9100 Attendance

[Balsy]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/12886474/major-college-football-attendance-hits-worst-average-2003

Where in the world did Akron have the capacity to lose 8680 in average attendance?

As some of the other members mentioned...Can't game was away and in December...on a weekday.

[Roo]

I have a hard time believing, even with Can't at home, that we averaged over 10k per game. Of all the games that I have been too, it rarely looks above 5k. When the stadium first opened, opening game would at least be pretty packed but even the last couple of years, that game has been pretty much zilch.

I do recall weather being awful for two games last year, one of which was on ESPN right? Marshall? I think there may have been a couple hundred there due to awful weather.

[skip-zip]

Balsy, we didn't lose 8,600 average per game because Can't was an away game vs. a home game. I think you may have missed that this is a "per game average" figure, and not an 8,600 loss in total attendance.

[ZipsBurgh]

Did anyone else see the email that mentioned the Can't game this year? They're marketing it as Black "Frye-day" and will be giving out Charlie Frye bobbleheads.

Here's the copy from the email:

"As you may be aware, we have an amazing schedule this year with Pittsburgh coming into InfoCision Stadium for our opening game, Ohio set for the Homecoming matchup, and arch rival Can't State slated for Black “Frye” Day (complete with authentic Charlie Frye bobblehead!). We have been updating stakeholders with our Renewal Incentive Program winners all spring but I wanted to pass this along to you as well:"

[skip-zip]

That answered another question. This is now obviously the day that we are inducting Charlie into the Ring of Honor?

[K92]

I don't foresee a home game versus Canada boosting attendance.

[zippy5]

Frye-Day, that's great. First good idea they've had since Brad left

[Balsy]

Balsy, we didn't lose 8,600 average per game because Can't was an away game vs. a home game. I think you may have missed that this is a "per game average" figure, and not an 8,600 loss in total attendance.

No, I didn't. The Can't game's attendance is around 18,000-20,000 reported attendance just about every year we have it. When you have only 6 games, that tends to skew the average attendance quite considerably. Especially considering the game we have instead of Can't, is the likes of UMass or EMU....with an attendance of like 9000. Have Can't on the schedule vs EMU or UMass would impact the average a great deal, which is one of the reasons there's a "drop" in attendance. Evidence (stars indicate when Can't game is at Akron). These are season average attendance:

*2007 16355 (Can't game itself 21827)

2008 13481

*2009 17382 (Can't game itself 20802)

2010 10193

*2011 15741 (Can't game itself 19889)

2012 9275

*2013 17850 (Can't game itself 20239)

2014 9170

What I'm saying part of the drop in attendance is directly connect to the fact that the Can't game wasn't held in Akron. It's just a fact that our "average" attendance drops or raises because of that game alone.

[K92]

Question for those looking at attendance numbers (I'm too lazy to look myself): What MAC opponent draws the 2nd best crowds after Can't? My guess is Ohio but would be interested to know if any of you have taken note of that.

[Hilltopper]

Frye-Day, that's great. First good idea they've had since Brad left

Brad Swanson didn't do football marketing.

[zippy5]

Hmm. Well first good idea they've had in even longer

[skip-zip]

Balsy,

Try this, my man.

Swap out the 2014 UMass game, in unbearable 18 degree weather.

Exchange it with good weather and the possibility of a 20k Ken+ crowd.

Perfect scenario, right?

But that seemingly ideal switch would still only make up maybe 2k of an 8.6k average drop off.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Frye-Day, that's great. First good idea they've had since Brad left

It was actually my idea...back in 2005. Waddell ran with it. I miss that guy.

Great to see Charlie staying involved with the program a little.

[Dave in Green]

The Can't numbers certainly appear to account for a good portion of the much higher average attendance in alternating years when the game is played in Akron. But there must also be other factors involved.

16,832 = average attendance in odd-numbered seasons when Can't game is played in Akron

10,530 = average attendance in even-numbered seasons when Can't game is played in Can't

6,302 = average attendance difference

[Balsy]

The Can't numbers certainly appear to account for a good portion of the much higher average attendance in alternating years when the game is played in Akron. But there must also be other factors involved.

16,832 = average attendance in odd-numbered seasons when Can't game is played in Akron

10,530 = average attendance in even-numbered seasons when Can't game is played in Can't

6,302 = average attendance difference

I agree with that dave. I was just trying to point out that the single greatest impacter of attendance from season-to-season appears to be the Can't game.

The other 2,000 lost in average attendance is probably a mixture of awful opponents and weekday games.

[skip-zip]

Dave and Balsy....I did the numbers already in post #337

IF the Ken+ game was at home last year, even if you swap it out with the disastrous UMass game, would have only made up roughly 20-25% of the attendance drop off.

And please don't tell me that Buffalo instead of BG or Miami would have made up the rest

Dave, even in your formula of 6,300 per game drop off in the non-Ken+ years on average, you're still talking about almost a 38,000 difference.

[g-mann17]

The answer to this mystery is pretty simple really.

Can't at home results in a large increase for an individual game.

What is not being accounted for is that when Can't is a home game, then the number of 3 game packages go up. There is a long period of time before single game ticket purchases open up that Can't is sold as a package with two other games. So the sold tickets (number used for attendance in most years) is higher for not just the Can't game, but 3 of 6 home games.

[Dave in Green]

Good one, g-mann17. That helps explain a little more. A more precise analysis would include such things as quality of opponents in various years, days of the week when games were played, weather for each game, etc., etc. While these would all have some influence, the home games with Can't plus the 3-game ticket packages would account for a good percentage.

[ZachTheZip]

Going back to 2002, since that's as far as the records go on GoZips.com, here are the attendances for home games for all opponents:

Army: 12203 (2005), 17865 (2007)

Ball State: 7862 (2004), 9013 (2008), 16119 (2013)

Bowling Green: 15728 (2006), 17119 (2008), 10102 (2012), 10348 (2014)

Buffalo: 4178 (2002), 7123 (2004), 14512 (2006), 18516 (2008), 5216 (2010)

Cal Poly: 8319 (2003),

Central Florida: 8113 (2003), 12616 (2012)

Central Michigan: 15629 (2002), 10093 (2005), 15573 (2007), 14327 (2011)

Cincinnati: 16927 (2008)

Eastern Michigan: 10262 (2003), 9962 (2009), 8416 (2014)

FIU: 16016 (2011)

Gardner-Webb: 10046 (2010)

Howard: 20259 (2003), 9104 (2014)

Indiana: 18340 (2009)

James Madison: 19653 (2013)

Can't State: 26814 (2003), 8942 (2005), 21867 (2007), 20802 (2009), 19889 (2011), 20239 (2013)

Liberty: 7132 (2002)

Louisana: 18809 (2013)

Marshall: 13762 (2002), 29621 (2004), 13357 (2014)

Miami: 17298 (2002), 17410 (2004), 17721 (2006), 7671 (2010), 8211 (2012), 8223 (2014)

Morgan State: 27881 (2009), 9933 (2012)

MTSU: 17263 (2004),

North Texas: 16011 (2006)

Northern Illinois: 15612 (2005), 12133 (2010), 7074 (2012)

Ohio: 9102 (2003), 7614 (2005), 12453 (2007), 16381 (2009), 14760 (2011), 19775 (2013)

Syracuse: 15969 (2010)

Temple: 17017 (2007), 10927 (2009), 15156 (2011)

Toledo: 10134 (2008), 12506 (2013)

UMass: 7716 (2012), 5571 (2014)

Western Michigan: 16686 (2006), 10073 (2010)

VMI: 14257 (2011)

Miami has severely trended downward, while Ohio has shot up. Buffalo was trending upward until the Ianello disaster, and then the MAC stopped putting them on our schedule.

Last year, we had both EMU and UMass on the schedule, and those were the real killers. They are what dragged the average so low. You can't have two home opponents like that in the same year when your rival games are on the road and expect anything but horrendous attendance. How do you even sell ticket packages?

[GJGood]

I have a hard time believing, even with Can't at home, that we averaged over 10k per game. Of all the games that I have been too, it rarely looks above 5k. When the stadium first opened, opening game would at least be pretty packed but even the last couple of years, that game has been pretty much zilch.

I do recall weather being awful for two games last year, one of which was on ESPN right? Marshall? I think there may have been a couple hundred there due to awful weather.

I attended the Marshall game and it was on a beautiful sunny Saturday. I do know that the BG game was played in a monsoon on a weeknight on one of the ESPN networks though. I was traveling for work and remember catching some of it in my hotel room.

[K92]

I talked with George Van Horne last week and he let me know that ticket sales are way up from this time last year. Makes a lot of sense since we are hosting Pittsburgh, Ohio and Can't coupled with no weekday games. (As was discussed before)

Good news.

[lance99]

I talked with George Van Horne last week and he let me know that ticket sales are way up from this time last year. Makes a lot of sense since we are hosting Pittsburgh, Ohio and Can't coupled with no weekday games. (As was discussed before)

Good news.

The question is "how high?"

Assuming that Pitt, Ohio and Can't has 20k each(Can't is a question mark because it is Black Friday), that means that you can bomb on Savannah St, Central and Buffalo and still have a Hard 90k total for the season..

I will take that!

[K92]

The question is "how high?"

Assuming that Pitt, Ohio and Can't has 20k each(Can't is a question mark because it is Black Friday), that means that you can bomb on Savannah St, Central and Buffalo and still have a Hard 90k total for the season..

I will take that!

There are a lot of variables that could impact the final sales numbers, but YTD sales are up over 100% from 2014.

[lance99]

There are a lot of variables that could impact the final sales numbers, but YTD sales are up over 100% from 2014.

Nice

[Captain Kangaroo]

Have they thought of: #WeAreAllTeamIllinois?

Problem solved.