I'm afraid we won't. Our last bowl game there, I believe was the smallest of our 4 trips to NOLA.
I emailed everyone in my normal crew this morning, and MOST have replied that they are not going to the game this year. I think I had like 25-30 tickets in our 1st NOLA bowl, and it's looking like my group will be about 10-12 this year.
NOLA Bowl History
Yeah, while I love going and I'm not complaining, I think the NO Bowl trip has gotten stale for some of our fans. And while I think we could've had very high numbers with a different season (think 8-9 wins, reinvigorating us after a very down year last year), getting to .500 to qualify on the last week of the season didn't do a lot to excite Joe Cajun Fan. Our diehards will be there, as will some extended fan base and a local New Orleans turnout, but I honestly think we're going to be coming in well short of our previous bowl attendance numbers this year. That'll be offset by a larger contingent of Southern Miss fans, who will probably bring double what LaTech brought. There will still be some people in the dome, but not as many as in the past, and certainly not as friendly an environment as we're used to having in the Superdome.
I'd love to be wrong and see 40,000 Cajun fans when I sit down in my seat on the 17th, though.
I think we will be fortunate to match the last bowl game total attendance, even with S Miss support. I just don't think the enthusiasm of the past is there for this year for various reasons associated with this season. Hopefully I am proven wrong.
Another factor that we need to realize is we have much shorter notice than in the past. It used to be as soon as we hit 6 wins, the NOLA bowl would come and invite us and we would have a month to buy tickets. Here, its just 2 weeks. And most were doubtful of even getting to bowl eligibility until after the win over stAte.
8pm game, there will be more casual football fans at the game than the last one at 10am. Saints on the road so rooms aren't outrageous.
If there are not 40K in the dome I would be dissappointed. The reason:
* Both UL and USM have huge fan bases in New Orleans
* The before mentioned casual fan will be there because of the 8PM start time.
* USM will travel well due to their fans being excited about being in a bowl game for the first time since 2011
* The fact that it is New Orleans
* Both teams are within 2 hours of the city
This is the best matchup the NOB could have hoped for and realistically the one they wanted when this bowl was started. If this would have been the matchup in 2011, there would have been 60K in attendance.
Our home attendance was starting to dwindle a bit back in 2014 as well and I didn't see any way we brought as many people to NOLA as we did in 2011 but we ended up bringing a record number of people. No way am I saying that will happen this year but I see a healthy contingent going. I think there will be a total of 40,000-45,000 people for this game.
Staying home. Been to 3 of 4 Nola Bowls already. Only so many times you can go back to the well. Economy being like it is.I'd rather keep stashing that money away.
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