In Need of An Explanation

[facelessjonmoon]

I hear people complain about attendance every week but give me one good reason people should go and spend their money on UL football. I go to every game and the fan experience is terrible. I went to the Southern Miss game on Thursday night and the fan experience was awesome made me wish we played there this year. I'm talking about the in game experience. There no fan interaction except for first downs. People complain about the music, our band still playing songs they played in the 70's. Other than the kids on the hill what does the university do to have fans interact and want to go to Cajun Field.

I agree regarding the GameDay experience at USM. It's alot of little things they do that make a big difference

[RedTails]

I hear people complain about attendance every week but give me one good reason people should go and spend their money on UL football.

It's D1 football right in Lafayette, playing football in an exciting conference. A couple with two kids under 12 years old can go to every game for $300 (two GA + two YRCC memberships). For $160 extra, you can park right next to the stadium in Lot F and get in and out of the game within minutes. I spent almost $100 at a Mexican restaurant in town last night, for a single hour of food/entertainment.

I will agree with you that the in-game experience/energy is bad, but I'm hoping when the oversized upper deck is removed, it'll feel more exciting and less spread out even with 15k crowds.

[CajunFun]

C'mon, folks. Acadiana doesn't care about football? Isn't it our job to market ourselves, get them to care?

And to say they don't support us isn't fair. We are over $400M into a $500M campaign.

I would like to see 40K in our stadium, too. But here's a tough question: If we can build a great university without football, then why do we continue to insist that people focus on football?

Where should we look for our concepts of success:
Harvard, or LSU?

(And actually, I'm not much of a Harvard fan, long explanation. But they are sort of the 'Coke' of soft drinks, the 'Kleenex' of facial tissues... )

[ZoomZoom]

Once the stadium is redone, the perception will change. A half empty stadium will then be half full.

[Duggie35]

Attendance is the primary thing that creates atmosphere. Until or unless people show up, nothing can be done that will create an artificial game atmosphere.

[JMV JustMyView]

Once the stadium is redone, the perception will change. A half empty stadium will then be half full.

Lol

[CajunFun]

I hear people complain about attendance every week but give me one good reason people should go and spend their money on UL football. I go to every game and the fan experience is terrible. I went to the Southern Miss game on Thursday night and the fan experience was awesome made me wish we played there this year. I'm talking about the in game experience. There no fan interaction except for first downs. People complain about the music, our band still playing songs they played in the 70's. Other than the kids on the hill what does the university do to have fans interact and want to go to Cajun Field.

Yeah. The crowd used to get into our games.

Now, the PA system blasts out unpleasantness all the time. I've seen times the crowd was starting to cheer, and the PA cut them off with uncomfortably loud music, or the PA announcer starts screaming at us to demand that we cheer.

And when they do that, people stop cheering.

We have our own culture here, and we don't roll that way. But the game management people are so busy looking at what other programs are doing, they aren't pausing to look at what our people are doing.

Because I can tell you what they aren't doing. They aren't coming to our games any more.

I'm mulling over a post on just what you are saying.

[JamesTheJeweler]

Yeah. The crowd used to get into our games.

Now, the PA system blasts out unpleasantness all the time. I've seen times the crowd was starting to cheer, and the PA cut them off with uncomfortably loud music, or the PA announcer starts screaming at us to demand that we cheer.

And when they do that, people stop cheering.

We have our own culture here, and we don't roll that way. But the game management people are so busy looking at what other programs are doing, they aren't pausing to look at what our people are doing.

Because I can tell you what they aren't doing. They aren't coming to our games any more.

I'm mulling over a post on just what you are saying.

Geezus. You're at a college football game!!!!!!! Complaining that the damn PA is too loud is weak. You're not at a library.

[RaginScotsman]

Last 2 home games of an 11-3 team in 19’ averaged about 14k.

Attendance is an issue.

Winning helps, but it’s not the solution. I think this win will help for homecoming. Winning is obviously not enough in college football these days. Good teams still struggle to fill the stadiums.

Acadiana has shown up and shown out before. They can do it again.

Can I see a banner? 🙃

[KajunKrazy]

Perhaps I’m new to the lack of attendance at Cajun Field (I remember the 2011-2019 eras fondly), but why in the hell are we only filling 3,500 seats at a nationally televised game?

Is it the University’s policies, or a general lack of excitement? I’m so lost.

It’s because it was so bad in the JB years people started coming when Ricky and HUd won. Unfortunately Billy made winning boring here so people don’t come for winners anymore.

[ZoomZoom]

RR hit on two (?) 7.50 tickets thru Ticketmaster we’re 66 if I understood correctly. That’s a BIG killer.

[CajunFun]

Geezus. You're at a college football game!!!!!!! Complaining that the damn PA is too loud is weak. You're not at a library.

Fair enough. But think about it: everyone said, "Just win, that will cure everything."

And then, the more we won, the smaller our crowds got. This problem was going on when Napier was giving us the best teams we've had since WWII. For two years, we were the only ranked team in the state.

And yet, our crowds were smaller than they used to be.

I don't have a better explanation, and so far I haven't read or heard one. From what I've observed, at times the PA announcer and the unpleasantly loud music block the crowd from cheering. They interfere with crowd enthusiasm. People come to have a good time, and for our culture some of that is screaming our lungs out.

If you have a different explanation please weigh in, I'm sincerely interested in understanding this.

Because as I said, for decades everyone has said that all we have to do is win. The evidence is pretty clear that that wasn't right.