Where are the fans?

[Saint3333]

We take UTk to the wire. Next Saturday's weather looks like a high of 83 and partly cloudy, 0% chance of rain for a season opener after an 11-2 season. Yet about half of the east side seats are available and at least 300 seats on the west side.

Where is the fanbase I thought we had?

[NO.2]

Most likely looking forward to a little game the following week.

[Boone Goon]

There's only 6 games a year! This week is a 3:30 kickoff...People have no excuse for not getting their butts up the mountain.

Let's go!

[hapapp]

Most likely looking forward to a little game the following week.

Tired of hearing that excuse. That's not to chastise those who can't make it for whatever reason but we can't claim to have such a great fanbase but yet can't get 24,000 fans to attend the home opener. There are certainly legitimate reasons for people not being able to make it to Boone on Saturday. However, the bulk of our fanbase lives within 90 minutes or so of campus. That doesn't seem to deter the folks at ECU or Va Tech who are similarly situated.

[Gonzo]

Can we change the damn record in that record player? This has been discussed ad nauseam. We get die hards and students the week before Miami. This is the nature of consecutive home games at a destination stadium.

[APPARJ]

Can we change the damn record in that record player? This has been discussed ad nauseam. We get die hards and students the week before Miami. This is the nature of consecutive home games at a destination stadium.

Ad nauseam, yes. But I say keep playing that record it until we convert as many die hards as possible.

That's partly why Chuck and I do the Black & Gold Podcast. We want the die hards in our fan base to grow.

Count me in with those that aren't satisfied with empty seats for a great peer-school matchup.

As for me and my crew, I'll see you at the Rock on Saturday!

[Gonzo]

This reminds me of Howard week last year. Belly aching about ticket sales all week and the stadium filled up.

[/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09]

Alabama has some tickets available for the Western Kentucky game this weekend too. Even the defending National Champions fans aren't thrilled to watch a team they will likely destroy. I think some people have that same mentality for the ODU game. We beat them so bad last year, and it probably won't be close this year, why make the trip when I can save money and just wait for the Miami game? I'm not saying I agree with it, but it happens everywhere. It just isn't as evident at larger programs because they have 50k plus in season ticket holders, and single game tickets are hard to find or require tissue to wipe the blood from your nose.

We still need to build conference rivalries and relationships with teams outside of Southern so that our fans see the value in attending games like Idaho and Texas State.

For the record it doesn't matter who we play for me, but it is tough for me to make the 5-6 hour trip from Northern Virginia back to back weeks. For that reason I gave my tickets to my dad for this game, and he will make sure their are two butts in those seats.

[NO.2]

Most likely looking forward to a little game the following week.

Tired of hearing that excuse. That's not to chastise those who can't make it for whatever reason but we can't claim to have such a great fanbase but yet can't get 24,000 fans to attend the home opener. There are certainly legitimate reasons for people not being able to make it to Boone on Saturday. However, the bulk of our fanbase lives within 90 minutes or so of campus. That doesn't seem to deter the folks at ECU or Va Tech who are similarly situated.

I don't approve of that excuse either, but I think it's the reality facing the less enthusiastic portion of our fanbase. I have several friends staying with me in Boone this weekend and those that aren't coming back up for the game have been getting an earful, especially the one going to a FL/GA Line concert instead.

[SpeedkingATL]

Driving up to Boone and back to ATL on Saturday. Simply don't want to miss this one....and yes we'll be there for Miami too!

[ASUGoose]

This reminds me of Howard week last year. Belly aching about ticket sales all week and the stadium filled up.

Agree here, I bet their are a ton of walk ups last minute and students will show out. A bigger impact on the "non-die hard" fans not attending in person is the ability to now watch App on TV (or online via ESPN3) in comparison to the days in the SoCon. Instead of getting roughly 28k at games, we see 23k and I think that TV coverage has a big impact on that average 5k dip in attendance.

I'm still hopeful that with great weather we will be closer to that 28k mark for the ODU game!

[TheMoody1]

Going to Knoxville and then having back to back home games is tough. That is why I rented a cabin for 10 days starting on Friday.

[S.Lewis15]

With the performance against Tennessee and getting real national coverage, I bet there will be large walk up numbers for this game.

[Rekdiver]

Well they aint gonna be watching Charlotte..........First home game i have to believe we will have 25k

[DaphneUrquhart]

I have some control over one fan and one fan only. Barring medical or family emergency, the one fan over whom I have control will be tailgating in the stadium lot prior to being in the stadium for the entire game.

BTW, that one fan has asked that as many of you as are able join her in the stadium at 3:00 so we can all enjoy the entire game together.

[Yosef84]

I have stated in a few threads that I think our attendance will improve this year. That said, it certainly is nerve racking to see the seats still available through the ticket office. I am hopeful that we see the same pattern this weekend that we used to see during our attendance peaks. We almost always had quite a few seats available the week before the game and we relied heavily on late sales an game day / walk up attendance. I guess we will see what happens here but I'm hoping we wind up with good attendance.

[bigdaddyg]

For what it's worth I just saw lots of tickets for UNC v JMU going for under $10 on stubhub. What does that say?

[APPARJ]

Honestly, our alumni base on average is so young, what REALLY needs to happen is a bunch of us "Championship Era" graduates strike it rich so we can afford multiple trips on back to back weekends!

I think I just solved a problem! I made everyone rich and put butts in the seats!

[EastHallApp]

For people debating which "excuses" are acceptable for not attending a sporting event, keep in mind no one owes you any excuse for how they decide to spend their time and money.

[Yosef10]

Are we still saying the stadium was full for Howard last year? Will be interesting to see actual butts in seats for ODU, home opener vs Peer conference opponent should be a sellout before we even have to worry about walk-ups. Disappointing to say the least.