The Event Experience

[CajunVic]

There is nothing close to Troy Alabama and they draw decent crowds even when they are down.

There my friend is your answer . . . way too much to do here . . .

[ManAboutTown]

I have to disagree with the growth and people moving to the smaller towns out side of Lafayette. That happens all across America. If it were a reason for people to not go to games it would happen every where. People have just lost interest and they need to figure out how to get them to drive from not only outer Lafayette parish but Iberia, Vermillion, Acadia….and so on. There is nothing close to Troy Alabama and they draw decent crowds even when they are down.

Have you been to Troy, AL? There is more to do in Opelousas.
And it's surrounded by absolutely nothing.

[KajunKrazy]

Rearranging the student tailgate area resulted in a substantial drop in student attendance and participation. Why? I'm not really sure, but the results were clear.

Cheap or free tailgating (and listen, y'all have to understand, I'm speaking relative to the demographic that typically fill seats at CF) is a numbers game. If you get 40k inside the CF fences, you'd hope to get 25k (at very least) in the game. During Hud years, I'd argue it was closer to 50k on the grounds and 28-30k in the stands. Closer proximity customers are to your product, higher the probability they'll buy something. It's the foot traffic for coffee shops and retail model.

Dang I am sorry I meant 8. I do agree and have always said there needs to be better options for the casual fan who may only attend a game or 2 for tailgating even if that means creating a whole other TG area.

[KajunKrazy]

Have you been to Troy, AL? There is more to do in Opelousas.
And it's surrounded by absolutely nothing.

Yes. 3 times. That what I am saying most people drive from at least an hour or more to go to the games there. Much of their fan base lives in the Dothan area where there is plenty to do much like Lafayette, but they leave Dothan to drive to Troy. There is no place to park. All 3 times I paid someone to park in their yard and walked a mile.

[SlickRick]

Ok...so since we are known for our food, around the world, we should have a Cajun Food Cook-off for every home game. Each game would have a designated food category to be in the contest. For example, my six choices would be Gratons, Jambalaya, BBQ, Seafood, Crawfish Etouffee' and Gumbo...probably in that order or possibly switching Gumbo and Etouffee' depending on crawfish crop. Boudin may be too hard to pull off, no pun intended, for most folks not having the equipment to process the links. All food prep (except marinating meat) and cooking to be done on gameday.

All entries would be judged at Russo Park, 3 hours before Kick-off with a hefty cash prizes for winners, could even include parking passes! LOL!

Seriously, the food aspect of our culture is the attention grabber of the event day. We already know this, but we could put way more emphasis on our favorite dishes/heritage with a Cajun Cook-off to bring more attention to the games. There would have to be some ground rules established and entries would have to be limited by timing to submit and total number.

Other events to include on a game by game basis:
-Boudin eating contest
- Battle of the Bands contest
- Cajun half or quarter Marathon that includes a circuit around Cajun field, Greek area,
Blackham Coliseum and the main campus
- Classic Car / four wheeler contest
- HS 7 on 7 competition before the real game. Organized to include up to 16 teams over
2 game dates. 20 min run time games played on CF.

[fanof71]

Have you been to Troy, AL? There is more to do in Opelousas.
And it's surrounded by absolutely nothing.

And they sold out of their season ticket allotment of 10k, which will probably be moved up to 12 or 15k, promoted heavily, well be reading about sold out Troy games, while the Maggard crew does nothing and are rewarded by being allowed to keep their jobs...

[SlickRick]

And they sold out of their season ticket allotment of 10k, which will probably be moved up to 12 or 15k, promoted heavily, well be reading about sold out Troy games, while the Maggard crew does nothing and are rewarded by being allowed to keep their jobs...

Troy football games ARE the only big thing to do there.

[KajunKrazy]

Troy football games ARE the only big thing to do there.

And people actually leave places where there are other things to do and drive over an hour to get there.

[Big Poppa]

Troy football games ARE the only big thing to do there.

Curious how many Saturday games in the fall are there big events that rival a Cajuns game? I think I recall one gulf brew festival? Festival Acdadian happens every year not always a home game though. I don’t know of anything in September.

[ULvictory]

I have to disagree with the growth and people moving to the smaller towns out side of Lafayette. That happens all across America. If it were a reason for people to not go to games it would happen every where. People have just lost interest and they need to figure out how to get them to drive from not only outer Lafayette parish but Iberia, Vermillion, Acadia….and so on. There is nothing close to Troy Alabama and they draw decent crowds even when they are down.

Well for one, actually showing face in those parishes would be a start. And not just once, but a few times during the year and creating fan clubs/chapters within those parishes to watch games and whatnot.