Sellout The Sun Bowl vs LaTech!
- Thread starter Maximus Miner
- Start date
If UTEP can get more than 20,000 fans into The Sun Bow that will be a major accomplishment. Aside from the game vs Houston Baptist in 2019 where they were giving tickets away, the last time UTEP has had 20,000 plus fans at a home was for WKU and Arizona in 2017 (0-12).
Our biggest crowd this year is 15,069 (UNM) and the biggest crowd under Dimmel not counting HBU was NSMU in 2018 with 19,412 fans.
I don’t want to beat a dead horse but that Army game in 2016 was a neutron bomb for the program and the city. 37,893 people were at that game followed by:
21,419 vs S. Miss (L)
17,751 vs FIU (L)
19,254 vs ODU (L)
15,977 vs HBU (W)
18,591 vs Rice (W)
The last time the Miners had less than 20,000 fans prior to the Army game was Marshall in 2009 (19,736). That game was a 1:00 PM start time so I can understand fans probably weren’t up for it. Prior to that the last home game to have less than 20,000 was San Diego St in 2003 (18,195) and that was the week after the horror show vs Cal Poly and even then managed 28,144 fans vs LA Tech before the fans gave up.
In Price’s last year here is a quick breakdown of fan attendance:
2012: 3-9
Games w/40-50k: 1
Games w/30-40k: 2
Games w/20-30k: 3
Now here is the breakdown of fan attendance under Kugler and you can see him and Stull torpedoed this program on the field and in the stands:
2013: 2-10
Games w/30-40k fans: 2
Games w/20-30k fans: 3
2014: 7-6
Games w/30-40k fans: 2
Games w/20-30k fans 3
2015: 5-7
Games w/20-30k fans: 5
2016: 4-8 (When UTEP played Army)
Games w/30-40k fans: 2
Games w/20-30k fans: 1
Games w/10-20k fans: 4
2017: 0-12
Games w/20-30k fans: 2
Games w/10-20k fans: 3
And here’s Dimmel’s tenure:
2018: 1-11
Games w/10-20k fans: 5
Games w/less than 10k fans: 1
2019: 1-11
Games w/30-40k fans: 1 (HBU)
Games w/10-20k fans: 5
2020: Doesn’t count
2021: 5-1
Games w/10-20k fans: 3
This rebuild is not just on the field, it’s off the field as well. Even under Nord and Charlie Bailey UTEP was able to pull in crowds of 20-30k while crows below 15k were uncommon. In 1993 UTEP was 1-9 under David Lee was 1-8 and on their way to 1-11 when 11,225 fans turned up to watch the Miners lose 54-0 to Colorado St. That’s the earliest crowd pre-Dimmel/Kugler that resembled what we see today. But earlier in the year 39,612 fans were at the Sun Bowl to watch them beat UNLV and their home finale vs UNM had 15,147.
We are in the middle of an unparalleled dark era for UTEP football even by UTEP’s standards and hopefully fans will come out to support their team. But I am skeptical that fan confidence can be won over this year alone, or with cheaper tickets. Consistent winning is the only thing that matters now.
Our biggest crowd this year is 15,069 (UNM) and the biggest crowd under Dimmel not counting HBU was NSMU in 2018 with 19,412 fans.
I don’t want to beat a dead horse but that Army game in 2016 was a neutron bomb for the program and the city. 37,893 people were at that game followed by:
21,419 vs S. Miss (L)
17,751 vs FIU (L)
19,254 vs ODU (L)
15,977 vs HBU (W)
18,591 vs Rice (W)
The last time the Miners had less than 20,000 fans prior to the Army game was Marshall in 2009 (19,736). That game was a 1:00 PM start time so I can understand fans probably weren’t up for it. Prior to that the last home game to have less than 20,000 was San Diego St in 2003 (18,195) and that was the week after the horror show vs Cal Poly and even then managed 28,144 fans vs LA Tech before the fans gave up.
In Price’s last year here is a quick breakdown of fan attendance:
2012: 3-9
Games w/40-50k: 1
Games w/30-40k: 2
Games w/20-30k: 3
Now here is the breakdown of fan attendance under Kugler and you can see him and Stull torpedoed this program on the field and in the stands:
2013: 2-10
Games w/30-40k fans: 2
Games w/20-30k fans: 3
2014: 7-6
Games w/30-40k fans: 2
Games w/20-30k fans 3
2015: 5-7
Games w/20-30k fans: 5
2016: 4-8 (When UTEP played Army)
Games w/30-40k fans: 2
Games w/20-30k fans: 1
Games w/10-20k fans: 4
2017: 0-12
Games w/20-30k fans: 2
Games w/10-20k fans: 3
And here’s Dimmel’s tenure:
2018: 1-11
Games w/10-20k fans: 5
Games w/less than 10k fans: 1
2019: 1-11
Games w/30-40k fans: 1 (HBU)
Games w/10-20k fans: 5
2020: Doesn’t count
2021: 5-1
Games w/10-20k fans: 3
This rebuild is not just on the field, it’s off the field as well. Even under Nord and Charlie Bailey UTEP was able to pull in crowds of 20-30k while crows below 15k were uncommon. In 1993 UTEP was 1-9 under David Lee was 1-8 and on their way to 1-11 when 11,225 fans turned up to watch the Miners lose 54-0 to Colorado St. That’s the earliest crowd pre-Dimmel/Kugler that resembled what we see today. But earlier in the year 39,612 fans were at the Sun Bowl to watch them beat UNLV and their home finale vs UNM had 15,147.
We are in the middle of an unparalleled dark era for UTEP football even by UTEP’s standards and hopefully fans will come out to support their team. But I am skeptical that fan confidence can be won over this year alone, or with cheaper tickets. Consistent winning is the only thing that matters now.
Sure if the Miners get 27k plus, I will never post here again
If they get less than 27,000, you can pay me $200.
I’ll take that bet.
**only exception is the bet is called off if some giant entity purchases a shit ton of tickets and gives the away in the next few days and if there is an act of God that halts ticket sales between now and Saturday. COVID is not an excuse**
Don’t flatter yourself. If you thought 30k isn’t possible, why bring it up? I only argue with points I disagree with or out right lies.
It's called simple mathematics. Sun Bowl holds 47k - 18.6k single game tickets available. I'm reaffirming that I'm not sure that because we only have 18.6k tickets for sale that it means we're hitting 30k. In other words don't assume we're hitting 30k based on the amount of tickets available online.
For those of you who live in El Paso, are people talking about the 5-1 football team? Are you sensing any excitement? Are they talking about UTEP on the local news to hype up the big game?
I see.
I think “30k” is “possible” for the UTSA game if they have 0 or 1 loss and we beat both LaTech and FAU.
I hope you're right. I'm also hoping Senter buckles and does a 50% flash sale on Friday for LaTech's game.
Question: How many season ticket holders are there? Based on those numbers, I'm guessing in the 15-20k range?
Which makes absolutely no sense. Because you usually count season tickets as paid attendance.
As NoWins brought up there are still thousands of tickets not listed for sale on ticketmaster. Based on our actual attendance I would estimate maybe 7k season tickets. That's being generous.
I’m not hearing much but there seems to be a lot of interest on social media and the news seems to be doing stories on the team.
Regarding the idea of getting Mike Price out to promote UTEP, he sold his El Paso house last year and no longer lives here.
I think people also forget Mike Price had bonuses in his contract for attendance. He got payed a cut for every ticket sold over 30,000 for each home game and every season ticket sold over 15,000. He was out selling UTEP football because he was incetivized to do so.
He was also well liked and hadn’t been an assistant for 20 years with a winless season on his record.
No. Most of the people I know are like, "UTEP is 5-1? Hmm cool".
Here ya go: I say no lower than 31,025, and not one lower. No approximates, no guesstimates. Just the official announcement from the university during halftime.
If it's 31,026, you get your fanny out of here and don't come back.
That’s a bold prediction. I hope you win but it may be wishful thinking to see an almost 20k spike in attendance over two weeks.
That's weird people from El Paso who live here in DFW are excited and talking about UTEP and going to N. Texas game!
And I will get $200 (US dollars) if the attendance is 31,025 or lower, correct?
2step must be a horrible negotiator. Should have left the bet at 27k. That's more realistic.
I explained it as clearly as I could not to use the figures I posted from ticketmaster as a source indicating we'll hit 30k.
Seems like those of us who live elsewhere are more stoked about our Miners surprising success than those who actually live in EP. Welp...
I like Mr. 2Step but I agree. He made a bad bet here.
Love ya, 2Step!
Love ya too, NoWins!
That Colorado State blowout loss was in a blizzard too. There weren't many fans go begin with, but by the end of the game there were around 200 fans on the stands tops.
I'm not exaggerating either. I remember the game pretty well. The day Barron Wortham broke the tackle record
Wow. Barron Wortham. That's a name I heard tons from my little brother. He LOVED Wortham.
If there is a lack of ticket 🎫 sales because of the weather 🌡️, it should not be:
Game Time Forecast for the Sun 😎 Bowl 🏟️ on Saturday night:
Clear 67°
Wind 🌬️🍃 10 MPH
Chance of rain 🌧️☔: 0%
Game Time Forecast for the Sun 😎 Bowl 🏟️ on Saturday night:
Clear 67°
Wind 🌬️🍃 10 MPH
Chance of rain 🌧️☔: 0%
In my opinion, no. The hype isn’t there. I’ve witnessed other instances where there was, and in this case I am not seeing it. I expected a huge push from UTEP and the media.
Pocos pero locos. In my experience at Texas away games, our section of UTEP fans always seem to be louder than ever. Maybe it's cus we realize this our only chance to relive our hometown. That's why if El Paso doesn't get behind this team I would prefer UTEP goes bowling to Frisco.
