Looking Like Q Will Be Back This Year

[dickiedawg]

In 04-05 we were coming off an outright SEC title. Probably the worst possible comparison for our current situation. Even still, only one of those games was the hump even half full.

 

[Wizard.sixpack]

Well I was addressing the comment about being in the last 30 years...04-05 is within 30 years.

 

[Big Sheep81]

Woked up**

 

[Hoover Dawg]

pDigital32Dawg nailed the attendance issue. Scheduling and student seating are two problems we certainly have, but the biggest is what I quoted below. Our fanbase simply isn't big enough. It's like people refuse to understand this, and I guess they have not seen what we are up against in terms of competition. The 'small population divided among two major teams' mantra strikes again. It's the facts of the matter. Then on top of that, most of our fans drive to games, anywhere from an hour to 2 hours, from the only semi-urban areas we have (Tupelo/Jackson). Coast people aren't coming to basketball or baseball games, that's just some more facts for you. This means we need to do everything possible to get STUDENTS into the games. There has to be a balance between the folks who donate money and want prime seats, and students.

4) A fan base of our size is over-committed to other sports. We sellout football, women's basketball attendance is way up, and baseball has been back on an uptick. Most fans cannot dedicate time to multiple sports, and people are certainly going to plan around the winning programs.

 

[KentuckyDawg13]

Bullsh*t. We had more fans at games in the late 80s/early 90s than now...and for the most part, we have more MSU fans now than ever. The fans are just lazy/fair-weather types now.
Weak.

 

[Hoover Dawg]

When you are winning, everybody shows up.

If you want to have consistently well-attended games, win or lose, you are going to have to address other factors like what I listed.

I think your point is weak, personally. I assume you live in Kentucky. When is the last time you attended a game, just out of curiosity? Very easy for you sit up there and crow about stuff. Our fanbase is VERY loyal and go above and beyond as far as attendance, in all sports, when considering demography and reality.

 

[pDigital32Dawg]

I truly think our fall 2016 scheduling is one of the worst efforts as of late. Again, no home basketball games were scheduled around a home football weekend. We scheduled games during Thanksgiving break when most everyone has abandoned Starkville. Marketing hasn't been on their A game for basketball and they are reactive instead of being proactive. I've seen an uptick in basketball marketing since the NW St game debacle where 100 people showed up.

The real kicker is that our only marquee matchup on the fall schedule, Oregon State, just so happens to conflict with one of the only Thursday Night Football games a majority of MSU fans care about this season. I cannot blame MSU for scheduling a game at the same time as Dak and Dallas are playing simply because we never foresaw Dak being a 12 game starter up to this point.

I am curious how attendance looks in the spring. There's a significant number of posters saying that attendance will see an uptick. I think we do see an increase, but our turnout this fall is alarming to say the least.

 

[aTotal360]

Laziness + SECN coverage = asses at home

 

[KurtRambis4]

Good thing

you picked the year after one of our best seasons ever, to compare*

Regardless, 4000 people still sucks. The point remains, we've NEVER had good attendance in the first month of the season.

 

[KentuckyDawg13]

They won last night, yet no crowd again.
Maybe Cohen will try to place the students back where they belong.
Last time I attended a game? Last season. Only 500 miles away. STFU with that weak sh*t.

 

[00Dawg]

Yep, our fans are fairweather.

I created a spreadsheet several years ago and tracked attendance game by game through the Stansbury era, including the Hump reseating period. It was in direct correlation to team success. When we had a good year, butts were in seats. When we didn't, particularly if we didn't meet expectations, they weren't there. Reseating made no difference. There's nothing special about Mississippi State basketball fans.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

Can you post a PDF of that?

 

[ShrubDog]

PDF or it didn't happen

 

[AlCoDog]

Aren't the women's games well attended? Seems like I see over 6,000 reported on twitter a lot.

 

[FQDawg]

Scheduling has been a huge issue so far...

Here's our non-conference home schedule:

Nov. 11 - Friday night but against Norfolk State... not exactly an enticing opponent
Nov. 25 - Friday night but the day after Thanksgiving when many people are with family or traveling
Nov. 28 - Monday night
Dec. 1 - Thursday night and at 8 p.m. Tough for people who don't live in or near Starkville.
Dec. 4 - Sunday afternoon but at 4 p.m. which makes it tough for people who don't live near Starkville.
Dec. 14 - Wednesday night
Dec. 22 - Thursday night and when many people are starting to travel for Christmas
Dec. 29 - Thursday night... again, during the holidays when many people are traveling

So, in eight home games, I count one and a half that are convenient to attend. The one is the Friday night opener against Norfolk State. The half is this Sunday's game against Georgia State. Also not really an enticing opponent and I can understand why anyone who lives an hour or more away might not want to spend their Sunday night traveling to and from a basketball game.

But I'll also agree with whoever called out the marketing efforts so far. I know football has been a priority and the women's team is deservedly getting a lot of attention right now but I see next to nothing advertising our men's basketball games.

I truly think our fall 2016 scheduling is one of the worst efforts as of late.

 

[00Dawg]

Not a PDF, but...

Here's a quick screenshot of the summary page.
View attachment 5578

Looking back, those are the oldest stats available online, through the first year they stopped tracking actual attendance.

 

[dawgstudent]

Yep. They win.

If State starts winning consistently in men's basketball - people will show up. It's too easy to stay at home now b/c every game is on TV.

 

[pDigital32Dawg]

Those non-SEC actuals from 2003-04 thru 2011-12 still are much better than current. You would have a hard time convincing me that we are averaging 1,500+ per non-SEC home game so far this season. The argument that the attendance numbers are low at this time of year is valid, but still not the full story.

I'd like to see the distribution from the start of fall games until school coming back in session in the spring from Christmas break. What is the average attendance for non-SEC when school is in session versus Christmas break? I would imagine that your non-SEC actuals are even higher while school was enrolled, and took a hit during Christmas break, thus lowering the total. My point being that we have not seen the worst yet for our home attendance of non-SEC games.