There is nothing Ragin or Cajun about the in game experience... with the exception of the teams play.... I've expressed my take on this in several threads... UL has the assets on site and in the community to change the in game experience, and it wouldn't be expensive or include trail rides and a food truck rodeo...
Lets hope we get that CCG at Cajun Field and get at least 22K to bring our over all average up. Just hoping we beat out GA State at this point. ULM might actually have more attendance on average than us after their game against us. They are fighting for bowl eligibility and ruining our home game CCG.
Either way, I am almost convinced the weird layout of the stadium this year due to construction has affected ticket pricing as we count tickets sold. I know many people who did not renew season tickets this year, but will for next year when the new stadium opens.
Final regular season attendance average was 17,952. Actually a 1k + increase over last year thanks to the Grambling and Tulane games.
JMO but if and when we start to make improvements to our attendance we need to recognize the success in incremental increases. We saw a slight boost in the Napier era (particularly his last season), but people thrashed the progress because it didn’t match the early Hud era in raw numbers. However, college football was in a completely different place by that time than 2011-2014. We played 3 of our 6 home games on midweeks BECAUSE we were good. There were also failures within our control with game day operations and atmosphere.
Student attendance is no different. We may have filled 2 sections in 2006, but this is a different era. We are basically building student support back from
the ground up (or at least I hope/wish we see this as a priority). Your final goal may be a certain % of enrollment, but measuring your success or failure week to week off that end goal isn’t the way. Focus on the progress or lack there of. Did more students show up this week than last week? If not, why? Were the students at the games engaged? Is it something they would recommend to their friends/other students? Some of these things you analyze with the data you get from tickets requested. Some of it is just the eyeball test from watching them in the stadium. Part of it is surveys and continued dialogue with the students. Interest in their interests. It’s a lot of work, but it’s necessary work. People may think attendance is rough now. I agree, but when you look around the stadium and the average age is 50+, you realize that this could get WAY worse if we don’t get started now.
I don't Think it is a different era as much as it is a different strategy, a strategy that doesn't fit any era.
A LOT of people showed up late. Walked over to that swag trailer in the N EZ and almost took a video of the atmosphere. People can say whatever the hell they want, what I saw from that vantage point was a rocking atmosphere, it was an awesome time. Case Closed.
The University is making Huge Improvements. This must be said. Ima throw up a vid I did take later on.
Back to the swag, what I payed for an old school cajuns hat, I could have bought 21 Nattys. This fact validates the cheapest beer in College Football philosophy.
Obviously wish more people would have showed up, but in-game atmosphere was good. Let's just keep building on this
IMO
A LOT should be remembered, learned, digested, and re-implemented from what Hud did when he came aboard over 10 years ago. We can all say what is true about his character and motivations, but he took his job of putting butts in seats VERY SERIOUSLY- and it worked.
Yes, things are much different today with ESPN+ etc. but Dez should use his "bully pulpit" to motivate students, fraternities/sororities, and the local Acadiana area as much as possible to at least TRY to replicate HUD's results from a decade ago
I am praying next year -after the stadium is complete- we can up these numbers to average over 20k.
Again, it starts with a BLISTERING EFFORT by Mag and Dez to hype the heck out of this new stadium and return to executing their #2 jobs: get butts in seats!
Last edited by tdncz; Today at 11:21 am. Reason: Typo
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