Crowd

[lunker35]

Props to our alumni and fans, as I think we out drew Kentucky. We had a really nice showing and was really surprised to see that considering they're a large state school who doesn't make a ton of bowl games located just a few hours away. Well done Cats fans! That was a bizarre one, but I'll take the win!

 

[Fitz51]

villox sent me a tweet that said it was the lowest-attended Music City Bowl since 2005.

 

[lunker35]

villox sent me a tweet that said it was the lowest-attended Music City Bowl since 2005.

That might be, but we had a really nice turnout. Best I've seen in the 4 bowls I've been to.

 

[mikewebb68]

48,675. Outdrew every game today except the OSU-USC game. Also outdrew every other BIG bowl to date except the OSU game. Impressive!

 

[GlideCat]

villox sent me a tweet that said it was the lowest-attended Music City Bowl since 2005.

The UK/Louisville basketball game occurring at the same time contributed to the low turnout on the UK side. I thought our turnout was excellent. In the stadium, it looked like we exceeded 10K.

 

[hdhntr1]

Props to our alumni and fans, as I think we out drew Kentucky. We had a really nice showing and was really surprised to see that considering they're a large state school who doesn't make a ton of bowl games located just a few hours away. Well done Cats fans! That was a bizarre one, but I'll take the win!

This was there 5th MCB (out of 20)

 

[Fitz51]

The UK/Louisville basketball game occurring at the same time contributed to the low turnout on the UK side. I thought our turnout was excellent. In the stadium, it looked like we exceeded 10K.

That game was over well before the Bowl game started, though.

 

[GlideCat]

That game was over well before the Bowl game started, though.

Two games in one day four hours apart? The basketball game ended about an hour before MCB kick-off. Not possible to attend both unless someone left at halftime of the basketball game and arrived at around halftime of the football game.

Bottom line... the basketball game affected the bowl game attendance.

 

[Alaskawildkat]

On TV the cheering gave no indication that Kentucky had any more fans than NU.

 

[PogeyKahn]

Wondering about that , maybe those KY fans were all down at the Ryman?

I liked Nashville a lot:

 

[PogeyKahn]

Sorry, I meant this link:

 

[Alvious]

I think it may have been 55/45 for UK, but the purple turnout was awesome. I'm proud to have been a part of it.

 

[techtim72]

Kentucky easily had double the fans. They were on both sides. Basketball and weather held them back. Basically a home game for them. Also, fans told us attendance was down because of season ending losses. NU's attendance was good.

 

[NJCat]

Sorry, I meant this link:

RIP Levon. Gerat musician.

 

[ukalum1988]

Kentucky easily had double the fans. They were on both sides. Basketball and weather held them back. Basically a home game for them. Also, fans told us attendance was down because of season ending losses. NU's attendance was good.

Pretty much correct on all counts. From watching on TV it appeared the attendance was respectable. I’ve watched bits and pieces of various bowl games and I’ve seen LOTS of empty seats. For the Camping World bowl game between Ok State and Va Tech, it appeared the entire top portion of the stadium was closed.

 

[HawkCat]

Kentucky easily had double the fans. They were on both sides. Basketball and weather held them back. Basically a home game for them. Also, fans told us attendance was down because of season ending losses. NU's attendance was good.

I was present and got different perspectives from sitting on the NU side for the first half and in the end zone for the second. I agree with the poster above. NU’s attendance was good, but we were outnumbered pretty significantly. There were UK fans on the NU side, and about a third of NU’s side of the lower bowl was mostly empty. The NU allotment seemed skewed toward the band end. UK pretty much filled its side of the lower bowl. In the stadium, UK was louder given the numbers when I was sitting in the end zone. Not terrible attendance compared to other bowls I have seen on TV.

 

[GlideCat]

I was present and got different perspectives from sitting on the NU side for the first half and in the end zone for the second. I agree with the poster above. NU’s attendance was good, but we were outnumbered pretty significantly. There were UK fans on the NU side, and about a third of NU’s side of the lower bowl was mostly empty. The NU allotment seemed skewed toward the band end. UK pretty much filled its end of the lower bowl. In the stadium, UK was louder given the numbers when I was sitting in the end zone. Not terrible attendance compared to other bowls I have seen on TV.

Concur that UK outnumbered us. Living in Nashville, I have attended the MCB in the past when the Cats were not in a bowl and have seen UK outnumber opponents fans at a ratio of 10:1. I was expecting that they would have about a 4:1 ratio on us. Our turnout was very good and theirs was a little light and so 2:1 was not bad. UK has a very large alumni group in Nashville. It was a very good showing for NU.

 

[NJcatsfan_rivals139741]

The overall attendance was pretty good compared to other bowl games thus far. We definitely didn't outdraw UK, but as I've posted elsewhere, we had a really strong turnout. I'd guess UK had close to 20k fans, and we had 11-12k (which is fantastic for a school of 8k undergrads). Purple was all over the city...it didn't feel very lopsided around town, or even in the stadium. We had WAY more fans in Nashville than Purdue and Iowa drew to their respective bowl games, and I think we definitely outdrew MSU in SD, too. I trust Dr. Jim will have the photos to send to future bowl selection committees. Kentucky fans were pretty loud, and so were we. Lots of muffled clapping. Reasons this game didn't have more butts in the seats: Cold weather and (let's face it) no marquee football program that would attract a casual fan.

 

[GlideCat]

The overall attendance was pretty good compared to other bowl games thus far. We definitely didn't outdraw UK, but as I've posted elsewhere, we had a really strong turnout. I'd guess UK had close to 20k fans, and we had 11-12k (which is fantastic for a school of 8k undergrads). Purple was all over the city...it didn't feel very lopsided around town, or even in the stadium. We had WAY more fans in Nashville than Purdue and Iowa drew to their respective bowl games, and I think we definitely outdrew MSU in SD, too. I trust Dr. Jim will have the photos to send to future bowl selection committees. Kentucky fans were pretty loud, and so were we. Lots of muffled clapping. Reasons this game didn't have more butts in the seats: Cold weather and (let's face it) no marquee football program that would attract a casual fan.

Like most bowls, the MCB sells a lot of tickets to local businesses who use them as give-aways and client perks. Those folks looked at the weather and the match-up and did not show.

 

[CatManTrue]

That might be, but we had a really nice turnout. Best I've seen in the 4 bowls I've been to.

I agree. This was my 5th bowl and the best NU crowd that I’ve seen, which will hopefully help in next year’s bowl selection (knock on wood). I expected UK to bring a lot more fans, but am not surprised given the basketball game and their consecutive blowouts to end the regular season.

I watched part of the Gator bowl with Mississippi State playing Louisville while eating lunch at the airport. It looked like there are maybe 20,000 there with tons of seats open.

 

[Fanaticat98]

The weather forecast well ahead of the game was not good. Not many bowls with a worse forecast. NU had a good turnout considering. There were not wide swaths of empty seats like many “lower-middle tier” bowls. I think NU fans spent a lot of money on Nashville and had a good presence considering it was a letdown/undershoot bowl assignment given our ranking, win streak and B1G finish. These assignments become a bit of self fulfilling prophecy because bowls turn us down for perceived financial draw reasons and then can justify it if we don’t bring 15,000-20,000 fans to a freezing cold lower tier bowl game while ranked #20 and going for 10 wins.

 

[The-Hack]

Kentucky easily had double the fans. They were on both sides.

Blue Cat, here. I'm going to start a congratulatory post, above, but had to respond, as I was attendance.

I "guesstimated" a crowd of 45,000 to 50,000, with 25/30K Blue, 12,500/15K purple, and 2,500/5K neutral, and I'll stick with it.

I was impressed with NU's showing and classy fans.

 

[NJcatsfan_rivals139741]

Blue Cat, here. I'm going to start a congratulatory post, above, but had to respond, as I was attendance.

I "guesstimated" a crowd of 45,000 to 50,000, with 25/30K Blue, 12,500/15K purple, and 2,500/5K neutral, and I'll stick with it.

I was impressed with NU's showing and classy fans.

Thanks! I think you've got the percentages roughly correct, but I think actual game attendance (vs tickets sold) was closer to 40k...so 20-22k blue, 11-12k purple, the rest neutral.

 

[Williesfan]

I agree with Hack. To me NU had around 12-15k. Another thing the cameras can't catch is the club level.
Which on our side was packed. The ratio of fans were somewheee around 2-1 favoring KY.

Hanging in the downtown district I thought the NU fan presence was near dominating KY.

 

[GlideCat]

I agree with Hack. To me NU had around 12-15k. Another thing the cameras can't catch is the club level.
Which on our side was packed. The ratio of fans were somewheee around 2-1 favoring KY.

Hanging in the downtown district I thought the NU fan presence was near dominating KY.

Many of the Kentucky fans live within 4 hours driving distance and hit the road right after the game.

 

[willycat]

Thanks! I think you've got the percentages roughly correct, but I think actual game attendance (vs tickets sold) was closer to 40k...so 20-22k blue, 11-12k purple, the rest neutral.

Maybe the actual attendance was 40,000 or so but the official attendance was listed as 56,000 plus. Wonder if someone or if there is a site the lists attendance figures for all bowls. The poster above was correct that the Louisville - Mississippi State game had tons of empty seats. Also think that the Northern game in Detroit had a crowd approaching 10,000.

 

[mikewebb68]

Maybe the actual attendance was 40,000 or so but the official attendance was listed as 56,000 plus. Wonder if someone or if there is a site the lists attendance figures for all bowls. The poster above was correct that the Louisville - Mississippi State game had tons of empty seats. Also think that the Northern game in Detroit had a crowd approaching 10,000.

As I pointed out above, the official attendance was 48,675.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

It was the most purple I have ever seen outside of Evanston. Of course, I wasn’t in Pasadena.

 

[xxxbobxxx]

Props to our alumni and fans, as I think we out drew Kentucky. We had a really nice showing and was really surprised to see that considering they're a large state school who doesn't make a ton of bowl games located just a few hours away. Well done Cats fans! That was a bizarre one, but I'll take the win!

Well, we are also only a few hours away. Saw lots of student aged purple at the game.

 

[NJcatsfan_rivals139741]

Watching the other games, I think we outdrew (by a lot) Iowa and Purdue, and outdrew (by a bit) MSU, and Wisconsin. Only conference fanbases who traveled better than NU this bowl season were OSU and PSU. And probably (?) Michigan.

 

[TampaWildcat]

The weather forecast well ahead of the game was not good. Not many bowls with a worse forecast. NU had a good turnout considering. There were not wide swaths of empty seats like many “lower-middle tier” bowls. I think NU fans spent a lot of money on Nashville and had a good presence considering it was a letdown/undershoot bowl assignment given our ranking, win streak and B1G finish. These assignments become a bit of self fulfilling prophecy because bowls turn us down for perceived financial draw reasons and then can justify it if we don’t bring 15,000-20,000 fans to a freezing cold lower tier bowl game while ranked #20 and going for 10 wins.

Left Nashville this evening. Glad the game wasn’t played 24 hours later, or the weather system didn’t move thru day earlier.
Today by 3 pm, temps were 34 F with 24 wind chill factor, as there was a steady breeze and no sun, gray all day.
By the time we took off at 7 pm our plane was de-iced as it was 30 F with wind chill below 20 F.

 

[ricko6543211]

I think it may have been 55/45 for UK, but the purple turnout was awesome. I'm proud to have been a part of it.

Yeah I would say we had about 12k and they had maybe 16k, but nonetheless I think it was very strong turnout for the purple Cats. A bit chilly, but a fun game.