How to get more students to attend the games?

[USFan]

I think we'll return to the 2005 6,000 student attendance this year because of UCF, WVU, and UL. But then it will go down again for 2008.

That was 7000+.

With a 9-4 record and Bowl win... PLUS that schedule.  I am expecting 8k this year.

For 2005, we came from a 4-7 record.

[Joe]

Lets get this straight. We will NEVER consistently get equal media than the Bucs.

The NFL rules most of their markets including Tampa. It would be nice, but take Miami for example, they've had 5 National Titles since the Dolphins won their last Super Bowl. Guess who has gotten the majority of the coverage every

.

I understand what you're saying but you can't use Miami as a comparison in anything sports related.  that is the most backwards ass sports town there is and UM is not a public university.  very few people in that city have any ties with that program.

Look at a market like Detroit, university of michigan isn't even Detroit but they gets tons of media coverage.  I don't know if its line for line, minute to minute with the Lions (its impossible just because NFL gives media so much more to report then NCAA does, much more practices, press conferences, games, etc)

I would like to see USF get some frontpage headlines in the sports section, major write ups every day during football season in both papers.  on Friday night news have USF be the lead-in story and not just soemthing they mention at the end while they are shuffling their papers.

I can throw Pittsburgh out, it's all Steelers. Even when they were winning Championships it was still all Steelers (my grandfather went there). Just the way it works in an NFL town.

While Detroit does cover a lot of Wolverine news, it's still nowhere near the level of the Lions which have several beat writers on it. The reason for the amount of coverage? The city is filled with Michigan alumni.

It's similar to UF in Tampa, it has much larger sections than USF because the number of alumni and fans in Tampa exceed those interested in USF.

USF will get more news as they win, and they have gotten front page write ups on game day, etc. The problem is there are a lot more fans of the Bucs, therefore the Bucs have always and WILL always get the lions share of the coverage in Tampa.

[Matt]

Our attendance problems aren't student related, its alumni related.  Sure we'd like to get more students at the games.  We will.  Every year we'll get more and more, but our big disadvantage is the alumni portion that aren't involved with anything USF, except for being a graduate.

Right.  

Student section was pretty much full at every game last year, other then day games.  sure we need to get more there.  should get close to 8,000 students at every game.

there is not a school in the nation that gets 50% of their students (unless its a very small student population)

UF is bigger then us in enrollment...close to 60,000 i think.  Do you really think they have 30,000 students at their games?  of course not, they dont give out that many tickets.  but even if they did, they wouldnt get that much.  I think what helps a program like UF is that the demand is high for the students.  You cant just show up on gameday and get in.  So it creates a buzz just because its that much harder to get tickets.  

[Matt]

the biggest thing that can happen for USF to get better attendence.....

SIMPLE...

get a number next to our name.  to a casual fan there is no difference from the #26 team in the nation and the #106

you can talk about winning bowl games, being in the big east...but these things (although HUGE in reality) do not compute to the casual fan.

get ranked....get big attendence numbers.

[mutt]

You gotta understand that most of our alumni were not here when we had football,

Yeah, but there is close to 30K Alumni members in Pinellas county alone...  The question still remains, How do you make football fans?

[Joe]

UF is bigger then us in enrollment...close to 60,000 i think.  Do you really think they have 30,000 students at their games?  of course not, they dont give out that many tickets.  but even if they did, they wouldnt get that much.  I think what helps a program like UF is that the demand is high for the students.  You cant just show up on gameday and get in.  So it creates a buzz just because its that much harder to get tickets.  

UF sells (@ something like $70/yr) 22,500 season tickets to their school's 45,000 students. The whole season is purchased in advance and you pick up your tickets Tuesday and Wed before the game, there you receive your assigned seat (this is from 2005)

FSU gives out 15-16,000 student tickets to their games with a student base of 32,000. They pick the tickets up on Tuesday and have no seat assignment.

Ohio State gives out 20,000 to their 50,000 students at $150 for the season.

Almost the whole Notre Dame student base gets tickets at $150 for the season.

There are several other schools, but the thing many don't understand is that on these campuses football is an event. Everyone shows tailgates and makes it into the stadium to go ape doo doo for the team.

USF students just haven't picked up on it yet. They will, it just sucks that its gonna take winning a lot to get there.

[Joe]

Yeah, but there is close to 30K Alumni members in Pinellas county alone...  The question still remains, How do you make[highlight]USF[/highlight] football fans?

[JoeB]

Those examples are three of the more dominant football powers out there too.  No way Washington State fans make up that much of their football attendance.  What about Kansas State or NC State?  ND really isn't a good example since they are truly a juggernaut.  You can't compare ND to many schools when it comes to loyalty/fans.

[Joe]

Mississippi State averaged 10,000 students in a 18,000 student base in 2005.

Wazzou is a tough count, they sell student passes to all sporting events.

Other schools that I know had more than 50% of their students.

This article was sent to me a few months ago from a friend at Kent State - http://eflash.kent.edu/?type=art&id=81259&

[ctbrown24]

How about advertising more on campus about sporting events? Just like we had for basketball, have boards with times on them that actualy tell students when all sporting events are. Yeah, it would take some effort to change the boards everyday but if it helped attendance they should try.