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[Jacob81]

You missed the point. What did he do to get fans in the seats?

My first paragraph is what he did. Everyone thinks Hud flexed his muscles and rah rah rah people into the stadium. I don’t think it was his personality.

[CajunVic]

. . . he flexed the smedium . . . he talked to everyone . . . he not only convinced business people to by tickets, he convinced them to tailgate, have fun and strongly suggest that their employees, families and friends attend with them . . . and he won . . . he was that good off the field . . . when the winning stopped, the FDonadTrump video got out and he defended his players, he lost ALL his moxy and it was over . . . I’m not sure espn+ alone got people watching on their patios but the combination of espn+ and Covid is what really did it. Covid got many, many, many fans to experience the afternoon of patio games who would never had even thought of staying home from CF and many of them enjoyed the hassle free college football entertainment and never went back . . . all of these things combined did their little bit to get us where we are today . . .

[CajunSaint08]

Is an abject disaster..

Our two most embarrassing attendance moments have come in the past 2 years.
All things considered, Saturday ranks up there with 7700 for Troy last year.

Even with all of our problems in the Athletics Department, Acadiana has the bear the burden on this one. Sometimes, you just have to hold your nose and support entities that bolster your best interests. I'm not advocating for one way loyalty. But I am saying, sometimes, you put the sword away for a moment and weather the punishment. Saturday was one of those days.

Are they promoting this team properly? NO
Are they promoting this league properly? NO
Are they promoting this Athletics Department properly? HELL NO

But damn, if you can't enjoy a ball player like Zeon Chriss and the talent that Mike and Co have assembled, you're not a football fan. And if you can't spend a fun afternoon in perfect weather against an opponent that beat Baylor and is 4-1, you're just not a Cajuns fan.

Again, we have massive issues. I know all about them. But if you didn't want to be at the field Saturday, that's kinda on you..

Ditto. Acadiana not supporting this university is horrible and the University not making any effort what so ever to bring Acadiana to the game is just as bad.

Always thought there were two ways to bring in a crowd. Play the P5 schools at their home stadium and beat them badly or play the P5 schools here and beat them badly. However, even if we played Georgia tomorrow in Atlanta, and beat them 56-0, I doubt we would draw more than 15k we are already reporting to have in the stadium, even though we both know it ain't even that much. I'm at my wits end on how to get more people in the stands. And the ongoing frat/sorority spat with the University is just as bad.

When the present fans that show up through thick and thin pass on, our average attendance will be in 6K range. I would say the average age of the present fan is 58, maybe higher. If the 20-50 age group ain't coming now, then don't expect them to suddenly start showing up in 15-20 years.

And just hypothetically speaking, do you think our average crowd would increase if we changed to another conference? SEC? I think the Sunbelt is if not the best G5 football conference out there, then the 2nd best. They are making huge leaps every year to improve.

[Redgineer]

. . . he flexed the smedium . . . he talked to everyone . . . he not only convinced business people to by tickets, he convinced them to tailgate, have fun and strongly suggest that their employees, families and friends attend with them . . . and he won . . . he was that good off the field . . . when the winning stopped, the FDonadTrump video got out and he defended his players, he lost ALL his moxy and it was over . . . I’m not sure espn+ alone got people watching on their patios but the combination of espn+ and Covid is what really did it. Covid got many, many, many fans to experience the afternoon of patio games who would never had even thought of staying home from CF and many of them enjoyed the hassle free college football entertainment and never went back . . . all of these things combined did their little bit to get us where we are today . . .

Why isn't a blackout implemented anymore? I remember that being a thing years ago on watching online games.

[KajunKrazy]

Why isn't a blackout implemented anymore? I remember that being a thing years ago on watching online games.

It would be like trying to sell your product but blacking out your 3hr long commercial.

[Jacob81]

. . . he flexed the smedium . . . he talked to everyone . . . he not only convinced business people to by tickets, he convinced them to tailgate, have fun and strongly suggest that their employees, families and friends attend with them . . . and he won . . . he was that good off the field . . . when the winning stopped, the FDonadTrump video got out and he defended his players, he lost ALL his moxy and it was over . . . I’m not sure espn+ alone got people watching on their patios but the combination of espn+ and Covid is what really did it. Covid got many, many, many fans to experience the afternoon of patio games who would never had even thought of staying home from CF and many of them enjoyed the hassle free college football entertainment and never went back . . . all of these things combined did their little bit to get us where we are today . . .

Good post

[CajunVic]

. . . didn’t we do a blackout Saturday . . .

[jaxmc1023]

And just hypothetically speaking, do you think our average crowd would increase if we changed to another conference? SEC? I think the Sunbelt is if not the best G5 football conference out there, then the 2nd best. They are making huge leaps every year to improve.

SEC? Of course they would..

Maybe 5-10k people in Lafayette know who Texas State is - where they're from, that they're a quality opponent, etc. Same with ODU, James Madison, etc.

There's maybe one name on UL's home schedule that you can pencil in as "that's the game I gotta go to"... Oh but it's a Thursday night.. thats soccer and dance practice night

And there's no easy way to change this either. You'll never be able to educate Average Joe Cajun about the significance of most Sunbelt match-up

The only thing you can do is to turn GameDay into a consistently fun and energetic atmosphere. Look at Festival International... the bands may change but the product never does, and the crowd is there.

[jaxmc1023]

Covid got many, many, many fans to experience the afternoon of patio games who would never had even thought of staying home from CF and many of them enjoyed the hassle free college football entertainment and never went back . . . all of these things combined did their little bit to get us where we are today . . .

This is a great point. Covid killed many traditions that I'm sure many people considered unbreakable (parades, festivals, sports) and people noticed that their personal lives didn't fall apart. Unfortunately the life of the tailgate/GameDay tradition was left to wither and die.

Now you have to create new traditions beyond "we always went tailgate for Cajuns ... just what we always did. Never thought about missing it."

Also it would help if we didn't have to fight this:

[Turbine]

Why isn't a blackout implemented anymore? I remember that being a thing years ago on watching online games.

Missed more than a few Saints games growing up due to that restriction.