David Benedict Basically Blames Low Attendance on Us

[zls44]

USC football has been off campus for how long?

Yale even created a campus just for athletics away from the main campus. The men's lacrosse team that plays there just won the national title.

USC is in the second-largest city in the country and, as noted, is literally NEXT to the Coliseum.

Yale has a great lacrosse team, but if that's the program whose attendance you want to emulate, then we're in real trouble.


125ish programs play on campus. UConn doesn't. Don't act like it isn't an issue- it absolutely is.

 

[huskymedic]

USC football has been off campus for how long?

Are you thinking of UCLA and the Rose Bowl?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

125ish programs play on campus. UConn doesn't. Don't act like it isn't an issue- it absolutely is.

You really think if UConn played on-campus the attendance would increase?

I would argue it would plummet further. The only thing going for The Rent these dreadful seasons is that it is centrally located and a breeze getting in and out of (aside from the geniuses running the actual act of parking).

If you had it on campus, you lose everyone west of New Haven and I'd argue a lot of the Hartford I-91 crowd as well.

We can say, sure 125 other programs play on-campus, but let's face the reality that we aren't like them in many ways.

 

[CL82]

You really think if UConn played on-campus the attendance would increase?

I would argue it would plummet further. The only thing going for The Rent these dreadful seasons is that it is centrally located and a breeze getting in and out of (aside from the geniuses running the actual act of parking).

If you had it on campus, you lose everyone west of New Haven and I'd argue a lot of the Hartford I-91 crowd as well.

We can say, sure 125 other programs play on-campus, but let's face the reality that we aren't like them in many ways.

The trade off is that you'd make easier for students to wander over at noon. Having them used to going to games for four years is what builds a long term fan base.

For the longer commutes people would come and make a day of it on campus. That's the whole genesis of tailgating anyway. It would not be the end of the world getting in and out Storrs because the traffic would feather itself off naturally, just as it does as at the vast majority of campuses around the country.

Doesn't matter though. The Rent is our stadium for the foreseeable future. I like it as a venue and I'm glad to have it.

 

[Guapo]

You really think if UConn played on-campus the attendance would increase?

I would argue it would plummet further. The only thing going for The Rent these dreadful seasons is that it is centrally located and a breeze getting in and out of (aside from the geniuses running the actual act of parking).

If you had it on campus, you lose everyone west of New Haven and I'd argue a lot of the Hartford I-91 crowd as well.

We can say, sure 125 other programs play on-campus, but let's face the reality that we aren't like them in many ways.

It's not a question of building an on campus stadium now, that's obviously not going to happen. But, for argument sake, if we could go back in time to the late 90's; they absolutely should have built the stadium on campus for the move to the Big East

 

[JMick]

You really think if UConn played on-campus the attendance would increase?

I would argue it would plummet further. The only thing going for The Rent these dreadful seasons is that it is centrally located and a breeze getting in and out of (aside from the geniuses running the actual act of parking).

If you had it on campus, you lose everyone west of New Haven and I'd argue a lot of the Hartford I-91 crowd as well.

We can say, sure 125 other programs play on-campus, but let's face the reality that we aren't like them in many ways.

I'm probably in the minority but I'm in Danbury and I'd go to more games and even consider season tickets if the stadium was on campus. Itd be aalot easier to convince the kids I graduated with to go. Part of the whole deal with college athletics is having them at the college...

 

[champs99and04]

I'm getting tired of hearing UConn tell me it's my responsibility to give them a pile of money now and we'll worry about success sometime down the road. I already did that, when I paid to go to school there.

SEVEN YEARS of losing. SEVEN. Mostly against crap competition.

And you've got the nerve to say "support us through thick and thin"? It's all thin, dude. There's no thick.

It's easy for me to understand why people might not care about UConn football, but it's a lot harder for me to grasp why the people who do are taking this comment so personally.

You should go to games because you want to go to games. That's it. This is entertainment, not the armed forces. Nobody's getting a ribbon at the end because they walked the darkest road. If you're not going to have a good time regardless of the result, then don't go. The tooth fairy isn't going to show up at 3 AM and peel the Husky logo off your jacket in revenge.

All else being equal, he's saying yeah, people who come to the games do matter. You're helping the school by showing up, and in the event that we do become Auburn or Michigan, people like you will be the reason for it.

I thought he did a bad job wording it, but he's obviously not actively trying to get people to dislike him. It was probably a throwaway cliche that he'd like to have back - saying "hey I know the program has sucked forever now and will probably suck forever, but our athletic department is bleeding and we need your money. please!" would probably present problems of its own.

 

[amory]

It's easy for me to understand why people might not care about UConn football, but it's a lot harder for me to grasp why the people who do are taking this comment so personally.

You should go to games because you want to go to games. That's it. This is entertainment, not the armed forces. Nobody's getting a ribbon at the end because they walked the darkest road. If you're not going to have a good time regardless of the result, then don't go. The tooth fairy isn't going to show up at 3 AM and peel the Husky logo off your jacket in revenge.

All else being equal, he's saying yeah, people who come to the games do matter. You're helping the school by showing up, and in the event that we do become Auburn or Michigan, people like you will be the reason for it.

I thought he did a bad job wording it, but he's obviously not actively trying to get people to dislike him. It was probably a throwaway cliche that he'd like to have back - saying "hey I know the program has sucked forever now and will probably suck forever, but our athletic department is bleeding and we need your money. please!" would probably present problems of its own.

I think you're right, and I think that's fair. But at the same time, the wording and even the sentiment behind the wording is very naive on his part, and he's been in this job long enough that he really doesn't have a good excuse for being naive.

I get that the program is in a bad way, and that sucks. But there's no real excuse for the on the field performance being as bad as it's been for as long as it's been. It's bad football, resulting from bad recruiting and coaching, resulting from bad coaching hires. All of that is on the athletic department, though not necessarily DB himself.

It's asinine to think a packed house will result in a successful program. That's simply not how it works. It'd influence a win every now and again, sure. But it's putting the cart before the horse.

 

[husky8273]

It's not a question of building an on campus stadium now, that's obviously not going to happen. But, for argument sake, if we could go back in time to the late 90's; they absolutely should have built the stadium on campus for the move to the Big East

They tried numerous times and could not get the legislative support.

 

[Guapo]

They tried numerous times and could not get the legislative support.

Yup, hindsight

 

[gtcam]

DB is a db

 

[Redding Husky]

If I was within 300 miles I'd buy season tickets, no matter how bad we were. But I'm 1,649 miles and 29 hours away in Dallas.

My brother lives in Connecticut and he's been a season ticket holder for many years, even though he graduated from another college in New England.

 

[UConnNick]

It's not a question of building an on campus stadium now, that's obviously not going to happen. But, for argument sake, if we could go back in time to the late 90's; they absolutely should have built the stadium on campus for the move to the Big East

The NIMBY's in Mansfield would have screamed bloody murder.

 

[CL82]

They tried numerous times and could not get the legislative support.

Mmm, pretty much only once seriously. They wrapped the cost of the stadium, Burton and Shenkman all into a single request. It's not a surprise that it went down in flames.

 

[zls44]

Yup, hindsight

Yeah.

I like the Rent, but the reality is that students are your future season ticket base. That base does not exist. A large reason why is because there is absolutely no identity between the students and the program- the team's bad and it plays off-campus.

I don't know how you rectify it, but if you don't, you eventually are Just Another CUSA Program.

 

[zls44]

If you had it on campus, you lose everyone west of New Haven and I'd argue a lot of the Hartford I-91 crowd as well.

We can say, sure 125 other programs play on-campus, but let's face the reality that we aren't like them in many ways.

I do not agree that UConn fans posses some inability to take an inconvenient commute to a football game that is not possessed anywhere else in the country- ESPECIALLY when those same folks put up with some of the worst gridlock in the country to go to work.

There isn't some sort of magic forcefield that prevents people from having to deal with traffic in Storrs. Its a lazy excuse- and I was on campus for the final year when Memorial was packed every game, as was Gampel for basketball, I've seen what a traffic nightmare it was...and how much energy & engagement there was on campus.

You wouldn't kill for those problems now? Hey, at least your massive commute of 60 miles is a bit quicker.


FOH

 

[Guapo]

I do not agree that UConn fans posses some inability to take an inconvenient commute to a football game that is not possessed anywhere else in the country- ESPECIALLY when those same folks put up with some of the worst gridlock in the country to go to work.

There isn't some sort of magic forcefield that prevents people from having to deal with traffic in Storrs. Its a lazy excuse- and I was on campus for the final year when Memorial was packed every game, as was Gampel for basketball, I've seen what a traffic nightmare it was...and how much energy & engagement there was on campus.

You wouldn't kill for those problems now? Hey, at least your massive commute of 60 miles is a bit quicker.


FOH

Since this is all fantasy, any on campus stadium construction would be accompanied by the widening of the roads into Storrs.

 

[Exit 4]

Since we are talking fantasy, let’s also talk about how the entire Storrs campus should be relocated to a urban location. The cornfield location has hampered modern economic development in this state as many major univerities has spent the last 30 years partnering with businesses for research. Yeah, I know they added a tech park, but that’s a pimple on the economic landscape.

 

[Guapo]

Since we are talking fantasy, let’s also talk about how the entire Storrs campus should be relocated to a urban location. The cornfield location has hampered modern economic development in this state as many major univerities has spent the last 30 years partnering with businesses for research. Yeah, I know they added a tech park, but that’s a pimple on the economic landscape.

Counter argument: since this is fantasy, the Storrs folk should have let Storrs develop into the college town it was meant to be.

Very few flagship universities are located in major cities.

 

[Exit 4]

Counter argument: since this is fantasy, the Storrs folk should have let Storrs develop into the college town it was meant to be.

Very few flagship universities are located in major cities.

Very few in major cities, but most are in minor cities and all of the cities of CT are minor cities.

 

[huskymedic]

Counter argument: since this is fantasy, the Storrs folk should have let Storrs develop into the college town it was meant to be.

Very few flagship universities are located in major cities.

Very few in major cities, but most are in minor cities and all of the cities of CT are minor cities.

Greetings from Happy Valley...

 

[Guapo]

Very few in major cities, but most are in minor cities and all of the cities of CT are minor cities.

Athens, GA

Bloomington, IN

Etc etc

Storrs could have been like that and hopefully will one day.

 

[manbyrd]

Very few in major cities, but most are in minor cities and all of the cities of CT are minor cities.

Trying to think of an equivalent college town to Storrs and I'm drawing a blank. One that has a large (15k+ non-commuter students) university but virtually no downtown/retail strip to speak of. UMD comes to mind, but it's got a train station that gets you to DC in 20 min.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I do not agree that UConn fans posses some inability to take an inconvenient commute to a football game that is not possessed anywhere else in the country- ESPECIALLY when those same folks put up with some of the worst gridlock in the country to go to work.

There isn't some sort of magic forcefield that prevents people from having to deal with traffic in Storrs. Its a lazy excuse- and I was on campus for the final year when Memorial was packed every game, as was Gampel for basketball, I've seen what a traffic nightmare it was...and how much energy & engagement there was on campus.

You wouldn't kill for those problems now? Hey, at least your massive commute of 60 miles is a bit quicker.


FOH

Call it whatever you'd like, force fields, excuses, whatever. Every situation is unique and to throw out "125 other FBS schools that don't have this issue" ignores reality of UConn, CT, and our FBS program.

Storrs is a real pain to get out of when there is a 10,000 seat basketball game. A 40,000 seat football game? Forget about it. I do like @CL82 solution that traffic will just "feather away" naturally. Why hasn't the whole Tri-State area thought of that one yet?

Engagement and fan commitment in our neck of the woods for college sports is based on our success and our opponent. Taking a 30 minute bus wasn't an issue when we were beating up Big East teams at home.

You're trying come off as some tough guy who is impervious to traffic - let me flip that one around for you - if sitting in traffic is some sort of testament to fan hood, then how come the students can't jump in a practically free bus ride 30 mins with no parking, sober driving, or anything else to worry about?

 

[Exit 4]

Greetings from Happy Valley...

Hello from Silicon Valley? Hello from the Raleigh Research Triangle?

The economic policy people I spend time with down here at the bottom corner of the state (and these are people that make investment decisions daily in all 50 states and for the past 20 years they have loved FL, CO, TX and CA) think CT's biggest strategic blunder of the past 50 years has been the failure to build a world class university in a location that could also support private enterprise...aka a set up to mirror Boston, Philadelphia with Penn, Stanford with Silicon Valley or Raleigh with Wake/UNC/Duke. The school should have been built on some 500 acre plot within 15 mins of Hartford City hall. In the 1960s they could have found the land.

The Penn State model can work, but its not future. The future is a return to the Boston model....especially in high cost states like ours. And if we can't get to the Boston model, we should be something akin to South Bend or Charlottesville.

 

[Exit 4]

Athens, GA

Bloomington, IN

Etc etc

Storrs could have been like that and hopefully will one day.

Athens GA has gone from 45k people in 1990 to 115k people today. Um, there isn't a place north of Tyson's Corner VA that has grown anything like that in the northeast. Storrs won't ever even be a town of 50k people...not even close.

 

[Guapo]

Athens GA has gone from 45k people in 1990 to 115k people today. Um, there isn't a place north of Tyson's Corner VA that has grown anything like that in the northeast. Storrs won't ever even be a town of 50k people...not even close.

Hey not arguing with you but that dramatic population increase you see is because the city of Athens and Clarke County combined into one

 

[Exit 4]

Hey not arguing with you but that dramatic population increase you see is because the city of Athens and Clarke County combined into one

Okay, fair point.

Btw - When you look an aerial shot of Athens GA and see all the growth, its something that is never - ever going to happen in Storrs. And I can understand why its not going to happen as well. The campus should have been in West Hartford or East Hartford. Hey - I know an abandoned air strip complete with a stadium and extra land?!

 

[CL82]

Storrs is a real pain to get out of when there is a 10,000 seat basketball game. A 40,000 seat football game? Forget about it. I do like @CL82 solution that traffic will just "feather away" naturally. Why hasn't the whole Tri-State area thought of that one yet?

Perhaps because daily commute traffic is different than single event traffic?

I go game at other schools, on campus, and the world has ended because of it. Locally Army's entrance is single one road for mile (or the Hudson River, I've done it both ways) and somehow people get in and out. I get there early and tailgate afterwards. Traffic isn't an issue.

Rutgers is in a very densely populated area with daily traffic challenges. Yet they manage to get people in and out there. But you think that it can't be done at Storrs? Just a silly viewpoint.

That said, the Rent is our stadium and it is a great place to see a game with good tailgating. I'm happy with it. Still, it does come up when conference realignment is discussed. It isn't the norm and seems decidedly small time, outside of Connecticut.

 

[Husky25]

It all comes down to value received for dollars spend. For going on 8 seasons, if UConn falls behind by 10 points it is a loss. My wife and I went to see Cirque du Soleil - Corteo a few weeks ago at Webster Theater. I was pretty apprehensive because a few years ago we saw a Cirque show in Vegas (Mystère. The one featured in Knocked Up), where I almost fell asleep, and probably did, on more than a couple occasions. The show in Bridgeport was so much better and I don't believe the tickets were as expensive either. UConn football over the last seven seasons is like paying for the risk of sitting through Mystère 6-7 times a season on the off chance, that they don't indicate, you actually get to see Corteo...every year.

I'd be interested to see demographic info on ticket buyers over the years, particularly over the first 10 seasons of FBS membership. For instance, I was 26 years old in 2003. I had a good paying job, single, cash flow positive, and discretionary funds to burn (so to speak). UConn was not particularly good in 2002 (6-6 vs transition opponents), but UConn at Rentschler was a brand new phenomenon and the first game vs Indiana was exciting, yet still maintained a certain D-1AA feel. As if everyone was learning how to do D-1A together. I bought a house in 2007 with my then girlfriend, fell into more challenging financial times, got married in 2009, and my first child arrived in 2012. I have maintained season tickets in one form or another for going on 15 years...mainly for the tailgating, friendships, and downtime at this point. I cannot and do not blame anyone who was in my position (I'd estimate in the 10s of 1,000 around the state) who did not follow suit. It's gotten to be less and less about the game.