Dr Maggard Being Proactive (student support)

[IberiaCajun]

Doesn't change the need.

That music will "never" pull a player or student in.

But that music will keep entire families away.

A decency protocol is all that is needed.

Amen!

[zephyr]

The sad thing is, we USED to have huge student support at the games, at a time when we were a much smaller USL!! These were taken when I was in the PoA during the late 1970’s and early 80’s…..

Are you pulling pics from the A&M game? When I was in school in the mid to late 90's student attendance was horrible and it obviously got worse with Baldwin and improved marginally with bustle. The pics you show are of a full stadium which were NOT the norm.

[Big Poppa]

1. I would get a committee together made up of 30 people from alumni to student leaders, and come up with things that will improve attendance and realistic changes we could make.

2. Setup every home game as some sort of festival , gumbo, crawfish, shrimp pick one and go with it, have restuarants or have people and compete like a bbq cook off, or gumbo cook off with judges.

3. Setup a huge tailgate area bigger and better.
Get food trucks, and vendors and live bands for every home game.

4. Run Ads on local radio stations and small towns, of our schedule for every home football game

5. I would get volunteers, from students to die hard fans, and I would hit every church and every community event in a 12 parish region.
Opelousas, Ville Platte, New Iberia, Franklin, I would try to hit from Lake Charles to Morgan City to Alexandria. Hand out flyers, talk to people be in there face go hand out schedules and events at the local wal-mart every weekend!! Promoting these events and give actual dates and times.

6. Get a mascot.

7. Have a cheerleader day where high school cheerleaders can come and learn how to be a college cheerleader, or have a band day, or have a cub scout day, we have all these different high schools with all these groups let them know that they can do the same in college.

8. We have to make the event something more then just football!! Make it about as many things as you possibly can.

Do I need to go on. I can write about 30 pages on what I would do .

That all sounds great to get people to show up around cajun field. For many years we had folks show up for the festival atmosphere around Cajun field but they just never went in the game. You never explained how you gonna get them through the turn stiles?

As far as the Cub Scout days, youth football days… that’s all been done since the 80s. Never moved the needle much. Doesn’t build a true fan base.

The biggest challenge is convincing our own alumni who currently drive across the basin every Saturday and are season ticket holders at TSAB, to stay home or we’ll never have consistent crowds. It starts with alumni and trickles out. If you can’t win over your own alumni you’ve got nothing.

[Turbine]

That all sounds great to get people to show up around cajun field. For many years we had folks show up for the festival atmosphere around Cajun field but they just never went in the game.
.

That was the myth we all bought into but the corelation between empty tailgating and empty stands is undeniable.

Fill the parking lot you fill the stadium.

ps And yes there will be those who only notice the stragglers.

[Ragin9221]

Well first we have to get them to Cajun Field. Once we get them to Cajun Field then we can handle the second problem is getting them to go to the game.

This is where the game day experience counts. This is where we need better and speedier concessions. We are going to have to do stadium upgrades to make the gameday more enjoyabe and have certain amenities, and comfort come into play. This is where winning games matter!

First we have to get them to Cajun Field everything is done if we can’t even do that .

[Cajun Soldier]

We need a very diverse set of people to put things together. If you want to build a fan base you need to cater to all of south Louisiana people like the way we choose game day bands. I think they do a good job with that. You have to be creative and prepared for ESPN and the Sunbelt Conference to throw you curveballs like scheduling a top team like Boise State at 11am in the heat of the day. Make a diverse committee with common sense that can work together. I know lots of motivated people that would go out and motivate the fans to come out to games if a committee gave them something worthwhile to sell. Remember you may not like the music in the stadium but someone in the stadium may not like the POA halftime show selection. Be flexible and mindful we are there to watch the Cajuns play football. Teamwork makes the Dreamwork.

[ZoomZoom]

Are you pulling pics from the A&M game? When I was in school in the mid to late 90's student attendance was horrible and it obviously got worse with Baldwin and improved marginally with bustle. The pics you show are of a full stadium which were NOT the norm.

Spotted that too eh. Kind of along “we use to sell out the dome for MBB”. Never happened.

[Ragin9221]

I mean you got to cater to the crowd we are always going to have a group that is coming to be part of a social gathering. Something like this should be built in the NEZ. Put TV’s showing other football games. This is cool, cowboys stadium has a electronic picture taker and it lets you take a picture with a group of players it’s already programmed in the picture. Kids would love that. This could be used for tailgating as well

[KajunKrazy]

That was the myth we all bought into but the corelation between empty tailgating and empty stands is undeniable.

Fill the parking lot you fill the stadium.

ps And yes there will be those who only notice the stragglers.

That is simply not true. I have held a TG spot since the mid 90s. I can recall looking out into the TG area middle of the first half and it being full of people with no intention of ever going to the game. I also remember when parking was "easy and more convenient" people showing up for the band as if it were a festival or downtown alive and when the band was done they'd grab their ice chest and head for their vehicle. Free entertainment. I was there I know what I saw.

[Ragin9221]

That is simply not true. I have held a TG spot since the mid 90s. I can recall looking out into the TG area middle of the first half and it being full of people with no intention of ever going to the game. I also remember when parking was "easy and more convenient" people showing up for the band as if it were a festival or downtown alive and when the band was done they'd grab their ice chest and head for their vehicle. Free entertainment. I was there I know what I saw.

This comment to me says we should not do anything! It justifies doing nothing, so let’s do nothing, nothing was going to be done anyway

[moorecajun]

This comment to me says we should not do anything! It justifies doing nothing, so let’s do nothing, nothing was going to be done anyway

No, it just states he has been through the times when your ideas were tried and he saw the results. I was there too, and saw the same results. I like the idea of trying something but don't think that things haven't been tried in the past.

I like the idea of "festivals"; having a different "festival atmosphere" for each game. Now, somehow this needs to be tied into the people attending whatever is going on inside the Cajun Field fences, has a ticket into the game.

[Turbine]

That is simply not true. I have held a TG spot since the mid 90s. I can recall looking out into the TG area middle of the first half and it being full of people with no intention of ever going to the game. I also remember when parking was "easy and more convenient" people showing up for the band as if it were a festival or downtown alive and when the band was done they'd grab their ice chest and head for their vehicle. Free entertainment. I was there I know what I saw.

Your view with the left eye and Big Poppa's view with the right eye was mythical. You cannot deny that as tailgating has dwindled attendance has dwindled.

If stragglers in the parking lot were the "real" problem, then as tailgating has been squashed, the number of people in the stadium would not have changed.

Healthy tailgating has always enhanced attendance, even in the face of those who keep a party atmosphere going on the outside.