(04-21-2011 04:03 PM)AstroCajun Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 03:51 PM)fauowls561 Wrote:  Getting fans to come to every SBC game in greater numbers...That is where EVERY team in the league has to do a better job.

I agree. But I'll add a corollary to that. Fans of every school in the league also have to do a better job of supporting the team while on the road. The footprint of the conference in football is pretty tight and there's really very little excuse for the lack of travel in this conference.

Point blank, we all suck at road trips and can all do better.

Truth hurts. +1

Conference only games:
18,713 Troy
17,857 MTSU
15,713 FIU
15,438 ASU
15,259 ULL
15,153 UNT
14,025 FAU
13,653 ULM
13,028 WKU

The teams ranked by fans the opposing teams drew:
ULM 18,668
Troy 18,412
FIU 16,386
ASU 15,150
ULL 15,139
MTSU 14,947
WKU 14,452
UNT 13,162
FAU 12,522

(04-21-2011 04:03 PM)AstroCajun Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 03:51 PM)fauowls561 Wrote:  Getting fans to come to every SBC game in greater numbers...That is where EVERY team in the league has to do a better job.

I agree. But I'll add a corollary to that. Fans of every school in the league also have to do a better job of supporting the team while on the road. The footprint of the conference in football is pretty tight and there's really very little excuse for the lack of travel in this conference.

Point blank, we all suck at road trips and can all do better.

This

(04-21-2011 03:51 PM)fauowls561 Wrote:  Getting fans to come to every SBC game in greater numbers...That is where EVERY team in the league has to do a better job.

After 10 years we should have/need to have better attendance for Sun Belt games. After all these games are what determines who wins the conference title. Rivalries and developing them is one reason I am against teams like NMSU being added over teams like TSU, GSU, App St etc...We need to stay in the southern states IMHO.

(04-21-2011 03:51 PM)fauowls561 Wrote:  Getting fans to come to every SBC game in greater numbers...That is where EVERY team in the league has to do a better job.

Agreed. I sure hope the impressive 400 +or- who traveled all the way to Davis, CA for the USA/UCD game last year is an indicator South Alabama will be pulling its weight once conference play begins in 2013.

(04-21-2011 08:23 PM)airtroop Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 03:51 PM)fauowls561 Wrote:  Getting fans to come to every SBC game in greater numbers...That is where EVERY team in the league has to do a better job.

Agreed. I sure hope the impressive 400 +or- who traveled all the way to Davis, CA for the USA/UCD game last year is an indicator South Alabama will be pulling its weight once conference play begins in 2013.

Call me a cynic, but somehow I doubt folks will be as excited to travel to Murfreesboro, Monroe, Denton etc. in the fifth season of Jaguar football as they are to travel to California in the second season for the schools first ever road game against a (semi)recognizable opponent...

FIU played 5 home games at FIU stadium, their attendance # and average # is bogus. FIU fans didn't fill the bowl game so why take credit for something FIU didn't even do?

Add in the fact FIU made Rutgers game only part of season ticket package which meant RU fans bought other games but never attended. In truth FIU actual attendance was bad but their sold was high for that little trick forcing real fans pay for games they don't want.

Only reason I am bitching is, I bought 4 tickets myself today bc like RU, UCF fans have to buy 5 other games just to watch UCF away from home. So FIU will again have inflated tickets sold for its non-UCF games and FIU fans will broadcast how large their fanbase is. If UCF would of pulled out this year, FIU would avg less then 10k.

Relax and enjoy life.....Geez....

(04-21-2011 03:20 PM)Tuffguy21 Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 12:28 PM)CajunT Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 11:40 AM)fauowls561 Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 11:35 AM)CajunT Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 11:23 AM)fauowls561 Wrote:  You have it backwards. The schools report the number the number of tickets sold, which is basically a made up figure. They can define "sold" however they want. That is how FIU can announce that they averaged 110% of their capacity this past year when if you actually saw one of their games, they were mostly about a 4th of that number. Sorry, I'm not trying to pick just on FIU here(all these numbers are wrong), but their number just happens to be the most absurd.

It used to be that you had to announce the number of people actually in attendance. That changed a few years back when the NCAA realized that a lot of schools had no shot at reaching their requirement.

We have ticket scanners at every gate my friend, so we don't use tickets sold or tarps for that matter. The actual count matters, I understand what the NCAA allows.

That's great, but I'm sure that the number you are reporting isn't the number scanned in. There are two numbers...tickets sold and actual attendance. Most teams, college or professional, report tickets sold. It's always the higher number.

Not at UL, the number is different for spring sports. Baseball always sells a large number season tickets in the grandstand. In fact they sell out, but number reported for baseball attendance is tickets sold, not actual attendance. Football has never sold more season tickets, then actual attendance. Actual attendance is scanned at each gate, not 100% accurate, but close enough.

While I do think UL's attendance is better than most in the league, I don't think we're above inflation like anyone else in the sunbelt. I know we have scanners, but I don't know how many times, specifically when I was a student, I'd walk into the game and never get my card scanned. I also do believe that when you take the fake home games away (ULM in little rock and FAU in Michigan to play Michigan State (I mean seriously?...thats a "home" game?)) you get an accurate measure of whos doing the best jobs of getting Butts in the seats. UL, MT, ASU and Troy all do pretty decent jobs of getting people to the games, and I'm taking into consideration more than just last season (and I think USA will have good attendance once joined in the league), NT has been so-so, but I think they'll improve with a new coach they actually believe in. After that, ULM, FIU, FAU, and WKU all need to work on season ticket pushes and get people more excited than they have been. Aside from WKU, those schools have had recent success (FIU was the conference champs last year, FAU went to 2 straight bowl games and ULM has hit 6 wins, or been playing for a 6th win late in the season quite a few times in the past few years). I think setting a goal of 20,000 average attendance for the season should be a goal for the SBC to try to achieve soon.

Is it fail proof, of course not. But scanners are as close to a accurate count has you can get with modern technology. Now baseball's numbers are inflated, I've seen it for myself counting tickets sold and not actual butts in seats.

I've been to many FIU games (including all of its games against FAU, a major rivalry - at least from an FAU standpoint) and never saw FIU's stadium more than one-third full. There were games when FAU ad Troy fans made up a significant percentage of the crowd.

FIU fans wouldn't even travel to nearby Joe Robbie / Pro Player / Landshark / Dolphins Stadium in any large number.

I hope FIU grows into a Sun Belt attendance leader (we will see this season), but the numbers posted in this thread are ridiculous.

(04-21-2011 10:57 PM)Sideshow2313 Wrote:  FIU played 5 home games at FIU stadium, their attendance # and average # is bogus. FIU fans didn't fill the bowl game so why take credit for something FIU didn't even do?

Add in the fact FIU made Rutgers game only part of season ticket package which meant RU fans bought other games but never attended. In truth FIU actual attendance was bad but their sold was high for that little trick forcing real fans pay for games they don't want.

Only reason I am bitching is, I bought 4 tickets myself today bc like RU, UCF fans have to buy 5 other games just to watch UCF away from home. So FIU will again have inflated tickets sold for its non-UCF games and FIU fans will broadcast how large their fanbase is. If UCF would of pulled out this year, FIU would avg less then 10k.

We've got Duke coming to town as well, plus, being the defending champs and many of our players returning their should be a buzz around the games. We'll be all right...and thanks for buying those tickets.

I don't think Duke football is the draw that you are making it out to be...it certainly is no Rutgers (which has a big amluni base in South Florida).

Anyway, forcing visiting fans to purchase $40 "season ticket" packages does nothing for your program besides inflating your attendance numbers for the rest of the season.

(04-22-2011 08:14 AM)fauowls561 Wrote:  I don't think Duke football is the draw that you are making it out to be...it certainly is no Rutgers (which has a big amluni base in South Florida).

Anyway, forcing visiting fans to purchase $40 "season ticket" packages does nothing for your program besides inflating your attendance numbers for the rest of the season.

But it is fairly common practice for those of us in the non-AQ ranks. I know other schools have done this as well. I would not mind it at all if FAU did this.

All of our programs need as much cash as we can get and this in my mind is certainly jutifiable. To lots of those fans that is a drop in the bucket compared to what they have to pay to see there team play at home, even including airfare.

(04-22-2011 08:20 AM)OwlFamily Wrote:  

(04-22-2011 08:14 AM)fauowls561 Wrote:  I don't think Duke football is the draw that you are making it out to be...it certainly is no Rutgers (which has a big amluni base in South Florida).

Anyway, forcing visiting fans to purchase $40 "season ticket" packages does nothing for your program besides inflating your attendance numbers for the rest of the season.

But it is fairly common practice for those of us in the non-AQ ranks. I know other schools have done this as well. I would not mind it at all if FAU did this.

All of our programs need as much cash as we can get and this in my mind is certainly jutifiable. To lots of those fans that is a drop in the bucket compared to what they have to pay to see there team play at home, even including airfare.

I know teams do it, but those visiting fans would be buying $40 tickets anyway to come to that one game. It's not really generating any additional revenue for the program, it's generating the same amount of revenue. I guess the hope would be that those fans would buy them and come to the other games as well since they already own the tickets, but I'd guess that the percentage of those tickets that actually ended up getting used for the rest of the games was miniscule. All selling those packages does is artifically inflate the attendance numbers for the rest of the games.

UCF fans aren't forced to buy season tickets if they buy away game tickets through their athletic departments. Same goes with Rutgers fans and USF fans the year before. There aren't many of them but no one is forcing it as long as you buy early enough.

(04-22-2011 08:52 AM)MaXx Wrote:  UCF fans aren't forced to buy season tickets if they buy away game tickets through their athletic departments. Same goes with Rutgers fans and USF fans the year before. There aren't many of them but no one is forcing it as long as you buy early enough.

Thanks Maxx. You try to give some of these a**holes some good news during this quiet time and you get the third degree....but then again, you've got to look at the sources :muttering:.

(04-22-2011 08:58 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(04-22-2011 08:52 AM)MaXx Wrote:  UCF fans aren't forced to buy season tickets if they buy away game tickets through their athletic departments. Same goes with Rutgers fans and USF fans the year before. There aren't many of them but no one is forcing it as long as you buy early enough.

Thanks Maxx. You try to give some of these a**holes some good news during this quiet time and you get the third degree....but then again, you've got to look at the sources :muttering:.

I suppose I'm the a**hole because I disagree that this is "good news"? Whatever. If you thought your attendance was good last year, you are fooling yourself. I would guess that you were at most of your own games last season....what do you think the actual amount of people there were? Your stadium hold somewhere in the neighborhood of 18,000-20,000. Did it look like 16,000+ in house to you for any game but Rutgers? Was it even half full? Point to any number you want, but from what I saw your attendance was just as poor as it always has been. I'm not saying FAU's attendance is much better, but from the FIU games that I have been at or seen on TV, the numbers you are putting up as "dispelling the myth" are simply not true. I wasn't trying to start an attendance war between teams...I was just pointing out how these numbers are mostly inflated and thus fairly meaningless...it just so happened that FIU's attendance numbers look to be the most inflated on that list.

(04-22-2011 09:30 AM)fauowls561 Wrote:  

(04-22-2011 08:58 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(04-22-2011 08:52 AM)MaXx Wrote:  UCF fans aren't forced to buy season tickets if they buy away game tickets through their athletic departments. Same goes with Rutgers fans and USF fans the year before. There aren't many of them but no one is forcing it as long as you buy early enough.

Thanks Maxx. You try to give some of these a**holes some good news during this quiet time and you get the third degree....but then again, you've got to look at the sources :muttering:.

I suppose I'm the a**hole because I disagree that this is "good news"? Whatever. If you thought your attendance was good last year, you are fooling yourself. I would guess that you were at most of your own games last season....what do you think the actual amount of people there were? Your stadium hold somewhere in the neighborhood of 18,000-20,000. Did it look like 16,000+ in house to you for any game but Rutgers? Was it even half full? Point to any number you want, but from what I saw your attendance was just as poor as it always has been. I'm not saying FAU's attendance is much better, but from the FIU games that I have been at or seen on TV, the numbers you are putting up as "dispelling the myth" are simply not true. I wasn't trying to start an attendance war between teams...I was just point out how these numbers are mostly inflated and thus fairly meaningless...it just so happened that FIU's attendance numbers look to be the most inflated on that list.

How many times are you going to say the same thing??? You don't seem to understand that this subject has been rehashed over, and over and over again for 10 years. Every point that you've made has been made ad nauseum here. Therefore, assuming these things as given by now, I chose to highlight the positive of this report, 'new Sun Belt attendance record'.

Trash away if you wish, however, this is the weakness of these boards, when someone new comes along, we've got to repeat points that have been covered to exhaustion (it's like ground hog day, the movie).

(04-22-2011 09:39 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(04-22-2011 09:30 AM)fauowls561 Wrote:  

(04-22-2011 08:58 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(04-22-2011 08:52 AM)MaXx Wrote:  UCF fans aren't forced to buy season tickets if they buy away game tickets through their athletic departments. Same goes with Rutgers fans and USF fans the year before. There aren't many of them but no one is forcing it as long as you buy early enough.

Thanks Maxx. You try to give some of these a**holes some good news during this quiet time and you get the third degree....but then again, you've got to look at the sources :muttering:.

I suppose I'm the a**hole because I disagree that this is "good news"? Whatever. If you thought your attendance was good last year, you are fooling yourself. I would guess that you were at most of your own games last season....what do you think the actual amount of people there were? Your stadium hold somewhere in the neighborhood of 18,000-20,000. Did it look like 16,000+ in house to you for any game but Rutgers? Was it even half full? Point to any number you want, but from what I saw your attendance was just as poor as it always has been. I'm not saying FAU's attendance is much better, but from the FIU games that I have been at or seen on TV, the numbers you are putting up as "dispelling the myth" are simply not true. I wasn't trying to start an attendance war between teams...I was just point out how these numbers are mostly inflated and thus fairly meaningless...it just so happened that FIU's attendance numbers look to be the most inflated on that list.

How many times are you going to say the same thing??? You don't seem to understand that this subject has been rehashed over, and over and over again for 10 years. Every point that you've made has been made ad nauseum here. Therefore, assuming these things as given by now, I chose to highlight the positive of this report, 'new Sun Belt attendance record'.

Trash away if you wish, however, this is the weakness of these boards, when someone new comes along, we've got to repeat points that have been covered to exhaustion (it's like ground hog day, the movie).

Thanks for your continued interest in the UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA!

OK fine. We set a new "attendance" record! Woohoo!! And congrats on getting 19,000+ into your 18,000 seat stadium every game. A few months have passed, so I must have forgotten that FIU football was the hottest ticket in town.