Attendance is an embarrassment

[Triple B]

1 hour ago, cougar king said:

2016 Houston vs Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium

 

Attendance- 40,015

 

Now go have several seats and let the adults continue the discussion.

UC averaged 33K for all their games last year. You do the math ..... This discussion may need to continue on a different board.

[Joe]

1 hour ago, bullsfan27 said:

Let's face it tampa is not a college football town at least compared to Gainesville or Tallahassee. The 4 years we really sucked killed the attendance and it will take years of winning to get the fans back. Now getting into a p5 conference would definitely help but we really need to keep winning to get the fans back. The best case scenario for us is to run the table and have Memphis run the table and play them in the conference title. Both teams would be ranked in the top 20 possibly 15 and if host that game the attendance will be good for that game possibly above 50k

This is crap. Tampa has some of the highest TV ratings in college football.

[Rex Havoc]

27 minutes ago, Joe said:

This is crap. Tampa has some of the highest TV ratings in college football.

The Tampa area has some of the highest ratings in most sports...we just need to get people up off their couch and to the games. 

[George_Bullnard_Shaw]

Of all the moral failings endemic to our species I have to rank not showing up to watch AAC football pretty low on the scale. On a weeknight vs. Temple even lower on the scale of mortal sins.

There are lots of pre-eminent factors such as a recent track record of losing for 4 very ugly years, ugly wins this season, garbage opponents and the undeniable fact that in person attendance is slipping at all levels of football. This is the way it is going to be. The land grant universities with generations of wealthy alumni and towns with nothing else to do will hold on a while but even their attendance is slipping. This is not something that will be fixed. It is something that at best will be mitigated. I've said myself that I don't like the stadium experience and much prefer the tv experience.

We aren't at the big boy's table and people locally don't care about minor league college football. Intellectually I find it hard to blame them. We need to be a great team playing great opponents before we can compete with the plethora of entertainment opportunities we are blessed with in this area. Until then no matter where we play I don't see great attendance. Like it or not our games are an entertainment offering. Thus they have to be entertaining. Are they? Do we have entertaining opponents? Is our play entertaining? I'm not sure I can honestly say yes. Sometimes it is. As long as we remain in the G5 without big tv money we will also lack coaching consistency.

I'm reminded of Gary Bettman and his quixotic quest to keep a team in Phoenix, Arizona. He insists it takes 1+ generations to build a fan base. He's probably right and he's going to force a series of owners to invest to prove his point. We are just hitting that 1st generation at 20 years old. Arguably a very awkward time as the novelty has worn off but the tradition and history haven't developed. Add in we've fallen from the heights the program reached rapidly which turns off those who attended during the Big East glory years. Being relegated does not help with the fan base. We are in an awkward spot. Good enough to compete with the big boys which sets the local expectations high. Perhaps too high to consistently reach. The city is probably too big of a city to want to support us if we were perennial CUSA level champions either.

It must be tough to market what seems to be small town football to a major city.

The cameras showing the empty side of the stadium is a legit concern but one I don't think can ever be fixed.

[Publix Substitution]

10 minutes ago, George_Bullnard_Shaw said:

Of all the moral failings endemic to our species I have to rank not showing up to watch AAC football pretty low on the scale. On a weeknight vs. Temple even lower on the scale of mortal sins.

There are lots of pre-eminent factors such as a recent track record of losing for 4 very ugly years, ugly wins this season, garbage opponents and the undeniable fact that in person attendance is slipping at all levels of football. This is the way it is going to be. The land grant universities with generations of wealthy alumni and towns with nothing else to do will hold on a while but even their attendance is slipping. This is not something that will be fixed. It is something that at best will be mitigated. I've said myself that I don't like the stadium experience and much prefer the tv experience.

We aren't at the big boy's table and people locally don't care about minor league college football. Intellectually I find it hard to blame them. We need to be a great team playing great opponents before we can compete with the plethora of entertainment opportunities we are blessed with in this area. Until then no matter where we play I don't see great attendance. Like it or not our games are an entertainment offering. Thus they have to be entertaining. Are they? Do we have entertaining opponents? Is our play entertaining? I'm not sure I can honestly say yes. Sometimes it is. As long as we remain in the G5 without big tv money we will also lack coaching consistency.

I'm reminded of Gary Bettman and his quixotic quest to keep a team in Phoenix, Arizona. He insists it takes 1+ generations to build a fan base. He's probably right and he's going to force a series of owners to invest to prove his point. We are just hitting that 1st generation at 20 years old. Arguably a very awkward time as the novelty has worn off but the tradition and history haven't developed. Add in we've fallen from the heights the program reached rapidly which turns off those who attended during the Big East glory years. Being relegated does not help with the fan base. We are in an awkward spot. Good enough to compete with the big boys which sets the local expectations high. Perhaps too high to consistently reach. The city is probably too big of a city to want to support us if we were perennial CUSA level champions either.

It must be tough to market what seems to be small town football to a major city.

The cameras showing the empty side of the stadium is a legit concern but one I don't think can ever be fixed.

Well said

[Gismo]

TV ratings are more important than live attendance for media contracts. When you go to the game be sure to leave your TV on when you leave home. 

Edited September 22, 2017 by Gismo

[Bulls On Parade]

If last night we had faced number 5 team USC what type of crowd do we get?

Alot of USF fans just only care about the big name teams..sucks people are like that.

 

 

[George_Bullnard_Shaw]

1 minute ago, Gismo said:

TV ratings are more important that live attendance for media contracts. When you go to the game be sure to leave your TV on when you leave home. 

And it will either entertain your pets or put them to sleep!

Really good advice. Seriously!

[SoFlo All Day]

Seems like all of the frustration with our fan base surrounds the casual Tampa Bay fan not wanting to attend games. If you look at the student section and the season ticket sections, it looks pretty filled out.

Makes me wonder if there will be any animosity from the diehards if the casual fans do end up jumping back on the bandwagon and coming to games. There's a part of me that wouldn't want to welcome them back, to be honest. If you can't support us when we're down then you don't deserve to support us when we're hitting our stride and doing well. I look at sitting through all those crap seasons and getting laughed at for being a Bulls fan as earning your dues. The fans we're trying to get back to the games didn't earn their dues. I know it sounds counter productive but maybe we should be telling those people who jumped ship to f**k off instead of inviting them back. #rant #vamos #toros

[Gatorbull325]

If we keep winning they will come