FB Attendance: Complaints, Observations, Fixes (merged)

[ManAboutTown]

Attendance at Cajun games will continue to decline just as it will at every other G5 school in America. It’s simply a sign of the times. You can’t MAKE a person passionate about Cajun football any more than you can MAKE someone love you. It took me a while to, but I finally came to terms with the fact that the vast majority of people in south Louisiana simply do not have the same passion for Cajun athletics that I do, and they never will.

Fair points. But I believe you can MAKE them feel left out.

Renovate CajunField with about 25k seats. I was against this idea at first, but it's obvious to me now. The only way to get people interested is to tell them they're not invited. 23-25K big comfy seats, top notch amenities, and pay the coaches and assistants whatever it takes to keep quality people. This idea of catering to the casual fan is spinning wheels. Take care of your fanbase, and give the LSUAMBR "dual fan" frauds double birds.

I'll ok with paying more for the arrangement, ____ it. As long as we are consistently putting a competitive product on the field / court / diamond / track / pitch.

[fanof71]

A FB post from someone who gets it...andthey aren't grads or from the area...lets not make much of her school colors comment...

We moved to Lafayette last year around football season. We are from Athens Georgia and are die hard UGA fans but have attended many games. The stadium, atmosphere and prices are amazing and we could not believe more people don’t attend. To have this in your back yard and not support it is hard to wrap my mind around. My husband has attended several of the baseball games as well. When we have family visit and there is a game we always take them. Great team and it doesn’t hurt that there colors are red and black as well. 😊

[Turbine]

Troy beat LSU 2 years ago and Nebraska last year, so they obviously carry a huge amount of residual respect. That being the case "better opponents" could not have applied here unless Acadiana is just that uninformed.

I do think there is a local media vacuum with LSU doing so well this year.

A KTDY DJ announced there was a game at the Cajun Dome yesterday.

I had to work, and lifestyle changes caused by time shift start times are a real obstacle. Consistent start times are a must.

It was the same time as homecoming but there was 10 times the media coverage for homecoming as there was for yesterdays game.

Social media gets people talking online to a captive audience but it still does not create the organic verbal buzz that local media creates.

[shof]

Good idea. I’ve said on many occasion, just upgrade what we have and forget 50+ million renovations of totally tearing down upper deck. We are more of a blue collar alumni than a white collar Alumni. My opinion, Our Fan base comes from a hard core working fan base. We don’t have that money base anymore.

GEAUX CAJUNS

I think you misunderstood my intent. I’m all for demoing the west upper deck and modernizing the press box and suites. My initial thoughts a year ago was having some reserved seating there. I had season tickets on the 40 yard line up there several years. Loved the sight line. Just don’t think any general seating should be there any longer. We don’t need “cheap seats” up there any longer while lower level seats go unused. We need to fill the lower horseshoe. If a true need arises deal with the north end zone then.

[Turbine]

Many used to rag on the certain tailgaters that didn't go into the game. They were not wrong to do so.

However a byproduct of that atmosphere was that The Swamp was the place to be on game day.

Its not that stadium attendance was great when the tailgating easy park system was in place, but it was growing.

[Turbine]

I think you misunderstood my intent. I’m all for demoing the west upper deck and modernizing the press box and suites. My initial thoughts a year ago was having some reserved seating there. I had season tickets on the 40 yard line up there several years. Loved the sight line. Just don’t think any general seating should be there any longer. We don’t need “cheap seats” up there any longer while lower level seats go unused. We need to fill the lower horseshoe. If a true need arises deal with the north end zone then.

I think all seating should be invisible from the road.

The upper deck has been telling the often false narrative of unattended games since its inception.

[shof]

I think all seating should be invisible from the road.

The upper deck has been telling the often false narrative of unattended games since its inception.

Not only that, but we need to get the crowd and accompanying noise lower onto the field to improve the GAME atmosphere.

[RaginScotsman]

Guys, i don’t think stadium renovation will do too much. Sure, it’ll be a flash in the pan and make the news, but the attention it draws won’t be sustained, in my opinion.

Someone posted earlier that they had to come to grips with the fact that other people are just not that passionate about UL athletics as they are. I think I need to recognize that too.

Sure, the time of year has something to do with last night’s empty stadium. The East playing a powerhouse matchup did too, unfortunately. But I simply can’t explain why people don’t come out in droves to see this team play. We’ve supported less talented teams in far greater numbers.

If winning solves everything then I’m not sure what else you have to do or how much you need to win by. This team is doing its part and I’m of the opinion that the community is letting them down. I was a bit embarrassed for our fan base and for that football team when the walked through an empty Cajun walk and played to a largely empty stadium. Call me dramatic.

Whatever the case, well done for the people that did show up. You got treated to some inspired football. Regardless of the number of butts in the seats, 9-2 is maybe the only number that counts.

[bbhstiger5]

Seriously? A team that is 9-2 and on the verge of being ranked in the top 25 gets a little over 14,000 for Troy? No wonder we can't keep a good head coach.

[sportsfanatic21]

Seriously? A team that is 9-2 and on the verge of being ranked in the top 25 gets a little over 14,000 for Troy? No wonder we can't keep a good head coach.

Can’t keep a good head coach? Go ahead and list all of the good head coaches that have left here for a better situation.

That said, I agree with you about the attendance.