How do you increase attendance?

[MMW]

 

17 minutes ago, NewEnglandBull said:

Ok I see. However, we are still only picking up very small percentages of students from the 2005-2008 seasons (who are now alumni) for those teams that were good. I get it that we have to win consistently but I am not sure that is enough. Something more promotional driven may need to be done. 

Do you know what percentage we are getting from those years?  Even if it is small right now, as people age they like to relive their youth.  

If you went to a Florida game you would see entire generations of fans that we do not have.  We have no Baby Boomer or X-er fans that enjoyed watching USF football in their youth and are returning to recapture some of that.  Those generations have the time and the money to attend college football games, not Millennials en masse - yet.

 

Edited November 29, 2016 by MMW

[Thebullsfan]

we need another marque team to beat the crap out of... someone call Auburn.

[JTrue]

What's a Mitch Perry?

[Paisa el Toro]

9 minutes ago, JTrue said:

What's a Mitch Perry?

A local blogger, not be confused with this guy:

[thatBULL]

Ok I'll bite.  Before I start, I've always been a proponent of an OCS, and will always be.  I think that increases student attendance during winning seasons by 20-30% if not more compared to where we are now.  However for this convo I'll assume we are talking about 2017:

1. ) with the schedule we have, and although we have very little control, start working with conference and tv to schedule night games.  While I understand big programs play day games, if the AAC thinks we can be a flagship, they can help.

2.) Youth league and high school outreach.  We need to build fans, can't just expect them to show up.

3.) I'll get burned for this, but I think we have always done a poor job accommodating the Greek population.  Need to make the atmosphere more "party" outside to get them to the game.

4.) post game concerts - they cost money but always draw crowds.  This is busch league, but all middle market baseball teams do this to draw crowds.

5.)  Make student parking free or appear free (include in fees or have lot sponsors).

6.) Build some sort of partnership with local pro teams - discounts, packages, etc.  Also, include more marketing.  

7.) social media for athletics is on point, but followers lag.  This needs to be a focus of off-season.

8.) They need begin a campaign regarding being tampas team.  Start now, build off bay made.  Give packages to local business owners to bring clients, friends, family. Extend to the school systems and city employees.  This needs to start yesterday.

I can do this all day, but I get paid to do this for a leaving and need to get back to work.

[USFBulls727]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what kind of draw we are for opponents on road games? For example, if SMU typically draws 20k for home conference  games, did they exceed that when we came to town? We are one of the better teams in the conference....just not sure how much of a draw we are. Judging by what I've seen on TV, can't believe we draw greater than average attendance on road games....

[usf97]

Multiple factors here.

The G5/P5 system is a major factor.

Most of the previous attendance records were created by the many factors that created a buzz around the program in 2007. Being in the Big East. USF at home ranked #18, just beat Auburn on the road, beats #5 WVU and then pounds UCF for the 1st time ever at home. Most of the people that were at that Friday night game with WVU wanted a replication of the 'High" that game created. Suddenly, you had demand with the possibility of not being able to get into the lower bowl That little span probably generated most of the attendance figures for the next 3 seasons.

That is all gone now. I think a smaller OCS would help, not so much with attendance but with environment. 38,000 at Nippert Stadium is a lot more fun than 38,000 at RayJay. I think the present attendance represents the true demand for the current product. A G5 school playing other G5 schools.

If USF could be the next Boise State, TCU or Utah, then attendance would probably go up but it is very difficult to replicate that level of success in this current environment without having a big drop off eventually. No one has done it in the short history of the G5/P5.

I think USF's main hope is the current G5/P5 model will collapse due to a lack of TV money leaving the system with a la carte cable and cord cutting.

[NewEnglandBull]

24 minutes ago, MMW said:

 

Do you know what percentage we are getting from those years?  Even if it is small right now, as people age they like to relive their youth.  

If you went to a Florida game you would see entire generations of fans that we do not have.  We have no Baby Boomer or X-er fans that enjoyed watching USF football in their youth and are returning to recapture some of that.  Those generations have the time and the money to attend college football games, not Millennials en masse - yet.

 

Fair point. But that does mean we will need about thirty more years just to have "decent" attendance. Can we wait that long assuming conference expansion happens before then (which I know is a big assumption).

[Bulls On Parade]

Usf needs to reach out to the Lightning and their marketing team. They do an amazing job, heck hire a few away if that's what we need to do.

 

 

[Gismo]

Move the bucs and rays to a new city.