Attendance Saturday vs Buffalo

[Waquoit]

Guess the attendance for Saturdays game ... I'm saying just under 20K perhaps the emptiest we have seen the rent since going FBS ...

Contributing Factors:

4) conference realignment loss of AQ

... At an all time low. Who here thinks attendance will be greater than 20K?

We will get over 20K. I doubt "conference realignment loss of AQ" will cause one person to not go to the game.

 

[husky10]

It's homecoming.

Homecoming is actually the temple game.

 

[whaler11]

Homecoming is actually the temple game.

Ah, I thought I read it earlier in this thread.

 

[CodyJ.]

There are more than 20K people that will show up. The tailgate is still a huge draw and tix in the parking lot will be $15 from scalpers.

Im sayin 32,000 people.

 

[Husky25]

I have 12 season tickets and have since the Rent opened. Almost impossible for me to get peoplke to go and this week, I had a group fo ten which is now four after people saw the weather. Most of the 10 were kids under 10 years old and no one wants to deal with them and the weather. The program has lost some of the casual fan already with the play on the field and the headlines off the field about the Big East. The bigger problem is that the fan base has shrunk despite 70k people who have graduated UConn since the rent opened. I mean that is remarkable. you've had 5 classes of kids who had FBS football their entire UConn careers and yet the seaosn ticket base has declined each of the past few years.

It's unfortunate that this has happened to your game day group. Fortunately ours has grown. There are many factors that have contibuted to the disappearance of the casual fan. On top of what you pointed out, we're also dealing with:

1) Rentschler not being the novelty it was in 2003-2007.

2) (This might be most important for the casual fan) Neither the School, nor the Stadium have done anything in 10 years to improve the gameday experience (How about a High-Def video board? No, instead we get DJ Joey and his sidekick).

3 a,b, & c) We are in year 5 of a national economic recovery, college graduates are having a harder time finding jobs, If they do, they have comparatively less disposable income than most of us did at their age, and the fan base is getting older as a result (Example: At kickoff for Indiana, I was 26, single, and realitively financially secure. Now I am not, not, and - married with a baby, so - not as much).

The underlying problem though is no one wants to follow the product on this field after they see what is happening at other college stadiums throughout the country, as well a on Sunday. The team just really isn't all that exciting to the general populous and winning is only half of the solution.

 

[businesslawyer]

It's not primarily product or winning. Ask the basketball teams, which have suffered material drops in attendance for the last six or seven years.

 

[fortebleedsblue]

It's not primarily product or winning. Ask the basketball teams, which have suffered material drops in attendance for the last six or seven years.

What is it?

 

[J187Money]

We kept our 6 seats (4 for my family and 2 for my sister and her husband) - we lost one of our gang to cancer this year. But I rarely use all 4 of mine because there are always conflicts with the kids and their activities. So I go while my wife covers. She hasn't been to a game yet this year and loves to go. It is a bit of a problem when the early season games are not "event" games for football lovers. People won't plan around a Buffalo game. I'll get there for some of it, but it is sandwiched in between a Babe Ruth game and my son's birthday party. So I'll probably be there from 1PM on.

It piles up - if we were 4-0, there would be more buzz. If it wasn't Buffalo, there would be more buzz. If it weren't at noon, there would be more buzz. The absence of all 3 of those things (and some others) makes it feel like an obligation versus something to look forward to. We all expect to win. If we do, great. If we don't, what a letdown. Another trap game.

 

[Uconnalliance]

A fool and his $ will soon be partying with all his Uconn buds, someday we will remember the days when the program was mediocre.But for now were's my Jack the ultimate pain killer! Getcha pull.

 

[UC990411]

DJ Dogpound is the one reason i would skip a game, I don't care if the team is 0-10. He is awful. He makes us more of a joke of a program. Seriously, we're the only idiotic football team in the country that has a DJ in the booth. Come on UCONN fans make some noiiiiiseee. What an idiot. I hate you DJ.

 

[mattp]

2) (This might be most important for the casual fan) Neither the School, nor the Stadium have done anything in 10 years to improve the gameday experience (How about a High-Def video board? No, instead we get DJ Joey and his sidekick).

3 a,b, & c) We are in year 5 of a national economic recovery, college graduates are having a harder time finding jobs, If they do, they have comparatively less disposable income than most of us did at their age, and the fan base is getting older as a result (Example: At kickoff for Indiana, I was 26, single, and realitively financially secure. Now I am not, not, and - married with a baby, so - not as much).

The underlying problem though is no one wants to follow the product on this field after they see what is happening at other college stadiums throughout the country, as well a on Sunday. The team just really isn't all that exciting to the general populous and winning is only half of the solution.

If anyone doesn't come b.c we don't have a new video board, then let them stay home. I hate to be a to potential fans, but spending 50k a year to placate these types of fans is a waste of money b/c they'll soon get bored and move on anyway. as for what's going on the in the NFL I can tell you not all the stadium changes are positive. The new Meadowlands is a disgrace, and I don't think I've met a single Jets or Giants fan that doesn't think it was a total waste of money. The game day experience is tailgating and a football game, what more do you want?

as for 3, this isn't really an excuse b/c there's always going to be a rotation of fans through their life phases. I'm in a similar boat as you. Right now my main focus is on kids, but there's always a new crop of early 20 somethings with no obligations and they need to pick up where we leave off. In 10 years we'll be taking the kids to games, and then in 20-30 years you and I will be the ones that are retired following the Huskies around in tricked out tailgating buses and RVs talking about Memorial Stadium like a bunch of dinosaurs.

something else we should keep in mind is that attendance at pretty much every NFL and college stadium is also down.

 

[Husky25]

It's not primarily product or winning. Ask the basketball teams, which have suffered material drops in attendance for the last six or seven years.

By and large, it is the game day experience, lack thereof, or lack of improvement thereof. You can say the same thing about basketball. No one is going to spend $35 for an upper level seat to see UConn vs LIU at the XL Center on a Tuesday night in mid-November. You might as well stay home with cheaper beer and watch it on MyTV9 in HD. I rarely go to men's games anymore unless the tickets are given to me.

I love going to football games, I like the Rent, and I hate going into Hartford for a basketball game, but at least the XL Center has updated their scoreboard in the last 10 years.

 

[junglehusky]

Looks like ticketmaster has blocks of available tickets in the middle rows of the upper sections, in addition to a lot in the visitors section and family section. Looks like the strategy is to make the middle rows available, and if they sell the upper rows might be released but it's not looking too good right now.

I'm a little surprised uconnhuskies.com doesn't seem to be running a promo for discount tickets right now.

 

[Husky25]

If anyone doesn't come b.c we don't have a new video board, then let them stay home. I hate to be a to potential fans, but spending 50k a year to placate these types of fans is a waste of money b/c they'll soon get bored and move on anyway. as for what's going on the in the NFL I can tell you not all the stadium changes are positive. The new Meadowlands is a disgrace, and I don't think I've met a single Jets or Giants fan that doesn't think it was a total waste of money. The game day experience is tailgating and a football game, what more do you want?

as for 3, this isn't really an excuse b/c there's always going to be a rotating of fans through their life phases. I'm in a similar boat as you. Right now my main focus is on kids, but there's always a new crop of early 20 somethings with no obligations and they need to pick up where we leave off. In 10 years we'll be taking the kids to games, and then in 20-30 years you and I will be the ones that are retired following the Huskies around in tricked out tailgating buses and RVs talking about Memorial Stadium like a bunch of dinosaurs.

I don't take what you said as being douchy per se, but what I laid out is an example of why Rentschler is losing the casual fan. The hardcore fan (Like myself and, I presume, you) will always be there for the tailgating and game (Incidently, I can't wait for my son to be old enough to take to the games). However if the gameday experience doesn't offer anything else to the casual fan, the program will have a very similar problem as the NFL. NFL Sunday Ticket, The Redzone Channel, inexpensive 60 inch HDTV's, and a Sam's Club membership affords the casual fan an adequate gameday experience for a fraction of the price.

I am not making an excuse with points 3a-c...just an observation. The Early-Mid 20-somethings are finding it harder to pick up where we left off. They have more school debt and less $$ to pay for it. I just don't see as many non-students in their mid 20's as I used to. It might be because I'm not one of them anymore but still...merely an observation...

 

[RedSoloCup]

Of coarse ... I moved back to ct for this .. Why would I miss it? Blue lot ... No flag yet... If u find us beer and hot capt Morgan spiked cider with mulling spices.

edit:
try blackberry brandy in mulled cider... I have women 3-4 cars away come looking...

 

[mattp]

I don't take what you said as being douchy per se, but what I laid out is an example of why Rentschler is losing the casual fan. The hardcore fan (Like myself and, I presume, you) will always be there for the tailgating and game (Incidently, I can't wait for my son to be old enough to take to the games). However if the gameday experience doesn't offer anything else to the casual fan, the program will have a very similar problem as the NFL. NFL Sunday Ticket, The Redzone Channel, inexpensive 60 inch HDTV's, and a Sam's Club membership affords the casual fan an adequate gameday experience for a fraction of the price.

I am not making an excuse with points 3a-c...just an observation. The Early-Mid 20-somethings are finding it harder to pick up where we left off. They have more school debt and less $$ to pay for it. I just don't see as many non-students in their mid 20's as I used to. It might be because I'm not one of them anymore but still...merely an observation...

The experience at home is great now, like you said, but I don't know that bells and whistles will attract fans. I heard that a lot of NFL stadiums are starting to experiment with things like free wi-fi, access to NFL Redzone on your iphone while at the game, and other things like that to try to mimic the home experience, and I think they're headed in the wrong direction. A stadium will never compete with home for convenience so I think it's a waste of time and energy to try.

What the stadium has is the energy of watching the game with however many other people, and tailgating with thousands of other people. I think all the bells and whistles will detract from that. I hate sitting next to someone at a game that's too busy following their fantasy team on their iphone to keep track of what down it is. Those people actually sap energy from the real game day experience. Time will tell whether the NFL is right or I am.

 

[Adios]

DJ Dogpound is the one reason i would skip a game, I don't care if the team is 0-10. He is awful. He makes us more of a joke of a program. Seriously, we're the only idiotic football team in the country that has a DJ in the booth. Come on UCONN fans make some noiiiiiseee. What an idiot. I hate you DJ.

It's not as if he's dumb. But having a DJ in college football sure is weird. How about we gift him to Rutgers?

I don't care who we're playing. It's a blast to go.

 

[freescooter]

If it rains I would guess the 20,000 might not be far off. But if the weather is ok, low 30s will show up.

 

[dvegas]

I'm a little surprised uconnhuskies.com doesn't seem to be running a promo for discount tickets right now.

Promo is up on the UCONN site, but could be gone at any minute -

https://ev9.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/EVExecMacro?linkID=uconn&evm=prmo&RSRC=&RDAT=&caller=PR

password is WEBSTER

 

[ConnHuskBask]

This is honestly the first UConn Football game since I've been going that I'm not even excited about.

This program used to have hope and promise and now due to things out of our control (conference realignment) and totally inept coaching and offense, I just have a hard time believing we can ever be a consistent contender in the Top 25.

I'll be there for kickoff with my crew of 10, I'll lose my voice by the end of the 4th and hopefully have a great time, but if you can't see why a casual football fan in Connecticut wouldn't want to go to this game you're just blind.

 

[fortebleedsblue]

The experience at home is great now, like you said, but I don't know that bells and whistles will attract fans. I heard that a lot of NFL stadiums are starting to experiment with things like free wi-fi, access to NFL Redzone on your iphone while at the game, and other things like that to try to mimic the home experience, and I think they're headed in the wrong direction. A stadium will never compete with home for convenience so I think it's a waste of time and energy to try.

What the stadium has is the energy of watching the game with however many other people, and tailgating with thousands of other people. I think all the bells and whistles will detract from that. I hate sitting next to someone at a game that's too busy following their fantasy team on their iphone to keep track of what down it is. Those people actually sap energy from the real game day experience. Time will tell whether the NFL is right or I am.

What a stadium offers that the tv doesnt is excitement ... Period. The bigger the games (combinatin of opponent, record and on an exciting on field product) will immediately upgrade the atmosphere. I don't care how big you're tv is or how cozy your house is.. If your team is 8-0 playing under the lights on ABC against another highly ranked team (say Ohio State) the average person is going to pick the stadium experience every time. Who you play matters... How you play matter and we are sucking at both. Who's idea was it to play two Mac teams plus UMess? This schedule with temple is essentially like playing in the Mac. Other teams may play crappy 1AA but guess what they play big time programs in conference with big time implications. Our motto is let's win everything so we can play a real team like Oklahoma in the fiesta bowl. Other teams play those types of games multiple times a year. If we beats ranked Rutgers the big east will lose one of it's two whole ranked teams....

What I m saying is if Uconn is going to play a (who cares) in conference schedule with a run first mentality.. then stack the out of conference with teams people will care about... generate some Buzz. A no huddle would .. well I'm not even going to go there.. baby steps..

 

[Bootsthemonkey]

There will be over 20k. Shoot, I think 10-15k show up just for the tailgate/party. They'll mosey into the stadium in the 2nd quarter and leave in the 3rd. Just calling it like I see it.

 

[minidarren]

It's brutal playing Buffalo week 5. One benefit of BE going forward is at least they don't need a fifth OOC.

It's homecoming. I'm sure they will distribute like 36,000 seats and probably 30k will go in and out of the gates - but if it's raining I wouldn't expect more than 25 inside and at time and if people hide under the stands it will look worse.

Homecoming is the Temple game.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[whaler11]

This is honestly the first UConn Football game since I've been going that I'm not even excited about.

This program used to have hope and promise and now due to things out of our control (conference realignment) and totally inept coaching and offense, I just have a hard time believing we can ever be a consistent contender in the Top 25.

I'll be there for kickoff with my crew of 10, I'll lose my voice by the end of the 4th and hopefully have a great time, but if you can't see why a casual football fan in Connecticut wouldn't want to go to this game you're just blind.

I agree that this is the least interesting home game in the Rentschler era.

Nothing good can really come of it. I they win.. well it's Buffalo.. if they lose the fans will check back next year.

On the bright side the weather doesn't look as bad. Sitting in the rain sucks.

 

[junglehusky]

Who's idea was it to play two Mac teams plus UMess?

Three MAC teams actually, but the answer is Jeff Hathaway.