Key tweets, and it's all gone to Hell.

[freescooter]

I think if UConn wins, fans will come back. I think fans were about to come back after the Houston upset in 2015, but the program went backwards after that. The following season, UConn had 29.3k for a Labor Day Friday night opener against Maine which is pretty good.

The main group I go to games with went from 2 to 3 games per season to ~1 game because the team played so poorly. When the team wins, people want to go and want to go to more games.

I am inclined to think you are both right to some extent. I don’t think we get 38000 regularly. But 31-32 on a pretty consistent basis is doable, with the odd sell out for a big game whether that be big Name or sort of rival. I do think an upset/good winning streak/will work wonders. But a national ranking with a string of wins (does an unbeaten UConn belong in the playoffs Argument on various sports talk shows would of course be great).

 

[freescooter]

if we start to win attendance will skyrocket.

If you mean if we go 35-2, yeah probably. But a couple of other things keep attendance down too. A big one is cupcake row that opens the season. When we play a string of Central Connecticut, Howard, UMBC, UNH, you just are not getting much of a crowd. Then there is this tendency to play national opponent in the early season on neutral sites. When we first started our rise you could sell tickets to watch UConn play against a team of traffic cones. Those days are over. Then when you play most of your name opponents in fake tournaments in the Bahamas or MSG or wherever you lose games that would bring big numbers. Those events have multiplied like rabbits over the past decade. So instead of having 15000 for Kansas in Hartford and 15000 at Kansas for UConn next year both teams play in front of crickets in the Battle for Some Casino in the Azores.

 

[businesslawyer]

If you mean if we go 35-2, yeah probably. But a couple of other things keep attendance down too. A big one is cupcake row that opens the season. When we play a string of Central Connecticut, Howard, UMBC, UNH, you just are not getting much of a crowd. Then there is this tendency to play national opponent in the early season on neutral sites. When we first started our rise you could sell tickets to watch UConn play against a team of traffic cones. Those days are over. Then when you play most of your name opponents in fake tournaments in the Bahamas or MSG or wherever you lose games that would bring big numbers. Those events have multiplied like rabbits over the past decade. So instead of having 15000 for Kansas in Hartford and 15000 at Kansas for UConn next year both teams play in front of crickets in the Battle for Some Casino in the Azores.

LOL. You missed that folks were talking about football? Because that is what the realignment decisions are being made on.

 

[Waquoit]

Yeah not so much...

Tl:dr

 

[freescooter]

LOL. You missed that folks were talking about football? Because that is what the realignment decisions are being made on.

Got confused, LOL. Wrong thread. These danged inter webs!

 

[Billy Jack]

I think if UConn wins, fans will come back. I think fans were about to come back after the Houston upset in 2015, but the program went backwards after that. The following season, UConn had 29.3k for a Labor Day Friday night opener against Maine which is pretty good.

The main group I go to games with went from 2 to 3 games per season to ~1 game because the team played so poorly. When the team wins, people want to go and want to go to more games.

Herein lies the proble

I am inclined to think you are both right to some extent. I don’t think we get 38000 regularly. But 31-32 on a pretty consistent basis is doable, with the odd sell out for a big game whether that be big Name or sort of rival. I do think an upset/good winning streak/will work wonders. But a national ranking with a string of wins (does an unbeaten UConn belong in the playoffs Argument on various sports talk shows would of course be great).

Herein lies the problem. Returning to 38,000 average attendance seems beyond our wildest dreams. We’re hoping for 31-32,000. With standing room, we can squeeze 40,000 into The Rent.

There are 38 football programs which average 50,000+ home attendance. Those are the big time programs. There are another 15 programs which average 40,000+. We’re in line behind them. Big time programs with average home attendance under 40,000 are as rare as hen’s teeth. Where they do exist there is some other compelling reason for their presence in a big time program.

In 2019, we averaged 18,000+ on paper but fannies in the seats were reportedly more like 10,000+. Last year, tickets distributed were about 13,000+. It’s anyone’s guess what the actual number of bodies in the stands was.

Attendance is a good measure of enthusiasm. And there obviously is none. But even if attendance were back in the range of 32-38,000, that’s not a program making the kind of money that would attract interest from a big time league. And unfortunately with our current stadium, attendance is capped at 40,000.

 

[Hoophound]

Herein lies the proble

Herein lies the problem. Returning to 38,000 average attendance seems beyond our wildest dreams. We’re hoping for 31-32,000. With standing room, we can squeeze 40,000 into The Rent.

There are 38 football programs which average 50,000+ home attendance. Those are the big time programs. There are another 15 programs which average 40,000+. We’re in line behind them. Big time programs with average home attendance under 40,000 are as rare as hen’s teeth. Where they do exist there is some other compelling reason for their presence in a big time program.

In 2019, we averaged 18,000+ on paper but fannies in the seats were reportedly more like 10,000+. Last year, tickets distributed were about 13,000+. It’s anyone’s guess what the actual number of bodies in the stands was.

Attendance is a good measure of enthusiasm. And there obviously is none. But even if attendance were back in the range of 32-38,000, that’s not a program making the kind of money that would attract interest from a big time league. And unfortunately with our current stadium, attendance is capped at 40,000.

Those schools are in P5 conferences. We need a comparable schedule to fairly compare attendance.

 

[Billy Jack]

Those schools are in P5 conferences. We need a comparable schedule to fairly compare attendance.

You’re kidding, right?

Here are football programs from outside the P5 conferences which averaged 39,000+ in their last pre-Covid season:

Notre Dame (76,000)
BYU (60,000)
UCF (44,000)
Memphis (39,000)

 

[billybud]

Meh. We have knowingly and willingly let our USNWR ranking drop for the good of the university. We can easily go back to the previous model of two years ago if it gets our AD 50 mill/year. UConn isn’t playing the USNWR game anymore. It’s a ruse that Florida schools are taking seriously. Don’t bring it here as evidence of anything. We were blowing FSU out of the water (like UF is) until we decided not to. Other ranking methods put UConn square in the middle of the B1G.

I was not the poster who linked the Sports Illustrated article on the rankings of programs desirability...

I did point out the data elements that they used...you seemed butt chafed at the USNWR ranking (actually a strong point for UConn).

The average Sagarin ranking for 2017, 18, 19, 21...as a data point, was certainly more of a disadvantage....and maybe the data element ranking average football attendance for the same years.

 

[billybud]

Five year attendance averages through 2019....rankings...

Attendance Rankings No. 1-130: 2019 CFN Five-Year Program Analysis

How many people show up? As a part of the CFN Five-Year Program Analysis, the attendance is a factor. Here are the rankings from No. 1-130. Contact @PeteFiutak Beyond wins and losses, attendance mi…

collegefootballnews.com

 

[Billy Jack]

Five year attendance averages through 2019....rankings...

Attendance Rankings No. 1-130: 2019 CFN Five-Year Program Analysis

How many people show up? As a part of the CFN Five-Year Program Analysis, the attendance is a factor. Here are the rankings from No. 1-130. Contact @PeteFiutak Beyond wins and losses, attendance mi…

collegefootballnews.com

We have to be even lower on that list after last year. A new 5-year average would replace 2015 (28,000+) with 2021 (13,000+), which would lower that 5-year average by almost 4,000 per year, thereby dropping us to about 21,000+ per game and a ranking somewhere in the 90’s. Not good.

East Carolina looked good on that list.

 

[Billy Jack]

Five year attendance averages through 2019....rankings...

Attendance Rankings No. 1-130: 2019 CFN Five-Year Program Analysis

How many people show up? As a part of the CFN Five-Year Program Analysis, the attendance is a factor. Here are the rankings from No. 1-130. Contact @PeteFiutak Beyond wins and losses, attendance mi…

collegefootballnews.com

We have to be even lower on that list after last year. A new 5-year average would replace 2015 (28,000+) with 2021 (13,000+), which would lower that 5-year average by almost 4,000 per year, thereby dropping us to

 

[CL82]

We have to be even lower on that list after last year. A new 5-year average would replace 2015 (28,000+) with 2021 (13,000+), which would lower that 5-year average by almost 4,000 per year, thereby dropping us to

“We?”

 

[NowInStorrs]

UConn fans seem to be pretty fair weather in general. Even basketball attendance dipped significantly during the AAC days. I understand that football is in a brutal place but Mora gives a reason to be optimistic. We've gotta be able to put up better attendance numbers. It's a little embarrassing.

 

[Hoophound]

You’re kidding, right?

Here are football programs from outside the P5 conferences which averaged 39,000+ in their last pre-Covid season:

Notre Dame (76,000)
BYU (60,000)
UCF (44,000)
Memphis (39,000)

Two of those schools have enormous fan bases by any standard. The other two (UCF and Memphis) had excellent football teams challenging for major bowls and putting up huge yardage and points with two of the best offenses in the country.

 

[Billy Jack]

Two of those schools have enormous fan bases by any standard. The other two (UCF and Memphis) had excellent football teams challenging for major bowls and putting up huge yardage and points with two of the best offenses in the country.

Well, isn’t that the point?

 

[Hoophound]

Well, isn’t that the point?

Lol. I don’t even remember at this point. I think the idea was that UConn’s weak attendance as the worst team in college football and with awful schedule, is an unfair barometer of potential. When we had a solid team in a solid conference, we had solid attendance.

 

[Billy Jack]

Lol. I don’t even remember at this point. I think the idea was that UConn’s weak attendance as the worst team in college football and with awful schedule, is an unfair barometer of potential. When we had a solid team in a solid conference, we had solid attendance.

Yes, If we can build our attendance back up with the help of a competitive schedule or conference, things might change. Even still, in today’s dynamic a 40,000 seat stadium is a hindrance.

 

[Hoophound]

Yes, If we can build our attendance back up with the help of a competitive schedule or conference, things might change. Even still, in today’s dynamic a 40,000 seat stadium is a hindrance.

You mean 40,000 is too big or small?

 

[Billy Jack]

Too small for what the conferences with the best opportunities are looking for.

Too big?

 

[Waquoit]

Lol at the thought that The Rent is a hindrance.

 

[noeynox]

NJ.com: Rutgers: $100,000,000 Taxpayers: $0 | Sheneman.

Rutgers: $100,000,000 Taxpayers: $0 | Sheneman

A rare win.

www.nj.com

 

[CAtlantic]

 

[Ha Who]

Ethics question? How can a reporter for the company responsible for much of this sheet show objectively report on this issue?

 

[jostar1]

Yes, If we can build our attendance back up with the help of a competitive schedule or conference, things might change. Even still, in today’s dynamic a 40,000 seat stadium is a hindrance.

It can be expanded to 50,000 relatively easily.

Renderings Show Rentschler Field Expansion Possibilities - A Dime Back

On Thursday evening, UConn will kick off the 2016 football season — the most important in the program’s history. In addition to rising on-field expectations, the university is auditioning for entrance into the Big 12 and is eager to show evidence that the football program adds to its overall...

adimeback.com