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bluegrouse · Post by **bluegrouse** » February 14th, 2019, 12:19 am

When was the last time we had that small of a crowd for a conference game? No attendance numbers in the media guide to compare but that might be a new low in the last 25 years......

2nd place in the conference. Just don’t understand what’s going on nor what solutions are to be had. Not unique to us. Frustrating and discouraging.

Aggie formerly in Hawaii · Post by **Aggie formerly in Hawaii** » February 14th, 2019, 12:22 am

Hopefully as we keep winning that will change. We have had 7 straight underwhelming seasons before this one. It takes a degree of success to get the casual fans interested again. It doesn't surprise me that a midweek game against a bad team would have attendance like that this year. That should change in future seasons as we keep winning. Next year we could be the favorites to win the MW and will be coming off a great year. Expect attendance to be better.

bluegrouse · Post by **bluegrouse** » February 14th, 2019, 12:25 am

I hope you’re right but if football attendance for a top 25 team is any indication, it’s going to take more than just winning.....

Aggiesbleedblue · Post by **Aggiesbleedblue** » February 14th, 2019, 12:26 am

Aggie fans always have a new excuse. When we were in the WAC, they complained about the competition level and the "we never play anybody" mantra. Then we join the Mountain West but our program falters. But now we play both good competition and have a great team and people still won't come. Maybe it's our fan base that's the problem... .

newhouse9 · Post by **newhouse9** » February 14th, 2019, 12:38 am

I felt disgusted at the low turnout. Crap, I drove back from Boise today in the friggin' blizzard just to get to the game. I'm no hero, but where the crud was everybody. It's nuts!

Ahbye · Post by **Ahbye** » February 14th, 2019, 2:55 am

It was dumping snow during the game. All nearby parking is reserved, so any students who wanted to come had to walk. They were literally being fair-weather fans.

Aggie formerly in Hawaii · Post by **Aggie formerly in Hawaii** » February 14th, 2019, 3:35 am

bluegrouse wrote: ↑
February 14th, 2019, 12:25 am
I hope you’re right but if football attendance for a top 25 team is any indication, it’s going to take more than just winning.....

I don't have the numbers, but attendance seemed pretty great in the mid-2000's when we were winning at a high level. I remember going to a game against lowly UC Riverside where it was a full crowd and the place was rocking. That is about the equivalent to the Wyoming game this year. Keep winning and people will come.

LoveMyAggies · Post by **LoveMyAggies** » February 14th, 2019, 6:34 am

Maybe the HURD leaders should reach out to Tyler Olsen, and find ways to excite the students to fill it up again. Another idea, can we get a new WILD BILL protege?

ustate98 · Post by **ustate98** » February 14th, 2019, 7:15 am

It is sad to see those numbers so low. When I was a student we were still in the Big West and the games were packed.

superheroboy · Post by **superheroboy** » February 14th, 2019, 8:08 am

It's hard for a lot of people to get up to a game in the dumping snow when you have the game for free in HD with the great Scotty G calling it. I think the ubiquity of high-quality television is having a real effect on all major sports.

IdaAg93 · Post by **IdaAg93** » February 14th, 2019, 8:11 am

bluegrouse wrote: ↑
February 14th, 2019, 12:19 am
When was the last time we had that small of a crowd for a conference game? No attendance numbers in the media guide to compare but that might be a new low in the last 25 years......

2nd place in the conference. Just don’t understand what’s going on nor what solutions are to be had. Not unique to us. Frustrating and discouraging.

There's a good chance you live in Logan. Many of us live in Idaho or further south along the Wasatch Front. I for sure was not going to drive it. We usually come rain or shine, but didn't this time. The low attendance was a function of the weather, make no doubt.

BigBlueAggie · Post by **BigBlueAggie** » February 14th, 2019, 8:12 am

Attendance is down everywhere. See link below about UK attendance falling:

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/s ... 646455002/

Here is one on the U: https://www.sltrib.com/sports/utah-utes ... r-has-lot/

Lots of theories out there as to why. I know one thing, pricing is not matching demand right now. And I consider going to Aggie games a damn bargain. Purchased 3rd row tickets behind the visiting bench for 30 bucks a piece for a couple of Saturday games. But overall you have to price according to the market and if people are coming, your pricing needs to be evaluated. But the problem is bigger than that. Many folks just don't feel the need to get up and go to sporting events anymore.

Maybe my Generation (Gen X) just didn't do a good job instilling a love of home team sports in the next gen? I don't know what the answer is but many around the country are clearly scratching their heads trying to figure this one out.

Roy McAvoy · Post by **Roy McAvoy** » February 14th, 2019, 8:30 am

It's sad. We definitely need bigtime crowds for SDSU & Nevada though. That should draw people out. What can we do to build up the hype for those games?

Post by **ProvoAggie** » February 14th, 2019, 8:46 am

1/4/2017 we had 3897 against UNM.

rAggie · Post by **rAggie** » February 14th, 2019, 8:49 am

I see two distinct issues:

1) Student attendance.
2) Non-student attendance.

For students, I just don't get it. They all live on campus. Weather and high school games last night should not be an excuse. Students show up in large numbers to all sorts of silly events around campus, it would seem to me that getting 3,000 of the 18,000 on campus to a basketball game would not be a challenge. We should be having to turn people away!

I can't help but think that the HURD is not doing their job, and I may be unfair in this criticism, but I look at the people on the front row behind the basket, who I presume are the HURD "leaders", and they are wearing their badges and acting like they own the world, and I can't help but think if they're there more to stroke themselves off rather than for the pure passion of getting thousands into the arena and creating memorable experiences. It's almost as if they believe they themselves are the show rather than facilitators of the show. I'm very disappointed.

For non-students, the excuses for last night are going to be weather and high school basketball. I'd guess that high school games might have had a maximum impact of 500 people -- the weather is another thing. I understand Wellsville Canyon was very bad last night. I think the "culture of winning" argument made earlier in this thread is the biggest impact here, other than -- I hate to say it -- our fans just aren't good. I look at things that the ticket office did this year like the Aggie Pack and the multi-game packages, and they're pricing the games in a very fair way. There are enough tickets on the second hand market to fill the very low end of pricing that folks might be looking for.

At the end of the day, we are as victim to all the other forms of entertainment that exist as anyone else. Ultimately, everyone involved (marketing, coaches, administrators, student leaders, us as fans) need to convince 10,270 people 16 times a year that going to the Spectrum is a better use of two hours of their time than whatever the alternatives are. We collectively are not doing a good enough job of this.

letsbehonest · Post by **letsbehonest** » February 14th, 2019, 9:07 am

Start gathering the troops for the March 2nd game. That needs to be a packed house. Once people get a taste of how fun the spectrum can be they will continue to come back. Do whatever it takes to be there.

bigblue · Post by **bigblue** » February 14th, 2019, 9:10 am

Really? We are going to complain about attendence when the roads were the worst they had been all year. I drove from one end to the valley to the other yesterday and it was terrible. I don't fault anyone staying home last night. It's one thing to just have icy roads but their was a array of different conditions. That snow was so wet, the slush about took my truck off the road multiple times. The plows couldn't keep up at all.

Seems like low attendence is low hanging fruit for people to get on their soapbox and whine around here. They always act like we are the only program with that problem when there is an obvious Marco level shift away from attending sports games. This is not an isolated problem.

Honestly, I am surprised that the attendence was that high. I was expecting a lower number.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

AngusAg · Post by **AngusAg** » February 14th, 2019, 9:17 am

IdaAg93 wrote: ↑
February 14th, 2019, 8:11 am

bluegrouse wrote: ↑
February 14th, 2019, 12:19 am
When was the last time we had that small of a crowd for a conference game? No attendance numbers in the media guide to compare but that might be a new low in the last 25 years......

2nd place in the conference. Just don’t understand what’s going on nor what solutions are to be had. Not unique to us. Frustrating and discouraging.
There's a good chance you live in Logan. Many of us live in Idaho or further south along the Wasatch Front. I for sure was not going to drive it. We usually come rain or shine, but didn't this time. The low attendance was a function of the weather, make no doubt.

Agree (Idaho). Low attendance is a function of several factors (television, Wed night, weather, television, national trend, student culture, television, different atmosphere, etc.)

Post by **AggiesForever** » February 14th, 2019, 9:19 am

I drove through Wellsville Canyon/Sardine Canyon last night from Ogden to get to the game (and have done for every single game this year, football and basketball) and it was not that big of a deal. Traffic was a little slower than normal, but usual Utah winter weather driving. So that's not the real problem.

I get a little dismayed by the fact that Loganites/students on campus seem to think its okay for those of us from Ogden, Salt Lake and . . . Boise? . . . to drive to Logan, eat in your restaurants, support the team, when you can't get your ahses off the couch and into the Spectrum. You would think that 8 percent of the total valley population (125K) could make that commitment.

I will continue to support USU no matter where I live. But how come the locals can't do it, too? And don't start in on me about your incomes. Most people in Cache Valley make about the same as I do. Money/income isn't the issue.

Let's face it. You just don't care.

Blue42 · Post by **Blue42** » February 14th, 2019, 9:40 am

ProvoAggie wrote: ↑
February 14th, 2019, 8:46 am
1/4/2017 we had 3897 against UNM.

Weather was beyond horrible for that game, if I’m remembering correctly. I walked with a group of friends over to it through a solid like foot of snow. I also think it was a late start (one of the 9:00 starts for TV). I remember walking in right around when the game was supposed to start, and walking right up to the front row of the student section because there were so few people there.

I think weather obviously was a factor in that game, just like it was last night. But I think a bigger factor is just that people don’t care that much anymore. Having a non competitive team for so long has definitely contributed to this. There is just a general apathy, as people have alluded to, and people who just feel like they have better things to do. A couple of my friends couldn’t go last night because of homework. I’m different than most I guess because I love all the sporting events so much that I calendar around them. No homework, no leaving town, nothing if there’s a home game. I love Utah State sports though, and I just don’t think most people have that passion. They go if it’s convenient, but never will go out of their way to make it to a game. The number of us that go to games because we are passionate about USU sports just seems to be a shrinking minority.

Rawbirds · Post by **Rawbirds** » February 14th, 2019, 9:46 am

And we were poking fun at the Fresno attendance...

Honestly the roads in the valley weren't that bad. No matter the condition, Main Street is always well maintained as is 10th North. After the game I drove down the dugway into the island, up the Cliffside hill, and then up another hill in Providence without any issue whatsoever. Getting into the valley is a different story and justifiable.

It feels like an excuse and a cop out more than anything else.

As far as the students, I'm always shocked that when it comes to a fireside, 15,000 students pour into the Spectrum yet for a basketball game we can't even get 2,000 on a consistent basis.

mcaggie1 · Post by **mcaggie1** » February 14th, 2019, 9:50 am

You see highlights of the instate schools games, and you see half full arenas, with the exception of the Y. They don't fill it, but they do better than the rest of us. I noticed a little over half full arena at Fresno, and most of the other venues in the MWC, and most other arenas in the western U.S.

I don't know if it is a trend or not, but it seemed sad to me to see an apparent decline in attendance. Maybe people are just getting lazy because you can almost always watch a game at home either on tv, or your computer.
I haven't been to a single game this year. Not because I don't want to, but because I can't see well to drive long distances at night.

aceofspadeskb · Post by **aceofspadeskb** » February 14th, 2019, 9:54 am

Fevers and barfing at my house. We used the ticket exchange to swap our tickets from last night for the SDSU game.

Post by **aggies22** » February 14th, 2019, 9:58 am

letsbehonest wrote: ↑
February 14th, 2019, 9:07 am
Start gathering the troops for the March 2nd game. That needs to be a packed house. Once people get a taste of how fun the spectrum can be they will continue to come back. Do whatever it takes to be there.

Just in time for the season to be over.

ProfessorChaos · Post by **ProfessorChaos** » February 14th, 2019, 10:05 am

I understand why people might bring up the point that the HURD leadership isn't doing their job, or just is missing the mark with what they're doing.

I think it's important to note though that the HURD as a club (and/or whatever it technically is now), has never at any point been a major contributor to the gameday atmosphere. Yes, they do a few promotional things around campus, but they were never the catalysts of taking things anywhere beyond a cookie-cutter gameday experience.

If the fire that made The Spectrum what it once was is ever going to be re-ignited, I seriously doubt that it's going to come as a result of anything the HURD does.

918AGG · Post by **918AGG** » February 14th, 2019, 10:08 am

aceofspadeskb wrote: ↑
February 14th, 2019, 9:54 am
Fevers and barfing at my house. We used the ticket exchange to swap our tickets from last night for the SDSU game.

I've barfed in the Spectrum before... Fun story: It happened at the Utah game when Chaz Spicer hit the three to seal it... '07? The students then rush the court and I'm left in the stands hurling my guts out, puking up a homemade quesadilla that my wife (then girlfriend) smuggled in at halftime. I had a goal to yell/chant during every running second of that game. As it turns out, if you yell for 40 minutes in a 2 hour time-frame, you'll get as sick as hell. I achieved my goal, but I paid a very dear price: my health and dignity.

My deepest apologies and condolences go out to the poor soul that had to clean up my row of the Spectrum that night.

rAggie · Post by **rAggie** » February 14th, 2019, 10:11 am

ProfessorChaos wrote: ↑
February 14th, 2019, 10:05 am
I understand why people might bring up the point that the HURD leadership isn't doing their job, or just is missing the mark with what they're doing.

I think it's important to note though that the HURD as a club (and/or whatever it technically is now), has never at any point been a major contributor to the gameday atmosphere. Yes, they do a few promotional things around campus, but they were never the catalysts of taking things anywhere beyond a cookie-cutter gameday experience.

If the fire that made The Spectrum what it once was is ever going to be re-ignited, I seriously doubt that it's going to come as a result of anything the HURD does.

Interesting. Maybe there's a sense that it IS their responsibility and therefore no one else enterprising is stepping up to make a move? Or maybe the alliance between the Hurd and athletics marketing is such that it creates a barrier to entry for a movement to make a difference?

One things for sure, I'd like to see the Hurd Premium BS go away next year. Our most passionate students should be the ones who get seats on Row 1, bar none. The "15 minute early entry" nonsense and seat saving is absolute crap.

IdAggie · Post by **IdAggie** » February 14th, 2019, 10:16 am

In terms of students - There is so much more that can be done to get them engaged and many of them want to be engaged.
The die-hard students are going to be to most games no matter what. The group that we are missing is the group who cares, but is not 100% tuned in. Yesterday was a good example. As a faculty member I had very good attendance in my class despite the storm. As usual, we had an informal chat about life and things going on in the world/around campus at the beginning of class. Yesterday we drifted to USU basketball and the success they are having. Most students were aware and excited about the success of the team. Queta and Sam are hits! Most of them have been to a game this year. I then asked how many were going to the game and only about 10% of the students raised their hands. As the conversation progressed, it was clear that most of the students would go, but were unaware that there was a game.

After class I walked around campus, strolled through the student center, picked up the Statesman, looked at the HURDS twitter account, looked at the student events calendar, etc. There was no indication of the game anywhere. Most of the students enjoy going to the games, but are unaware!

To me, this is a major failure of the HURD leadership that has existed over the past 2-3 years. It seems that they are more in it for themselves as opposed to the student body. Students have actually commented on this and their dislike for the leadership. There is almost a us vs. them type mentality as opposed to being one with purpose. It is also a failure of the athletic department in not reaching the students through their own marketing and promotion efforts.

I contrast, what happened in early football games is vastly different than what is happening with basketball. Everyone on campus was aware of the football games, promotions were in place to get the marginal fan students to attend, raising awareness efforts were everywhere, a buzz was created by both the HURD and the athletic department. As you can remember, the student attendance and atmosphere were phenomenal in these early games. There was always promotions, give aways, white outs, etc. For basketball, this type of effort has been almost absent outside of the HURD (multi color shirt) game. All of these awareness, marketing, and promotional efforts create excitement and drive additional attendance for the marginal student fan. These marginal fans can become solid fans once they experience how much enjoyment they get from the experience.

As has been mentioned, students have many options that compete for their time. You have to do something (sometimes incentivize) to make going to the game a more attractive option than Netflix, Snapchat or other competing interests. However, the basic first step is awareness. Once they are aware, you can get them there with some sort of nudge.

In short, the HURD and athletic department need to step up their game if the spectrum magic is going to return.

ChicAggie · Post by **ChicAggie** » February 14th, 2019, 10:21 am

Aggiesbleedblue wrote: ↑
February 14th, 2019, 12:26 am
Maybe it's our fan base that's the problem....

Ding, ding, ding.

I came out for a football game a couple years ago and tried to enlist a large group from my high school class at MC to join (many of whom still live in Cache Valley), and not a single person agreed to attend. They all wanted to get together afterward at the Logan Golf & Country Club, but did not want to go to the game. It was a beautiful day and no excuse other than "not really interested." Really kind of sad.

NVAggie · Post by **NVAggie** » February 14th, 2019, 10:22 am

I know for a fact that all social media accounts are promoting these games. If the kids are following USU Athletics or Basketball, etc. they will know about the game. I don't live close to the valley, so I have no opinion about what is happening on campus.

IdAggie · Post by **IdAggie** » February 14th, 2019, 10:26 am

Most casual student fans will not follow the athletics social media accounts. They do follow the HURD, USU Events, etc. Look at the HURDS twitter account and see if you can see anything related to last nights game.

NVAggie wrote: ↑
February 14th, 2019, 10:22 am
I know for a fact that all social media accounts are promoting these games. If the kids are following USU Athletics or Basketball, etc. they will know about the game. I don't live close to the valley, so I have no opinion about what is happening on campus.

NVAggie · Post by **NVAggie** » February 14th, 2019, 10:30 am

Fair enough. The AD should have a booth that signs people up to follow their account or something related to the jumbotron. Give them a free drink at the game or a free cone at Aggie Ice Cream.

aceofspadeskb · Post by **aceofspadeskb** » February 14th, 2019, 10:31 am

NVAggie wrote: ↑
February 14th, 2019, 10:22 am
I know for a fact that all social media accounts are promoting these games. If the kids are following USU Athletics or Basketball, etc. they will know about the game. I don't live close to the valley, so I have no opinion about what is happening on campus.

I think they know about the games. They choose not to come.

I'll throw out one excuse that I can't find fault in. I have a coworker who is currently an intern at our company. His excuse is that he is working 40 hours/week to get through school with no debt. He works 6 hours every weekday evening and 10 hours at a second job every Saturday. With the rising costs of tuition, I can't find fault here.

Anyone want to join me in the Sandbox to talk about the stupidity that student loans have become? All they're doing is raising tuition prices as more money is made available for universities to grab, and in cases like this they are taking away any time for a student to have the traditional American college experience that many of us had where we could attend things like athletic events.

I'm not saying this is THE major cause of low attendance numbers, but I think it's a rising problem, and I can't fault a student for being smart with their money and their financial future.

ChicAggie · Post by **ChicAggie** » February 14th, 2019, 10:36 am

IdAggie wrote: ↑
February 14th, 2019, 10:16 am
In terms of students - There is so much more that can be done to get them engaged and many of them want to be engaged.
The die-hard students are going to be to most games no matter what. The group that we are missing is the group who cares, but is not 100% tuned in. Yesterday was a good example. As a faculty member I had very good attendance in my class despite the storm. As usual, we had an informal chat about life and things going on in the world/around campus at the beginning of class. Yesterday we drifted to USU basketball and the success they are having. Most students were aware and excited about the success of the team. Queta and Sam are hits! Most of them have been to a game this year. I then asked how many were going to the game and only about 10% of the students raised their hands. As the conversation progressed, it was clear that most of the students would go, but were unaware that there was a game.

After class I walked around campus, strolled through the student center, picked up the Statesman, looked at the HURDS twitter account, looked at the student events calendar, etc. There was no indication of the game anywhere. Most of the students enjoy going to the games, but are unaware!

To me, this is a major failure of the HURD leadership that has existed over the past 2-3 years. It seems that they are more in it for themselves as opposed to the student body. Students have actually commented on this and their dislike for the leadership. There is almost a us vs. them type mentality as opposed to being one with purpose. It is also a failure of the athletic department in not reaching the students through their own marketing and promotion efforts.

I contrast, what happened in early football games is vastly different than what is happening with basketball. Everyone on campus was aware of the football games, promotions were in place to get the marginal fan students to attend, raising awareness efforts were everywhere, a buzz was created by both the HURD and the athletic department. As you can remember, the student attendance and atmosphere were phenomenal in these early games. There was always promotions, give aways, white outs, etc. For basketball, this type of effort has been almost absent outside of the HURD (multi color shirt) game. All of these awareness, marketing, and promotional efforts create excitement and drive additional attendance for the marginal student fan. These marginal fans can become solid fans once they experience how much enjoyment they get from the experience.

As has been mentioned, students have many options that compete for their time. You have to do something (sometimes incentivize) to make going to the game a more attractive option than Netflix, Snapchat or other competing interests. However, the basic first step is awareness. Once they are aware, you can get them there with some sort of nudge.

In short, the HURD and athletic department need to step up their game if the spectrum magic is going to return.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again: The student body elects an "Athletics VP" every year. The defining goal of that office is and should be to promote Aggie athletics and improve the experience for students and student-athletes. THAT office has a budget and the ability to form committees. If there is a level of student apathy, the Athletics VP should be focused entirely on solving that problem. Who is the Athletics VP this year and what is (s)he doing to promote Aggie athletics, organize students, and increase game-day participation?

AggieHead · Post by **AggieHead** » February 14th, 2019, 10:42 am

rAggie wrote: ↑
February 14th, 2019, 8:49 am
I see two distinct issues:

1) Student attendance.
2) Non-student attendance.

For students, I just don't get it. They all live on campus. Weather and high school games last night should not be an excuse. Students show up in large numbers to all sorts of silly events around campus, it would seem to me that getting 3,000 of the 18,000 on campus to a basketball game would not be a challenge. We should be having to turn people away!

I can't help but think that the HURD is not doing their job, and I may be unfair in this criticism, but I look at the people on the front row behind the basket, who I presume are the HURD "leaders", and they are wearing their badges and acting like they own the world, and I can't help but think if they're there more to stroke themselves off rather than for the pure passion of getting thousands into the arena and creating memorable experiences. It's almost as if they believe they themselves are the show rather than facilitators of the show. I'm very disappointed.

For non-students, the excuses for last night are going to be weather and high school basketball. I'd guess that high school games might have had a maximum impact of 500 people -- the weather is another thing. I understand Wellsville Canyon was very bad last night. I think the "culture of winning" argument made earlier in this thread is the biggest impact here, other than -- I hate to say it -- our fans just aren't good. I look at things that the ticket office did this year like the Aggie Pack and the multi-game packages, and they're pricing the games in a very fair way. There are enough tickets on the second hand market to fill the very low end of pricing that folks might be looking for.

At the end of the day, we are as victim to all the other forms of entertainment that exist as anyone else. Ultimately, everyone involved (marketing, coaches, administrators, student leaders, us as fans) need to convince 10,270 people 16 times a year that going to the Spectrum is a better use of two hours of their time than whatever the alternatives are. We collectively are not doing a good enough job of this.

Well said. Blaming customers for not buying a product will never result in increased sales.

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