Official Attendance

eulessismore · October 19, 2009

I was tailgating right in the middle of the orange lot yesterday and had a chance to talk to several people I just met. Out of the 10 or so people I talked to, not one person was actually going to the game. I actually convinced 2 people to go to the game, but other than that everyone else just stayed out there. Tailgating is great for getting people out there, but if were not winning its hard to get people in the game.

I'm torn about the whole thing. I'd like to see them go into the stadium and watch the game; on the other hand, I think a lot of them don't care about football and are just there to party. I'd prefer them to be there in one place, where at least some of them can walk from there, rather than out drinking and driving around to a variety of keg parties like a lot of them did when I was a student back in the 70's. Maybe once the new stadium is built, if the same thing is going on, the school could just put a flat screen tv outside in the tailgating area large enough and high enough that they could reasonably say people were watching the game. Then send a crew out to do an approximate count and add it to the "official" attendance.

untcampbell · October 19, 2009

Like the Party Pass...worked for Jerry.

redallover · October 19, 2009

Does UNT allow passouts for tailgating? If so, it seems like that ought to stop. Sorry to see the loss. I had high hopes after the first game.

UNTflyer · October 19, 2009

UNT has an enrollment of about 36K and TCU has about 9K. That is a huge difference. Why does this always get overlooked by many GMG posters?

UNT is consistently in the bottom 20. TCU is consistently in the top 25.

This is NOT overlooked by our students and supporters.

UNTflyer · October 19, 2009

I am in D and I fully agree we had people that floated in and out until the half then done. I also think the cool air had lots of people moving around, under the grandstands it always seemed busy.
I would go with the 23,319 pretty easily, the deck looked jammed at one point.

Maybe I'm just judging by my immediate surroundings. When we are over 20k, I'm usually shoulder to shoulder with other alumni. Last night, I had room to stretch.

VideoEagle · October 19, 2009

Does anyone really think RV would pay people to slow down the line of fans entering the stadium while they scan their tickets only to lie about the totals for which he paid? That just doesn't make sense to me.

One, we aren't anywhere close to following below the 1A attendance "minimums." Two, it has be shown repeatedly by ArkStateFan and others that the NCAA would be be extremely unlikely to every actually enforce the 1600 minimum rule as at least two members of the committee charged with enforcing it are from the MAC which has more schools than the SBC that don't meet the requirement!

eppy4life · October 19, 2009

If the students who tailgate would just walk in and scan their id I wonder what our numbers would look like. I hate walking to the game, through a nice amount of tailgaters, knowing that none are coming to the game. In fact, walking from my parking spot to the game I walked with many who were coming just for the tailgating.

If we're worried about attendance this week just wait until Western Kentucky on Halloween! It will be a ghost town... sorry. "had to."

KRAM1 · October 19, 2009

Once more...you can look at this from a negative point of view or a positive point of view...your choice. To me the stands...both sides looked pretty darn good from an attendance standpoint. I really liked the size of the student attendance BEFORE half-time...after that many seemed to leave and then a few trickled back in during the third quarter. Many on the alumni side left at half-time due to the coolness of the night...why were they not listening to the weather reports before the game and dressing properly???? Who knows? Also, the deck is a popular spot for many to spend the entire game....

Tailgaters who don't come to the games...well, yes, I wish they would come into the stadium, but I see them getting closer and closer with each game. A few years ago they would have been in Dallas "partying" with the TX-OU crowds and/or at some other place watching the TX-OU game. Now they are at the stadium doing the tailgate thing. Next, they will start trickling into the game and then they will, in the majority, enter the stadium for the game. Give it some time...it will happen, just as the wins will start coming. The two will work nicely together to raise attendance numbers...BUT, good grief...a 1-5 team and we get an announced crowd of over 23K and some folks are complaining! Wow, good news all around.

The more students tailgate, the more beautiful co-eds will come and the more co-eds that come, the more guys will come, etc., etc. OK, put a win or two in the mix and BINGO...full-house. Seems to me that being around the campus on football weekends is coming back into vogue for UNT students. I see that as a real "good thing".

GO MEAN GREEN...see you at the nexy home game vs. W. Ky on 10/31. BE THERE to see the WIN!!!!

eppy4life · October 19, 2009

Tailgaters who don't come to the games...well, yes, I wish they would come into the stadium, but I see them getting closer and closer with each game. A few years ago they would have been in Dallas "partying" with the TX-OU crowds and/or at some other place watching the TX-OU game. Now they are at the stadium doing the tailgate thing. Next, they will start trickling into the game and then they will, in the majority, enter the stadium for the game. Give it some time...it will happen, just as the wins will start coming. The two will work nicely together to raise attendance numbers...BUT, good grief...a 1-5 team and we get an announced crowd of over 23K and some folks are complaining! Wow, good news all around.

Great point. Add a new stadium and I'm sure they all come in. At least once.

BonfireBrian · October 19, 2009

Like everyone on this board, we all want to see our tailgaters come in to the game. I'm a major fan of tailgating, whether at UNT sporting events or other stuff. Some people just come out for the party, and I think it's better to have them at the stadium than down in Dallas or at a bar as Kram said. As our team improves, more people will be inclined to come in to the stadium.

Several years ago, tailgating was not a place to be seen. Now it is. As the team improves, the place to be seen will be the tailgate before the game and inside the stadium during the game. I don't think turning out the lights or shutting down the parking lots during the game is a good idea because it will cut down on the pregame atmosphere.

In my perfect world, we would all tailgate for hours before the game, go inside, watch a North Texas win, and come back out and tailgate some more.

FirefightnRick · October 19, 2009

It's not overlooked by me at all and if you had been going to games at TCU and North Texas dating back to the Wacker and Nelson day's you would understand a bit of my point, which it:
They have spent MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of dollars on their program, facilities and staff and in advertising telling everyone in and among a half million plus population city that they are THEIR HOME TEAM. They have a history with the SWC and regularly hosted Texas, Texas A&M and Arkansas and the likes for years. They now regularly bring in BYU, Utah, Air Force to name a few. They are undefeated, have been in the top 10, will end there before it's over with and may make a BCS bowl. Yet here they are atop the college football world and very few still seem to care in the region, and they may just be the best team in Texas right now and not outdrawing one of the worst teams in Texas just up the road by all that much.
I guess my overall point is, give us some wins and we would easily be right there with them.
Rick

Jennifer Engall agreed yesterday morning.

Undefeated TCU deserves bigger home crowds.

One question: If amazing happens in front of a half-filled stadium, do the big boys in college football take it seriously?
On a perfect day for college football, sunny and crisp, there were huge pockets of empty seats at Amon G. Carter Stadium to watch the No. 8, or No. 12, depending on your poll preference, team in the country play. Horned Frogs friends report the alum section was decently full, the upper deck was actually fuller than they’d seen in a while at the start of the game, but it was far from the packed house this team warrants.
So where was everybody Saturday?

A 7-0 TCU outdrew a 1-5 NT saturday by only 7800 fans.

Amazing!

Rick

untjim1995 · October 19, 2009

It's not overlooked by me at all and if you had been going to games at TCU and North Texas dating back to the Wacker and Nelson day's you would understand a bit of my point, which it:
They have spent MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of dollars on their program, facilities and staff and in advertising telling everyone in and among a half million plus population city that they are THEIR HOME TEAM. They have a history with the SWC and regularly hosted Texas, Texas A&M and Arkansas and the likes for years. They now regularly bring in BYU, Utah, Air Force to name a few. They are undefeated, have been in the top 10, will end there before it's over with and may make a BCS bowl. Yet here they are atop the college football world and very few still seem to care in the region, and they may just be the best team in Texas right now and not outdrawing one of the worst teams in Texas just up the road by all that much.
I guess my overall point is, give us some wins and we would easily be right there with them.
Rick

I grew up in FW and went to TCU games alot growing up. The old SWC was so great, and it helped build up support for TCU, but IMO they have achieved their greatness because they play schools that they can compete with year-in and year-out. The only issue with that is the sad fact that most Metroplex fans aren't too interested in schools that are far away (i.e. California schools that are not Pac-10, teams in Colorado, or teams in other such outposts). Hence, 30K is normal attendance at TCU. What TCU has done on the field is terrific and it has changed their image--but I do think if you switched TCU and Baylor, for example, and made TCU compete every year against 11 of the biggest ADs in America, I doubt they would be Top Ten--ever. Think about Baylor when they entered the Big XII in 1996. Back in the SWC, they were a stalwart program--often ranked, went to bowl games regularly, and had great support. Then, all of a sudden, they have to compete against those 11 state-supported schools every year--they quickly became the Vandy of the Big XII. I think if BU got to play teams like TCU gets to play--comparable traditions, facilities, fanbases, and $$$ support, I believe that with the Texas-talent on Baylor's team (as with TCU) that they would be great. In the old SWC, most years TCU was terrible--Baylor wasn't at all. So what changed--Baylor sold out for the BCS dollars and hasn't been to a bowl game in 15 years. TCU decides to put more emphasis on their program, hire two GREAT coaches for their city and school, and decide that they no longer need any conference affiliation with other Texas schools so as to separate themselves. It has all worked out extremely well, except for one thing--$$$. Last yar, TCU finishes in the Top Ten, beats unbeaten Boise State in one of the best bowl matchups of the year, and gets LESS $$$ from their bowl game than Baylor got for being in the Big XII and staying at home in Waco, as usual, in December. The attendance in FW is good, but I don't think it will ever get much higher because TCU is private and they play teams that are just too far away to bring good crowds (exception is BYU). Its why I think when TCU does fall back down, the thud we will all hear will be pretty loud. Their fanbase is somewhat limited and depending on non-alumni is dicey at best--similar to what we complain about with Denton and Denton County. I promise you that most of Tarrant County cares MUCH more about the Big XII than who TCU is playing in the MWC on any regular week of the season. Its why we at UNT have to continue this great trend of the last 10 years where support amongst the student body and recent alumni has gotten much better and could lead to big things IF we could ever build a winner, much less be a winner in a conference with teams that our fans want to go see every week. TCU is a great example for SMU to follow and believe in--for me, UNT needs to follow what UH or UTEP has done. Use those large alumni numbers to better use with a nice facility that can bring in name OOC opponents and good coaches.