Will attendance improve in 2015?

[josephpoint]

Attendance in 2014 at Hornet Stadium for football games was disappointing considering the 7-5 winning record. Believe attendance has been going down year by year in the past several years. Remember us being the best of the rest after the Montana schools in attendance.

wonder if things will improve this year?

Last year's average home game Big Sky attendance figures

23,777 Montana (7 home games)
17,056 Montana state (8 home game)
9,432 Eastern Washington (8 home games)
8,945 Cal Poly (5 home game)
8,504 Weber State (5 home games)
8,226 Northern Arizona (5 home games)
7,486 North Dakota (6 home games)
6,721 Idaho State (6 home games)
6,636 SACRAMENTO STATE (6 home games)
6,121 UC Davis (5 home games)
4,585 Portland State (5 home games)
4,207 Northern Colorado (5 home games)
3,261 Southern Utah (5 homes games)

 

[ChiCity]

I don't see an increase happening this year with the loss of Saffron and Carter. A couple other things that may play into keeping attendance down is the $10 parking fee, the limited food choices, and restroom facilities.

 

[SDHornet]

Attendance will improve solely due to the fact that we host the Causeway this year. Safron and Carter didn't* bring people to the gates last year so their departure won't impact anything, but I agree that the parking fee sure as hell can chase people away.

*average attendance was down from 7,868 in 2013, at team that went 5-7.

 

[josephpoint]

Amazing that Big Sky football games in 2014 (regular season and playoffs) drew
722,00 fans, just 6K behind the Southwestern Conference and a couple thousands behind the Missouri Valley Conference. Then it drops way down to the Ivy League with 368,000 fans and all the rest of the 13 FCS conferences much lower. so the Big Sky is right on top in terms of attendance. Would be great to see all the schools in the Big Sky Conference not from Montana step it up . It is the Montana schools that have the big Sky on top in attendance. Understand that all the rest of the school schools accept North Dakota are in the pac 12 foot print but most schools in the big Sky are enough removed from these bigger programs to bring the home town fans out with good marketing and promotion. Trust the Big Sky conference powers to be are working together to make this happen. One would assume that the big Sky Conf. commissioner and his staff want to see improvement in fan support at all Big Sky schools and are offering their support and resources.

 

[just a sac state fan]

Attendance will improve solely due to the fact that we host the Causeway this year. Safron and Carter didn't* bring people to the gates last year so their departure won't impact anything, but I agree that the parking fee sure as hell can chase people away.

*average attendance was down from 7,868 in 2013, at team that went 5-7.

So true about the Causeway, also last year the Holy Bowl was played on the same day as our home opener which wasn't good for attendance. But this year we don't play on Halloween. The Holy Bowl is being played, while we are away, which is good. It also looks like we'll play all night games this year, with Davis still not announced yet.

 

[josephpoint]

good to hear about all night games. Seems like they tend to draw more over the years.

 

[SJHornet]

I have been given permission from the boss to take myself and the boy to more games this season, so I'll be doing my part. I'm hoping to hit all the home games, and am considering season tickets, but we'll see. I'm also very excited to see they will all be home games - Causeway pending. I personally dislike day games. Unfortunately it will depend on the casual fan and student, and the $10 parking fee will probably drive many away. However, if the Hornets are able to accumulate some early wins, we'll see good attendance numbers this season, thanks in large part to the Causeway.

Apathy is unfortunately a major theme amongst the Sac State alumni base, and many of my State friends and co-workers have very little to no interest in Hornets football. They prefer to focus on P5 games and teams (even the former athletes!). Most have no idea we are division one, what conference we play in or who are our opponents are (other than Davis). If the university wants to make Hornet football a relevant program in the community, they need to make a MAJOR promotional push. I'm talking TV ads, easily accessible coaches shows, good game promotions and possibly even paying or taking a crappy deal for games to be televised. And (in my opinion) most importantly, open up a beer garden or two inside the stadium. It's great we can tailgate outside, but people want to get sloshed while they're watching the game too. I imagine it may be against conference or school rules, but hopefully they can designate an area for patrons to purchase and consume alcohol outside of the stands, but within viewing distance. I've seen it done quite successfully at a few venues. Plus, the -insert beer company here- beer tent could be a major source of revenue!