Home Football Game Means
- Thread starter bbneutralfan
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Hell, I would be happy if we averaged 27K a game. Not sure if we'll ever do that again.
The average attendance for all FBS programs in 2021 was 39,800. That's the lowest average since 1981.
I guess all fans suck!
The average attendance for all FBS programs in 2021 was 39,800. That's the lowest average since 1981.
I guess all fans suck!
I visit a lot of message boards, and I agree we rank close the top in our ability to be unhappy about insignificant issues.
The entire fan base. This is a good fan base. People who know basketball and football. People who know the difference between a good record, and a good showing. You are certainly seeing that with DD’s No Effort November schedule.
Marshall fans tend to be practical folks... Don't try to sell me an 85 Chevette and tell me its a Tesla.
Our basketball schedule is pathetic... That doesn't change if the team starts 12-1 or 1-12.
If fans can't expect fundamental basics: putting a competently coached and competitive team on the field; expecting a stadium to meet a certain standard of upkeep and maintenance, including cleaning seats, isles, restrooms, concourses, concession areas, etc., then perhaps the DAMN stands should be 60 to 75 percent EMPTY every game!! We only play, usually, SIX home games a season!! Don't we have enough competent buildings and grounds maintenance people at MU to routinely perform the expected and usual maintenance and cleaning for not only the Stadium, but all other University venues, buildings, etc.?
I think Marshall generally does these. Always room for improvement? Absolutely.
Does Marshall have enough staff??? Probably not. It is why Brad and countless other volunteers from the community are spending their free time getting involved with the university to do some of the grounds & building upkeep work themselves.
Which goes to the other part of my post. The competent team on the field. In three of our losses, we have scored, IIRC, 7, 13 and 13 points. Two of those were at the JOAN. Watching a simple, plodding and unproductive offense labor unsuccessfully for 4 Quarter doesn't do much to get my blood pumping faster, and I'm an old geezer. Can't imagine it does much to excite and attract, and KEEP, the interest of many students, who are decades younger! I imagine that they would prefer to watch something else, perhaps watching paint dry!
The average attendance for all FBS programs in 2021 was 39,800. That was the lowest average since 1981. Yeah, it's just a Marshall problem.
You mean the ones who complain when MU uses the color black on their uniforms?
You mean the ones who complain about the rap music?
You mean the ones who laugh at the AD for wanting to build a baseball field?
You mean the ones who actively try to not attend games, then get mad about attendance?
You mean the ones who complain when a WR drops a pass or when MU doesn't score 100 points a game?
You mean the ones who demand MU give to them?
That generation of teenagers are already adults...are alive and well, on here, and everywhere.
That's the way it is with every other school...many have a bigger budget and have the resources to appear to care about the fans (they don't, they just want your money).
MU hired quite possibly the most fan friendly football coach out there. He already wanted to have changes to game day, and had them...blocking off 20th st.
It's not his fault the area fans don't show up and find every excuse out there to not attend.
The AD tarped off the end zone and is looking to re-do that area...as if, he's listening to the fans.
You talk about the MU AD not being fan friendly or reaching out...did you ever consider the fans complain about everything he does and aren't particularly welcoming to begin with? The fans have unrealistic demands of a very limited AD and don't seem to understand that...at all.
The AD could send everyone a bag of dogshit and it wouldn't hurt attendance if MU was undefeated and ranked in the top 15.
What exactly do you want the AD to do to get the fans to attend?
I cannot agree more on this.
MU fans are simply unreasonable.
Anything the AD has done is met with complaints...just STFU.
MU could go to 9 wins this season and a pretty solid recovery after a disasterous start, and fans will not accept it.
Plead Guilty! Throw myself upon the mercy of the court!
WELL STATED.....Aaron. It's a Marshall student and adult thing. I know the lack of jobs in West Virginia makes it difficult for "some" parents to take the family to HERD sporting events......Enough said! I reside in Carolina and purchase Marshall football season tickets annually. When I don't drive to Huntington...I donate my 2 tickets to the Boys-Girls Club of Huntington (hoping to create a HERD fan when they grow up). I attend college games in the Carolinas some weekends...and I can assure you the fans & STUDENTS pack the stadiums @ UNC, NC State, Wake Forest (about 7,600 students), South Carolina, Appy State, CLEMSON, and even Davidson College (1,973 students in 2021) fill their on-campus football field or Belk Arena (5,300 seats for Wildcat basketball) with lots of STUDENTS & fans. When was the last time 5,300 (capacity 9,048) fans were in The Cam? Even the Charlotte 49ers fill their football stadium (although it seats 15,000----they are getting ready to add about 26.000 seats for their entry into the American Athletic Conference in 2023. Sadly, it is a Marshall "thing" where "most" students are pathetic! They stay in their dorms and drink & play video games.....or F&%K off! I wonder what it will be like in 5-10 years?????
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I attended a large high school that had multiple championships in various sports. The crowds at football and basketball were large and boisterous.
I still remember how shocked I was when I attended my first Marshall football game. The people just sat there quietly in a half filled stadium. It was more like going to a lecture. With few exceptions, not much has changed over the decades.
I still remember how shocked I was when I attended my first Marshall football game. The people just sat there quietly in a half filled stadium. It was more like going to a lecture. With few exceptions, not much has changed over the decades.
Well, outside of the greater Huntington area, where do most instate students at MU come from? Traditionally, going back to the 60s and 70s it's been the Charleston-Kanawha Valley area. And back then, the most prevalent site around the dorms on Friday afternoons was the throngs of "suit casers", students heading out of Huntington or running around looking for rides out of Huntington. Years I was in men's dorms there were probably more students from the Kanawha Valley area who went home on Fridays to attend high school games there than there were who stuck around MU to go to a HERD game. Wouldn't doubt in that situation hasn't changed all that much.
Charlotte doesn't come close to filling their stadium. I watched 2-3 of their home games and they were lucky to have 10K at each one. They are pretty much a non-topic in Charlotte. But agree 100% on our students. Pretty piss poor attendance. Something needs to be done.
Agree, we are still a heavy commuter school. And the fact that student interests have changed. Their phones are their lives now. Social Media is their primary source of entertainment. Hell, most of them can't carry on a 2 minute conversation - it's gotten that bad.
Do others on here remember when the media actually competed for the best MU story on a daily basis? That matters too. I'm not saying it is "the" reason, but it is "a" reason. Media helps create hype and is/was considered a rather inexpensive advertising outlet for decades. Now, heck, I have to search for a good story about the Herd. Marshall had basically its own media outlet with the Thundering Herd Network back in the sweeter portion of the FCS D1AA days. We controlled the local media somewhat by being an attractive story line for them daily. Now they're not really interested and we don't provide enough hype for them to be.
As for students, they will follow winning, but they don't need another reason to be drug down; which losing does. It further degradates the image of the school and provides no incentive to participate. Winning will bring fans more than any other advertisement and selling tool one can develop.
As for students, they will follow winning, but they don't need another reason to be drug down; which losing does. It further degradates the image of the school and provides no incentive to participate. Winning will bring fans more than any other advertisement and selling tool one can develop.
Great points on the media. I remember back in the 1-AA playoff days, local TV and radio stations would run - "Fill the Stadium" plugs the week leading up to the next game. Now crickets. All Marshall does are tweets and emails. Granted, social media is fine for the younger fans but many, many fans still get the HD, watch SAZ every night, etc.
And, as crazy as it seems, 10-15 miles outside the Huntington city limits, some homes can't get or don't have internet service - true fact.
Marshall needs a plan to build the fan base, I doubt they've ever had one. The BG is stagnant as well, has been for years. What plans do they have to bring in more donors? PR Campaign? Tables at all MU games - all sports, and local functions?
Gotta sell the product in todays world. A lot of competition for limited discretionary funds. jmo
BUT.....Marshall (football & basketball ARE WINNING).......I watched the highlights of Charlotte 49er basketball @ Davidson last night. The game went OT and Charlotte hit a 3-ball as time was expiring to claim the Hornets Nest Trophy. Guess what? Belk Arena was sold out (capacity 5700) with lots of students in the stands from BOTH schools! I submit Marshall students would balk if you gave them $1,000 to attend games @ The Joan or The Cam....because the denominations would not be to their liking! Hell, when I was at Marshall----GAME DAY was the top attraction!
I'm not really going to post anything that has already been said. But it's about entertainment, plain and simple. Play an exciting brand of FB, win/compete for championships and play meaningful games in November and people will show up. Apathy is real and MU fans expect to be entertained and winning conference championships. Plain and simple. Until then get used to the Joan being empty for most games.
I bet the Cam would be jammed with students if we played WVU there!!! Charlotte and Davidson would be about 45 min apart and big rivals, other than that most of the Davidson students spend the night studying. And dont get me started on Richardson field.
Those were some of the best games to attend back in the day. The Marshall Invitational was always fantastic basketball too.
Well, since Danny has been in Huntington, the HERD has faced exactly TWO Major foes in the CAM: South Carolina and Penn State, whom the HERD played in his first season. They were returning games on a home and home contract signed prior to Danny becoming head coach. TWO teams in EIGHT plus seasons!! That's "really" trying to build interest in your basketball program and put additional fans in the stands at the CAM, folks!!
Even worse, we currently play none those kinds of name opponents ANYWHERE, home, away or at a neutral site. Play some opponents that even the casual fans, not necessarily die-hard HERD fans, know or recognize!! If you don't play em, you'll never had a shot to beat em!! Can't get national respect, or even local respect, by playing a schedule of unknowns or a lot of opponents ranked in the bottom third or fourth of a total of around 320 or so Division One basketball teams!!
Even worse, we currently play none those kinds of name opponents ANYWHERE, home, away or at a neutral site. Play some opponents that even the casual fans, not necessarily die-hard HERD fans, know or recognize!! If you don't play em, you'll never had a shot to beat em!! Can't get national respect, or even local respect, by playing a schedule of unknowns or a lot of opponents ranked in the bottom third or fourth of a total of around 320 or so Division One basketball teams!!
Lots of remote places, but given the student social.media accounts, there is no shortage of partying on weekends, so.its not like they have a shortage of things to do.
No, you can.
You can polish a turd of a season and gain enough interest for people to show up.
Part of it is giving the fans a rational reality check and telling them to STFU on occasion...both of which never happen. Also, to just quit displaying their fragile ego because "with 3 mins in the 2nd quarter against Southern Miss last year...I just don't trust this team."
Remember Elmore going for the scoring title, the narrative of that gained interest.
Then he was playing in some meaningless tournament which the local media hyped up, despite it being a 4th tier one?
Enough people showed up for it to appear to mean something.
The issue is there is no narrative or "storytelling" of an athlete or team to gain interest.
We had one with Rakeem Cato, but everyone hated Doc so much, many refused to attend because their meaningless "pride" would take a hit.
They also tried, as hard as they could, to root against MU or hope they'd lose, at the hopes of proving themselves right, which is the dumbest thing you can do.
But it's WV, so that's sort of normal I guess.
The point is, the media doesn't give fans an interest in the team, rather just present them with the players and coach interviews.
Cato was special because he actually opened up about his past, and it wasn't easy. Same with a very small amount of others in the years.
Combine that with just once a single mistake or single game/loss has happened, the idiot fans make their minds up, declare some stupid statement about the failures of MU, and then refuse to change or accept that MU could prove them wrong.
I am hearing Spears is thinking of a BYOPWD (brind your own pressure washer day) so you bring your pressure washer to the stadium, after an 8 shift of cleaing, you get a free Big Green membership, and the right to buy chairbacks at the normal price. (+ Big Green Donation)
I for one (or I guess 3 when you include my wife and son) are not there because of the schedule and lack of investment by the staff. We cancelled our two season tickets directly because we have the weakest schedule Danny could put together coupled with continuous lame excuses from our coach after every game.
Honestly, I did not even write a letter to the administration explaining my displeasure with the direction of this program, we just decided no to renew our tickets based upon my view from afar about how this program is being ran by those in charge. Danny seemingly views playing a serious and competitive schedule as impossible.
I have traditionally supported MU Basketball more intensely (with my ole pocket book, time investment, etc.) than football, but that has changed in the previous 3-ish years.
At a minimum, Huff and the football administration/staff have expectations for themselves and their team. Danny seemingly has ZERO expectations. To Danny, it seems competing in a weak league is a win.
The main problem is that there is increasing apathy from former hoops fans (myself included). In prior years in addition to having multiple seasons tickets, I also would be subscribed to ESPN + to watch the games. This year I have done none of the above. Changes need to occur or more apathy is going to occur amongst former Herd fans.
During my time at Marshall, we had about 6,000 students and around 6,500 rowdy fans filled the old Field House for basketball games. Now we have near 14,000 students, a newer and larger arena, and we often draw less than 4,000 spectators. Not good.
greenie......I never missed basketball games @ the old Field House....remember if your name ended in A---L you got 2 tickets; M-Z....you received 2 tickets. I would go Shawkey Student Union and ask for a female (that was not interested in attending sporting events)...give her a kiss & she would give me her tickets......STUDENTS (today) don't give a damn about anything other their cell phones and getting drunk in the rooms!
I have advocated for years to have a designated Saturday & invite fans to come & clean the stadium. The previous AD claimed they could not do this for insurance reasons and a possible lawsuit against Marshall should someone get hurt! I said...GET ALL FANS to sign a waiver! It's not brain surgery!!!!~!!
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I believe I remember you, Sweeney. You were a KA. Kind of a short guy.
Now I understand why there weren’t a lot of girls at the basketball games. You assaulted them and took their tickets. 😁
Greenstaff......you live near the SC coast now (MB)... you were a Sig Ep....and YES--- I captured a lot of your Sig Ep ladies.......The KAs would chant-----"A toast to Sig Ep ladies...may the ALL have KA babies!" LOL Speaking of SHORT GUYS---I recall you being short & skinny!
