A plea to our "football-only" fans

[NM Green]

I watched the La Tech vs Liberty game from Ruston last night and it was fun. I know La Tech doesn’t have any market but I enjoyed being in a league with them. Same with Western Kentucky. Those teams don’t move needles for many but our teams had some battles. 

Next the Superpit could be more exciting. There could be social drink zones. Pop up bars with tvs showing other games to draw me in earlier and to get updates at halftime. Old venues like the Pit and Thomas and Mack are fun and old. 

Then I watched Utah State absolutely steal a W from Boise. Loved it. Kept thinking if we go west I would love those battles in Boise, Logan, Spokane, Fort Collins, Corvallis and San Diego. We’re talking some tremendous roadtrip opportunities! Those crowds are crazy too. 

Beat ECU

GMG

[NTWL20]

Our lack of attendance is a result of many factors. I think it’ll pick up slightly when students come back but the promotion for games + home opponents have taken a significant dip from last season. I personally thought last year our crowds were FINE. (not great but moving in the right direction). We drew over 5000+ three separate games last season and 4000+ a few more. 
 

Last year I remember seeing signs stuck in the ground around campus promoting the basketball games and the university mass texting all students informing them about games with ticket info. These are little things but they worked.

[untjim1995]

2 hours ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

Glad to see you’re still up to your same negative and false BS. 

Yeah, the average attendance at games for UNT just screams unending and undying support…

[untphd]

a different way to look at this is , how many people on this board played jr high or high school sports of any kind. What percent of our student pop did the same? I think if you were interested earlier and your parents took you to events, you may still have an interest.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

4 hours ago, TripleGrad said:

I just don't like basketball.  I'll go watch the football team in a no-name bowl, because I like football.

The folks who keep saying "dump football, we'll be a basketball school" just don't get the level of apathy (or outright antipathy) regarding the bouncy ball sport.

And PLEASE don't start crying about attendance at women's basketball games.  They're even less entertaining than the men's games.

In regards to NIT championships:  congrats on being the 69th best team.  That's the same level of accomplishment as the Frisco Bowl.

Where has anyone said to dump football? Further, where has anyone even said to drop to FCS? 

Look, I'm a football guy. I'm a football coach. I love football. I'm not really that big of a basketball guy. I enjoy it enough to go to games. We just have to understand simple math as it pertains to NIL, funding, attendance, athletic budget, etc etc. For UNT, the math doesn't math for football. Even if the math panned out we would still be what we are, UNT football. However, the math gets very easy to understand, allocate, etc etc in basketball. 

5K avg attendance for us in basketball is a big deal and doable. Funding a basketball roster to have 8 competitive players play for us is doable.  Allocating more money to UNT basketball can and should be done. Getting a new arena is probably a pipe dream but desperately needs to happen. We have the resources to take the next step in basketball and we can get ahead of the curve and shine a positive light on our University via basketball. That's what it's about. We can be Gonzaga in 1999, today. All we have to do is understand who we are, what we can and can't accomplish and have someone to have the vision to accomplish it. Starting July 1, 2025 schools can pay players directly and we need to do everything in our power to ensure that basketball stays where it's at on this upward trajectory. Not a dime of school given NIL money should go to football players in order for us to hope to get to 6-6, because that's where we are as a football program/school. 

As to your Frisco Bowl comment, 6-6 UNT gets to go to the Frisco Bowl. Cool. Guess what a 10-2 UNT is going to do? Go to the freaking Frisco Bowl. We have been caged up and there is nothing to be done about it outside of the courts and politicians getting involved, and that ain't happening. 

[MeanGreenZen]

4 hours ago, TripleGrad said:

In regards to NIT championships:  congrats on being the 69th best team.  That's the same level of accomplishment as the Frisco Bowl.

D1 football has about 130 teams. D1 men’s basketball has almost 400 teams. 
69th in basketball is closer to being a Top 25 team in football.

And in reality, that UNT NIT winner could have very well made the same Final Four run that FAU made if we had been allowed into the NCAA tournament.

[MeanGreenZen]

I have two free tickets (third row, center court) to the January 22 men’s game vs. Temple to anyone who hasn’t attended a men’s game this season and is curious about what all the fuss is about. DM me. 

[NorthTexasWeLove]

2 minutes ago, MeanGreenZen said:

D1 football has about 130 teams. D1 men’s basketball has almost 400 teams. 
69th in basketball is closer to being a Top 25 team in football.

And in reality, that UNT NIT winner could have very well made the same Final Four run that FAU made if we had been allowed into the NCAA tournament.

And 69th best comment is ignorance al, because it assumes that all teams in the tourney were better without even taking into consideration the low-major teams getting their autobids. I would say more like 35-38th best, which I believe was our NET at the end of that year. Still the highest ever ranked NET team to not make an at-large bid. 

[greenminer]

2 hours ago, meangreenfaninno said:

Isn’t attendance down everywhere?  You act like this is a UNT specific phenomenon and I think it seems like more of a macro issue.

For instance, how about the fact I can watch basically every sporting event nowadays on my hi def television?  Seriously, that has not always been the case and it has to have an effect on the casual sports fan.

For sure. There are some battles we are facing that are industry-wide.

just add it to the list of things that I wrote above, and still believe it’s wild we don’t get 5k or more.

[wardly]

3 hours ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

I don’t think it helps that UNT plays an extremely slow and brutal brand of basketball. We’re not exactly what you would call an exciting watch. 

Attendance is the same as when J.J. was here and we ran an up pace offense so I would disagree.

[BigWillie]

1 hour ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

And 69th best comment is ignorance al, because it assumes that all teams in the tourney were better without even taking into consideration the low-major teams getting their autobids. I would say more like 35-38th best, which I believe was our NET at the end of that year. Still the highest ever ranked NET team to not make an at-large bid. 

THANK YOU! That comment that people make doesn't make sense due to the reasons you said. I was going to say it if you didn't. Maybe he should stick with football.....

[GMG_Dallas]

6 hours ago, TripleGrad said:

In regards to NIT championships:  congrats on being the 69th best team.  That's the same level of accomplishment as the Frisco Bowl.

It's been said 3 or 4 times but just for good measure, this is incredibly ignorant. About 20 teams in the tournament get in off auto-bids of winning their smaller conference. I have no issue with it but in no way does that equate to being the 69th best team. UNT finished that year 38th in NET ranking (what the committee is supposed to use when determining at-large candidates), higher than powers like North Carolina, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and more. We had a higher NET ranking than 31 teams that made the tournament that year. It was a midmajor getting snubbed is all

 

[Matt from A700]

6 hours ago, wardly said:

The real problem is with the students. Until you can generate real on campus and Denton residents interest you will always have attendance problems.

It definitely starts with the students. There are too many alumni I've talked to my age or older who have still never been to a basketball game at The Pit. It is much easier to get them back if they've already experienced a game in the Mac/Hodge era. Otherwise it'll probably never happen.

What is confusing though is how 7000+ people showed up last January to watch us beat SMU, the players invited the students to come party with them on the court, and students decided not to come back.

Edited 23 minutes ago by Matt from A700

[Matt from A700]

4 hours ago, NM Green said:

I watched the La Tech vs Liberty game from Ruston last night and it was fun. I know La Tech doesn’t have any market but I enjoyed being in a league with them. Same with Western Kentucky. Those teams don’t move needles for many but our teams had some battles. 

According to Burton, and I'm sure it's the same with some men's teams, some of the intra-TX teams that you'd think would bring more fans will only come play us if we give them a check. I think investing more in our schedule would be worth it for the larger crowds (plus extra tickets/concessions sold). Stop scheduling Mississippi Valley State. Get a UTA, Texas State, SHSU, LA Tech, UTEP, or SFA in here. Renewing rivalries with WKU and MTSU would also be fun.

4 hours ago, NM Green said:

Next the Superpit could be more exciting. There could be social drink zones. Pop up bars with tvs showing other games to draw me in earlier and to get updates at halftime. Old venues like the Pit and Thomas and Mack are fun and old. 

Agreed, I feel like there was more in the concourse a few seasons ago? But now it is mostly bare and dead. I would like to see somewhere on the concourse a spirit shop you walk through, like the Hangar at the AAC in Dallas. Perhaps it could be the on-campus NIL Store to provide an easy opportunity for our athletes to make more NIL earnings.

[Green with Envy]

Are you pleading for the student body to show up or alumni?   
 

A 6:30 game on a Wednesday is a B for someone that doesn’t live in close proximity.  I live in Allen and could never consider that drive.  
 

We go to Americans hockey games as they are in our back yard.  They aren’t very good but more of a deterrent for us to go to more, is no one is there….on a Tuesday night.  If there stands were filled, it would feel more legit and we’d probably go more, even if the quality of play wasn’t there.   I suspect the student body wants that same ‘experience’.  When I was there so many years ago, we wanted to be where the action was, even if it was dash riprocks.  So I see a bit of chicken and egg here.  People don’t go because people don’t go.  If people would go, more people would go.   
 

football games are so much easier to plan for.  1 game a week, generally on a Saturday.  You can make a day/event out of it.   Weekly, more frequent basketball games, on weeknights, don’t offer the same advantages.
 

All that said, I applaud your plea and hope that the tides change.  Would love to hear that the Pit is packed routinely.