2009 2nd round Playoff Attendance

[SDHornet]

Staggering attendance numbers in the 2nd round. Aside from Montana, no one seems to give a fvck about FCS football.

Richmond: 7,272 stadium holds 22k.
SIU: 5,860 stadium holds 17k.
Villanova: 2,661 stadium holds 12.5k.
Montana: 22,438 stadium holds 25.2k

[dbackjon]

And most of Richmond's was App State.

[ASUG8]

I'm with you Jon - how can the defending national champ playing at home against a former three time national champ only draw 7K? It's embarrassing - not just the UR attendance, but everywhere except UM. I get upset when we only get a couple of sentences in the paper on Sunday regarding the game, but it appears nobody cares anyway.

[Col Hogan]

I'm with you Jon - how can the defending national champ playing at home against a former three time national champ only draw 7K? It's embarrassing - not just the UR attendance, but everywhere except UM. I get upset when we only get a couple of sentences in the paper on Sunday regarding the game, but it appears nobody cares anyway.

Well, remember, Richmond is a private school with almost no local attendance...if 1 in 20 locals even know that Richmond was the defending NC, I'd be shocked...

And the student body is, let's say, basically upper crust (I'm trying to be kind here...) they are not the come out in the cold, uncomfortable weather types...

When UMass played earlier this year, there was rain in the forecast...tons of students in the tailgate area, until some rain (more like drizzle) started...they scattered...

And when the skys opened during the game, most of the Richmond crowd left...even through they were winning...

It's just not a football school...

[TribeFanInNC]

Staggering attendance numbers in the 2nd round. Aside from Montana, no one seems to give a fvck about FCS football.

Richmond: 7,272 stadium holds 22k.
SIU: 5,860 stadium holds 17k.
Villanova: 2,661 stadium holds 12.5k.
Montana: 22,438 stadium holds 25.2k

The stadium size isn't always relevant--U of R Stadium is huge compared to the size of the university.

School Undergrad Graduate Total Alumni Att Att/A+S Opponent Travel Dist
Richmond 2767 1483 4250 45000 7272 14.77% 315
SIU 15551 4799 20350 205000 5860 2.60% 850
Villanova 6425 3200 9625 95000 2661 2.54% 380
Montana 11800 2100 13900 140000 22438 14.58% 1950

The UR attendance was seriously bumped up by the proximity of App State, but the similar distance to Nova didn't seem to draw UNH fans. Not surprisingly, I must admit. The W&M contingent was perhaps 200-250 at SIU. The overall turnout was disappointing given the large SIU student body and alumni counts.

FYI, most of these numbers came from the individual university websites or through Wikipedia, but I had to guess the number of alumni at Montana.

[Cap'n Cat]

I'm with you Jon - how can the defending national champ playing at home against a former three time national champ only draw 7K? It's embarrassing - not just the UR attendance, but everywhere except UM. I get upset when we only get a couple of sentences in the paper on Sunday regarding the game, but it appears nobody cares anyway.

Well, remember, Richmond is a private school with almost no local attendance...if 1 in 20 locals even know that Richmond was the defending NC, I'd be shocked...

And the student body is, let's say, basically upper crust (I'm trying to be kind here...) they are not the come out in the cold, uncomfortable weather types...

When UMass played earlier this year, there was rain in the forecast...tons of students in the tailgate area, until some rain (more like drizzle) started...they scattered...

And when the skys opened during the game, most of the Richmond crowd left...even through they were winning...

It's just not a football school...

Pretty good, Hoagie.

[siuham]

Basketball.

Can other schools stop saying our attendance is disappointing? You have no fucking clue what it's like here. It was far from disappointing. It's normal. The only games we draw really well are homecoming and...homecoming. You should have seen the UMass game a couple years back. It was 2nd round and AWFUL.

[TribeFanInNC]

Basketball.

Can other schools stop saying our attendance is disappointing? You have no **** clue what it's like here. It was far from disappointing. It's normal. The only games we draw really well are homecoming and...homecoming. You should have seen the UMass game a couple years back. It was 2nd round and AWFUL.

When I was a student at W&M in the early 80's, our attendance was 'disappointing' (or worse!). There were games where it was a struggle to get a couple hundred students to show up. We have been slowly building a following--from on and off campus--since then. After our 2004 run to the semi-finals, things really began to change, especially with the student body. We had a game this year where more than 1/2 our students showed up!

SIU has been to the playoffs for 7 or 8 years running, and entered this year's playoffs ranked #1 in the country. You have an outstanding all purpose runner in Karim. Basketball school or not, I would have expected a rallying of students, alumni and the community behind the team, which has proven it can put a quality product on the field. I hope the new stadium helps draw fans who will find out what they've been missing all these years.

[GRIZ MOBSTER]

Basketball.

Can other schools stop saying our attendance is disappointing? You have no **** clue what it's like here. It was far from disappointing. It's normal. The only games we draw really well are homecoming and...homecoming. You should have seen the UMass game a couple years back. It was 2nd round and AWFUL.

I'm not trying to be harsh but less than 6,000 fans at a home quaterfinal game for the #1 a.p. ranked team in the country is very disapointing. I've read a lot of posts on saluki talk and a lot of people thought you guys could draw 13,000 for the past few games and have come nowhere near that amount.

Attendance is very important in the grand scheme of things. That is why in the next 5-10 years UM, App st will move up to the next division and other teams that are almost as good won't be able to. (i.e. SIU, Vill, William Mary, Richmond.) The bubble teams are JMU ( you can build a nice stadium that holds 45,000 but if only 7,000 show up then you guys are going nowhere), GSU( need to get back to winning ways and they can get their attendance back to normal), UNI (too inconsistent for attendance right now), maybe YSU or Delaware. But thats about it. The rest of the teams will be fighting over a much weaker FCS division.

[siuham]

The posts on ST are hopeful, not realistic. The situation doesn't matter. If it's not homecoming, we're not going to sell-out or even come close.

Number 1 reason for low attendance: Basketball game in St. Louis that night.
Number 2/3: It was "cold." and early. AKA it was the coldest day so far this year and people couldn't be bothered to go outside int he cold and 11 AM isn't going to get students attention to come.

@#2/#3: It's freaking hilarious because there's a party at a bar here every January called Polar Bear. It goes on all day and one of the bars opens their beer garden and corona is cheap as hell or something. The place is full to the brim on those days and people are there all day.

But go watch the #1 team in the nation in a playoff game? Nope. Too much to ask.

It is disappointing, perhaps I shouldn't have said that. It is also expected by anyone who doesn't completely ignore the truth of how the campus/region views the football team.

Last year, we had a playoff game the same day as a local high school was playing in a state quarterfinal (or something close to it) and so we lost a lot of prospective attendees for that game too. That's just how it is here. A lot of students are from Chicago, and they tend to not give a rats ass about anything other than Chicago sports and nationally acclaimed teams (aka, teams that show up on ESPN regularly, which, for a while, was SIU's basketball team.)

That said, it is depressing sometimes. I mentioned to my girlfriend Saturday that these are the days I wish I went to Montana. Not for the win, for the fans.

[clenz]

The posts on ST are hopeful, not realistic. The situation doesn't matter. If it's not homecoming, we're not going to sell-out or even come close.

Number 1 reason for low attendance: Basketball game in St. Louis that night.
Number 2/3: It was "cold." and early. AKA it was the coldest day so far this year and people couldn't be bothered to go outside int he cold and 11 AM isn't going to get students attention to come.

@#2/#3: It's freaking hilarious because there's a party at a bar here every January called Polar Bear. It goes on all day and one of the bars opens their beer garden and corona is cheap as hell or something. The place is full to the brim on those days and people are there all day.

But go watch the #1 team in the nation in a playoff game? Nope. Too much to ask.

It is disappointing, perhaps I shouldn't have said that. It is also expected by anyone who doesn't completely ignore the truth of how the campus/region views the football team.

Last year, we had a playoff game the same day as a local high school was playing in a state quarterfinal (or something close to it) and so we lost a lot of prospective attendees for that game too. That's just how it is here. A lot of students are from Chicago, and they tend to not give a rats ass about anything other than Chicago sports and nationally acclaimed teams (aka, teams that show up on ESPN regularly, which, for a while, was SIU's basketball team.)

That said, it is depressing sometimes. I mentioned to my girlfriend Saturday that these are the days I wish I went to Montana. Not for the win, for the fans.

UNI is the same damn way. We sell out for SIU, homecoming, and come close to family weekend. However 2 of the last 3 years the administration scheduled SIU for homecoming...figure that one out.


Our fans, in general, don't give a rats ass about UNI. If Iowa is better than a 3 win team they get all the atention in the state. Hell, last night a news statiion did a 15 minute thing on the Hawks going to the Orange Bowl. They went as far to see about what it would cost driving or flying. For Iowa State they said almost this exact thing "Iowa State is in the Insight Bowl in Tempe, AZ. Tickets run for as cheap as 22 dollars" and that was it.

[Grizalltheway]

I'm with you Jon - how can the defending national champ playing at home against a former three time national champ only draw 7K? It's embarrassing - not just the UR attendance, but everywhere except UM. I get upset when we only get a couple of sentences in the paper on Sunday regarding the game, but it appears nobody cares anyway.

I was certainly embarrassed by only having 22k. I'm not sure why we can pack the house for WESTERN FUCKING STATE, but as soon as we start to make a playoff fun, 3000 people suddenly lose interest. No doubt it'll be packed on Saturday, though.

[siuham]

I'm with you Jon - how can the defending national champ playing at home against a former three time national champ only draw 7K? It's embarrassing - not just the UR attendance, but everywhere except UM. I get upset when we only get a couple of sentences in the paper on Sunday regarding the game, but it appears nobody cares anyway.

I was certainly embarrassed by only having 22k. I'm not sure why we can pack the house for WESTERN **** STATE, but as soon as we start to make a playoff fun, 3000 people suddenly lose interest. No doubt it'll be packed on Saturday, though.

I wish I had the time to come see it. I think it'd be fun as hell to watch a game my team isn't involved in with two schools who have fans who fucking love their team. Anyone from App driving out that wants to stop at my place and stuff me in the trunk?

[DJH]

Being a basketball school is a HUGE influence on football attendance. Montana, ASU, UD....Do they even have basketball? When you have a great basketball program like you do with SIU, and the MVC and a few CAA schools, that is the way most people relate to the school. Lets face it, its difficult to be a causual fan of FCS football. Its never on TV, and it is hard to keep up unless you are a diehard. But you need the causual fans to have good attendance.

When you have basketball programs that are competing, and competing well with the "big boys", its just going to be more popular than FCS football which is a "lower division" than the rest of D-I.


But, that doesn't make it any less dissapointing for the people who are football fans. You should be able to get 8K at a playoff game, minimum.

[Chizzang]

I'm with you Jon - how can the defending national champ playing at home against a former three time national champ only draw 7K? It's embarrassing - not just the UR attendance, but everywhere except UM. I get upset when we only get a couple of sentences in the paper on Sunday regarding the game, but it appears nobody cares anyway.

I was certainly embarrassed by only having 22k. I'm not sure why we can pack the house for WESTERN FUCKING STATE, but as soon as we start to make a playoff fun, 3000 people suddenly lose interest. No doubt it'll be packed on Saturday, though.

I was at that Western State game...
it was 65 degree's and sunny - it was like going to the park...

[Grizalltheway]

I was certainly embarrassed by only having 22k. I'm not sure why we can pack the house for WESTERN FUCKING STATE, but as soon as we start to make a playoff fun, 3000 people suddenly lose interest. No doubt it'll be packed on Saturday, though.

I was at that Western State game...
it was 65 degree's and sunny - it was like going to the park...

That's all well and good, but this is Montana. If you can't handle watching a football game in 20 degree weather, go back to California.