Attention Green Gang: '09 Home Attendance Avg Was, 3rd Largest In

[FirefightnRick]

......Fouts Field History.

Thank you to GrayEagleOne for pointing out the error. This season wasn't the 4th or 5th largest in Fouts Field history, it was the 3rd largest. The full update is HERE.

The short version is:

Three highest avg. home attendances:

1994....19,517

2003....18,694

2009....18,228

Apathy my EYE!!!!????

Rick

Edited December 9, 2009 by FirefightnRick

[UNT86]

I once thought that when we started winning, the attendance would come.

But, we won 4 conference championships in a row, and couldn't put 20,000 in Fouts for any of those seasons.

Some talk of getting into a different conference, but who would want a school that can't fill 2/3 of their own stadium in their best years?

Some say that we need to get bigger name opponents to come into Denton.

But, why would they come when we don't even support our own team?

I think our attendance has cost us a bowl game in the 70's (and the main reason Hayden Fry left), and cost us a couple of shots at a National title when we couldn't get a home playoff game in I-AA.

How about we get on board and show up (and I have been since 1974, so I have seen a lot of NT football).

Maybe, we could do our part and at least get 20,000 for a couple of seasons?

I hope the stadium will help, but I have my doubts it will.

[UNT_playmaker]

Wow thats pretty shocking, 3rd largest....Wow...

Thats what I am so pissed off about right now, we spend $78 million on a brand new state of the art stadium and it only seats 28,000.... Really?

We had 23,500+ for the Army game, in the cold, with a 2-10 team that has only won five games in five years at home....

What happens when we are in a better conference, have a regional rivalry, have 45,000+ students in a few years, and we have a winning record....Expansion will take a decade long and cost the same amount as a new stadium

This football prgram is going to get better, mostly likely have the Dodge boys leave, but NT has a really good future and its football program has the capability to take off with the new stadium.

We should have built it right the first time, 35,000 to 40,000......

[FirefightnRick]

I once thought that when we started winning, the attendance would come. But, we won 4 conference championships in a row, and couldn't put 20,000 in Fouts for any of those seasons.

Attendance did come during that time. The 2003 average was the 2nd highest ever. Not to mention the 10 to 15 thousand who showed up in N.O. for Tuesday night scheduled bowl games during that same 4 year period.

How about we get on board and show up (and I have been since 1974, so I have seen a lot of NT football).

Maybe, we could do our part ....

That's what I'm trying to point out here. We DO our part and DO still show up as shown above, and did so in quality numbers for the '09 season that exceeded all but two years the previous 57 years at Fouts, in spite of the fact that our fanbase has seen exactly 5 wins at home the past 5 seasons.

Rick

Edited December 8, 2009 by FirefightnRick

[LongJim]

This is a really good sign for the program. No matter UNT's record, the Mean Green should be leading the SBC in attendance every year. The added pressure of having that many fans in attendance (and growing) is incentive for the AD to do what they need to do to build the program and helps continue to build accountability. As many have said on the board many times, building the program is a many faceted interconnection of moving parts that feed off of and influence other aspects.

Attendance, donations, publicity, merchandising, winning, hiring, scheduling, firing...it all fits together. Getting butts in the seats at an increasing rate begins to shift and raise expectations beyond the blabber and lip service that goes on here, IMO.

[KRAM1]

Nice job fans....just think what we could average if the students and alums actually got behind the program with their attendance for next season. That would be something to behold.

GO MEAN GREEN....

BTW...the apathy is not with the 18,000+ avg. who actually show up......

[Green Jackal]

What happens when we are in a better conference, have a regional rivalry, have 45,000+ students in a few years, and we have a winning record....Expansion will take a decade long and cost the same amount as a new stadium

You raise ticket prices and use the extra revenue to expand the stadium. Simple supply and demand. It will be a great problem to have when it happens.

[CaribbeanGreen]

Nice job fans....just think what we could average if the students and alums actually got behind the program with their attendance for next season. That would be something to behold.

Compared to other universities with like situations, they ARE behind the program. That's the point of the debate. Given the history, facility, tradition, affiliations, and other issues NT lives with, our fanbase has done a more than acceptable job supporting this thing the past few years.

[MeanGreen61]

Is 2009 the first year there were THREE games at FOUTS with over 20,000 in attendance ?

Edited December 8, 2009 by MeanGreen61

[CaribbeanGreen]

Attendance did come during that time. The 2003 average was the 2nd highest ever. Not to mention the 10 to 15 thousand who showed up in N.O. for Tuesday night scheduled bowl games during that same 4 year period.

and to further support the fact that fans came out during that run and the 2003 attendance was all the more impressive -- home games during that span were devoid of any sort of legit gameday atmosphere. Short of the occasional middling music act, there was nowhere NEAR the "scene" we have today... this is one thing I'll give this AD ample credit for. The atmosphere in the bowl years was NOTHING compared to what we have now, and we still outdrew the debut season of Dodge, with all the fanfare, tailgating, atmosphere, and SLC curiosity. I'd say the crowd comes out for winning teams here... if we could just put the two together..

[Daddy Dumpsalot]

seriously...can we delete this thread? No need for this.

Edited December 8, 2009 by Daddy Dumpsalot

[FirefightnRick]

Is 2009 the first year there were THREE games at FOUTS with over 20,000 in attendance ?

It's possible and an interesting question? I'll see what I can find out.

Rick

[FirefightnRick]

Is 2009 the first year there were THREE games at FOUTS with over 20,000 in attendance ?

I've check on this in more detail and I can't find the attendance for each and every home game. But you have to give the top three drawing seasons the most consideration, '94, '03 and '09.

We did have two games in '94 that barely drew over 20K against McNeese State(20,733) and Montana(20,730), (both 1-AA teams) during our drive to qualify with attendance in order to jump back to 1-A.

The only other top year was '03 in which we hosted Baylor that drew 29,437. There isn't another game that drew over 20K listed in '03.

So it's a safe bet that '09 indeed was the only season in which we had over 20K for 3 home games.

Hard to believe considering what our home fan base has witnessed the past 5 years.

Good find 61.

Rick

Edited December 9, 2009 by FirefightnRick