Attendance Woes

[Class of 61]

I know I'm going back to the "good old days" when I was in school...(and yes, we even had textbooks then, not stone tablets).... the old BG stadium located somewhere in the vicinity of the current library IIRC, had a capacity of around 12-15K I think.
The fraternities used to send their pledges to the stadium early to "reserve" seats for them.... wonder why something like this couldn't be done today...have a "competition" if you will to see which frats and/or sororities could have the highest number of folks at the game.
Call it bribery if you want, but it used to be a big thing back in the day.

[zete]

I have lived in BG for a long time. A few observations I have made over the years lend themselves to this discussion: First, community members used to dream BG could be a program with top 25 possibilities every year.Then attendance would swell as BG would become somewhat of a Boise St program. Hence, the stadium was built to be added to. NOte how the construction was left to complete a semi circle enclosure at each end and seat around 40k. It never happened.
Coaches come and go. The MAC games don't get people fired up and students just do not care. The OSU flag is planted on campus and rules Wood Co. In essence, If you can't beat them - join them. Go Bucks!

[kdog27]

Ummm no

[FalconTurf]

Next time we play @the OSU get there early and explore. I found the dental college having a reunion / tent. Know graduates of the AG college have a meeting spot. The band show is there. Every game wuhether scUM or Florida international there are s variety of groups, colleges, businesses and locals with events. Can't put all the eggs in one basket. A large number of events need to be connected to each game. Don't wait for homecoming, big name or rival, or the great era of teams. Realize football games are nothing without the related events and activities that are primary to many. Rarely does football exist on it's own with significant crowds. The fix is events planning for every game and this may cost BG money but a crowded event with passive fans beats a handful of fanatics.

[Globetrotter]

There is a big niche to reach out to in the surrounding counties. Branding bg as the team of nw ohio outside of Lucas county would be a big step. I think we need.to make it an event. Where you bring your kids and have a great time and the game is just a plus. You build the community first and then the team grows with the support.

I would have yell leaders instead of cheerleaders
I would have a very small band and/or simply involve local high school bands in some way each game.
I would have a youth game for five minutes of half time every game. Coaches by former bg players
I would have a garden of honor between the basketball arena and football stadium with info and busts of the best players ever and information and highlights.
I would have an area where you can buy beers outside of the stadium fenced in with gigantic tvs playing the Osu game before or after the game with a live bg student band during commercials and befor pre game.
I would give an sbx 1000 book scholarship to the best dressed bg student fan and announce it in between the first and second quarter. Or make it a competition and let the fans choose
I would sell pollyeyes breadstix and Myles in a picnic area just inside the stadium
I would create a shuttle that ran from the hotels to the downtown bars from noon to three am every football and basketball Saturday encouraging alumni to come
I would have a free coaches clinic with ex bg players helping kids outside prior to the game
And after the game.
I would mandate that the football players and basketball players have a presence at all other bg home sporting events and campus wide events even a. Small presence with jerseys or gear on would do a lot. Have sign ups.
I would break up the parking lot and name them by counties and have tailgaters park in the counties they were from, encouraging rivalries and ownership of the event
I don't have kids but you do this stuff I would be there. I'm sure there stuff for kids you guys can think of.

Make it fun. Make it an all day event. Make it easy. Build community and relationships.

If bg got rid of its football program I would still come back to this message board because I like Karl,grant, hammb, falconfreak, factman, mark and tons of others. The community matters just as much as the product in my mind. If I could go to bg,tailgate before hand. Watch bg win a game in stadium go out and watch Osu lose on the big screen while drinking with friends and then walk across the street to my hotel and take a shuttle to a bus that's an event. That will get bg fans back that just don't love bg football as much as us.

[Siborg]

I agree with a lot of that. Make every weekend a festival atmosphere whether a football game was there or not. Music, food & beverage with sports would be the key draws. Even away games could be shown in the Stroh, Anderson or at the stadium (when availible).

If we had this on weekends I doubt we would be so quick to agree to weekday games.

[zete]

Winning 80-95 games a decade and keeping coaches in place would be a step in the right direction - not happening in last thirty years.

[Flipper]

Hasn't happened...won't happened. A coach who is still here after 5-6 years tops is a guy WE should try to replace because he hasn't had enough success to move on. As coaching jobs go...we're a stepping stone...we don't and can't pay enough to be anything other than that. I respect the job Clawson has done here...I truly do think he did a great job stabilizing the situation here after the chaos that Brandon created the last year or two, but if he doesn't take that step forward this year...win the east...win a bowl...do SOMETHING that shows a step forward from being good to better than good...well, you have to start to wonder if he's your guy. Is a string of 8-5 type seasons what we want?

[zete]

I really thought Marshall was poised to keep it all going when they were having unbelievable success for a spell. They had fans in the seats and players demonstrating they could play with anyone in the country. Pruitt left and now they suck.
Keeping good staffs in place will never happen until something significant takes place at the top. I don't know if will ever happen or if it is even a possibility, but if a salary cap were put on DI coaching positions - say 350,000 per year. I believe some of the good ones would stay put, content with building programs and raising their families.

[Flipper]

They...only...won...when...they...cheated. Once they were caught, they became the bunch of sad sack suck wads we drilled into oblivion on their way out of the conference in 2004

[zete]

Everybody cheats.

[zete]

Everybody cheats.

[zete]

Fans around here will never get excited about playing lame teams - UMass. But yet 100,000 show up for OSU and Florida A&M. 500,000 would have gone if the stadium would have allowed it. Something to be said about the hoopla and pageantry that goes along with it. We have about zero at BGSU.

[kdog27]

500,000?

[zete]

Yep, they would come from every corner of Ohio. I think it is safe to say there area that many every week interested in scoring a ticket for OSU football.