What will it take to drive game attendance up?

[Amos Moses]

App State has benefitted from from short-term success and long-term effort.

First, App State beat A$M (edit) last week. That was huge.

Second, ESPN Gameday was there on Saturday. That was huge.

Third, App State had an attractive season ticket package with UNC playing there to start off the season. They often have P5 schools at home. ... Tech on the other hand, is shying away from it.

Fourth, the App State administration is and has been busting its tail to build a winner and capitalizing on success/opportunities. They strive to win conference championships, and laugh if you want, they strive to win the national championship. ... Tech's administration, on the other hand, historically does not capitalize on momentum and has often taken the easy/lazy road. If it were not for the heat by fans and donors, Dr. Guice would have been more than happy to give us another year of Skippy ball.

Having said that, hiring Cumbie appears to be a good move (as have most, if not all, of Dr. Wood's hires), but at the end of the day, it will depend on whether or not Dr. Guice will allow success to flourish and spread or if he will revert to the mentality that bowl games are good enough in an age in which bowls games really do not mean much.

Tech kinda reminds me of the guy who bought an Armani suit but is afraid to wear it because it may get dirty. Instead, Tech wears the leisure suit from the '70's.
We spent all kinda money on facilities improvements, etc. and fail to do anything for the average Joe fan. We would rather gloat about how pretty the press box is and how nice the paved parking area is, but we put on that leisure suit and expect the fans to like it or leave it.

Guice, in my opinion, is the main problem. He, by either design or complacency, wants Tech athletes to be the local college team that is kinda cute but irrelevant. No forward planning (or at least any successful forward planning). Remember Tech 2020? Someone on here (D80?) noted we need new leadership that is not home grown at Tech like Guice and Reneau. FJ Taylor was the exception and the only one that really gave a crap about athletics. Guice is the leisure suit.

[dawg80]

I think some of you are making too much of the recent decline in attendance. It's a symptom of a much larger reality, and not unique to Tech. Attendance is down across the nation, not likely to ever return to the peak years. The reasons include, but are not limited to, the increase in online/TV coverage of games, the recent China Virus lockdown, the movement away from "traditional college sports" to a free-for-all money-grab and a pronounced effort by the players to grab a share, the transfer portal, etc...

For Tech the attendance issue has been compounded by recent failure by the program. In recent years we peaked with the Indy Bowl win over Miami, a 10-win season, Skip's only one, to be followed by a struggling 5-5 season, waxed in a bowl game, and then 3-9 last year. At the worst possible time, in light of what I posted in the first paragraph, Tech went into a slump. Tech Football is in a hole and will have to climb itself out of it...by WINNING! I do think that the awesome gesture by Cumbie and the players writing those letters has provided at least one step out of the hole. But, in sports, it's all about success on the field.

All any fan/supporter can do is SHOW UP! The rest will take care of itself in time.

[ChuckK3]

I think some of you are making too much of the recent decline in attendance. It's a symptom of a much larger reality, and not unique to Tech. Attendance is down across the nation, not likely to ever return to the peak years. The reasons include, but are not limited to, the increase in online/TV coverage of games, the recent China Virus lockdown, the movement away from "traditional college sports" to a free-for-all money-grab and a pronounced effort by the players to grab a share, the transfer portal, etc...

For Tech the attendance issue has been compounded by recent failure by the program. In recent years we peaked with the Indy Bowl win over Miami, a 10-win season, Skip's only one, to be followed by a struggling 5-5 season, waxed in a bowl game, and then 3-9 last year. At the worst possible time, in light of what I posted in the first paragraph, Tech went into a slump. Tech Football is in a hole and will have to climb itself out of it...by WINNING! I do think that the awesome gesture by Cumbie and the players writing those letters has provided at least one step out of the hole. But, in sports, it's all about success on the field.

All any fan/supporter can do is SHOW UP! The rest will take care of itself in time.

Good post.

I'm just of the opinion that in Tech's situation...right now today in 2022...we should be trying to REMOVE as many barriers to entry for CUSTOMERS as possible, instead of being the "Committee of 'NO'" almost all the time.

Pawdawg kinda said it...it's the old 4-P's, y'all...PRODUCT (Winner), PLACEMENT (in our case, attractive home schedule), PRICE ($200 evening for a family of 4 in the Ark-La-Tex-Miss area is steep), and PROMOTION...

[techman05]

I think the big money people will continue to donate and sit in the suites, with little to no regard for the product. It’s business to them to treat people, make a social statement, or tax right off. I agree that game day has to be more attractive for the peons. We may never have 28,000 attend a game, but expecting 20,000 to show up to see a good product doesn’t seem unreasonable.

[johnnylightnin]

We went to the SFA game. We bought 6 tickets through a reseller. Our tickets were $140 and they were in DD (we didn't sit there). Those were some of the best seats in the house...$23/ticket. We paid $10 to park across the street from the TAC. Probably spent $30-40 on concessions. The family pack is, what, $500/year for 5 tickets?

But, the bottom line is this, if people aren't buying, they don't see the value. The product is not just on the field (which has been incredibly sub-par for at least 2 years). Tailgating needs to be more accessible for the average fan. If kids want to go, the parents will be there. I don't know exactly how you do this, but organized events for kids could be a big hit. We've talked for years about simple things to keep students in the stands until the 4th quarter. Engaged students have the biggest impact once the game starts.

It's a complicated problem, but people are paid to design and implement the solutions.

[Blue Dawg]

We went to the SFA game. We bought 6 tickets through a reseller. Our tickets were $140 and they were in DD (we didn't sit there). Those were some of the best seats in the house...$23/ticket. We paid $10 to park across the street from the TAC. Probably spent $30-40 on concessions. The family pack is, what, $500/year for 5 tickets?

But, the bottom line is this, if people aren't buying, they don't see the value. The product is not just on the field (which has been incredibly sub-par for at least 2 years). Tailgating needs to be more accessible for the average fan. If kids want to go, the parents will be there. I don't know exactly how you do this, but organized events for kids could be a big hit. We've talked for years about simple things to keep students in the stands until the 4th quarter. Engaged students have the biggest impact once the game starts.

It's a complicated problem, but people are paid to design and implement the solutions.

At this point the solutions have been hashed and hashed and hashed. They have been found difficult and left untried.

[Dawgonit]

Just some ideas I think that could help:

Tailgating - it needs to be completely easy and free to setup tailgating around the TAC. Student organizations need to be incentivized to tailgate there as well (make ATF stay away). Tailgating needs to be done in a confined area to create a good atmosphere. Having different organizations spread out with lots of space and sun in between creates a dull atmosphere that isn't exciting. Furthermore the university should help make a fan area near argent pavilion for people not affiliated with any specific tailgate and who just want to walk around and enjoy the atmosphere. This should include different activities for anyone to enjoy. There needs to be some local food trucks there so people can buy food. You can have a stage for a local band to play. Have free cornhole, horseshoes and other games for people to play and use when they want. Provide bounce houses, other inflatables and trampolines for students or children to play in. If possible, bring some carnival rides like a mini ferris wheel. SGA, UB and possibly KLPI could help with the cost of the entertainment and amenities. You want people having fun and able to spend their time there all day if possible.

Prices- General admission needs to go down to help entice local casual fans along with good discounts for big family groups. They need to reward season ticket holders as well though. We don't need general admission to be cheaper than buying season tickets for the same experience. Season ticket holders and only they can leave to and from the stadium during the game for one benefit. Likewise they need to expand the use of chairback seating for season ticket holders only. It should go from top to bottom from the 30 to the 30 on both sides. If we can bowl in the stadium (which is a must) then I would argue from the 20 to the 20. The students and band should move closer to the north endzone and if bowled in (again it's a must) the band should go in the north endzone so everyone can see. Adding chairback seating is fairly quick to do and it isn't a huge expense, especially if people will pay more for them. More chairback seating taking up space creates another positive outcome of grouping general admission together in smaller places creating a stadium that looks more filled in and creates a better atmosphere which leads into the next idea that is longterm and expensive

Facilities - The stadium needs to be bowled in and the stadium's capacity needs to lowered. MLS has shown what works and doesn't when it comes to stadiums. 20,000 fans in NFL stadiums looks awful and creates horrible atmosphere since everyone is spread out. If you create more intimate stadiums that reflect the fanbase, then you get a better atmosphere and thus a more fun environment for people to enjoy and comeback to. We have never sold out the Joe and 28,000 is just a tad too much. By lowering capacity to 25,000 we can create more demand since there are chances of sellouts. To do this we first should tear down the aluminum wings and bowl in the stadium so it doesn't look like a glorified two-sided high school stadium. Being able to see into a dead parking lot right now doesn't really create much excitement, you want the fans focusing on the product. A bowled in stadium would fix that problem, keep in the noise, connect the two sides and give the stadium a college feel.

There needs to be more trees and greenery in the parking lots as well so it's just a hot oven in the sun during the day and not an extremely burning industrial oven for tailgating. Finally, we need all of the concessions and bathrooms to be remodeled but that is a dead horse by now it seems and needs no more explanations. Hopefully the concessions and bathroom could be redone when the stadium is a given a façade. It's barren exposed skeleton isn't winning any architecture awards to say the least.

I also haven't been to a game in a long time but this is what I can gather from what I've seen online.

[Blue Dawg]

11 years ago, when I was a freshman, I could drive my truck onto the TAC hill with a grill and cooler in the back and tailgate all day long. Sometimes got harassed by ATF but I was under 21 at the time so didn't have anything to get got on.

The Tailgate Village or whatever was a good effort but you can't do that on the asphalt in Louisiana September/October. I didn't tailgate much at Arkansas (only went to a few games) but I appreciated that there was a ton of greenspace for tailgaters. If only there was, for example, a park right next to the stadium or something.

[DawgyNWindow]

11 years ago, when I was a freshman, I could drive my truck onto the TAC hill with a grill and cooler in the back and tailgate all day long. Sometimes got harassed by ATF but I was under 21 at the time so didn't have anything to get got on.

The Tailgate Village or whatever was a good effort but you can't do that on the asphalt in Louisiana September/October. I didn't tailgate much at Arkansas (only went to a few games) but I appreciated that there was a ton of greenspace for tailgaters. If only there was, for example, a park right next to the stadium or something.

Nailed it! It is something uniquely Tech, and should be part of the draw and pregame activities.

All those shade trees going to waste.

[sportdawg]

There were a lot of Student in Hideaway park as we arrived for the SFA game.

[Heavyarms]

Lots of good ideas.

I think the one suggestion that would be relatively cheap would be to create an atmosphere conducive to taligating. Make the Joe a destination where people want to come spend a Saturday. Not just show up for the game and leave when its over. Or at halftime, I guess.

[PawDawg]

Lots of good ideas.

I think the one suggestion that would be relatively cheap would be to create an atmosphere conducive to taligating. Make the Joe a destination where people want to come spend a Saturday. Not just show up for the game and leave when its over. Or at halftime, I guess.

The new AD and his boss think they have done that with the small but needed changes made. All the new stuff is about parking revenue, not attendance.

[Bone_afide_Dawg]

This is rocket science, people. You can’t just improve the game day experience, the pricing, the tailgating, the concessions, the attendance and the play on the field without going to Mars and back first.. come on… There’s no such thing as taking one step at a time to climb a mountain or to solve some problems… you have to do it in a single bound like Superman does. I think you get my point. As much as all of this has been talked about repeatedly you’d think there would be some pieces to the puzzle put in place, but I’ve yet to see anything of any substance .

[BCSDAWG]

Just some ideas I think that could help:

Tailgating - it needs to be completely easy and free to setup tailgating around the TAC. Student organizations need to be incentivized to tailgate there as well (make ATF stay away). Tailgating needs to be done in a confined area to create a good atmosphere. Having different organizations spread out with lots of space and sun in between creates a dull atmosphere that isn't exciting. Furthermore the university should help make a fan area near argent pavilion for people not affiliated with any specific tailgate and who just want to walk around and enjoy the atmosphere. This should include different activities for anyone to enjoy. There needs to be some local food trucks there so people can buy food. You can have a stage for a local band to play. Have free cornhole, horseshoes and other games for people to play and use when they want. Provide bounce houses, other inflatables and trampolines for students or children to play in. If possible, bring some carnival rides like a mini ferris wheel. SGA, UB and possibly KLPI could help with the cost of the entertainment and amenities. You want people having fun and able to spend their time there all day if possible.

Prices- General admission needs to go down to help entice local casual fans along with good discounts for big family groups. They need to reward season ticket holders as well though. We don't need general admission to be cheaper than buying season tickets for the same experience. Season ticket holders and only they can leave to and from the stadium during the game for one benefit. Likewise they need to expand the use of chairback seating for season ticket holders only. It should go from top to bottom from the 30 to the 30 on both sides. If we can bowl in the stadium (which is a must) then I would argue from the 20 to the 20. The students and band should move closer to the north endzone and if bowled in (again it's a must) the band should go in the north endzone so everyone can see. Adding chairback seating is fairly quick to do and it isn't a huge expense, especially if people will pay more for them. More chairback seating taking up space creates another positive outcome of grouping general admission together in smaller places creating a stadium that looks more filled in and creates a better atmosphere which leads into the next idea that is longterm and expensive

Facilities - The stadium needs to be bowled in and the stadium's capacity needs to lowered. MLS has shown what works and doesn't when it comes to stadiums. 20,000 fans in NFL stadiums looks awful and creates horrible atmosphere since everyone is spread out. If you create more intimate stadiums that reflect the fanbase, then you get a better atmosphere and thus a more fun environment for people to enjoy and comeback to. We have never sold out the Joe and 28,000 is just a tad too much. By lowering capacity to 25,000 we can create more demand since there are chances of sellouts. To do this we first should tear down the aluminum wings and bowl in the stadium so it doesn't look like a glorified two-sided high school stadium. Being able to see into a dead parking lot right now doesn't really create much excitement, you want the fans focusing on the product. A bowled in stadium would fix that problem, keep in the noise, connect the two sides and give the stadium a college feel.

There needs to be more trees and greenery in the parking lots as well so it's just a hot oven in the sun during the day and not an extremely burning industrial oven for tailgating. Finally, we need all of the concessions and bathrooms to be remodeled but that is a dead horse by now it seems and needs no more explanations. Hopefully the concessions and bathroom could be redone when the stadium is a given a façade. It's barren exposed skeleton isn't winning any architecture awards to say the least.

I also haven't been to a game in a long time but this is what I can gather from what I've seen online.

For me, the tailgating has been the straw that broke my back. It became such a hassle to try and tailgate that I finally just quit. Screw it. And I quit coming to the games for the most part. It's just a shame how they'd squeezed the average Joe out of the equation. Particularly the ones that had been showing up faithfully thru the years.

[techman05]

This is rocket science, people. You can’t just improve the game day experience, the pricing, the tailgating, the concessions, the attendance and the play on the field without going to Mars and back first.. come on… There’s no such thing as taking one step at a time to climb a mountain or to solve some problems… you have to do it in a single bound like Superman does. I think you get my point. As much as all of this has been talked about repeatedly you’d think there would be some pieces to the puzzle put in place, but I’ve yet to see anything of any substance .

And therein lies the issue. There is not a program in the country that would try to change everything all at once. But it seems like our leaders have decided that there is no way to change it all and no point in changing anything (in a positive way).