Western Michigan vs. Central Michigan?!

[booneboy92]

Just finished watching the WMU vs. CMU game. Somebody please explain... 1. This is a huge rivalry, 2. WMU went undefeated in the regular season last year, then played (but lost) in the Cotton Bowl (NY6)!!!, and 3. This game was at WMU... The stands looked EMPTY!!! I realize WMU is NOT undefeated this season. I realize it was raining like hell. I realize it's Wednesday night. But I also realize this is a bitter MAC rivalry, AND was one helluva game, especially in the 2nd half. What does it take?!?! Asses to aluminum is paramount! Here's hoping next Thursday (regardless of weather conditions, or YTD records), will draw an awesome crowd for us against The Stink!!! Go Apps!!!... and come out people!!!!

[/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09]

11,776 was the attendance. Likely due to all the factors you pointed out...record not that great, weather, Wednesday night, WS game 7. Also worth mentioning they've only been over 20k once and that was for the home opener. "Fans" probably just not interested in watching an average team play.

[Saint3333]

Before we cast stones lets see how many we have against our rival next Thursday in sub 50 degree weather with a 40% chance of rain.

[EastHallApp]

Before we cast stones lets see how many we have against our rival next Thursday in sub 50 degree weather with a 40% chance of rain.

I think that's kind of the point though - not casting stones, this is just how it is almost everywhere. You need just about perfect conditions to sell out a sporting event these days (including the home team being really good).

[Yosef84]

As a conference, the MAC has always struggled with attendance, but I would think a Wednesday night game in a down pour is going to be a hard draw for almost any G5. I think App could get more than 11K (or I hope we could) but I'm not sure most Sunbelt schools could....or CUSA for that matter.

[t4pizza]

Every G5 game that I see on tv has a lot of empty seats, add in all the elements you mentioned and it is no wonder the attendance was poor. There are lots of complaints about our attendance and all the empty aluminum but we have it better than probably 90% or more of G5 schools and many P5 schools as well.

[bcoach]

TV, couch, fridge, bed at 11:00 VS drive, rain, bed at 1:00 Am+ and work next day.
Week night games suck for most of the population. With GS as bad as they are this year I don't expect our attendance to be as good as it has been in the past for a Thur night.

[Goapps15]

The MAC struggles because they sold their soul effectively to be on TV for midweek games in November. Fans can't make games during the week every week.

[EastHallApp]

The MAC struggles because they sold their soul effectively to be on TV for midweek games in November. Fans can't make games during the week every week.

Yeah, I know it's fairly common for some of their teams, or at least the better ones, to go a month or more without playing on Saturday. It's nuts.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Before we cast stones lets see how many we have against our rival next Thursday in sub 50 degree weather with a 40% chance of rain.

Are you trying to talk me OUT of going to the game?

[ComebackShack]

Before we cast stones lets see how many we have against our rival next Thursday in sub 50 degree weather with a 40% chance of rain.

40% chance a week out? No way that can truly be an accurate forecast yet.

[mountaineerman]

Before we cast stones lets see how many we have against our rival next Thursday in sub 50 degree weather with a 40% chance of rain.

40% chance a week out? No way that can truly be an accurate forecast yet.

Lol! They can’t predict the weather that happened yesterday in Boone let alone a week away!

[bigdaddyg]

College football games need to be played solely on Saturday- period.

NFL- Sunday, MNF and Thanksgiving- period.

Overexposure on TV hurts the experience

[WVAPPeer]

A Thursday night to get on national TV isn't a bad thing but Tue, Wed, Fri are ---

[midlandchip]

I'm an old Central Michigan grad and a big fan of the school and its athletic programs. But I have also been a fan of App State for years. You used to be my favorite FCS team. Things changed a little when you moved to FBS but I still follow the team closely. I have been attending one game in Boone every year for a long time and this year I was lucky to be able to make it to the Wake Forest game.

I think Gopps15 and Yosef84 hit the nail(s) on the head. The MAC has struggled with attendance problems for as long as I can remember and the mid week games in November, at night, have made things even worse. Fans on the MAC message boards have been beating this topic to death. They are opposed to the mid week games late in the year because of poor attendance but the MAC administration wants the exposure the conference gets with TV, and ESPN pays the conference a little money to do this as well. But fans are asking what kind of exposure are we getting when we show an empty stadium? And on and on it goes.

And I have to mention that I watched App State against UL-Monroe just the other day and that stadium at UL-Monroe was showing a LOT of empty seats as well. I think the attendance was something like 7,400. My impression is the Sun Belt also has attendance problems, even on a sunny Saturday afternoon. But it's not just the MAC or SunBelt, it's a G5 problem.