Attendance on Saturday

[ipEAGLE]

If we don't get over 20,000 it will be a major dissapointment.

BTW, does anyone have any pictures of the new concrete 'deck' at Fouts?

[Guest Aquila_Viridis]

On attendance, just noticed that the Ponies drew 22,416 for their big game with the Frogs. Hoping we can surpass that

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With a gazillion people in the metroplex and after TCU does in OU, how does that game draw so few? Did those schools raid our promotions department?

[PlummMeanGreen]

I spoke with NT Ticket Mgr. Gabe Kirpatrick about 6:30 tonight and he is very pleased with advance ticket sales. At NT, it seems to always be walk-up Game Day ticket sales that determines what kind of crowd we have from past observations with all this.

[ArkansasEagle]

When my wife and I got married, we re-scheduled our date, because it was on a home football date. Now, many years later, our anniversary is Saturday.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Actual Attendence: 8,500   

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That is the actual attendence for the TCU/SMU game???

Good lord, every AAAAA HS in West Texas will exceed that one. Abilene/Brownwood (AAAA) had over 10,000.

No wonder TCU lost, they were depressed after seeing what "great" support they had after upsetting OU.

[SouthernMustang]

The attendance was 22,416... It was actually pretty disapointing. But I guess to be expected from a team that lost to Baylor and the game was at 8:30 PM against a team that just beat OU.

Weird thing was -- the stadium got fuller after half-time. The students and fans watching game on TV's out on The Boulevard came in when they saw we were up. And they stayed... an odd thing for us.

Sadly though, none of them got counted b/c you can just walk in after half-time... I'd say total attendance for the game was around 25,000.

Still- though, for your main rival, it was nothing to write home about. The score however? Oh yes, very much so.

[IslandEagle]

The attendance was 22,416... It was actually pretty disapointing. But I guess to be expected from a team that lost to Baylor and the game was at 8:30 PM against a team that just beat OU.

Weird thing was -- the stadium got fuller after half-time. The students and fans watching game on TV's out on The Boulevard came in when they saw we were up. And they stayed... an odd thing for us.

Sadly though, none of them got counted b/c you can just walk in after half-time... I'd say total attendance for the game was around 25,000.

Still- though, for your main rival, it was nothing to write home about. The score however? Oh yes, very much so.

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Nevertheless, it was a big victory for you and the program.

[DeepGreen]

When my wife and I got married, we re-scheduled our date, because it was on a home football date.  Now, many years later, our anniversary is Saturday.

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So we can expect to see you at the Tulsa game?

[SouthernMustang]

Nevertheless, it was a big victory for you and the program.

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Very much so -- I am really surprised at all of the attention it got. I figured most would take it for a fluke rather than a showing of progress. I'm reserving my judgment this weekend (A&M is out hungry after their loss to Clemson), and then will see how well coached and prepared they look against Tulane. If we go through September 2-2 -- then Bennett is definitely got this moving in the right direction.

Congrats on your win against MTSU. Best of luck against Tulsa.

[UNTSIG]

If you are expecting us to have more than 20,000 against Tulsa, then go ahead and get prepared to be disappointed. We will not have it. I wish it wasn't the case but after seeing how it works and hearing the same forecast for "walk up" crowds for the last 5 years now, I'm telling you we won't have more than 20,000. We just have to realize that people are not getting as excited about NT football anymore UNTIL we win an out of conference game against a "name" opponent. If we came back from KSU with a win under our belt, then yes we will start drawing good numbers but not til then.

[green_goblin]

If you are expecting us to have more than 20,000 against Tulsa, then go ahead and get prepared to be disappointed.  We will not have it.  I wish it wasn't the case but after seeing how it works and hearing the same forecast for "walk up" crowds for the last 5 years now, I'm telling you we won't have more than 20,000.  We just have to realize that people are not getting as excited about NT football anymore UNTIL we win an out of conference game against a "name" opponent.  If we came back from KSU with a win under our belt, then yes we will start drawing good numbers but not til then.

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Why so negative?

[CaraBear]

My husband and I will be driving in from Abilene to see the game. Im excited.

[UNTFan23]

My husband and I will be driving in from Abilene to see the game. Im excited.

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Glad to hear you and aaron are going to make it to the game.

[PlummMeanGreen]

If you are expecting us to have more than 20,000 against Tulsa, then go ahead and get prepared to be disappointed.  We will not have it.  I wish it wasn't the case but after seeing how it works and hearing the same forecast for "walk up" crowds for the last 5 years now, I'm telling you we won't have more than 20,000.  We just have to realize that people are not getting as excited about NT football anymore UNTIL we win an out of conference game against a "name" opponent.  If we came back from KSU with a win under our belt, then yes we will start drawing good numbers but not til then.

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REVISED RESPONSE:

So you know for a fact that people are just not getting as excited about NT football anymore? Well, then you may need to make a short trip out to Parker County before you paint another giant swath of your brush on the canvass saying something like "no one is getting excited about NT football anymore" and I say that BECAUSE....

...in my party this Saturday night at Fouts will be a lady with 2 degrees from NORTH TEXAS who has never been to a Mean Green football game. She is from Weatherford (1+ hour away from Fouts Field to all you Dentonites who just have to make a 5 minute drive to the stadium). She just wants to come up (with another NT Ex in my same party) and see what all this Mean Green commotion is all about. She is most aware now of what is going on in Mean Green Country. Add her to our 20,000 plus fans that will be at Fouts this Saturday night.

FWIW, I've read on this board that many others are bringing some FIRST TIMERS to this game, so thank God, we all don't have to keep looking at those same old familiar faces PLUS............add a helluva' bunch of NT freshmen from a Fall all- time record enrollment at NORTH TEXAS who will also be making their 1'st ever Mean Green football game. I'd wager that several thousand other NT students will be joining those FIRST TIMERS as well. BLESS ALL OUR FIRST TIMERS BECAUSE THEY ARE THE MISSING PIECE TO THE PUZZLE AT FOUTS FIELD.

UNTSIG, I will agree with you that soon enough we do need to start winning more OOC games against the likes of who we are playing this Saturday and also the Kansas State's of the college football world, too. BUT it cost money to go up to the next level that we all want to occur iat NT and Denton. Isn't that a bummer, it's always about money. But thi$ is something we do have some semblance of control and with our enormous constiuency, we shouldn't be fooling around with nickels and dimes to our annual Mean Green Club donations. That group should have to hire their own secretary because it is so busy--but the Mean Green Club does not have its own secretary best to my knowledge.

Anyone else notice a quote from Coach Dickey this week saying there was a reason Tulsa U is in CUSA and NORTH TEXAS is not? He didn't elaborate or go into details but we all know what those details are without the need of even a subtle hint from our coach, our AD or even Norval Pohl and as always its about>>>>>>$$$$$$$$$$. Check out the athletic budgets of most al those OOC and ranked schools who have beaten us lately because it might make most NT alums appreciate what our guys have done on a shoestring budget.

What many of us have noticed about too many NT fans the last umpteen years is how too many of them all kinda' want all this Big Time football for (I presume) free without making any kind of personal financial committments to NT Athletics (and that doesn't mean said NT Ex has to endow an entire academic chair with their cash donation, either, because said alum should just start with what he/she can afford--but at least start). Rick V would love for our fans/alums to start at any giving level. Hellsbells, they even let us all pay out monthly whatever we pledge to the Mean Green payiing it out over the year.

When NORTH TEXANS finally start giving at whatever level in record numbers, then we can position our favorite college football team that just happens to wear green and white to a point as to where they can ultimately be on a level playing field with all those OOC and ranked teams we'd all truly like to beat.

GMG!

Edited September 16, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen

[Talon90]

Why so negative?

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UNTSIG isn't being negative. He is being a realist.

UNT Home Attendance Average while Sun Belt Champs:

2004 - 15,184

2003 - 18,694

2002- 15,260

2001 - 13,248

Every year we hear that ticket sales are going well and every year fans post on this board their dissappointment. The numbers don't lie.

Even if we beat Tulsa and K-State our average won't change that much this year.

The sooner one can accept who we are, where we came from and what our fan base is about, the better one will feel.

Just think about what our attendance will be when we have a bad/losing season and it will happen, maybe even this year.

I and I'm sure UNTSIG would agree that we would love to have our attendance numbers soar but the truth is that we aren't there yet and it may take quite awhile to be where we think or hope we should be.

GMG!

[FirefightnRick]

The '01 season opener attendance of 13,000+ is pretty good considering the circumstances.

We finished 3-8 the previous year in which the final game had maybe 1,000 in attendance.

To start the '01 season off we had gotten our heads handed to us....again, at OU.

And finally, we were just coming off a road loss to ULM and went into the home opener 0-1 in conference and 0-5 overall.

The fact that we had anyone in attendance at that point is a miracle.

Rick

[Mean'n'Green07]

Why so negative?

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greengoblin... I think you might have the best signature on the board.

[Travis]

greengoblin... I think you might have the best signature on the board.

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I saw that greengoblin posted something. But, for some odd reason... what he actually said wasn't where my eyes went to.

[GreenFlag]

Back in the day when we had a good I-AA squads, we would bring in 17K against Abilien Christian in the home opener.

Why?

Because not only was it the home opener, it was the first game period. We hadn't been throttled yet by a top 10 program at their place. People will come to watch the Mean Green at Fouts when hopes are high.

I am so out on BCS at their place openers. I do not know if it is financially possible but can't we just eliminate the BCS powerhouse at their place as an opener period. How about opening the season at Fouts against an SFA, Sam Houston or Texas State.

Why do we have to be someones tune-up game? If we have to have a BCS heavyweight on the schedule, mandate it be later in the season. Doing that game so f's us on attendance.

I would like to see the following:

Home opening tune up against SFA, S.H.S.U., Texas State-every friggin year open at HOME!!!

1 or 2 home games against SMU, La. Tech, Tulsa (nice job Rick). Based on whether we have 3 or 4 home Sun Belt games that year.

3-4 Home Sun Belt games.

Could that be 6 home games?

Away games we play:

1-2 SMU, La. Tech, Tulsa's of the world

1 body bag game, prefereably a BCS program on their ass that is still willing to pay.

3-4 Sun Belt games.

That gives the away contest tally at 6.

Just curious, would you rather see us open up against LSU in Baton Rouge or Texas State in Denton? We get 500K to travel to Baton Rouge and incur those expenses or we can reasonably expect 22K in a home opener against Texas State (I know what you are thinking about 22K against Texas State but it is not a crazy notion). I have no idea how that translates into bottom line dollars but I think it could be made up in increased attendance the rest of the year that we lost after a 65-0 thrashing from Texas.

[Catbird]

You'd have a better chance of finding out the launch codes for ICBM's.

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That would be: 35-Green-25971-oxford-0016308-gold

[mrsgreengoblin]

greengoblin... I think you might have the best signature on the board.

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Don't encourage him!

[PlummMeanGreen]

I think we all know the problems, but who (in Denton where our school is located ) is going to come up with the solutions. That is and has been a major concern of many of us for years. We do not attack this problem when it is at the top of the list of our problems. We almost act like it doesn't exist. Is it always lack of budget or is that the most convenient excuse we use?

I think NT attendance will grow in spite of us and in spite of our lack of marketing to solve the problem because FWIW, folks, the population of Denton County is larger than what the mayor of New Orleans says was his city's population (within its city limits). NT has for decades just done a poor job of marketing for whatever the reason and I'm sure money (or lack thereof) is at the top of the list, too, but maybe we need to do the things that would take care of that?

Even check out Tulsa's attendance for most of the last few years. Of course, they have a larger stadium seating about 40,000 and they (as of late) have been getting some of their fellow Oklahoma schools into Skelley Stadium for SRO crowds at Skelley in recent years. Yet the City of Tulsa's citizenry must be the key in all this because Tulsa U only has a tad over 4,000 students as I recall. (No, this is not a subtle "lets bash Denton" post, either). We all have to take our share of the blame with this.

Again, every group that could support NT has to take their share of the attendance short-falls we've had, but lets start finding some solutions as to get some of Denton County's thousands of newcomers, ie, transplants to Fouts Field. This is the demographic UNT should have (for decades) always had its focus because that group will be the difference-makers at our on-campus stadium's turnstiles.

UNT is like the miner who inherited a mountain of solid gold, he knows it all there but he takes it for granted and just doesn't know where to first stick his pic as to get started in mining the very thing that will make THE BIG DIFFERENCE with his lifestyle. YET..........he is more concerned with all the mundane and ancillery things surrounding his profession as a miner rather than going for the gold.

NT has its own gold mine with its Denton County population of which 400,000 more have arrived in the county since I was an NT student back in he 70's); NT has a gold mine with its 2005 Fall record-setting main campus enrollment; and NT has a gold mine with its enormous DFW NT Exes numbers, so the question still remains: Just when and where does NT stick the pic? Moreso, when do we start doing so in a major way as to solve our biggest deficiency and possible "future new conference" albatross, ie, our attendance at Fouts Field?

GMG!

Edited September 17, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen

[Baby Arm!]

What hasn't been mentioned is not only is it a home opener but it's also Family Weekend. Our Parent's Day/Family weekend crowds are usually one of your bigger crowds of the year.

[PlummMeanGreen]

What hasn't been mentioned is not only is it a home opener  but it's also Family Weekend.  Our Parent's Day/Family weekend crowds are usually one of your bigger crowds of the year.

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Agree...

With good weather, I still think a 1 & 0 Mean Green football team will be pleased with this home season opening crowd. We have many things working for that to happen and another huge 2005 NT freshmen class is toward the top of that list.

Lest we forget: Lets all try to be in Fouts Field 30 minutes before kick-off. Our Green Brigade and Mean Green football team really do deserve that and that is the #1 reason NT officials have requested that from all of us.

GMG!

[NT91]

I saw that TCU had 25,000 on Thur. We need to do better that 25k

Edited September 16, 2005 by NT91