Fan Base

[ohio herd]

Hearing different people on here mention this from time to time got me thinking. Are we unique with our trend of fewer people? Is it all about who the coach is or who we play? Here is an interesting article.

https://fanbuzz.com/college-football/cfb-attendance-2019/

Seems that every conference is being affected. Here is another thought. Is it possible that college football has become more popular in recent years and has peaked and now returning to old norms. I remember going to games as a young person at Fairfield where the seating capacity was around 18,000. That included an addition of 5,000 seats in 1970. Of course In 1984 the original 1927 east side was torn down, after being found unsafe, and was replaced by temporary aluminum bleachers.Not sure how many seats were lost. The point is we really didn't fill the stadium then. Of course things changed and the attendance grew and by the time we occupied the Joan in 1991 at 28,000 original seating capacity ,we had grown our base. Now taking into account that the city of Huntington has lost population over the years in question it seems we have grown our base from outside of the city of Huntington and it's Metro area.

It also seems to me that we have a base of around 23,000-25,000 win or lose. We have more when we play a big game like WVU or Purdue. I think we should shoot for the stars and all, but overall we are doing probably better than many schools in larger cities with larger alumni bases. Just a thought from a lifelong Herd football fan.

 

[GreenDuke]

8,000 seats were added in 1970. The original grandstands held approx 10k.
You can still see two examples of the original Fairfield design at Parkersburg HS and Ohio University. There are many many more as this was a popular size and design during that era. Without doing research it seems to me that live attendance is down for every sport from LL to professional. The reasons are many and have been discussed for years.

 

[Herd-nificent]

I remember that in the early sixties we would cheer 1st downs, and TD's were out of the question.

 

[Bankerreturns]

I remember that in the early sixties we would cheer 1st downs, and TD's were out of the question.

Well, we are half way back there. The second half this year there have been very few first downs or TDs.

 

[MU PIKE]

Ohio Herd, agree about the solid fan base, but think it’s more like 18,000 that show up freezing rain, bone chilling cold or scorching hot. 1-7 or 6-2 they show up. We are blessed to have such a loyal following and your right, most schools our size/location would trade places with us in a heart beat.

I love Marshall, Win or lose, I love Marshall.

 

[GoHerdMarshallYes]

Ohio Herd, agree about the solid fan base, but think it’s more like 18,000 that show up freezing rain, bone chilling cold or scorching hot. 1-7 or 6-2 they show up. We are blessed to have such a loyal following and your right, most schools our size/location would trade places with us in a heart beat.

I love Marshall, Win or lose, I love Marshall.

I will add what I have said often.

While MU does (by fan expectations) underperform, its not like they are routinely going 3-9 like many schools.
Some may have a flash in the pan year, but the fanbase is so disconnected due to the decades of routinely losing that when they do come around, the season is basically over.
Its been a bit of a down period for college football overall but I am glad MU has been able to hold themselves together with more positive results than most others.

 

[Raoul Duke MU]

. Here is another thought. Is it possible that college football has become more popular in recent years and has peaked and now returning to old norms.

College football is as popular as ever.

It's right there in the opening paragraph in your link. GIANT HD TV's and damn near every game available to watch. And of course a million other entertainment options.

 

[sistersville]

Why did people think we build a larger stadium and with our economy that we would average 30000 fan Best times rooting for the herd for me was at old Fairfield. Well the ports John's were the only place we could burn one at a Marshall game

 

[The Real SamC]

Today, 99.9% of I-A games, and about 40% of I-AA games are on TV or internet today, almost all in HD. Hell, WV Racist Community College played Harvey High on channel 13 last Saturday. You can sit on your a** in front of your big screen with a remote and take in the whole day of must see games. Or you can devote at least half if not your whole day to one game.

It is happening all over college sports. The places with truely big traditional atmospheres will be OK, but the sport is much more TV centered now. And the same is true of the NFL and especially of MLB.

 

[Tim Hensley]

Original Fairfield seated 10,000. Aafter the improvements, it held16,500.