Win and they will come

[joshvanklomp]

I know some were disappointed with today's attendance, but we're getting there. Today was the third-best attendance this year after Homecoming and Boise. It has already been the highest total season attendance since 2011, and a home championship game would likely put us in the top-three of total season attendance in WMS history.

Attendance goals
For third-most: 12,626 (currently 1987)
For second-most: 17,658 (currently 1988)
For the record: 24,767 (currently 1990)

 

[laxwyo]

I know some were disappointed with today's attendance, but we're getting there. Today was the third-best attendance this year after Homecoming and Boise. It has already been the highest total season attendance since 2011, and a home championship game would likely put us in the top-three of total season attendance in WMS history.

Attendance goals
For third-most: 12,626 (currently 1987)
For second-most: 17,658 (currently 1988)
For the record: 24,767 (currently 1990)

We averaged 20809 for the year.


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[joshvanklomp]

We averaged 20809 for the year.

Correct

vs. NIU: 18483
vs. UCD: 18781
vs. AFA: 26623
vs. BSU: 24023
vs. USU: 17837
vs. SDSU: 19112

A very consistent season, with only one game below 18,000.

 

[Cuttslam]

We averaged 20809 for the year.

Correct

vs. NIU: 18483
vs. UCD: 18781
vs. AFA: 26623
vs. BSU: 24023
vs. USU: 17837
vs. SDSU: 19112

A very consistent season, with only one game below 18,000.

19112 is pathetic for a game of this magnitude and there is no sugar coating it. Two decent attended games that didn't come close to a sell out. Undefeated at home, no snow or weather games, playing for a chance for a championship for the first time in like what 28 years or something crazy like that and you average 20800 for the year. The fans that shows up are great but lets face it our attendance is bad and to think some people here wanted to expand the stadium, what IDIOTS.

 

[pokefanchaz7]

I talked about this in another thread. I'm disappointed by only 19000 being there and I don't blame the people who have to invest large quantities of money on hotels, gas, food, Etc.

I do blame the population centers of Cheyenne, Casper and Laramie who would not have to invest in all those costs.

We have enough cowboys fans from these places to get a better showing then 19000.

I hope we have decent roads and temperate weather if we host championship game as we need a great showing to send these kids off right.




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[calpoke25]

I'm starting to think our fan base isn't as large as we like to hope it is. I don't think there is some bigger universe of fans out there waiting to be engaged and we're going to start selling out. This year was as good as it gets for us and attendence was pretty much on par. When we were good in the 90s we didn't have any more people at the games than we do now.

 

[joshvanklomp]

I'm starting to think our fan base isn't as large as we like to hope it is. I don't think there is some bigger universe of fans out there waiting to be engaged and we're going to start selling out. This year was as good as it gets for us and attendence was pretty much on par. When we were good in the 90s we didn't have any more people at the games than we do now.

We're still about 4k off from our best years of attendance.

 

[SnowyRange]

I'm starting to think our fan base isn't as large as we like to hope it is. I don't think there is some bigger universe of fans out there waiting to be engaged and we're going to start selling out. This year was as good as it gets for us and attendence was pretty much on par. When we were good in the 90s we didn't have any more people at the games than we do now.

You're right, in a way, though we can do better than we did yesterday if we start winning.

I think there's three things going on, though i'm not sure in what order of importance: 1. We've lost a generation of fans. 2. We have population/geographical/demographic problems. 3. There's a massive shift in entertainment models, particularly affecting younger people. These all interrelate, of course.

First: going to football games is a large investment of time and money, and it has to become ingrained in families, from kids to grandparents. To have great attendance, the six home Saturdays have to become a tradition, the thing you do. I believe that our last decades have destroyed that. People think fondly of the Pokes, will read about the game in the paper or check out a game on TV if they have nothing else going on, but attendance isn't a tradition anymore. How could it be? We've been beaten down.

Second: population and geographic problems are obvious (though, I have to say, it takes less time to get from Casper and into your seat at the War then it takes to do the same for, say, a University of Michigan game). Demographics are also interesting: Wyoming is the state with like the third smallest percentage of people who are natives to the state. That means that, since people develop their sports allegiances when they're young, we have a large percentage of residents who care far more about their teams elsewhere than about the Pokes. This isn't true elsewhere.

Third: entertainment tastes and habits have changed drastically. This has been well-described elsewhere. Especially for the young, the 6-hour (if you're lucky) live football experience is fading, as we're in a totally different universe than 20 years ago. The whole world of entertainment is now available to you online and on TV, just by punching a few buttons. That's what's ingrained now...not carting yourself off to stadiums.

 

[stymeman]

For Nov 19 it was really good but TV has killed our attendance. It really needs to be blacked out in a 150 mile radius for sure. Tv doesn't do it justice as fun as that one was yet again

 

[SnowyRange]

TV has killed our attendance. It really needs to be blacked out in a 150 mile radius for sure.

A. It's far more complicated...see above.

B. This isn't 1975. There's no such thing as a "black out." If it's on TV, it's viewable by anyone, anywhere.

 

[Asmodeanreborn]

People will come. It takes more than a single successful season to fill the stands consistently after almost 20 years of let-downs.

Last week's loss to UNLV most likely also affected attendance yesterday, along with the weather, which made it harder for people to plan ahead to attend. Did it make a lot of people not show up? Who knows? But even if 1 out 20 potential people going decided not to because of those factors, that's 1,000 that didn't show up...

 

[calpoke25]

I think the AD could do a better job on the edges in terms of marketing and fan engagement, but I think the only way to really grow attendance in the long run is to grow UW enrollment. At the end of the day being a UW fan pretty much means either you or maybe your parents attended UW. You aren't a UW fan just by living in Wyoming. I live in Cheyenne now and I can't tell you how many people you see who have perhaps lived in Wyoming the majority of their life, but they didn't attend UW and their parents are from Nebraska, Texas, Iowa, wherever and they could barely tell you what Wyoming's mascot is.

It's imperfect science but I think stadium size and attendance could be strongly correlated to the the number of living alumni a school has. For example UW has around 100-120K living alumni. Ohio St. has about 500K living alumni. Their stadium is about 5x larger than ours which makes sense in those terms. Oregon St. has around 200K living alumni and their stadium is about double ours, give or take. CU has around 350K living alumni which also correlates to their relative stadium size in comparison to us. It's not perfect by any means but I think it's a starting point.

 

[GoPokes86]

It sure felt louder and looked fuller than 19k yesterday. Then again I didn't get a great look at the west stands. The east stands were full and it was awesome to see a fired up, engaged student section.
I agree though, the unlv game last weekend combined with the game being on tv definitely killed interest in people having to travel more than 2 hours to go to the game.


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[JimmyDimes]

Back in the day, there were ZERO game played at night. Had to use temporary lights for a couple ESPN games. And, we've played 3 night games (?) this year. Yesterday could have been better, but off the heals of a snowstorm and some roads were still iffy.

When we have games played at night and/or during iffy driving conditions for many, local population plays a roll and we just don't have that. Players have been impressed with the number of Wyoming fans who show up in opposing stadiums. Wyoming fans travel well, but local population does have an affect on some games played at the War.

 

[bladerunnr]

First: it seemed like more than 19k to me, more like 23-24k. I think the chance that it might be pretty cold scared some people off. TV has changed things, I guess. You either went to the game or you didn't see it.

The student section is great, but small. The enrollment hasn't changed much in 35 years. Csewe has 35k students now. We need more students, which will increase the number of businesses to service the needs of those student. In short, Laramie needs to grow - via the university.

 

[ItSucksToBeACSURam]

It sure felt louder and looked fuller than 19k yesterday. Then again I didn't get a great look at the west stands. The east stands were full and it was awesome to see a fired up, engaged student section.
I agree though, the unlv game last weekend combined with the game being on tv definitely killed interest in people having to travel more than 2 hours to go to the game.


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I agree. I've been to every home game this year and yesterday was the loudest it's been all season. There was a moment toward the end of the game where the damn stadium was shaking like I've never experienced. I was quite surprised when the announced attendance was under 20k

 

[rocketcitypoke]

you have a multitude of factors.

A) it's November, generally it's colder in November. People don't want to drive 3 hours to sit in what is usually a cold time of the year

B) It's been so long since Wyoming had a decent team like this that many of the people that were previous supporters have died or gotten old and lost some of their enthusiasm

C) The games are on television. It's much nicer to sit at home watch the Wyoming game if it's tight or in doubt. If it's a blowout just watch a different game. This is also much more inexpensive alternative.

D) You can never underestimate how much the loss of BYU and Utah from the MWC/WAC hurt interest in the football program at UW. A game against either of those schools this time of year with what was on the line yesterday would have easily generated 25k in attendance in the "old days". A sellout would have been possible. SDSU just doesn't fire up the fan base the way those rivalries did.

 

[WyoExpat]

I know some were disappointed with today's attendance, but we're getting there. Today was the third-best attendance this year after Homecoming and Boise. It has already been the highest total season attendance since 2011, and a home championship game would likely put us in the top-three of total season attendance in WMS history.

Attendance goals
For third-most: 12,626 (currently 1987)
For second-most: 17,658 (currently 1988)
For the record: 24,767 (currently 1990)

Those were some REALLY good teams. I came of age just assuming that Wyoming teams (both football and basketball) would routinely spend the whole season in the Top 25. Boy did I get disappointed as I got older.

 

[HiCountryCowboy]

I brought (7) with me yesterday and it was fantastic - sounded really loud in the War when it needed to be. However, TV is litterally killing the game (at all levels). The commercial breaks were fucking ridiculous. If they are going to subject you to that bullshit anyway, you almost would rather sit at home on the couch and not freeze your ass off on aluminum bleachers. Luckily, it was way nicer than possible given the time of year, but the second half was certainly colder than the first. If they cater the game around TV, people are going to stay home. Not saying there is anything that UW can do about it either - attendance is bound to go down so that Verizon can pimp another GD cell phone. Don't even get me started on the momentum kills due to the reviews...

 

[WilyWapiti]

Put me in the disappointed category on Saturday. I know the UNLV loss took some of the luster off, but I still expected better. Perfect weather, day game, great, ranked opponent, and a game of great consequence. It just doesn't get any better than that.

WW