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C-USA home FB attendance for 2015

Looks like an impressive conference to be a part of . At least UTEP has come back to the rest of the league so as to not look like an outlier.
 
No-show locals missed three entertaining home games down the stretch: FAU, Rice and LA Tech.
 
Look at W. Kentucky how sad, for such a good team. If Utep went 10-2 and undefeated in conference we'd Avg 45,000
 
Bad football home schedule, poor marketing, underachieving (by the offensive staff, not the players) injury bug to so many players and alienation of the "casual" fans by the head coach, thats not that bad for mid major attendance figures.
 
utep2step said:
Bad football home schedule, poor marketing, underachieving (by the offensive staff, not the players) injury bug to so many players and alienation of the "casual" fans by the head coaching staff, thats not that bad for mid major attendance figures.
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Right, but as usual, the casual fans quit early and missed some good later games as a result.
 
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One's AD should never schedule 3 road games to start the season with 2 of them against stronger opponents. Two blowouts started an avalanche falling off the band wagon.
 
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The athletic department needs to outsource marketing. The marketing is beyond pathetic. They are counting on seven home games to be the cure all for attendance. They are going to market Army as the marquee game and they expect it to sell out. Thats insane. In 2012 Oklahoma was the highest ranked team to ever play in the Sun Bowl. To get a blueblood program to come to the Sun Bowl was a coup for the athletic department. Yet only 43,000 came out, and OU probably brought 5,000 if not more. There is no way Army football is more popular in el paso than Oklahoma. There is a big Army population in El Paso but very few have ties to West Point. The most soldiers ever to attend a UTEP game was the 2004 game against Boise State. Albertsons bought 5000 tickets so the Idaho national guard could attend the game. They took up all of sections one and two. I dont think this game will attract that many soldiers. The biggest problem is that im sure the athletic department will price this game as a premium game. The general public and casual fan will not pay premium prices to watch a bad Army team. Dont get me wrong im glad they scheduled Army. I think it will be a cool game and an exciting non conference opponent. I look forward to making the trip to New York to see us play at West Point in 2017. I like the game, I just thinks its foolish for the athletic department to be banking on that game to generate the revenue and attendance to make a seven game home schedule profitable.

The only way to win back the casual fan and increase attendance is to have a good showing in Austin. I dont think we have to win the game but it needs to be competitive in the fourth quarter. The last two years attendance has been adversely affected by early season blowouts on national tv. It was Kstate and La Tech in 2014 and Arkansas and Tech this year.
 
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UTEP is going to carpet bomb Fort Bliss with tickets? What NONCOMM wants to go see their future boss play a game of football while they're on their 2nd or 3rd rotation for Middle East tours of duty?
 
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Minerforlife said:
The athletic department needs to outsource marketing. The marketing is beyond pathetic. They are counting on seven home games to be the cure all for attendance. They are going to market Army as the marquee game and they expect it to sell out. Thats insane. In 2012 Oklahoma was the highest ranked team to ever play in the Sun Bowl. To get a blueblood program to come to the Sun Bowl was a coup for the athletic department. Yet only 43,000 came out, and OU probably brought 5,000 if not more. There is no way Army football is more popular in el paso than Oklahoma. There is a big Army population in El Paso but very few have ties to West Point. The most soldiers ever to attend a UTEP game was the 2004 game against Boise State. Albertsons bought 5000 tickets so the Idaho national guard could attend the game. They took up all of sections one and two. I dont think this game will attract that many soldiers. The biggest problem is that im sure the athletic department will price this game as a premium game. The general public and casual fan will not pay premium prices to watch a bad Army team. Dont get me wrong im glad they scheduled Army. I think it will be a cool game and an exciting non conference opponent. I look forward to making the trip to New York to see us play at West Point in 2017. I like the game, I just thinks its foolish for the athletic department to be banking on that game to generate the revenue and attendance to make a seven game home schedule profitable.

The only way to win back the casual fan and increase attendance is to have a good showing in Austin. I dont think we have to win the game but it needs to be competitive in the fourth quarter. The last two years attendance has been adversely affected by early season blowouts on national tv. It was Kstate and La Tech in 2014 and Arkansas and Tech this year.
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The date for the NMSU has not been set yet but since both schools have an opening on the 1st Saturday of the season, makes sense that it will be in the Sun Bowl on 9/3. Promoting this game based on the rivalry and the exciting game this past season between the 2 might get a crowd of 30-35k. If the Miners win that and are competitive vs Texas or at least not a blowout loss, then the Army game might have 35-40k. A good team, more wins than losses and a competent offense could mean a return to good attendance all season. And a bowl game. And a bowl win. That's the ticket.
 
Wins will trump marketing any day.......Miners win some early and you will have at least 35,000 for Army..........They are the perfect "schedule" opponent, A well known name team and somebody you have a chance to beat. The Aggies coming to town won't hurt either. We also have Houston Baptist as well. Looks like 3 of our first four will be at home.
 
Attendance wouldn't be an issue if Bob Stull would have accepted bid to MWC. Nobody cares to watch the likes of FIU or FAU. El Pasoans are showing their dislike of this conference by not showing up. There's just not rivalries in this conference that gets El Pasoans excited to go attend a game. And theres only one person to blame, Bob Stull
 
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Voice of the Mosquito said:
Wins will trump marketing any day.......Miners win some early and you will have at least 35,000 for Army..........They are the perfect "schedule" opponent, A well known name team and somebody you have a chance to beat. The Aggies coming to town won't hurt either. We also have Houston Baptist as well. Looks like 3 of our first four will be at home.
Click to expand...
At least it's likely that 2 of the first 3 will be at home. NMSU should be the opener but not set in stone yet. The fcs game, Houston Baptist, is set for Nov 5th.
 
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artistarts28 said:
Attendance wouldn't be an issue if Bob Stull would have accepted bid to MWC. Nobody cares to watch the likes of FIU or FAU. El Pasoans are showing their dislike of this conference by not showing up. There's just not rivalries in this conference that gets El Pasoans excited to go attend a game. And theres only one person to blame, Bob Stull
Click to expand...
Oh I disagree with that. UTEP's attendance was slipping under Price with losing seasons piling up. You're right that fans would rather see the Miners play UNM than F_U but they won't come out in good numbers to see anyone playing a losing Miner squad. Win, stop the blowout losses, and the attendance will improve. We once had 49k in 1987 to see the Miners play Lamar. Not exactly a household name in El Paso. But the Miners were 4-1 going into the game. The year before, UTEP hosted CSU and Utah at the end of a losing season and had crowds of 12k and 14k. It's the winning that influences attendance much more than the opponent. Those were both Stull teams.
 
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I always felt the winning would bring out the fans as well, in 2014 football team had a winning record and fans didn't show up. The mindset in El Paso has changed, seems more people are educated in sports and won't just show up like they used to in the past win or lose. There seems to be a troubling trend that if UTEP doesn't make a change somewhere in the leadership we could fall to nmsu status. That's a scary thought but a reality if attendance continues in the downward arrow
 
UTEP needs to stop with trying to convert Fort Bliss into a UTEP fan base. Give up. We don't need to stand and have salute to the soldiers, Fort Bliss night, soldier hero of the night, etc... Soldiers who move here from Alabama, New York, and all across this country are already set in their ways. If I had to move to Wisconsin for 2 years, I am not going to invest my time and money in becoming a temporary Badger fan. I'll just follow the Miners from afar.

But week after week thousands of free tickets are given to soldiers. The soldiers try to give them away or they don't go. Then those that decide to group and get out of the barracks, show up in a Crimson Tide jersey, get drunk and harass the girls. They make it an unpleasant expierence for families. When I realize that my family is sitting next to soldiers, we move immediately. I was in the military in my 20's. My dad is retired military, I know how it is. It's rare to get someone like my father to be stationed here for 12 years, retire here, and become a Miner Fan.

If you want to give out free tickets. Do what the Diablos did in the 80's. Give thousands of ticket vouchers to the schools and work on making a young fans. One reason minor league baseball is huge in this city is because we all have amazing childhood memories of Dudley Field and Cohen stadium.
 
Attendance wouldn't be an issue if Bob Stull would have accepted bid to MWC. Nobody cares to watch the likes of FIU or FAU. El Pasoans are showing their dislike of this conference by not showing up. There's just not rivalries in this conference that gets El Pasoans excited to go attend a game. And theres only one person to blame, Bob Stull.

This Again? Damm that Bob Stull, can't find the link but he's likely the guy responsible for those speed bumps on my street and the crappy boob job my once hot neighbor got....it's all about the bumps with Bob, curse him!
 
kickballpro said:
UTEP needs to stop with trying to convert Fort Bliss into a UTEP fan base. Give up. We don't need to stand and have salute to the soldiers, Fort Bliss night, soldier hero of the night, etc... Soldiers who move here from Alabama, New York, and all across this country are already set in their ways. If I had to move to Wisconsin for 2 years, I am not going to invest my time and money in becoming a temporary Badger fan. I'll just follow the Miners from afar.

But week after week thousands of free tickets are given to soldiers. The soldiers try to give them away or they don't go. Then those that decide to group and get out of the barracks, show up in a Crimson Tide jersey, get drunk and harass the girls. They make it an unpleasant expierence for families. When I realize that my family is sitting next to soldiers, we move immediately. I was in the military in my 20's. My dad is retired military, I know how it is. It's rare to get someone like my father to be stationed here for 12 years, retire here, and become a Miner Fan.

If you want to give out free tickets. Do what the Diablos did in the 80's. Give thousands of ticket vouchers to the schools and work on making a young fans. One reason minor league baseball is huge in this city is because we all have amazing childhood memories of Dudley Field and Cohen stadium.
Click to expand...

I've never seen drunk soldiers harassing anyone at a Miner game, and I've been to almost every home football and basketball game the past ten years.
 
hate to give anything away including tickets, does nothing for the bottom line, destroys your market for paying tickets, angers true fans who did pay. Once you venture down that path, "fans" come to expect it. (Krispy Kream Effect). Don't know about Bliss soldiers being a solid market base for developing UTEP fans. Most I know have loyalty to other programs, lack the time, transport or cash to come to a football game and many are here for only a few years. If coming to a UTEP game likely they have a vested interest, which means they don't really need a free ticket. As for harassing students, I have never ever witnessed anything like that and doubt it is an ongoing occurrence, they risk a lot once they step off base and get involved with any behaviors which might reflect negative on the service.....and they are reminded of this often.
 
I'm guessing 40,000 for the Army game next year. Should have a couple million watching on TV. I'd be nice to give them a good wompin'.
 
Top 20 (19) crowds to attend a UTEP football game, looks to me that who they are playing is important but winning or the prospect of winning is a better predictor ie early season. If you look you will find the playing a "known rival" Lobos or Aggies makes a difference as does the timing, half of the top attended games were in September before the outcome of the season was known. Another dynamic is working here as well. When we say the lowest attended average for the season it can be a bit misleading. If you look at season 2008 for example our average attendance was close to 32,000, not bad, however most of that was drawn during the Texas game. In years where we draw well, two things become apparent (1) A marque team is played early season like Texas or TTU and (2) UNM, or NMSU is a featured home game sometime following, one or two weeks following. In only two years did we consistently draw in the 35,000 to 45,000 range (2000, 2006) for more than one game. Who we play in conference seems not so important with only 9 of the 19 crowds being large draws, and only if we are playing for something. It appears like this years drop in attendance (and I will look at yearly averages next) is a reflection of who, where and when we played, not who was coaching, the style we play or if it was conference game or not. Big games early inflate our average, as does playing the aggies at home. In a season without these factors you will be lucky to draw 25,000 a game. With all the stars aligned 40,000 is likely.

53,415 9/6/08 Texas L,
53,304 11/11/00 Rice W,
52,247 9/25/99 New Mexico State W
52,085 10/21/00 Fresno State W
51,827 9/9/2006 Texas Tech L
51,500 10/22/05 Marshall W,
51,500 9/30/06 New Mexico State W,
50,425 9/24/05 New Mexico W,
50,068 9/30/00 New Mexico State W,
49,481 10/17/87 Lamar W,
49,160 11/5/05 Tulsa W,
47,967 11/19/05 UAB L,
47,910 11/14/87 BYU L,
46,921 9/26/87 Hawaii W,
46,905 9/5/92 BYU L,
46,123 10/2/04 New Mexico State W
45,819 9/6/87 New Mexico State W,
45,558 9/16/05 Houston W
45,187 10/15/88 Colorado State W, 34-14

So if UTEP wants to increase attendance here is what they can do
(1) Bring in a Marque team 1st or 2nd game of the season which is often the only time you can schedule them anyway and always play away money games after the first 2-3 games, never open with them, like this year
(2) Play NMSU or UNM in week two or three, a filler in week 4 before conference
(3) No blowout losses early
 
Last edited:
jdubb66 said:
I'm guessing 40,000 for the Army game next year. Should have a couple million watching on TV. I'd be nice to give them a good wompin'.
Click to expand...

This seasons Army-Air Force game had 248,000 viewers and was televised on EspnU. I don't think Army vs Miners is going to get 700k more viewers.
 
Voice of the Mosquito said:
Top 20 (19) crowds to attend a UTEP football game, looks to me that who they are playing is important but winning or the prospect of winning is a better predictor ie early season. If you look you will find the playing a "known rival" Lobos or Aggies makes a difference as does the timing, half of the top attended games were in September before the outcome of the season was known. Another dynamic is working here as well. When we say the lowest attended average for the season it can be a bit misleading. If you look at season 2008 for example our average attendance was close to 32,000, not bad, however most of that was drawn during the Texas game. In years where we draw well, two things become apparent (1) A marque team is played early season like Texas or TTU and (2) UNM, or NMSU is a featured home game sometime following, one or two weeks following. In only two years did we consistently draw in the 35,000 to 45,000 range (2000, 2006) for more than one game. Who we play in conference seems not so important with only 9 of the 19 crowds being large draws, and only if we are playing for something. It appears like this years drop in attendance (and I will look at yearly averages next) is a reflection of who, where and when we played, not who was coaching, the style we play or if it was conference game or not. Big games early inflate our average, as does playing the aggies at home. In a season without these factors you will be lucky to draw 25,000 a game. With all the stars aligned 40,000 is likely.

53,415 9/6/08 Texas L,
53,304 11/11/00 Rice W,
52,247 9/25/99 New Mexico State W
52,085 10/21/00 Fresno State W
51,827 9/9/2006 Texas Tech L
51,500 10/22/05 Marshall W,
51,500 9/30/06 New Mexico State W,
50,425 9/24/05 New Mexico W,
50,068 9/30/00 New Mexico State W,
49,481 10/17/87 Lamar W,
49,160 11/5/05 Tulsa W,
47,967 11/19/05 UAB L,
47,910 11/14/87 BYU L,
46,921 9/26/87 Hawaii W,
46,905 9/5/92 BYU L,
46,123 10/2/04 New Mexico State W
45,819 9/6/87 New Mexico State W,
45,558 9/16/05 Houston W
45,187 10/15/88 Colorado State W, 34-14

So if UTEP wants to increase attendance here is what they can do
(1) Bring in a Marque team 1st or 2nd game of the season which is often the only time you can schedule them anyway and always play away money games after the first 2-3 games, never open with them, like this year
(2) Play NMSU or UNM in week two or three, a filler in week 4 before conference
(3) No blowout losses early
Click to expand...

Marquee teams will demand 2 for 1 home games from UTEP -- nice when you get them in El Paso once, but not when they blow you out at their place twice.
 
Voice of the Mosquito said:
Top 20 (19) crowds to attend a UTEP football game, looks to me that who they are playing is important but winning or the prospect of winning is a better predictor ie early season. If you look you will find the playing a "known rival" Lobos or Aggies makes a difference as does the timing, half of the top attended games were in September before the outcome of the season was known. Another dynamic is working here as well. When we say the lowest attended average for the season it can be a bit misleading. If you look at season 2008 for example our average attendance was close to 32,000, not bad, however most of that was drawn during the Texas game. In years where we draw well, two things become apparent (1) A marque team is played early season like Texas or TTU and (2) UNM, or NMSU is a featured home game sometime following, one or two weeks following. In only two years did we consistently draw in the 35,000 to 45,000 range (2000, 2006) for more than one game. Who we play in conference seems not so important with only 9 of the 19 crowds being large draws, and only if we are playing for something. It appears like this years drop in attendance (and I will look at yearly averages next) is a reflection of who, where and when we played, not who was coaching, the style we play or if it was conference game or not. Big games early inflate our average, as does playing the aggies at home. In a season without these factors you will be lucky to draw 25,000 a game. With all the stars aligned 40,000 is likely.

53,415 9/6/08 Texas L,
53,304 11/11/00 Rice W,
52,247 9/25/99 New Mexico State W
52,085 10/21/00 Fresno State W
51,827 9/9/2006 Texas Tech L
51,500 10/22/05 Marshall W,
51,500 9/30/06 New Mexico State W,
50,425 9/24/05 New Mexico W,
50,068 9/30/00 New Mexico State W,
49,481 10/17/87 Lamar W,
49,160 11/5/05 Tulsa W,
47,967 11/19/05 UAB L,
47,910 11/14/87 BYU L,
46,921 9/26/87 Hawaii W,
46,905 9/5/92 BYU L,
46,123 10/2/04 New Mexico State W
45,819 9/6/87 New Mexico State W,
45,558 9/16/05 Houston W
45,187 10/15/88 Colorado State W, 34-14

So if UTEP wants to increase attendance here is what they can do
(1) Bring in a Marque team 1st or 2nd game of the season which is often the only time you can schedule them anyway and always play away money games after the first 2-3 games, never open with them, like this year
(2) Play NMSU or UNM in week two or three, a filler in week 4 before conference
(3) No blowout losses early
Click to expand...
That's a lot of numbers and data. Good job and thanks for the info.
 
Marquee teams will demand 2 for 1 home games from UTEP -- nice when you get them in El Paso once, but not when they blow you out at their place twice.
Agreed, or they can demand a higher payout for one and one, you have to offer what they make for a average home game, which I agree is out of UTEP's price range for many. You also can work the payout differential which means you take less than the going rate when you play at their place. There are a few which will work with you (Oregon did in the 90's) and Army (of course debatable if Army is marque). We also could step down a bit and schedule teams like Boise (2018 which is a one for one I believe). Would these teams draw like a UT or TTU likely not but they could bring in a much better than average crowd. A good known regional like UNM, CSU, U of A or a special interest like a service academy would do well (not great) also. We also can "pick off" a marque game from time to time. Sometimes sudden schedule changes make a one for one deal possible, we need to be looking for those opportunities when they arise. We have options but the poison pill we took this year should never occur. What ever we do we can't play our money game before our first home game, it's a known season and attendance killer. This year we did it 2X and we never recovered from it.
 
I agree an occasional marquee opponent is nice. I also agree with tapping into the apparent appetite for historical/traditional rivals for non-conference games (New Mexico, Colorado State, Wyoming, etc.).

Money games against the Big 12 will always be early games because of how they schedule. SEC plays some money games later.
 
Is the NMSU game a sacred cow? Not playing them every year would open up a date for a more compelling opponent.
 
We need to schedule UNM home and home staggered with the NMSU game for home and away. That will give us at one home game every year with a New Mexico school which seems to be a hit with the fans. Also try to schedule Arizona , Arizona St., Texas Tech and some old WAC teams like CSU and Air Force every once in a while at home.(easier said than done)
 
Sacred Cow....yes and not sure what you mean be more compelling opponent? If you look at our top crowds, they are our most compelling opponent. They draw even when they are not winning and when they are winning like in "99, "00 and "06 they are pure gold. No team will draw like them and be as cost effective (we only really trade gate with them). If we get lucky and draw 50,000 for them like in 06, that's 1.5 million profit for UTEP ( and we don't have to get the crap beat out of us by the Toothless Arkies or Dirt Farmers in Lubbock to collect it!) The Aggies get a good payday when we play there as well. What other FBS team would agree to those terms and draw like the Aggies? Nobody. Face it UNM, NMSU and UTEP all benefit from playing each other because it makes money sense and most of the times the games between these schools are competitive. (we are all bad most years). All three of us have enough schedule disadvantages we shouldn't blow off the biggest schedule asset we have.
 
My goal for an out of conference schedule would be nmsu (dropping them is out of the question, fact), home and homes with 2 mountain west opponents, that way we always get one game here, one away, each year. And a somewhat regional opponent like the Arizona's or TT, as develman suggested. Maybe a small school home game ala Houston Baptist, SHSU type if a big school road game is not possible. Just my 2 cents.
 
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