bad look on tv when the stands are empty on a good weather day by teams that are winning. Its bush league, and attendance is important if we are ever going to change the perception of cusa.

(05-14-2018 04:08 PM)Ragu Wrote:  

(05-14-2018 04:03 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  FAU will lead the league in attendance this season. Then, we'll need to figure out how the heck this happened with so much to do in south FL.

I know that's sarcasm. But people gotta accept that it will never happen. Miami has mediocre attendance and won 5 national titles. Too many transplants and too much to do

Miami averages around 56000 fans, and have a good atmosphere. Even through their bad times, we played there and it was a fun venue. Not too much to do for them. Or UCF fans, or USF fans. There is a ton of stuff to do on weekends anywhere. Either your school and team matter more than those things, or they don't.

(05-14-2018 10:41 PM)goherd24herdfans Wrote:  

(05-14-2018 04:08 PM)Ragu Wrote:  

(05-14-2018 04:03 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  FAU will lead the league in attendance this season. Then, we'll need to figure out how the heck this happened with so much to do in south FL.

I know that's sarcasm. But people gotta accept that it will never happen. Miami has mediocre attendance and won 5 national titles. Too many transplants and too much to do

Miami averages around 56000 fans, and have a good atmosphere. Even through their bad times, we played there and it was a fun venue. Not too much to do for them. Or UCF fans, or USF fans. There is a ton of stuff to do on weekends anywhere. Either your school and team matter more than those things, or they don't.

People might buy tickets but that stadium is
Half empty during down or mediocre years. Very fickle fans in south Florida. You took an up year last year for attendance I'm guessing. Plus you have massive visiting fanbases like fsu, Clemson and va tech that will sell tens of thousands and inflate attendance The stadium is capable of holding 80,000 fans too. So that 56k average isn't as impressive when that's taken into account

If you think Huntington wv has as much to do as south Florida during football season then there is no point in debating with you

Weather and options are way more plentiful in south Florida And you continually ignore a 100 year head start and the transplant culture we have. Not many people move to West Virginia. I try to avoid it at all costs. And if you don't see the difference between 4 pro teams and no pro teams along with a power in Miami and mediocre wvu, then again you're nuts

clt says we need a matrix for cusa community with the most fall activities

Marshalls last 3 home games:
19,966
19,516
18,361
total 57,843

FAU's last 3 home games:
24,116
14,258
25,912
total 64,286

Per Chuck Landon Marshall had 21 a year low in average attendance....trending the wrong way.

But to end this, EVERYONE in conference needs to do better to get a better product out there. South Florida is an event town, for the most part a C-USA schedule isn't going to compel anyone down here to come out to the game. Navy game 28,481 people showed up. Attendance will lag behind performance on field. We had 8k increase from prior year and expect another increase this year.

So, can we just end the attendance debate, we suck, we don't support our team, etc. etc. you win. If you could win 11 games in front of no one or win 3 games in front of 22k people what do you choose?

(05-15-2018 08:45 AM)FAU Connoisseur Wrote:  Marshalls last 3 home games:
19,966
19,516
18,361
total 57,843

FAU's last 3 home games:
24,116
14,258
25,912
total 64,286

Per Chuck Landon Marshall had 21 a year low in average attendance....trending the wrong way.

But to end this, EVERYONE in conference needs to do better to get a better product out there. South Florida is an event town, for the most part a C-USA schedule isn't going to compel anyone down here to come out to the game. Navy game 28,481 people showed up. Attendance will lag behind performance on field. We had 8k increase from prior year and expect another increase this year.

So, can we just end the attendance debate, we suck, we don't support our team, etc. etc. you win. If you could win 11 games in front of no one or win 3 games in front of 22k people what do you choose?

The goal, as most good PROGRAMS have is to have a consistent & growing fan base. On bad years if we have 3 wins I want to have very good attendance, on good years I want to have great attendance. Like I've said before you're going to have good years & bad ones. i don't think it's a choice one or the other, typically if you're winning you shouldn't have less than 20k unless you can't fit that in your stadium.

But like you said hopefully if you're putting a good product on the field then everything will fall in line. But sometimes it doesn't work that way.

(05-15-2018 09:10 AM)Lizard Breath Wrote:  

(05-15-2018 08:45 AM)FAU Connoisseur Wrote:  Marshalls last 3 home games:
19,966
19,516
18,361
total 57,843

FAU's last 3 home games:
24,116
14,258
25,912
total 64,286

Per Chuck Landon Marshall had 21 a year low in average attendance....trending the wrong way.

But to end this, EVERYONE in conference needs to do better to get a better product out there. South Florida is an event town, for the most part a C-USA schedule isn't going to compel anyone down here to come out to the game. Navy game 28,481 people showed up. Attendance will lag behind performance on field. We had 8k increase from prior year and expect another increase this year.

So, can we just end the attendance debate, we suck, we don't support our team, etc. etc. you win. If you could win 11 games in front of no one or win 3 games in front of 22k people what do you choose?

The goal, as most good PROGRAMS have is to have a consistent & growing fan base. On bad years if we have 3 wins I want to have very good attendance, on good years I want to have great attendance. Like I've said before you're going to have good years & bad ones. i don't think it's a choice one or the other, typically if you're winning you shouldn't have less than 20k unless you can't fit that in your stadium.

But like you said hopefully if you're putting a good product on the field then everything will fall in line. But sometimes it doesn't work that way.

OH!!! Thank you for clearing that up! If you go to a diner in Huntington and ask who you root for on Saturday? Probably a large contingent is going to say Marshal. Go to a diner in Boca Raton and ask the same question. You will get UM, FSU, UF, UCF, USF some BIG10 schools and a handful of FAU fans. Just our market. Not saying we aren't trying to build the fanbase but the reality is their are people who root for FAU as their second team and go to every home game but if FSU-UM is on tv at the same time that weekend they stay home and watch that game, particularly last season. It's a tough market and it has nothing to do with all the great things we can do on Saturday down here.

People don't get that a program starting Fbs in 2004 is going to have a lot in the area who grew up rooting for a different college team. And that's those who's like college sports and actually grew up here. South Florida has tons of transplants and is also more of a pro town overall too. That and the many options and weather will always have attendance issues as a result

(05-14-2018 03:58 PM)Lizard Breath Wrote:  

(05-14-2018 03:54 PM)Ragu Wrote:  Every AD would want every seat filled. You are talking 2 different points here

No AD is going to prefer less attendance. But fau is paying the most for its coach with less money games despite bad attendance. So just imagine what they can do with a little better attendance. More fans are great but fau has and will continue to survive and spend while never getting 25 k like other programs here in cusa

Your revenue stream comes from student fees. That's the biggest part of your budget. I hope for FAU those students start going to games. It would be nice to see you guys be good & increase the attendance

Looks like UTSA revenue sources are much the same.

(05-15-2018 09:32 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(05-14-2018 03:58 PM)Lizard Breath Wrote:  

(05-14-2018 03:54 PM)Ragu Wrote:  Every AD would want every seat filled. You are talking 2 different points here

No AD is going to prefer less attendance. But fau is paying the most for its coach with less money games despite bad attendance. So just imagine what they can do with a little better attendance. More fans are great but fau has and will continue to survive and spend while never getting 25 k like other programs here in cusa

Your revenue stream comes from student fees. That's the biggest part of your budget. I hope for FAU those students start going to games. It would be nice to see you guys be good & increase the attendance

Looks like UTSA revenue sources are much the same.

Yup definitely. We just need to have a breakout year. We've been average at best. Paying a lot of money for our coach too. We are getting right around 24-25k for attendance, should be 30k if we do well, so the ticket sales helps.

Attendance is a lot different today vs 10 years ago, hell, even 5 years ago.

It cost.....
$33 (visiting fan) to attend a UNCC FB game
$28 for Middle
$28 for FAU
$28 for Tech

That is this years road games for Western. I'm sure there are lower price tickets at most of those. But still i the $20 range unless it's a game where there's a discount going on.

The schools playing in larger stadiums have a lot more discounted tickets and at a greater discount just to try and fill seats. UTEP has $5 $ $10 tickets. S.Miss just started not discounting and doing the cheap cheap cheap tickets. S. Miss had a nosedive in avg attendance. TICKET COST MATTERS, especially in areas where income is on the low side. I believe S.Miss made more money off tickets sold than when they offered cheap, discounted tickets, just to fill the 1/3 of the stadium that went unused.

Some schools don't discount like that, Marshall being one of them. Marshall puts a value on there ticket cost...even the cheap seats in the curved sections. They do this because they know season tickets would drop if they offered $5 tickets just to try and add butts. Rather let 35% of the stadium be empty, than devalue their season tickets. I personally understand that move and think it's the correct way to do it. Western has the same policy in ticket sales...

DO NOT DEVALUE......the most profitable income stream. That would be season tickets sold.

So the point I'm getting at is today's attendance numbers are looked at different than as I said, even 5 years ago. Today you are fighting for fans that can sit at home, watch a game on a large screen TV, in the comfort of AC/heat, while eating a hotdog and drinking a coke/beer that cost them $1.25 instead of $11 at the game.

It cost a parent the better part of $100 to go to a CUSA fb game and get a snack and drink for the dad, wife, child

While large cities have more to do as far as entertainment and fighting against that for disposable income. You also have 2,3,4,5x the people to draw from and for the most part income levels are higher. It makes a difference. While college towns have the advantage of home town pride and that other rah rahh crap.....you are limited in the numbers you draw from

So next time you think about that 6 extra thousand seats being filled and want to complain about those getting 17k vs 24k. Do the math vs the number of people in your drawing area. I think some of those people will see at 6k more, you are not doing as well as you think you are.

(05-15-2018 10:38 AM)WKUYG Wrote:  Attendance is a lot different today vs 10 years ago, hell, even 5 years ago.

It cost.....
$33 (visiting fan) to attend a UNCC FB game
$28 for Middle
$28 for FAU
$28 for Tech

That is this years road games for Western. I'm sure there are lower price tickets at most of those. But still i the $20 range unless it's a game where there's a discount going on.

The schools playing in larger stadiums have a lot more discounted tickets and at a greater discount just to try and fill seats. UTEP has $5 $ $10 tickets. S.Miss just started not discounting and doing the cheap cheap cheap tickets. S. Miss had a nosedive in avg attendance. TICKET COST MATTERS, especially in areas where income is on the low side. I believe S.Miss made more money off tickets sold than when they offered cheap, discounted tickets, just to fill the 1/3 of the stadium that went unused.

Some schools don't discount like that, Marshall being one of them. Marshall puts a value on there ticket cost...even the cheap seats in the curved sections. They do this because they know season tickets would drop if they offered $5 tickets just to try and add butts. Rather let 35% of the stadium be empty, than devalue their season tickets. I personally understand that move and think it's the correct way to do it. Western has the same policy in ticket sales...

DO NOT DEVALUE......the most profitable income stream. That would be season tickets sold.

So the point I'm getting at is today's attendance numbers are looked at different than as I said, even 5 years ago. Today you are fighting for fans that can sit at home, watch a game on a large screen TV, in the comfort of AC/heat, while eating a hotdog and drinking a coke/beer that cost them $1.25 instead of $11 at the game.

It cost a parent the better part of $100 to go to a CUSA fb game and get a snack and drink for the dad, wife, child

While large cities have more to do as far as entertainment and fighting against that for disposable income. You also have 2,3,4,5x the people to draw from and for the most part income levels are higher. It makes a difference. While college towns have the advantage of home town pride and that other rah rahh crap.....you are limited in the numbers you draw from

So next time you think about that 6 extra thousand seats being filled and want to complain about those getting 17k vs 24k. Do the math vs the number of people in your drawing area. I think some of those people will see at 6k more, you are not doing as well as you think you are.

That is a big factor...its EXPENSIVE to go to games. $9 for a beer? Good god. As for big market have 2 3 4 5 x the people to draw it still comes down to having a connection to the team. People don't drop their loyalties when they come move down from the northeast and Midwest or move home from Gainesville or Tallahassee. If you are not from down here, you have no idea what the market is like. Also, we are admitting kids in 2018 that for the first time had never known an FAU without a football program. We don't have generational fans down here. We are toddlers in the age of our program.


I goto every home game, I have only missed 2 since the inception of the program. I really don't care how many people show up. I did my part and I came to the game, its someone else's job to worry about filling the seats. Millennials have a different mindset they don't goto sporting events. It's effecting P5 schools as well.

I've been to Boca many many many times...we travel to Ft Lauderdale between 2 and 8 times a year for vacation and Western sports. Most of the area is made up of transplants ...from all over the world.

Those people have no connection to FAU and to a lot of these people football is played with a round ball

The same holds true for Bowling Green...tons of transplant families. The largest growth is in people from other countries. The parts of the city I grew up in are now 90% Hispanic. The part of the city I spent my teens is 60% Hispanic and Bosnians.

This is most of the area on the western side of Western

We need about 3 teams to finish with double-digit wins this season. Need about another 3-4 with 8+ wins.

Let's be honest, we need some teams to go 2-10 for the above to happen. Having almost everyone with 6-7 wins just makes us look equally weak.

(05-15-2018 12:49 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  We need about 3 teams to finish with double-digit wins this season. Need about another 3-4 with 8+ wins.

Let's be honest, we need some teams to go 2-10 for the above to happen. Having almost everyone with 6-7 wins just makes us look equally weak.

I can and will agree with the above....there always need to be a clear top, middle, bottom. It helps when the team rotate (bottom half) then jump up to the top every 4 to 5 years.

A conference that is average gets you a larger payout (end of year ranking for conferences) but overall no teams standout.

If schools were winning OOC games to get to 5 or 6 wins that's different but with most of us needing to play paycheck games....that's not happening

clt says “ it cost” is not correct. You are looking for “ it costs”

(05-15-2018 08:45 AM)FAU Connoisseur Wrote:  Marshalls last 3 home games:
19,966
19,516
18,361
total 57,843

FAU's last 3 home games:
24,116
14,258
25,912
total 64,286

Per Chuck Landon Marshall had 21 a year low in average attendance....trending the wrong way.

But to end this, EVERYONE in conference needs to do better to get a better product out there. South Florida is an event town, for the most part a C-USA schedule isn't going to compel anyone down here to come out to the game. Navy game 28,481 people showed up. Attendance will lag behind performance on field. We had 8k increase from prior year and expect another increase this year.

So, can we just end the attendance debate, we suck, we don't support our team, etc. etc. you win. If you could win 11 games in front of no one or win 3 games in front of 22k people what do you choose?

Id take the 3, at least someone cares and I'd have a support group to suffer with, or a great group to celebrate with. Now if you said win 13 games and possibly got on a national stage in an access bowl, id take that. 11 wins gets you a game in the bahamas against Akron. Who cares?

And yes, i get the disdain our fanbase has had with the current coaches and am glad it showed, but even with those low numbers (which isn't a trend, it is a protest) we had that in the seats, not announcing 20,000 and have 1000. Our tickets are scanned at the gates and counted for attendance purposes.

And as far as stuff to do, its a local deal except you have the beach. I would much rather live right here for the things i can do vs Miami. But thats all personal preference, i am a mountain and outdoors type of guy, and WV is a great match for that.

I am done on attendance.