Enhancing Student Engagement and Fan Support for University Athletics.

ps and now with the secret society of JMV, I'm not sure anything Cajun or Louisiana are salvageable . . .

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Originally Posted by CajunVic

really can't disagree with anything you say

nobody ever at UL has the charisma that HUD brought to the program

he was magnanimous around anyone who was in front of him

he made the big donors feel like they were at his dining room table every time he was in their presence

he made the small donors feel like they were at his dining room table every time he was in their presence

and he was out there a lot

the last two football coaches just did not and do not have that

so, how do we compensate for the differences in character especially in times like now when it is most dearly needed

also, things have changed so much since HUD and between the issues you described at the end of the HUD era and Covid, one has to wonder what is out there to salvage

i guess we will see with the new stadium, it may be our last saving grace for football

as for baseball, the three or four rows around me in Section 108 were as dormant this year as in the past 4 years or so

there were maybe 5 or 6 games with above average actual attendance but my estimate would leave it at that

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I think those events like the state tour that Texas State is doing as well as more events in other cities with groups like the alumni association bridge that gap. But we have to have a starting point somewhere.

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Originally Posted by CajunVic

really can't disagree with anything you say

nobody ever at UL has the charisma that HUD brought to the program

he was magnanimous around anyone who was in front of him

he made the big donors feel like they were at his dining room table every time he was in their presence

he made the small donors feel like they were at his dining room table every time he was in their presence

and he was out there a lot

the last two football coaches just did not and do not have that

so, how do we compensate for the differences in character especially in times like now when it is most dearly needed

also, things have changed so much since HUD and between the issues you described at the end of the HUD era and Covid, one has to wonder what is out there to salvage

i guess we will see with the new stadium, it may be our last saving grace for football

as for baseball, the three or four rows around me in Section 108 were as dormant this year as in the past 4 years or so

there were maybe 5 or 6 games with above average actual attendance but my estimate would leave it at that

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He was magnanimous and non-monogamous. Impressive to say the least…

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Originally Posted by Datt Meggs

He was magnanimous and non-monogamous. Impressive to say the least…

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so was his wife, so what’s the point . . .

If the University did 1/10 of the things we propose on this board we be singing there praises!

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Originally Posted by Ragin9221

If the University did 1/10 of the things we propose on this board we be singing there praises!

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you have lots of great thoughts however this one could truly operate to challenge your credibility

Hud's tenure was just a congruence of many things happening at once for a fanbase that had been waiting for them for a long time

Ticket prices had been relatively flat for a long time. Everyone kept their tailgate spot and season tickets, because even if you could only go to a few games a year, it really wasn't that expensive and when you did go, all your buddies had their spots and you can drive right up to them and have a nice day in peace.

Hud comes in and wins, averages 29k per home game, gets us to our first bowl where Acadiana sends a huge contingent down to Nola. Things are good. The biggest discussion was "how do we get more of the 50k people in the parking lot to come into the stadium!?"

University sees all this, and decides to start raising prices. Next season, attendance drops from 29k to 22k. They put Hud out on the ticket drive tour, and he managed to drag it back up to ~25k, but never back to where it was.

. and they kept raising prices. Kept making new tailgating rules. New parking rules. New concession prices, new "can't come in and out" policies.

Are any of these things uncommon at other football stadiums? Of course not But at the time, the overwhelming majority of our fanbase were people who had been coming to UL games for years, and remembered it being (A) cheap and (B) easy. Now suddenly you're making things difficult or expensive for those people, and some decided to walk away. Now, any time someone mentions ticket prices being too high, the standard response is "$110 / 5 home games is $22 per game -- find me another school with prices that low!". Except very few can actually attend all 5 games, AND you're trying to re-recruit people who remember paying $5 a game to go..

But who isn't fazed by walking through metal detectors, paying $7 for beer, walking 1/4 mile from your car to the stadium? Younger people. They do it all day, every day, and seldom do you hear them complain about it. So it's a good thing we've worked so hard to cultivate a relationship with our students and new alumni.

Vic's numbers are probably pretty close to accurate. Although I would argue that I think you can measure this fan base in tickets, rather than fans. How many purchased tickets are floating around on gameday?

5k WILL get used
3k MIGHT get used
etc

I would guess that the number of corporate tickets that were purchased during Hud's tenure was CONSIDERABLY higher, which meant more paid attendance, and more tickets to give away to employees and their families to boost actual attendance

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Originally Posted by jaxmc1023

Hud's tenure was just a congruence of many things happening at once for a fanbase that had been waiting for them for a long time

Ticket prices had been relatively flat for a long time. Everyone kept their tailgate spot and season tickets, because even if you could only go to a few games a year, it really wasn't that expensive and when you did go, all your buddies had their spots and you can drive right up to them and have a nice day in peace.

Hud comes in and wins, averages 29k per home game, gets us to our first bowl where Acadiana sends a huge contingent down to Nola. Things are good. The biggest discussion was "how do we get more of the 50k people in the parking lot to come into the stadium!?"

University sees all this, and decides to start raising prices. Next season, attendance drops from 29k to 22k. They put Hud out on the ticket drive tour, and he managed to drag it back up to ~25k, but never back to where it was.

. and they kept raising prices. Kept making new tailgating rules. New parking rules. New concession prices, new "can't come in and out" policies.

Are any of these things uncommon at other football stadiums? Of course not But at the time, the overwhelming majority of our fanbase were people who had been coming to UL games for years, and remembered it being (A) cheap and (B) easy. Now suddenly you're making things difficult or expensive for those people, and some decided to walk away. Now, any time someone mentions ticket prices being too high, the standard response is "$110 / 5 home games is $22 per game -- find me another school with prices that low!". Except very few can actually attend all 5 games, AND you're trying to re-recruit people who remember paying $5 a game to go..

But who isn't fazed by walking through metal detectors, paying $7 for beer, walking 1/4 mile from your car to the stadium? Younger people. They do it all day, every day, and seldom do you hear them complain about it. So it's a good thing we've worked so hard to cultivate a relationship with our students and new alumni.

Vic's numbers are probably pretty close to accurate. Although I would argue that I think you can measure this fan base in tickets, rather than fans. How many purchased tickets are floating around on gameday?

5k WILL get used
3k MIGHT get used
etc

I would guess that the number of corporate tickets that were purchased during Hud's tenure was CONSIDERABLY higher, which meant more paid attendance, and more tickets to give away to employees and their families to boost actual attendance

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yes, yes, yes, yes and yes . . . did I say YES

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Originally Posted by jaxmc1023

Hud's tenure was just a congruence of many things happening at once for a fanbase that had been waiting for them for a long time

Ticket prices had been relatively flat for a long time. Everyone kept their tailgate spot and season tickets, because even if you could only go to a few games a year, it really wasn't that expensive and when you did go, all your buddies had their spots and you can drive right up to them and have a nice day in peace.

Hud comes in and wins, averages 29k per home game, gets us to our first bowl where Acadiana sends a huge contingent down to Nola. Things are good. The biggest discussion was "how do we get more of the 50k people in the parking lot to come into the stadium!?"

University sees all this, and decides to start raising prices. Next season, attendance drops from 29k to 22k. They put Hud out on the ticket drive tour, and he managed to drag it back up to ~25k, but never back to where it was.

. and they kept raising prices. Kept making new tailgating rules. New parking rules. New concession prices, new "can't come in and out" policies.

Are any of these things uncommon at other football stadiums? Of course not But at the time, the overwhelming majority of our fanbase were people who had been coming to UL games for years, and remembered it being (A) cheap and (B) easy. Now suddenly you're making things difficult or expensive for those people, and some decided to walk away. Now, any time someone mentions ticket prices being too high, the standard response is "$110 / 5 home games is $22 per game -- find me another school with prices that low!". Except very few can actually attend all 5 games, AND you're trying to re-recruit people who remember paying $5 a game to go..

But who isn't fazed by walking through metal detectors, paying $7 for beer, walking 1/4 mile from your car to the stadium? Younger people. They do it all day, every day, and seldom do you hear them complain about it. So it's a good thing we've worked so hard to cultivate a relationship with our students and new alumni.

Vic's numbers are probably pretty close to accurate. Although I would argue that I think you can measure this fan base in tickets, rather than fans. How many purchased tickets are floating around on gameday?

5k WILL get used
3k MIGHT get used
etc

I would guess that the number of corporate tickets that were purchased during Hud's tenure was CONSIDERABLY higher, which meant more paid attendance, and more tickets to give away to employees and their families to boost actual attendance

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When Hud was here, tailgating was awesome. But, the game experience inside the stadium was sadly lacking. No fan interaction and nothing compelling to get the average fan to return. Then we started losing and changed parking requirements and added fees and the fans stopped coming. We started winning again with Napier, but the fans didn't come back. We have done nothing since Hud to regain the great tailgating experience and we have never done anything to create the right atmosphere and fan experience inside the stadium. And, we do nothing to engage students and create that lasting tradition that gets them to the stadium and keeps them coming back after graduation.

A major part of the problem outside of UL's control is the media. EVERYTHING is geared to the P4 conferences and schools. G5 schools are an afterthought. The consumer is driven to watch the P4 games on tv or go to the stadium if they can get tickets as a much better alternative to attending a G5 game. It's not just LSU. Look at any state and the P4 schools totally dominate coverage, attendance and tv ratings. And, listen to any sports talk radio station locally and nationally. There is never mention of G5 schools, certainly not nationally, unless something spectacular draws their attention. Many fans are becoming more comfortable watching a P4 game on tv than attending a live game that has limited game day appeal.

In the absence of a UL marketing plan to attract students, Lafayette and Acadiana alumni and residents, to reopen tailgating to its former great experience, and enhance the in-stadium fan experience, UL will continue to be a small time program with minimal support, at least in the eyes of fans.

UL is doing all the right things academically as Cajun Fun pointed out. But, that seems to remain a best kept secret as we don't want to rattle any cages. So, no one knows about what UL has now become, no one cares about athletics, and we aren't increasing student enrollment because of that. Athletics is the glue that brings students and alumni together and is that window to the world that we are not taking advantage of that is integral to the university's future overall success. Athletic success needs to mirror academic success and UL needs to publicly tout its accomplishments and state its commitments if UL is to become a truly recognized major university.

with the hire of Napier, our AD made calculated decisions which, along with the effects of covid just did not pan out and all of that ballooned out of control with Napier's departure, free transfer rules, NIL and the currenct financial condition of the university

all the stars aligned when HUD came here and then commencing with the locker room video, except for accomplishing the major fundraising for a new stadium, all of the stars have been in a total and complete muddle against Louisiana

hopefully some stars can start to align in our favor again with the coming of the new stadium

and now we are where we are today, with a new

Tailgating was great with Bustle and he never went over 6 wins.

The people who were already in the parking lot for Bustle, came into the stadium for Hud's winning ways.

When Napier won, there was no one in the parking lot to draw from.

Is there a way to incorporate the "conflicting events" of children that harms attendancr into an attendance boon. Maybe sponsor a youth basketball league at bourgeois, have those games let out just in time for tailgate?
Same with tee ball, kickball or slo pitch softball at the intramural/fraternity fields, etc tennis or pickleball lessons at the cajun tennis complex, swimming, etc etc. Free parkimgnif you are early for those youth events and dont move car in between

Hunting seasons are supposedly based on science, but i findnitn odd that the seasons dont change that often. Seems over time the animals' patterns would change more than is evidenced. If hunting season is a big problem for attendance why not move the seasons from time to time and coordinate cajuns schedule accordingly

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Originally Posted by jaxmc1023

Hud's tenure was just a congruence of many things happening at once for a fanbase that had been waiting for them for a long time

Ticket prices had been relatively flat for a long time. Everyone kept their tailgate spot and season tickets, because even if you could only go to a few games a year, it really wasn't that expensive and when you did go, all your buddies had their spots and you can drive right up to them and have a nice day in peace.

Hud comes in and wins, averages 29k per home game, gets us to our first bowl where Acadiana sends a huge contingent down to Nola. Things are good. The biggest discussion was "how do we get more of the 50k people in the parking lot to come into the stadium!?"

University sees all this, and decides to start raising prices. Next season, attendance drops from 29k to 22k. They put Hud out on the ticket drive tour, and he managed to drag it back up to ~25k, but never back to where it was.

. and they kept raising prices. Kept making new tailgating rules. New parking rules. New concession prices, new "can't come in and out" policies.

Are any of these things uncommon at other football stadiums? Of course not But at the time, the overwhelming majority of our fanbase were people who had been coming to UL games for years, and remembered it being (A) cheap and (B) easy. Now suddenly you're making things difficult or expensive for those people, and some decided to walk away. Now, any time someone mentions ticket prices being too high, the standard response is "$110 / 5 home games is $22 per game -- find me another school with prices that low!". Except very few can actually attend all 5 games, AND you're trying to re-recruit people who remember paying $5 a game to go

But who isn't fazed by walking through metal detectors, paying $7 for beer, walking 1/4 mile from your car to the stadium? Younger people. They do it all day, every day, and seldom do you hear them complain about it. So it's a good thing we've worked so hard to cultivate a relationship with our students and new alumni.

Vic's numbers are probably pretty close to accurate. Although I would argue that I think you can measure this fan base in tickets, rather than fans. How many purchased tickets are floating around on gameday?

5k WILL get used
3k MIGHT get used
etc

I would guess that the number of corporate tickets that were purchased during Hud's tenure was CONSIDERABLY higher, which meant more paid attendance, and more tickets to give away to employees and their families to boost actual attendance

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Great synopsis

I will add that the reduced attendance towards the end of Hud’s tenure coincided with the downturn of the local O&G economy in 2015. Local companies and individuals were not spending as much money on entertainment during that time. That market has improved since then but 2015 was a bloodbath in that sector.

Since that time, it appears more of our fund raising efforts have been in other industries

There's two ways to improve gameday experience:

1. ACTIVE: Hire a person or team that focuses solely on addressing issues, improving interactions, and creating moments that people remember when they leave the stadium. (ex. Savannah Bananas)

2. PASSIVE: Improve leg room, install new seats, let people check themselves out at concessions, etc. (ex. you can guess)

Both will require a monetary investment.

Which one do you think will actually improve gameday? Which one do you think the university will go with?

To me, one of the biggest in-game improvements we can make to get fans engaged is revamping the marching band. I don't know how you tackle that from an athletic department standpoint since the college of the arts doesn't answer to the athletic department. But instead of cheerleaders trying to start chants, the band needs to look across the basin and see that most chants are started and sustained by great fight songs (Hey Fighting Tiger, Chinese Bandits, Hold That Tiger, etc.) But marching bands ARE college football. Grow the brass section and ask the woodwinds to stay home (sorry woodwinds). Play loud as ____. No casual football fan cares if you're playing "proper." Blast it.

As always, we're starting with zero tradition in that space. And the RESPECT tune is not it.

Current director for the marching band's resume doesn't exactly scream fun (at football games). No offense to his musical talents.

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Originally Posted by jaxmc1023

Hud comes in and wins, averages 29k per home game, gets us to our first bowl where Acadiana sends a huge contingent down to Nola. Things are good. The biggest discussion was "how do we get more of the 50k people in the parking lot to come into the stadium!?"

University sees all this, and decides to start raising prices. Next season, attendance drops from 29k to 22k. They put Hud out on the ticket drive tour, and he managed to drag it back up to ~25k, but never back to where it was.

. and they kept raising prices. Kept making new tailgating rules. New parking rules. New concession prices, new "can't come in and out" policies.

Are any of these things uncommon at other football stadiums? Of course not But at the time, the overwhelming majority of our fanbase were people who had been coming to UL games for years, and remembered it being (A) cheap and (B) easy. Now suddenly you're making things difficult or expensive for those people, and some decided to walk away. Now, any time someone mentions ticket prices being too high, the standard response is "$110 / 5 home games is $22 per game -- find me another school with prices that low!".

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Then, the university does not understand A) our demographic and B) our history. We are dealing with a fan base that has been given a lot of "free" for decades. And now, it's expected for this same fan base to just pay the fees. I totally get adding value and bringing in more revenue to pay for these projects that we are undergoing. But there is a difference in increasing a few things here and there and nickel and diming every little amenity. We tried it with baseball with the parking passes and tailgating. We have changed the football model more than once with the seat donations and champions fund. It comes to a point where fans see through this and assume that they might be getting taken advantage of. Imagine if Texas Roadhouse started charging Ruth Chris prices for a ribeye. The place would be empty within a few weeks.

We need to understand the area better and quit blaming the locals for not supporting to the standard that we can. Restaurants don't blame customers for not showing up. They improve their food to get people there. We should do the same.

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Originally Posted by RedTails

To me, one of the biggest in-game improvements we can make to get fans engaged is revamping the marching band. I don't know how you tackle that from an athletic department standpoint since the college of the arts doesn't answer to the athletic department. But instead of cheerleaders trying to start chants, the band needs to look across the basin and see that most chants are started and sustained by great fight songs (Hey Fighting Tiger, Chinese Bandits, Hold That Tiger, etc.) But marching bands ARE college football. Grow the brass section and ask the woodwinds to stay home (sorry woodwinds). Play loud as ____. No casual football fan cares if you're playing "proper." Blast it.

As always, we're starting with zero tradition in that space. And the RESPECT tune is not it.

Current director for the marching band's resume doesn't exactly scream fun (at football games). No offense to his musical talents.

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To me this is simple, If I was in the position i would set up meetings with the director of bands and the assistant director and provide money to allocate for more marching band stand tunes. As a former POA member and band nerd I clearly have a vision on what would work. Now they may have a different vision and since they have to teach it to its members they would have the final say on what gets played and what doesnt, but there is no reason why the two should not be able to work together to increase fan engagement for the fans.

Lets start with a fanfare and something along the lines i would want something like this coming out the tunnel.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XWWvuQrhHds?si=lcwhvjSJTwsZym5j" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZuB_noXJIMs?si=-XRA1K9azJH1tdgP" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Then you can move around and want more pieces of music like this. It doesnt have to be this but we need more cheers etc. and things that are more jazzy, or cajun!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lQOcRt...aW5nIGJhbmQ%3D

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d8r99x...Bqb2xpZSBibG9u

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Originally Posted by R1Letterman

Hunting seasons are supposedly based on science, but i findnitn odd that the seasons dont change that often. Seems over time the animals' patterns would change more than is evidenced. If hunting season is a big problem for attendance why not move the seasons from time to time and coordinate cajuns schedule accordingly

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You ask a fair question. Will keep feedback to only waterfowl and deer seasons. For a number of years the Louisiana West Zone opening day is second Saturday of November and East Zone opens the 3rd Saturday of November. My understanding is bird migrations are driven by changing photo period, the relative length of day and night during a 24 hour period. Weather and food sources also greatly influence waterfowl migrations, too. Louisiana duck season is among the latest opening dates in the USA since we're at the bottom of the flyway. When college football regular season was 11 games there was less overlap. There is much more college football season overlap with whitetail deer season. Louisiana (LDWF) has 10 distinct 'areas' with staggered opening dates beginning in mid-October. By 3rd week of November all 10 deer areas are open for rifle hunting. Traditional date for deer bow season opener is October 1st. IMO, LDWF has fine tuned season dates and number of days. They make a few calendar tweaks now and then based on science or harvest data. Other than a home game being scheduled on Thanksgiving weekend, or 11 a.m. kickoffs, I don't see hunting season being a major negative influence on football attendance.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C69X3...lheTA1MTZseDYw

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Originally Posted by CajunRage

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C69X3...lheTA1MTZseDYw

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Dude is the guru of sports marketing...

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Originally Posted by CajunRage

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C69X3...lheTA1MTZseDYw

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Legend in the making

Another thing we should do is script Cajuns where we dot the j, wonder if we could do it? All we would have to do is make it smaller i think that would be an awesome tradition we could start!

Attachment 19736

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Originally Posted by Duckster

You ask a fair question. Will keep feedback to only waterfowl and deer seasons. For a number of years the Louisiana West Zone opening day is second Saturday of November and East Zone opens the 3rd Saturday of November. My understanding is bird migrations are driven by changing photo period, the relative length of day and night during a 24 hour period. Weather and food sources also greatly influence waterfowl migrations, too. Louisiana duck season is among the latest opening dates in the USA since we're at the bottom of the flyway. When college football regular season was 11 games there was less overlap. There is much more college football season overlap with whitetail deer season. Louisiana (LDWF) has 10 distinct 'areas' with staggered opening dates beginning in mid-October. By 3rd week of November all 10 deer areas are open for rifle hunting. Traditional date for deer bow season opener is October 1st. IMO, LDWF has fine tuned season dates and number of days. They make a few calendar tweaks now and then based on science or harvest data. Other than a home game being scheduled on Thanksgiving weekend, or 11 a.m. kickoffs, I don't see hunting season being a major negative influence on football attendance.

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Interesting how hunting season seems to only hurt G5 school attendance but never impacts the P4 schools. UL's issues are more than a hunting season excuse, but they never seem to address them.

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Originally Posted by HoustonCajun

Interesting how hunting season seems to only hurt G5 school attendance but never impacts the P4 schools. UL's issues are more than a hunting season excuse, but they never seem to address them.

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price