10,883 students...Wow!....that's amazing but will they come back? It seems like they show up for the stampede and then we don't see many of them after that. It would be great if they did come back and we began to have a consistent collegiate atmosphere.
Next week is the stampede; that was mostly orientation groups.
Waiting until the 4th quarter is give away a bike was a good idea. Same with giving shirts away late. Sideline announcer was good. New PA guy is huge step up.
the sideline hype guy does a lot of similar work for the Stockton Ports and the Stockton Kings. He was filling in for Darius, who will be back, and did a very nice job
Getting students to attend will always be an uphill battle for UC Davis. There are these unique events like yesterday's game where they really show up, and that's nice, but it doesn't seem sustainable. Those of us who were students before the popularity of the internet and later social media soared will talk about how students used to show up more and be more engaged, and we would be telling the truth. However, I can remember even back in my time the student interest was waning a bit. There were a lot of students going, but it didn't look like there were a lot of the same ones each time.
I think that's telling of the times we live in. They say younger people are in search of more authentic and unique experiences than their elders, so if they go to one game just for the hell of it that's a unique experience. Making a routine of it is not. That's not to say that older people don't like unique experiences, just that they're more likely to keep doing those well-established routines that they like.
Once they are in class things might change. For me, a science major, i attended all of the football games but studied friday night and sunday to keep my head above water so i could take Saturday night off.
What is the capacity of the stadium? I thought 11k was the max? How much including the grass? Probably not the best idea to have Weber be the game with the students since Weber is looking really good.
I'm guessing the numbers in the tweet are redeemed student tickets + sold normal tickets.
My understanding from a variety of discussions over the years is that a sellout is basically whatever the fire marshall says it is. So I can believe 12k or so were actually in the stadium and they stalled on announcing attendance until ticket redemption for late-arriving students dwindled off.
2008 Causeway was a sellout so I watched on top on the trash bins with a friend outside the south entrance for the first half and then a couple gave us their tickets when they left at halftime. I wonder if they did anything like that recently.
Are the numbers of students really important? The important numbers are the number of tickets sold and how much dollars are generated for ICA.
Having had children in the grass berms enjoying themselves was great. We would always stay the entire game, and ate and drank at Aggie Stadium. If at Weber State and others the attendance is lower, but the crowd just as loud I would not worry about attendance numbers. My older children no longer want to go to the games and have their own sports, but I really enjoyed the end zone grass.
I would just add that a packed stadium and a full student section supports the team. Remember not long ago the stadium was empty? Compare that from a players perspective to a full house. It must put a smile on their faces.
Last year the trifecta of student attendance, stadium attendance, and revenue were all set apparently. It sounds like ticket revenue is not too much of a concern because it's flowing with the general increased popularity of the program.
I'd also argue that student attendance is vital considering an (apparent minority) of the students are trying to advance measures to defund athletics. There's an existential need to get students into the games, which could long-term be worth sacrificing a few more sections as student sections. (I think that's what happened on Sat; two of the East Side sections were empty until students filled them, so there was a reduced total number of normal tickets for sale)
Two other factors:
1. I think after prolonged Covid lockdowns people were craving normal human interaction.
2. FWIW, FBS teams have to meet minimum game attendance reqs (average 15,000 people in actual or paid attendance per home game).
I was also happy to see the Aggie Pack spirit leaders appropriately channeling the Aggie Pack energy. For example, hyping up the noise when the Ags are trying to stop USD on 3rd downs. Also, keeping them quieter when we are trying to convert on 3rd down when we are on offense so our guys hear the QB
The Cal Bear fan website has discussed their traditional cheers that some think they're losing... I think one of their cheers start with "Go Bears", and then after converting several first downs, or past midfield, it is "Roll On Bears"?
I think we officially did sell out the season last year or close to it because the first few games were limited to exactly 10k for COVID reasons.
I don't think profile played a role because we haven't had any home games other than Cal Poly and Sac State that would stick out to a casual fan that I recall. I'm pretty confident in saying that the students and new fans didn't turn out to see UTU/Dixie State last year; they turned out because marketing was good, the team has generally been much improved, and Davis football has become an increasingly desirable product.