Attendance Woes

[NY-BG-FAN]

If fans have become apathetic it's their problem, not the university's. BGSU can't change their mindset with an add or a deal. It's a shame if you (the "royal" you, not anyone in particular) take living in or close to BG for granted. A great cure for your apathy would be to move far enough away that you spend each Saturday staring at your laptop watching each play and not caring about attendance. Every home game Saturday I wish I were at the Doyt regardless of opponent, and I wouldn't really care if I were the only fan there. (I'm just speaking for me, and I certainly don't want to make it sound like I'm giving a "true fan" lecture. Because I hate that. To each his own.) I think the further away you get though, the less you'll care about attendance, at least that's just my experience. I used to care a lot when I was an obnoxious, overly patriotic, gung-ho student and went to all the football, basketball and hockey games. Now I really just don't care if students or other alums I know are apathetic about the teams. I just miss it too much for myself.

Now that he's rebuilt the program after a couple lean years, Dave Clawson can only be measured on wins and losses. Period. In hindsight it's easy to think Urban Meyer put people in the stands because he's such a celebrity now, but he was no more famous than Dave Clawson in 2001 & 2002. I'm pretty comfortable in saying maybe 10 fans or less were coming to games those years solely because of something Urban Meyer said during a speech. I just think that whole idea is a huge canard.

Basically, I'd rather be in the Doyt with 12K that really wants to be there, rather than 20K that had to be talked into it. That probably doesn't do anything for the athletic department and I'm glad they work so hard on attendance, because they do. But apathetic people are probably lost causes.

[jakehovs23]

I'd rather have 100 rowdy and loud students than a thousand students that stand there silently the whole game. The Kent game was great...every member of fanatics was going crazy.

[BGSU33]

I'm assuming UMass will be the same. Nobody really wants to see us play the bottom of the bottom. I'm hoping the Ohio and Toledo games will be different.

Sadly, I doubt the Ohio game will have a good crowd despite the real possibly of it being the biggest game of the year for us because it's a Tuesday night game. If the weather is poor, it could be embarrassing. I think the Toledo game will have a good turnout.

[falcon83]

If fans have become apathetic it's their problem, not the university's. BGSU can't change their mindset with an add or a deal. It's a shame if you (the "royal" you, not anyone in particular) take living in or close to BG for granted. A great cure for your apathy would be to move far enough away that you spend each Saturday staring at your laptop watching each play and not caring about attendance. Every home game Saturday I wish I were at the Doyt regardless of opponent, and I wouldn't really care if I were the only fan there. (I'm just speaking for me, and I certainly don't want to make it sound like I'm giving a "true fan" lecture. Because I hate that. To each his own.) I think the further away you get though, the less you'll care about attendance, at least that's just my experience. I used to care a lot when I was an obnoxious, overly patriotic, gung-ho student and went to all the football, basketball and hockey games. Now I really just don't care if students or other alums I know are apathetic about the teams. I just miss it too much for myself.

Now that he's rebuilt the program after a couple lean years, Dave Clawson can only be measured on wins and losses. Period. In hindsight it's easy to think Urban Meyer put people in the stands because he's such a celebrity now, but he was no more famous than Dave Clawson in 2001 & 2002. I'm pretty comfortable in saying maybe 10 fans or less were coming to games those years solely because of something Urban Meyer said during a speech. I just think that whole idea is a huge canard.

Basically, I'd rather be in the Doyt with 12K that really wants to be there, rather than 20K that had to be talked into it. That probably doesn't do anything for the athletic department and I'm glad they work so hard on attendance, because they do. But apathetic people are probably lost causes.

[mscarn]

Loyalty must be built by prolonged, sustained winning and positive shared experiences.

The off chance of winning an iPad can't be the incentive to attend a game. It just can't. I understand it's just a thing to get them in the door and start the loyalty-building process, but constantly having artificial inducements like that is not a long term answer or strategy and only masks the larger issue.

[jpfalcon09]

Loyalty must be built by prolonged, sustained winning and positive shared experiences.

The off chance of winning an iPad can't be the incentive to attend a game. It just can't. I understand it's just a thing to get them in the door and start the loyalty-building process, but constantly having artificial inducements like that is not a long term answer or strategy and only masks the larger issue.

Ever since I saw the rock on campus painted with Ohio State colors in 2006 when we played them, I've lost most of my faith that the student body will care enough about BG football even if the Buckeyes are playing a terrible FCS school. The Falcon Fanatics are a good start and Kingston seems to be working very closely with them to energize the students, but the reality is most kids are either gonna go home for the weekend, or stay in and watch bigger named schools on TV...even more so when BG is playing inferior opponents.

[bgsufalcon24]

Loyalty must be built by prolonged, sustained winning and positive shared experiences.

The off chance of winning an iPad can't be the incentive to attend a game. It just can't. I understand it's just a thing to get them in the door and start the loyalty-building process, but constantly having artificial inducements like that is not a long term answer or strategy and only masks the larger issue.

Ever since I saw the rock on campus painted with Ohio State colors in 2006 when we played them, I've lost most of my faith that the student body will care enough about BG football even if the Buckeyes are playing a terrible FCS school. The Falcon Fanatics are a good start and Kingston seems to be working very closely with them to energize the students, but the reality is most kids are either gonna go home for the weekend, or stay in and watch bigger named schools on TV...even more so when BG is playing inferior opponents.

You have to understand the context of when that happened. In 2006, Ohio State was having one of their best seasons ever, and we were having one of our worst ever. The students simply weren't behind BGSU football in 2006. Even though we won some games early on that year, it was difficult. We needed 3 overtimes to get past Buffalo, took it on the chin against Wisconsin, and suffered the full wrath of the Family Weekend Jinx when Kent State destroyed us 38-3. Basically most of the student population checked out after the Kent game. Meanwhile, Ohio State was crushing every team in their path to a 12-0 record.

There was also a strong contingent of Michigan faithful among the students that year, as Michigan started 11-0 as well. The App State meltdown was the very next year, followed by the 3-9 season in 2008, which ushered in the end of BGSU and Northwest Ohio being divided territory between Michigan and Ohio State. It's been basically 100% OSU territory ever since.

By 2008, the Michigan people were in hiding, and though you still had your OSU diehards, students were excited about BGSU football again. After our opening victory at Pittsburgh, the campus was more energized than I had ever seen, helping lead to a standing room only Doyt against Minnesota. Of course, Gregg Brandon & company undid all that by losing to fu**ing Eastern Michigan on homecoming.

I must say though, that when I was on campus the day after the Tulsa game, I saw tons and tons of students wearing BGSU apparel. In nearly two hours, I didn't see one person wearing the colors of any other school. That was shocking to me. I think there is more of a collective spirit on campus now than when I was there from 2005-2009. The only common denominator seems to be that the students still won't come out to watch us play Akron, lol.

[kdog27]

I don't care if we hadnt won in 5 years the only reason that rock should ever be painted in OSU colors is if it was done by OSU students, which I highly doubt.

[mscarn]

Great points.

The iPad promotion also carries the implicit ackowledgment that somehow the game itself is inadequate as a product. It isn't whether or not a certain segment realizes it. The promotions should carry some connection to the game (i.e. the Beat ___ T-Shirts) or give the student an even deeper taste of the fan experience, like Kingston's idea of having some run out on the field.

The true salesmen are the students themselves convincing their social groups to come along. Politicians figured out that neighbors with similar socio-economic profiles to the people they're speaking with going door to door are more persuasive than outside activists. Similarly, students (Falcon Fanatics) selling other students on going to the game will be more effective than adults in business suits or polo shirts.

[thewebboy]

Speaking of OSU, does anyone know the douchebags with the OSU canopy and fly the OSU flag during BG tailgates? I saw them out there before the Tulsa game this year.

Something should be done about this...

[pdt1081]

Speaking of OSU, does anyone know the douchebags with the OSU canopy and fly the OSU flag during BG tailgates? I saw them out there before the Tulsa game this year.

Something should be done about this...

Other than making their tailgating experience so horrible that they never want to come back, there's nothing you can do....


3-man slingshot. Pi$$ filled waterballoons.


Yes, I'm an a$$hole.

[jpfalcon09]

Speaking of OSU, does anyone know the douchebags with the OSU canopy and fly the OSU flag during BG tailgates? I saw them out there before the Tulsa game this year.

Something should be done about this...

There's been many, many people this year who have come to tailgate but have not gone to the games. Very irritating, not saying they're one of them, but it made me think about this.

[hammb]

I must say though, that when I was on campus the day after the Tulsa game, I saw tons and tons of students wearing BGSU apparel. In nearly two hours, I didn't see one person wearing the colors of any other school. That was shocking to me. I think there is more of a collective spirit on campus now than when I was there from 2005-2009. The only common denominator seems to be that the students still won't come out to watch us play Akron, lol.

This is what I've observed as well. I still see OSU stuff around BG, but there are a LOT of students wearing BG gear. There are a LOT of students in the bookstore or SBX buying BG Gear whenever I've been in there.

I don't doubt one bit that students connect with BG the same way we all do.

I just feel that the BCS and OSU's recent success has really made football at the MAC level seem completely irrelevant to the common college sports fan. When those kids get here they're not going to get jacked up to watch us play Akron.

And the more I think about it the more I really think we need to start beating some BCS teams if we really want to gain momentum with the students. You mentioned the Pitt game, which was another awesome win for us. I know for me winning those sorts of games does more to get me fired up for BG football than any amount of conference wins ever could.

[bgsufalcon24]

I must say though, that when I was on campus the day after the Tulsa game, I saw tons and tons of students wearing BGSU apparel. In nearly two hours, I didn't see one person wearing the colors of any other school. That was shocking to me. I think there is more of a collective spirit on campus now than when I was there from 2005-2009. The only common denominator seems to be that the students still won't come out to watch us play Akron, lol.

This is what I've observed as well. I still see OSU stuff around BG, but there are a LOT of students wearing BG gear. There are a LOT of students in the bookstore or SBX buying BG Gear whenever I've been in there.

I don't doubt one bit that students connect with BG the same way we all do.

I just feel that the BCS and OSU's recent success has really made football at the MAC level seem completely irrelevant to the common college sports fan. When those kids get here they're not going to get jacked up to watch us play Akron.

And the more I think about it the more I really think we need to start beating some BCS teams if we really want to gain momentum with the students. You mentioned the Pitt game, which was another awesome win for us. I know for me winning those sorts of games does more to get me fired up for BG football than any amount of conference wins ever could.

Agreed on the beating BCS teams. We had a victory over Minnesota in 2007 as well, and you might say well, Minnesota was awful in 2007. And they definitely were. But getting a name victory like that (in dramatic fashion on a walk-off 2 point conversion in overtime), as well as playing Michigan State tough the next week, brought a swift resurgence in fan support. We drew about 20k fans for games against Temple and Western Kentucky the next two weeks, and the attendance pretty much stayed strong throughout 2007. If we don't beat Minnesota in the opener, that probably isn't the case.

I do wonder if we had beaten Indiana where we would be in terms of fan support right now. We'd be 5-0 with a win over a B1G team and nearly in the rankings.

[ilive4fri]

If they do redesign the stadium would they please put a tunnel or some sort of path to get around the north side of the stadium? It is such a pain to walk all the way around the other way.

I always thought that they should put the fraternities and sororities out by the stadium. That would put a significant amount of students close to the stadium. Conklin is very outdated. They should tear those down and build a huge administration building with a circular drive and prominent university entrance.

Maybe also assign an "athletic crew" to each dorm. A person or a number of people who agree to meet and organize walking over to the venues together. Maybe there are students who would like to get involved but can't find a friend to go with, so they just don't go. If they knew that a group of people were meeting from their dorm to walk over together then maybe they would be more apt to go and get involved.