Football Attendance

Athletics Department, Facilities, etc.
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wiu712
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We have had Homecoming and Family Weekend so far in this 2017 season. They are usually the largest crowds of the season.

The crowd for Homecoming was 5,631. The crowd for Family Weekend was 3,217.

Last year, we had 5,487 for Homecoming and 6,732 for Family Weekend.

Seems like our attendance has been trending downwards. We could be replacing Indiana State as the team with the lowest attendance.

So far in 2017, Indiana State has had crowds of 4,670 and 4,743.

We used to have big crowds at Hanson Field. So what has changed ??? We need to find a remedy and get it implemented.

There was a group of football recruits on campus this weekend. Seeing a mostly empty stadium is not an asset.
wiu51
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TVA made numbers up that weren't accurate.
wiu712
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wiu51 wrote: Sun Oct 15, 2017 8:55 pmTVA made numbers up that weren't accurate.
That may be true. But I was going with the visual image of empty stands.

We are not alone when it comes to low attendance. Eastern Illinois has had 3 home games so far this season. The attendance for those games was 7,031 (the game with Illinois State), 3699, and 3,016.
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sealhall74
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I would start by figuring out what the demographics are for those in attendance. How many faculty and staff OUTSIDE of the Athletic Dept show up? Not many from what I can tell. How many locals? How many had to travel and how far? How many families? How many families with a tie to someone on the field? How many students participated in sports in HS? How many students come to the game with a friend? ...

In the past, I posted about my one-time experience at Francis Marion U in South Carolina where I showed up to see a basketball game. The AD (yes AD) saw a new face in the crowd and sits down next to me and chats for a while. Next thing you know, I am filling out a survey for him. That very same AD was taking in dollar bills from all the students and fans at half-time for chances to sink a half-court shot to win something.

My two cents are that we need to generate more campus-wide interest. The business dept could get involved in the above survey. The Graphic Arts Dept (do we have on of them) could be responsible for coming up with cool stuff for the video board. Our nationally-acclaimed Physics Dept could sponsor a half-time drone-flying (for example) contest. Maybe the students just have no interest in sports so getting them there just for sports will never work with so many other distractions available. Give them a reason to be there and feel involved.

Also related, just a question, but does Macomb have more good hotel rooms now than they had back in the 70s? Family weekend, but if no hotel rooms, few families could do it. Where did the Bears stay? Other visiting sports teams were also in town. Seems like hotel rooms or lack thereof could play a huge factor in this.
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ST_Lawson
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sealhall74 wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2017 7:07 am Also related, just a question, but does Macomb have more good hotel rooms now than they had back in the 70s? Family weekend, but if no hotel rooms, few families could do it. Where did the Bears stay? Other visiting sports teams were also in town. Seems like hotel rooms or lack thereof could play a huge factor in this.
At this point, I'm willing to try just about anything to get the students to show up.

Regarding the hotel issue. I know that Macomb does not currently have a hotel with the facilities available to host a DI football team. Most teams stay in Quad Cities or Peoria and drive over the morning of the game. Unfortunately, there just isn't enough going on in town to be able to support more hotels/rooms outside of the few weekends of home football games.
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leatherface
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I have wondered why teams don't fly into Quincy. There certainly are hotel accommodations, the airport easily handles jets, and with the interstate travel, is only one hour away from Macomb. With some local Quincy marketing- "Quincy, Western's travel Headquater's"- could perhaps increase interest from that area. There are lots and lots of WIU alums there,however, Western doesn't seem to do much except the obligatory alumni picnic and some outdoor advertising. Travel to games is easy from Quincy, so, with some fan interest this could grow. Also, the local TV stations have been utilized in advertising well, but, it seems more could be done to make Western more visible -which would pick up support from across the river in Missouri since no one seems to want to go to Mizzou games anymore. :)
wiu712
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ST_Lawson wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2017 9:00 amAt this point, I'm willing to try just about anything to get the students to show up.
Sections F and G on the west side were filled with students. The students sitting next to me in Section F said that they did not want to sit on the east side because they wanted to be on the same side as the team and cheerleaders. Makes sense to me.

The marked, designated "Student Section" this year is the far northern section on the east side. Those seats are in the endzone. Not the best seats in the house. And the marked "Purple Platoon" section is the adjacent section (10 yard line). The Purple Platoon section was on the west side last year.

With the amount of money that the students are paying in Athletic Fees, they really should have the best seats in the house.
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ST_Lawson
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leatherface wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2017 9:22 am I have wondered why teams don't fly into Quincy. There certainly are hotel accommodations, the airport easily handles jets...
Actually, I don't know if that's true. What does the football team usually use when they fly charter flights? I think Necksfansince71 reported back on his trip with the team down to Coastal Carolina earlier this season that they flew on a 737. Quincy airport's longest runway is just over 7k feet long. Depending on the version/configuration/weight of the aircraft, that could be pushing up against that limit. It's definitely too short for most of what's classified as "long range" aircraft (747's, 777's, etc.)
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leatherface
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I don't know about jumbo jets, however, jet airliners have used the airport, including Air Force 1 in the past. I don't know what jet limits there might be if a team would use a "jumbo" jet.
leatherneckcountry
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wiu712 wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2017 9:44 am
ST_Lawson wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2017 9:00 amAt this point, I'm willing to try just about anything to get the students to show up.
Sections F and G on the west side were filled with students. The students sitting next to me in Section F said that they did not want to sit on the east side because they wanted to be on the same side as the team and cheerleaders. Makes sense to me.

The marked, designated "Student Section" this year is the far northern section on the east side. Those seats are in the endzone. Not the best seats in the house. And the marked "Purple Platoon" section is the adjacent section (10 yard line). The Purple Platoon section was on the west side last year.

With the amount of money that the students are paying in Athletic Fees, they really should have the best seats in the house.
I’ve never understood why anyone sits on the west side other than the sun issue the most uncomfortable seats you can sit at for any athletic event on campus the purple seats on that side are brutal if I was going to be on the west side I would sit on the Hill.
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