I have to agree with 561.

I was at every FAU home game and we had anywhere between 7-10K including students at our actual home games.

I do know that as of 2010 FAU uses scanners to scan the students Owl Card for attendance so those numbers are proably right on. The gray area is the tickets "Sold" More then a few times the fans in front of me missed games last year because of some medical issues, but I know that there seats count for attendance purposes. They were bought, just not used.

I think you'll see FAU's "reported" attendance jump up to 18K or so this year, with probably 10-12 real people in the seats. It's a new stadium and the students I think have turned the corner on attending. So with it being right there on campus instead of 30 minutes down the road it should be better.

(04-21-2011 12:33 PM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  Ah... The OP averaged in the bowl game as a home game... you can't do that!!! :)

Attendance in the Motor City Bowl was 32,431.

Intentionally misleading? He even said "six real home dates"

(04-21-2011 12:35 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 12:33 PM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  Ah... The OP averaged in the bowl game as a home game... you can't do that!!! :)
Attendance in the Motor City Bowl was 32,431.

Intentionally misleading? He even said "six real home dates"

Here's the quote from the NCAA.org site

School Games Attendance Average
FIU 6 118,848 19,808

I think they may have added the bowl game which had a reported attendance of ~34,000.*

p.s. next year we have 'six real home games'.

Now, after reading this entire thread, is there any reason to draw any sense of accuracy from those numbers?

(04-21-2011 01:20 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 12:35 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 12:33 PM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  Ah... The OP averaged in the bowl game as a home game... you can't do that!!! :)
Attendance in the Motor City Bowl was 32,431.

Intentionally misleading? He even said "six real home dates"

Here's the quote from the NCAA.org site

School Games Attendance Average
FIU 6 118,848 19,808

I think they may have added the bowl game which had a reported attendance of ~34,000.*

Well didn't FIU just look out being the home team then? A game that drew nearly double their best turnout for a true home game. Had it been the Sun Belt's turn to be the home team in Mobile, MT would have gotten a nice little boost to the top of the list thanks to the 38k in attendance for that game.

(04-21-2011 01:26 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 01:20 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 12:35 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 12:33 PM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  Ah... The OP averaged in the bowl game as a home game... you can't do that!!! :)
Attendance in the Motor City Bowl was 32,431.

Intentionally misleading? He even said "six real home dates"

Here's the quote from the NCAA.org site
School Games Attendance Average
FIU 6 118,848 19,808
I think they may have added the bowl game which had a reported attendance of ~34,000.*

Well didn't FIU just look out being the home team then? A game that drew nearly double their best turnout for a true home game. Had it been the Sun Belt's turn to be the home team in Mobile, MT would have gotten a nice little boost to the top of the list thanks to the 38k in attendance for that game.

I don't know; I guess so. But our home numbers have been increasing every year. Here's the count:

Rutgers 19,872
WKU 14,335
ULM 17,301
ASU 14,588
MTSU 16,628
Toledo 32,431

NCAA reported Average: 19,808 (number doesn't tie to the above average total for some reason; probably the reported bowl game number)

That's a heckuva lot stronger than what we've had in the past. And the Sun Belt set an 'official' attendance record this year. So you can look at this glass as 1/2 full or 1/2 empty...I chose the former.

(04-21-2011 01:38 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 01:26 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 01:20 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 12:35 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 12:33 PM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  Ah... The OP averaged in the bowl game as a home game... you can't do that!!! :)
Attendance in the Motor City Bowl was 32,431.

Intentionally misleading? He even said "six real home dates"

Here's the quote from the NCAA.org site
School Games Attendance Average
FIU 6 118,848 19,808
I think they may have added the bowl game which had a reported attendance of ~34,000.*

Well didn't FIU just look out being the home team then? A game that drew nearly double their best turnout for a true home game. Had it been the Sun Belt's turn to be the home team in Mobile, MT would have gotten a nice little boost to the top of the list thanks to the 38k in attendance for that game.

I don't know; I guess so. But our home numbers have been increasing every year. Here's the count:

Rutgers 19,872
WKU 14,335
ULM 17,301
ASU 14,588
MTSU 16,628
Toledo 32,431

NCAA reported Average: 19,808 (number doesn't tie to the above average total for some reason; probably the reported bowl game number)

That's a heckuva lot stronger than what we've had in the past. And the Sun Belt set an 'official' attendance record this year. So you can look at this glass as 1/2 full or 1/2 empty...I chose the former.

FIUFAN

What is the forecast for getting a home and home series with UCF or USF?

(04-21-2011 01:42 PM)FloridaJag Wrote:  FIUFAN

What is the forecast for getting a home and home series with UCF or USF?

We've already had one (home and home) with USF and we are starting a 4 game series with UCF this year (2 & 2).

(04-21-2011 01:43 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 01:42 PM)FloridaJag Wrote:  FIUFAN

What is the forecast for getting a home and home series with UCF or USF?

We've already had one (home and home) with USF and we are starting a 4 game series with UCF this year (2 & 2).

How was attendance at the USF game and did FIU travel well attended to Tampa?

(04-21-2011 01:46 PM)FloridaJag Wrote:  How was attendance at the USF game and did FIU travel well attended to Tampa?

Reported crowd for our home game was 16,700; not great but reasonable, esp. for 2008 (we were coming off a 1-12 season and had yet to win in '08). I went to the USF game in Tampa in '06 (we lost that game on a late INT 21-20) and they had a nice crowd (reported 27,100). I seem to remember about 1,000 to 1,500 FIU fans making the trip. Fanatic can probably give a more accurate number or support what I'm thinking.

(04-21-2011 02:06 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 01:46 PM)FloridaJag Wrote:  How was attendance at the USF game and did FIU travel well attended to Tampa?

Reported crowd for our home game was 16,700; not great but reasonable, esp. for 2008 (we were coming off a 1-12 season and had yet to win in '08). I went to the USF game in Tampa in '06 (we lost that game on a late INT 21-20) and they had a nice crowd (reported 27,100). I seem to remember about 1,000 to 1,500 FIU fans making the trip. Fanatic can probably give a more accurate number or support what I'm thinking.

I think along the same lines in terms of the amount of fans FIU brought to Raymond James Stadium, perhaps on the higher side, 'Fan.

(04-21-2011 01:26 PM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  Now, after reading this entire thread, is there any reason to draw any sense of accuracy from those numbers?

Well it doesn't help when our conference mates play "home" games, in some cases, outside of their home state.

We should all be ashamed that our "official" attendance "champion" had to borrow a BCS school's stadium and fans to bump all the way from the bottom to the top.

So, yeah, I'd say it's a dubious yardstick the way we, collectively as member schools in the sunbelt, have been using it.

(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:  

(04-21-2011 11:18 AM)CajunT Wrote:  Question, who are the programs perceived as drags on the conference?
And are there any programs are that are reporting tickets sold, instead of actual butts in seats? And, while the numbers from ULM's game played in Little Rock are allowed by the NCAA, their actual home field attendance is slightly above 12,000, putting them at the bottom of the SBC.

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.

Some programs you can look at and know what they will draw because they've been drawing similar numbers for years on end, no matter the competition and no matter the talent.

The newer schools to FBS football that is not necessarily the case. FIU is just now starting to draw 'name' programs to their home (USF, Rutgers and upcoming this year UCF and Duke). We don't know what is going to happen, whether the community will react positively to the team if we are on a winning streak or stun a named opponent....we just don't know. So to say, carte blanche, that FIU, FAU and WKU need to do a better job selling tickets is unfair. Until you've walked a mile in our shoes, I suggest you save the criticism to programs you're more familiar with.

Actually, these numbers from this report are even more useless then I thought. I figured out the problem with FIU's unusually high number. They are counting FAU's Detroit home game toward FIU's average attendance:

Rutgers 19,872
WKU 14,335
ULM 17,301
ASU 14,588
MTSU 16,628
(FAU vs. Mich. State) 36,124

Total divided by 6 = 19,808.

FAU's average of 14025 is the average of the 4 games played at Lockhart. This proves how little the NCAA monitors these numbers. The reporting is inaccurate at best.

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

Attendance average for true home games:
MTSU 19,024
Troy 18,947
USA 18,765
UNT 17,718
ASU 17,394
ULL 17,383
FIU 16,545
WKU 14,577
FAU 14,025
ULM 13,818
Conference average: 16,819

(04-21-2011 03:35 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  Some programs you can look at and know what they will draw because they've been drawing similar numbers for years on end, no matter the competition and no matter the talent.

The newer schools to FBS football that is not necessarily the case. FIU is just now starting to draw 'name' programs to their home (USF, Rutgers and upcoming this year UCF and Duke). We don't know what is going to happen, whether the community will react positively to the team if we are on a winning streak or stun a named opponent....we just don't know. So to say, carte blanche, that FIU, FAU and WKU need to do a better job selling tickets is unfair. Until you've walked a mile in our shoes, I suggest you save the criticism to programs you're more familiar with.

It comes down to the Alumni of these schools maturing. FIU and FAU are now going on their second decade of football. Look to see attendance grow as older alumni turn out in greater numbers. Both schools are graduating 4000 plus each year. That is 40,000 alumni starting to spend money on paraphernalia and possibly joining the booster organization.

I expect UCF's alumni support to jump after its big win over Georgia in the Liberty Bowl.

(04-21-2011 03:44 PM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  

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

Attendance average for true home games:
MTSU 19,024
Troy 18,947
USA 18,765
UNT 17,718
ASU 17,394
ULL 17,383
FIU 16,545
WKU 14,577
FAU 14,025
ULM 13,818
Conference average: 16,819

How about just the average of Sun Belt games? Any team will draw a big crowd when a BCS team comes to town. MTSU's at the top of your list and their final 2 home games (against SBC teams) drew 14,227 and 10,140 respectively.

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.

(04-21-2011 03:51 PM)fauowls561 Wrote:  

(04-21-2011 03:44 PM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  

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

Attendance average for true home games:
MTSU 19,024
Troy 18,947
USA 18,765
UNT 17,718
ASU 17,394
ULL 17,383
FIU 16,545
WKU 14,577
FAU 14,025
ULM 13,818
Conference average: 16,819

How about just the average of Sun Belt games? Any team will draw a big crowd when a BCS team comes to town. MTSU's at the top of your list and their final 2 home games (against SBC teams) drew 14,227 and 10,140 respectively.

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.

We also drew 28,010 against Troy...on a Tuesday

(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.