Fan support

slider1986 · December 31, 2022

Over 15,000 at the Birmingham Bowl between two mid majors traveling a lot farther than from Denton to Frisco. UNT has failed to sell out the Frisco Bowl in our own backyard for two straight years. This year we get just over 12k 30 minutes from our campus against a brand name opponent like Boise State and they had a lot of those fans. Someone please explain how the forum and fan expectations I see line up with the complete lack of support in real time fan attendance? Other than being in the DFW area as far as a television base what is going to get us in the upper tier of programs during the next wave of separation of haves and have nots? We have the bare minimum number of sports to be even considered a d1 university and only 6 mens teams. We have 44,000 students, a huge alumni base in the area, and barely anyone attends a bowl game in Frisco, Texas. I’ll hang up and listen.

cousin oliver · December 31, 2022

Quote

UNT has failed to sell out the Frisco Bowl in our own backyard for two straight years.

OK I'll bite. Littrell just did not inspire the alumni and the fan base. We climaxed after the Arkansas season and fake punt return and it just never clicked after that. Littrell was the highest paid coach in the conference and we received very little results in return against one of the softest schedules in the country. In big games, like the Mean Joe Greene statue event, Littrell always killed our fan building momentum. Plus he never spent time cultivating the fans. Part of the job of the head coach is to be an ambassador for the university.

NorthTexasWeLove · December 31, 2022

Well, what is UNT known for culturally and academically? There's your answer. Also, 7-6 with several blowouts eentering a bowl game isn't going to inspire a lot of the fence sitters.

Prez has done a good job of trying to swing that pendulum. But it's a heavy one.

cousin oliver · December 31, 2022

24 minutes ago, cousin oliver said:

OK I'll bite. Littrell just did not inspire the alumni and the fan base. We climaxed after the Arkansas season and fake punt return and it just never clicked after that. Littrell was the highest paid coach in the conference and we received very little results in return against one of the softest schedules in the country. In big games, like the Mean Joe Greene statue event, Littrell always killed our fan building momentum. Plus he never spent time cultivating the fans. Part of the job of the head coach is to be an ambassador for the university.

Really sucks that I am being down voted for the post. If you have a personal problem with me, be a man and send me a PM.

Moobs · December 31, 2022

Don’t kill the messenger here.
A history of 20+ point losses in big games, having fired your head coach for such performances, being a 12 point underdog, and an 8:15 pm kickoff doesn’t encourage a lot of people to buy tickets.

I understand none of these are valid reasons for a hardcore fan like those of us who spend time on this board. But for the casual fan, which is what you need to sell out a bowl game, these are some of the reasons to not go.

Cr1028 · December 31, 2022

48 minutes ago, slider1986 said:

Over 15,000 at the Birmingham Bowl between two mid majors traveling a lot farther than from Denton to Frisco. UNT has failed to sell out the Frisco Bowl in our own backyard for two straight years. This year we get just over 12k 30 minutes from our campus against a brand name opponent like Boise State and they had a lot of those fans. Someone please explain how the forum and fan expectations I see line up with the complete lack of support in real time fan attendance? Other than being in the DFW area as far as a television base what is going to get us in the upper tier of programs during the next wave of separation of haves and have nots? We have the bare minimum number of sports to be even considered a d1 university and only 6 mens teams. We have 44,000 students, a huge alumni base in the area, and barely anyone attends a bowl game in Frisco, Texas. I’ll hang up and listen.

Don’t be ridiculous.

First off, this was ECU’s first bowl game since 2014 so it would be more fair to compare it to our 2013/4 or 2016 HOD bowl appearances for attendance purposes. We were playing our 6th bowl in 7 seasons with an 0-5 record over our last five, we were playing under an interim head coach, and were a double digit underdog. ALL of those work against attendance.

Second, this was the first ever football meeting between ECU and CCU. It is a safe bet that the Sun Belt’s Chanticleers had extra motivation to cheer their guys to victory over the cross-state team from the more heralded American conference.

If you are going to compare, compare other 7-6 teams who are on a 5 game bowl losing streak over the last 6 seasons who’ve just fired their head coach and are not playing in-state competition.

Edited December 31, 2022 by Cr1028

KingDL1 · December 31, 2022

2 hours ago, slider1986 said:

Over 15,000 at the Birmingham Bowl between two mid majors traveling a lot farther than from Denton to Frisco. UNT has failed to sell out the Frisco Bowl in our own backyard for two straight years. This year we get just over 12k 30 minutes from our campus against a brand name opponent like Boise State and they had a lot of those fans. Someone please explain how the forum and fan expectations I see line up with the complete lack of support in real time fan attendance? Other than being in the DFW area as far as a television base what is going to get us in the upper tier of programs during the next wave of separation of haves and have nots? We have the bare minimum number of sports to be even considered a d1 university and only 6 mens teams. We have 44,000 students, a huge alumni base in the area, and barely anyone attends a bowl game in Frisco, Texas. I’ll hang up and listen.

You left out all the reasons why people did not go, and went straight to support regardless put blinders on and be a drone. Bad product bad support - that is pretty simple.

DentonLurker · December 31, 2022

The fact we haven’t ever sold out Apogee* Stadium bothers me a hell of a lot more than the Frisco.com bowl games.

*Is it Mean Green Stadium again?

Green Crazy · December 31, 2022

45 minutes ago, cousin oliver said:

OK I'll bite. Littrell just did not inspire the alumni and the fan base. We climaxed after the Arkansas season and fake punt return and it just never clicked after that. Littrell was the highest paid coach in the conference and we received very little results in return against one of the softest schedules in the country. In big games, like the Mean Joe Greene statue event, Littrell always killed our fan building momentum. Plus he never spent time cultivating the fans. Part of the job of the head coach is to be an ambassador for the university.

What was our sellout streak before Littrell came and ruined the morale?

It's just a ridiculous opinion to say because he didn't "inspire" the alumni base that we have horrible attendance for our the size of our university.

The simplest answer is our students and alumni for whatever reason don't care. Most will say it's because we don't win enough, but what about basketball? We've won three Conference titles or parts of them for three years and still have shitty numbers and the Pit is on campus. We need to develop fans, not get people to show up. Fans will donate after they graduate and show up regardless of how the season is going. How do we do that.....no idea.

Also the downvote was from me and has to do with your opinion, not you as a person. That's what they are there for.

Edited December 31, 2022 by Green Crazy

KingDL1 · December 31, 2022

3 minutes ago, DentonLurker said:

The fact we haven’t ever sold out Apogee* Stadium bothers me a hell of a lot more than the Frisco.com bowl games.

*Is it Mean Green Stadium again?

I think we will do it soon, the Coach Eric Morris Effect better known as EME.

Wag Tag · December 31, 2022

1 hour ago, cousin oliver said:

Really sucks that I am being down voted for the post. If you have a personal problem with me, be a man and send me a PM.

How big are you?

p_phelps · December 31, 2022

Every post on here is too long to read

UNTLifer · December 31, 2022

By the screen name of the original poster, I just take this to be another baseball supporter that will be critical of every decision unless it is to add baseball. Again, the majority don’t care if we are ever successful with our current programs, they just want to see baseball added even if it means dropping back down to the Southland. That is their words not mine. They see zero value in trying to properly fund our current programs because it takes funds, in their eyes, from adding baseball.
My question back to the author, @slider1986, what is your current level of support and would you continue to support our university if they never added baseball?

EastTexasMG · December 31, 2022

3 hours ago, p_phelps said:

Every post on here is too long to read

We should combine this topic with the lack of support from the Lewisville Cracker Barrel thread……

UNT86 · December 31, 2022

If you want to go you can find a way.

If you don't want to go you will find an excuse.

Like Deon said, make an investment or hush.

wardly · December 31, 2022

I don't see it as the personal responsibility of our head football and basketball coaches to fill their venue. Yes they should have control of the product but our Athletic Director has control of marketing . To me the root our our ongoing attendance problem is lack of interest by the student body . Sometimes the answer is simple.For example ,a dog food company was having their national sales meeting in Dallas and their Sales Director was berating the sales force for lack of sales. He said that he couldn't understand why sales were so poor as their product was as good as their main competitor ,less expense, and his sales force was reputed to be the best in the industry. He demanded to know what the problem was. At that point a salesman from East Texas stood up and said, " the dogs don't like it." It appears to me that our student body doesn't like what we are selling. Just an old man's opinion.

Big Z · December 31, 2022

15 hours ago, slider1986 said:

Over 15,000 at the Birmingham Bowl between two mid majors traveling a lot farther than from Denton to Frisco. UNT has failed to sell out the Frisco Bowl in our own backyard for two straight years. This year we get just over 12k 30 minutes from our campus against a brand name opponent like Boise State and they had a lot of those fans. Someone please explain how the forum and fan expectations I see line up with the complete lack of support in real time fan attendance? Other than being in the DFW area as far as a television base what is going to get us in the upper tier of programs during the next wave of separation of haves and have nots? We have the bare minimum number of sports to be even considered a d1 university and only 6 mens teams. We have 44,000 students, a huge alumni base in the area, and barely anyone attends a bowl game in Frisco, Texas. I’ll hang up and listen.

Be honest, were you even at the game?

untphd · December 31, 2022

10 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

By the screen name of the original poster, I just take this to be another baseball supporter that will be critical of every decision unless it is to add baseball. Again, the majority don’t care if we are ever successful with our current programs, they just want to see baseball added even if it means dropping back down to the Southland. That is their words not mine. They see zero value in trying to properly fund our current programs because it takes funds, in their eyes, from adding baseball.
My question back to the author, @slider1986, what is your current level of support and would you continue to support our university if they never added baseball?

Man, another astute observation. Well done.

jtm0097 · December 31, 2022

I have a hot take about baseball. We have enough of it and it's boring. I'm sure this will piss off some of the people that want a baseball program. Why not grow the current sports more? I bet the average baseball fan couldn't name the last few College WS champs.

Mike Jackson · December 31, 2022

On 12/30/2022 at 8:08 PM, slider1986 said:

Over 15,000 at the Birmingham Bowl between two mid majors traveling a lot farther than from Denton to Frisco. UNT has failed to sell out the Frisco Bowl in our own backyard for two straight years. This year we get just over 12k 30 minutes from our campus against a brand name opponent like Boise State and they had a lot of those fans. Someone please explain how the forum and fan expectations I see line up with the complete lack of support in real time fan attendance? Other than being in the DFW area as far as a television base what is going to get us in the upper tier of programs during the next wave of separation of haves and have nots? We have the bare minimum number of sports to be even considered a d1 university and only 6 mens teams. We have 44,000 students, a huge alumni base in the area, and barely anyone attends a bowl game in Frisco, Texas. I’ll hang up and listen.

Name the mid-major in Texas that draws well when playing an another mid-major in a meaningless created yesterday bowl. I will wait. Post like these are so naive and show a clear lack of understanding that you can't easily erase a 20 years poor leadership and performance. On top of that they were coached by a guy that a good portion of fans wanted fired before the season started. You know what could have cured alot of the negative perception? Firing that coach earlier in the year and taking a run at hiring Deion Sanders. But I digress. Hiring Coach Mac was the first time I really looked at this program really committed 100% to stretching the coach budget to the max to win since Hayden Fry. Now look at Boise State’s humble beginning with us in the Big West. There is no comparison our program looks pathetic with no excuses that Boise couldn’t offer one of the same caliber. They’ve been in the national championship discussion. We can’t stay in the BOTTOM of the top 25 consecutive weeks.

Edited January 1, 2023 by Mike Jackson

untphd · December 31, 2022

1 hour ago, untphd said:

Man, another astute observation. Well done.

I guess the ball player is having a bad day.

greenminer · December 31, 2022

17 hours ago, slider1986 said:

Over 15,000 at the Birmingham Bowl between two mid majors traveling a lot farther than from Denton to Frisco. UNT has failed to sell out the Frisco Bowl in our own backyard for two straight years. This year we get just over 12k 30 minutes from our campus against a brand name opponent like Boise State and they had a lot of those fans. Someone please explain how the forum and fan expectations I see line up with the complete lack of support in real time fan attendance? Other than being in the DFW area as far as a television base what is going to get us in the upper tier of programs during the next wave of separation of haves and have nots? We have the bare minimum number of sports to be even considered a d1 university and only 6 mens teams. We have 44,000 students, a huge alumni base in the area, and barely anyone attends a bowl game in Frisco, Texas. I’ll hang up and listen.

Look no further than our historically awful administrative support (vocal and financial), and the nature of a fickle DFW sports base.

Any more questions? Go through the board archives and read.

NTSU52 · January 1, 2023

Cannot wait for the day we see crowds like this again. That was a great day to be green. Crazy that was nearly 10 years ago🤯

Edited January 1, 2023 by NTSU52

rcade · January 1, 2023

Yes, UNT needs more butts in seats. But bowl attendance isn't just about fan bases not stepping up.

There are a lot of bowl games that draw poorly. The Cure Bowl in Orlando got 11,911 to see UTSA and Troy, the Bahamas Bowl got 12,172 to see Miami (No Not That One) and UAB, the Fenway Bowl got around 15,000 to see Cincinnati and Louisville and our Frisco Bowl crowd was 12,221.

All of these bowls were created for television and nobody with hair on their nethers grew up watching them.

wardly · January 1, 2023

On 12/31/2022 at 11:46 AM, Big Z said:

Be honest, were you even at the game?

No. A friend of mine and I purchased 4 tickets but didn't go because of the weather. I am 80, and in the past 6 months have had Covid and a bad cold twice so I we bailed . I have been to every UNT bowl game except for the Myrtle Bowl and the Sun Bowl, which was before my time. Last year we went to both the Frisco Bowl featuring UTSA and the 'Other Bowl" with UNT vs Miami of Ohio. I had between two and 4 club seats since the opening of our stadium. However a combination of Covid concerns and old age forced me to give them up. I also gave up two floor seats at our basketball arena .I do, however, continue to financially support the Mean Green Club, and am very excited out our new Athletic Director's football coaching hire and feel like Morris is putting together a great staff. Go Eagles!