Student attendance

[g-mann17]

According to a current Zipline Poll at least 4500 students plan to attend at least 1 game. 1600 say they will attend all 6 games. It's very important that we get that number up to 6000 (20% of attendance). And even more important that we can get them to be at every game (that's up to the guys on the field though)

[ZachTheZip]

Very few students are on Zipline in the middle of summer break. We'll see more than 1600 at every game unless the weather sucks.

[Class of 82]

Very few students are on Zipline in the middle of summer break. We'll see more than 1600 at every game unless the weather sucks.

I suppose all we can do is guess, but I agree that 1,600 sounds low. I find it hard to believe student attendance won't increase dramatically now that the stadium is right in their neighborhood. They ought to do some sort of special "tailgating" party for ticket-holding students only somewhere on campus. Make it a tradition, where maybe they could march into the stadium behind the band or something. Such a thing would require some careful thought and logistical planning, but it could be a real hoot... not to mention something truly unique to Akron football.

[bUAkronG]

I voted for attending all six. I attended all home games and even went to two away games last year(Can't and Ohio).The hype is amazing on campus. I expect to see huge attendance the first few games and if the team doesn't perform well during those games it will decline. But I was surprisingly pleased with the student numbers last year and I am positive they will increase with an on-campus stadium.

[skip-zip]

I do expect student attendance to increase with the on-campus stadium. In fact, I think it will be noticably higher for those first couple of games. Beyond that, I'm sure the numbers will drop as the weather gets colder...just like it will for the general public. I'm hoping that at least 5,000 do indeed make it to those first few games. And I'd probably be pleased to see half of them still coming for the November games.

[Quickzips]

I REALLY hate to open this can of worms again, but I feel that people need to temper their expectations of student support once the stadium opens. I fully expect the first couple games to be sellouts or close to it, but to expect a 6000 student average on the season is unreasonable in my mind. I've seen nothing in the history of our athletic programs that indicates to me that that many students are just going to suddenly start supporting us because we have a new stadium on campus. In response to Class of 82, this stadium isn't exactly "right in their neighborhood." Just over 3,000 of our students live on campus. A very small amount compared to overall enrollment. Even if you figure that another 3,000 students (a pretty high estimate in my opinion) live off campus but within walking distance that only accounts for about 6,000 students "in the neighborhood" and you would need to get 100% attendance from them in order to get to that 6,000 average. I would love to be proven wrong about all of this. Believe me, I would. But I think it is going to take more than just a shiny new stadium to get students on this campus to come out and support the Zips in droves the way some of you on here are expecting.

[Class of 82]

In response to Class of 82, this stadium isn't exactly "right in their neighborhood." Just over 3,000 of our students live on campus. A very small amount compared to overall enrollment. Even if you figure that another 3,000 students (a pretty high estimate in my opinion) live off campus but within walking distance that only accounts for about 6,000 students "in the neighborhood" and you would need to get 100% attendance from them in order to get to that 6,000 average.

Perhaps the numbers have declined along with the safety of the neighborhoods, Quickzips, but it seems to me that there have historically been way more than 3,000 students living in the immediate area around but off campus. (Maybe one of the UA types among the nation has a solid number.)At any rate, I would agree with you that expecting 6,000 students game in and game out is probably out of the question. But I don't think 3,000 is an unreasonable expectation. It just occurs to me that 1,600 seems overly pessimistic. But heck, even that paltry a number would represent a substantial improvement.Now... if we could only get some of our early MAC games scheduled at home. It sure seems like we get screwed in that regard every year.

[ndzeigler]

First of all, I just went on zipline and don't see the survey you are talking about. Secondly, a lot of students will go to the first game or two just due to the excitement of the new facility, but what it all boils down to is wins. The soccer team has extremely loyal support, because they win. The football team is going to have to have a good season to give students a reason to want to go to the football games. You can talk about surveys or polls or whatever you want, but you really won't know how the long term student turnout will be until the season starts. Whether the football stadium is in the students "backyard" or not, students won't be interested in going to watch crappy football.

[ksu sucks]

Perhaps the numbers have declined along with the safety of the neighborhoods, Quickzips, but it seems to me that there have historically been way more than 3,000 students living in the immediate area around but off campus. (Maybe one of the UA types among the nation has a solid number.)At any rate, I would agree with you that expecting 6,000 students game in and game out is probably out of the question. But I don't think 3,000 is an unreasonable expectation. It just occurs to me that 1,600 seems overly pessimistic. But heck, even that paltry a number would represent a substantial improvement.Now... if we could only get some of our early MAC games scheduled at home. It sure seems like we get screwed in that regard every year.

I've actually asked one of the president' staff members that very question. There is approximately 10,000 students living in dorms or in the campus neighborhood. And that's probably not considering the studetns like myself who will be living in nearby neighborhoods. OU has a total student population of about 15,000. Even if you assume that every single one of those kids lives on campus, they only have 5,000 more than us. We should be able to match their student attendence numbers.Averaging 6,000 a game...not even close. 3,000...I sure as hell hope so. Somewhere in between is ideal. If the program can start winning bowl games every year..or atleast qualifying for them, then a 6,000 student average is probably within range. Akron has a good sized population of students in the campus and sorrounding neighborhood. Atleast comparable to most other campuses across the country.

[xu9697]

10% of the crowd as students is a fair number and probably relatively consistent with many Division I programs.

[Zipsrifle]

I saw somewhere that 87% of people in Akron polled about the new stadium responded "OSU built a new stadium?....Wow!, I didn't know that. Yea, I'll pay $143 per ticket to watch them beat Lorain County Community College!". 9% of people responded that they thought the new stadium was actually a giant solar collector and was funded by the new Obama administration. 2% responded that they heard that Akron had a University but didn't know there was a football team. The remaining 2% are Zips season ticket holders and will be at all the games anyway.

[bUAkronG]

I saw somewhere that 87% of people in Akron polled about the new stadium responded "OSU built a new stadium?....Wow!, I didn't know that. Yea, I'll pay $143 per ticket to watch them beat Lorain County Community College!". 9% of people responded that they thought the new stadium was actually a giant solar collector and was funded by the new Obama administration. 2% responded that they heard that Akron had a University but didn't know there was a football team. The remaining 2% are Zips season ticket holders and will be at all the games anyway.

Hey now, I went to LC3 for a year, I think their nonexistant football team could give OSU a run for their money