Attendance and OOC problems

[Mean'n'Green07]

I'm relatively a new fan of UNT football compared to some of you but I have

really thought about this and I want some of you 'veteran' fans to tell me

what you think.

First off, I'm a student who found out about the university through watching

football. The thing that got me interested in the university was the 52-14

victory against baylor I saw my senior year in high school. That led to me

exploring about the university and found out how many quality programs UNT

really has (I was already accepted into tech and a&m at this point). Before I saw the Baylor game all i knew about UNT was they had a good music program. This is why I believe the athletic department is the key to the success of the university... we have great quality programs but not alot of people know about them. Hell, I didn't even know where UNT was located and I lived in Arlington.

That being said, last week I was looking over our schedules in our past 5

seasons and began to ponder. Over that span of 5 seasons, there are only TWO

teams I would of wanted to come see play at Fouts as a football fan:TCU and

Baylor. How are we supposed to increase our fan base with ONLY TWO

interesting teams playing at Fouts every five years. Seriously, before I

became a student here there is no chance I would ever come up to see us play

any teams like ULM, MTSU or FIU. My main question is (besides scheduling

SMU, I really think that was a great move) why can't we have more appealing

teams come to Fouts?

I realize we can't get the big boys to play us at Fouts, but what about

other regional teams like UTEP, Rice, UH, Boise State or maybe a 2 and 1

with Ok State or another BCS confrence team. I would even love to see

another series with both TCU and Baylor. That way maybe I could interest

some of my non-UNT friends to come up here and watch a football game. Who

knows, maybe they'll get hooked like I did.

Heres the bottom line, if we don't keep scheduling games like SMU in our OOC

schedule, I think our attendance/recruiting won't improve regardless of the scores. However, I do think our OOC games this year are a huge improvement from previous years.

Let me know what you think.

-Jon

[UNTSportsGuy]

You think football has a fan problem, go watch a basketball game, men or women...

[GreenBat]

Mean'n'Green07 let me welcome you as a new fan.

Now, it's fans like you described, who are the problem. They care more about seeing the opponent than about seeing their team. I realize that you are talking about people who are just coming to see a football game from Arlington (or anywhere outside of Denton). But it inexcusable for a student not coming to a game because of who the opponent is. This is their team and their university. Now it cost $50 to go home to Arlington for the weekend. Stay in Denton and come to the football games.

Mean'n'Green07 you and your classmates are the future of North Texas, do not let us down. Support the Mean Green!

[NT80]

Welcome Jon. We all want better opponents at Fouts.

We are a big fish in a small pond in our conference, and we all hope to find a bigger pond some year soon. NT would like to get into CUSA and play some of those teams you mention regularly.

NT has always played a tough OOC schedule, the largest programs. The problem again is getting them to visit Denton, and part of that is our football facility. It would help if students supported the building of a new stadium.

Bring a friend that has never been to a Mean Green game to one this year.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Welcome to this board, Mean'n'Green07! The 2'nd (long) paragraph you wrote is what so many academians on the UNT campus thru the decades just cannot seem to fathom (or they just refuse to).

I've been around the Mean Green scene since January of 1972 and have seen the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to NT athletics; the last 5 years has been most satisfying for many of us older (and not so old) nestors who post or read GMG.com. Some on this board have been watching NT football for almost a half a century if you can believe that.

What you said about living in Arlington and not knowing a darn thing about UNT does not surprise this NT alum whatsoever because I've been Fort Worth-based since 1977 and I have asked many FWISD students this question: "Which school has the largest student enrollment: TCU or UNT? 9 out of 10 from the FWISD would say TCU.

I have a feeling our NT officials at this point in time have somewhat waived the white flag as far as getting any more high profile teams into Denton as long as we have Fouts as our FB stadium. I don't know if they have come to the conclusion that its not possible after the bad experience Baylor had at the game that sold you on UNT when the Bear's locker-room electricity went out.

The future new football stadium at NT will allow us to schedule (in larger numbers) the kind of schools that I believe will help us gain and keep new fans; those same schools that it has been hinted that we cannot get to Denton now because of Fouts Field. I think NT AD Rick V and company have performed miracles with venerable ol' Fouts, but you just cannot keep on polishing that old t_rd if you get my drift.

For some reason, Metroplex college football fans only want to show up en mass based on who you play and not just because its 'THEIR" team playing. UT fans sellout for NT not because they are playing us, it's because their "beloved" Longhorns are in town. Anyway, that is a mode of thinking we must change at NT and your generation can help us do that quicker than some of ours can.

IMHO, the key is getting our annual record-setting NT freshmen classes to come to the games en mass while they live on or near campus and just hang onto them once they graduate. I believe we will hang onto them in record numbers because the last 5 or 6 NT freshmen classes have seen the Mean Green in record numbers of TV appearances (local, regional and national) and 4 bowl games in a row. Those type of things can be the glue (if you will) that can tie each graduating NT class together as to cause them to want to come back to campus in record numbers.

Mean'n'Green07, many on this board will tell you (others won't) that NT's future new stadium is the real key to our growth in all areas of athletics growth in Denton and not just for football. For instance, if you get the Oklahoma State Cowboys (and their 10,000 traveling fans) into a 35-40,000 seat stadium at Eagle Point Campus, then you have record gate receipts that help the entire NT athletic budget for both men and women varsity sports.

The new stadium is the key to all this and always has been. NT officials can get all kind of advertisement with a new stadium that Fouts is extremely limited. How many large DFW companies might want to give NT anywherer from $25K to $50K per year just so their company could have one of those roomy luxury suites that was shown on the virtual video tour of NT's new football stadium when it was linked on this board. Yet w/o a new stadium, other SBC schools would pass us almost immediately. As they say, in NCAA D1-A if you are standing still with your facilities, then you are really going backwards and will eventually reap the benefits of that.

One high ranking NT official believes we could be in a new football stadium by 2009. Bottom line is, Mean'n'Green07, you are young enough that you as a future NT Ex will get to see many exciting years in that new stadium and even more dramatic growth at NORTH TEXAS. For that, you should really be licking your chops with excitement!

Welcome to GMG.com, Mean'n'Green07!

GMG!

Edited September 4, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen

[FirefightnRick]

Our facility is the key. Regardless of our unknown conference, because we have dominated it our attendance has vastly improved. Only way to increase at this current time is to gain some OOC wins. Regardless, we cannot afford to drop an egg right now in conference.

Rick

[MeanGreen61]

Right now a new stadium is just 'pie in the sky' talk. We've got Fouts. They've put some lipstick on to make it look better, but it's still Fouts. We've also got a team that's won 4 straight conference championships & been in 4 bowl games. Staying on top in the conference and picking up some OC wins hopefully will put more BIS. Go to back the Mean Green, not to see particular teams.

[Brandon]

Right now a new stadium is just 'pie in the sky' talk. We've got Fouts. They've put some lipstick on to make it look better, but it's still Fouts.

←

Fouts is kinda like a hooker from Harry Hines... You can put it in a dress and make her look pretty, but deep down, she's still just a hooker...

[Guest Aquila_Viridis]

The biggest problem with Fouts is that there is a track around the field. Those of you who make the long trip to Murfreesboro will see what a difference it makes to be able to put the stands right up to the field. It is very important that they not put a track around any new NT football field. There are not going to be any big crowds at a track and field event at NT or any other college for that matter.

[PlummMeanGreen]

The biggest problem with Fouts is that there is a track around the field. Those of you who make the long trip to Murfreesboro will see what a difference it makes to be able to put the stands right up to the field. It is very important that they not put a track around any new NT football field. There are not going to be any big crowds at a track and field event at NT or any other college for that matter.

←

Trust me, Aquila_Viridis, there will be "NO" track in our new football stadium. That is toward the top of the list of why we are needing a new stadium as it is.

Actually, if Fouts had no track and fans were close to the action, there'd be less complaints and nothing but an old stadium in a bad location (according to the TxDOT) that would need to be replaced.

There are still fans at larger NCAA D1-A football venues sitting further away from the action than Mean Green fans. Fouts will be just fine until we get a new football stadium. In fact, Rick V and staff have made it a much more interesting place to watch a college football game than it used to be. The Daktronics has played a big part in that IMO.

GMG!

Edited September 4, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen

[greenmean]

I'm relatively a new fan of UNT football compared to some of you but I have

really thought about this and I want some of you 'veteran' fans to tell me

what you think.

First off, I'm a student who found out about the university through watching

football. The thing that got me interested in the university was the 52-14

victory against baylor I saw my senior year in high school. That led to me

exploring about the university and found out how many quality programs UNT

really has (I was already accepted into tech and a&m at this point). Before I saw the Baylor game all i knew about UNT was they had a good music program. This is why I believe the athletic department is the key to the success of the university... we have great quality programs but not alot of people know about them. Hell, I didn't even know where UNT was located and I lived in Arlington.

That being said, last week I was looking over our schedules in our past 5

seasons and began to ponder. Over that span of 5 seasons, there are only TWO

teams I would of wanted to come see play at Fouts as a football fan:TCU and

Baylor. How are we supposed to increase our fan base with ONLY TWO

interesting teams playing at Fouts every five years. Seriously, before I

became a student here there is no chance I would ever come up to see us play

any teams like ULM, MTSU or FIU. My main question is (besides scheduling

SMU, I really think that was a great move) why can't we have more appealing

teams come to Fouts?

I realize we can't get the big boys to play us at Fouts, but what about

other regional teams like UTEP, Rice, UH, Boise State or maybe a 2 and 1

with Ok State or another BCS confrence team. I would even love to see

another series with both TCU and Baylor. That way maybe I could interest

some of my non-UNT friends to come up here and watch a football game. Who

knows, maybe they'll get hooked like I did.

Heres the bottom line, if we don't keep scheduling games like SMU in our OOC

schedule, I think our attendance/recruiting won't improve regardless of the scores. However, I do think our OOC games this year are a huge improvement from previous years.

Let me know what you think.

-Jon

←

New stadium = new opponents

[EagleD]

I think it needs to be pointed out in this thread that better regional games are a priority for Rick Villareal. He has stated this since he first got the job. Many of the games we are playing now were set up a long time ago. Next year we should start to see some of RV's leg work where scheduling is concerned. Add a new stadium and it makes a trip to Denton a little more appealing. But also remember many of the teams you mentioned are conference opponents. Those games are a necessity. If we keep moving up then conference reallignment will help our home attendance. Keep moving forward b/c we can't afford to move back.

On a thread hijack note...How's Gary DeLoach doing in California?

Edit. Here's his bio.

GO MEAN GREEN

Edited September 4, 2005 by EagleD

[ntmeangreen11]

I almost peed my pants last season when I heard we had FAU at home!

Really, he's right, a general lets say,cowboys football fan who goes to UNT doesnt know who troy is and where its even at,theres where the lack of interest comes from.

[UNTX]

Attendance won't improve until / if we get into CUSA. A new stadium might provide a honeymoon period of increased attendance and an occassional better OOC opponent. But we'll continue to draw 13-17K against SBC opponents (and that's if we're doing well) and it'll stay that way until we can get into a league that provides us with a steady diet of Texas based I-A schools to host at home.

When we've had them (or schools like them) at home:

Baylor (28K & 29K)

TCU (26K & 24K)

SMU (23K.....)

[ThinkGreen21]

I think UNT is in the process to get where we need to be... Unforetunately, its a long process that is based around waiting for the new complex and hopefully with a baseball team by '08, we can accomplish the dream of getting in a better known conference...