Attendance

[citygriz]

Okay, we're in the FCS. We're not playing for some crappy Weedeater Bowl. We're in the playoffs! We're going for a National Championship! The excitement is mounting, right?

Not if you judge it by attendance.

I know damned well Wa-Griz was nowhere near capacity for the Southeast Missouri game. Now in Fargo their board is full of pleas, as in, "Puh-lease! Come to the game!" As recently as Wednesday they had something like eight to nine thousand seats still available. And it's not like Yogi Berra said, "No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded." The fans are staying away in droves.

Okay, the tickets cost a bit more. The weather might be an excuse--but not when you're playing in a dome.

Could it be the very schools involved in these playoffs share the same apathy for FCS football that the rest of the country shares?

 

[EverettGriz]

As much as the anti-move-where-we-belong people on here like to mock those "lower" bowl games, their attendance and television numbers absolutely CRUSH the fcs.

#fcs

 

[BadlandsGrizFan]

Well attendance is always low for the game we played on thanksgiving. But it was still the highest attendance playoff game that round and it will likely finish in the top 3-4 for the entire playoffs.

Could be worse. Thanksgiving always does that kids and families go home and travel out of town.

NDSU is getting bored with winning

Sitting in the Fargo dome for 4 hours also is miserable if you’ve never done it. It’s weird lighting and it’s just loud racket like someone banging metal pipes with wrenches. You leave with a headache

 

[mtgriz]

Your tagline is really quite inspired. I tip my cap.

Honestly, I think the casual NDSU fan has become somewhat bored, especially until the semifinals. As far as the dome thing goes, fans aren’t driving to Fargo in a dome, so that may be an issue. I haven’t looked at the weather forecast this week in that area but getting to Fargo in the winter can be taking your life in your hands.

 

[grizare#1]

Your tagline is really quite inspired. I tip my cap.

Honestly, I think the casual NDSU fan has become somewhat bored, especially until the semifinals. As far as the dome thing goes, fans aren’t driving to Fargo in a dome, so that may be an issue. I haven’t looked at the weather forecast this week in that area but getting to Fargo in the winter can be taking your life in your hands.

Can be the same coming down from Kalispell, shit just the dear are bad enough around the Lake

 

[DrainBramage]

Well attendance is always low for the game we played on thanksgiving. But it was still the highest attendance playoff game that round and it will likely finish in the top 3-4 for the entire playoffs.

Could be worse. Thanksgiving always does that kids and families go home and travel out of town.

NDSU is getting bored with winning

Sitting in the Fargo dome for 4 hours also is miserable if you’ve never done it. It’s weird lighting and it’s just loud racket like someone banging metal pipes with wrenches. You leave with a headache

I wonder if there is a cost objection to the ticket price.

 

[Griz Time]

Well attendance is always low for the game we played on thanksgiving. But it was still the highest attendance playoff game that round and it will likely finish in the top 3-4 for the entire playoffs.

Could be worse. Thanksgiving always does that kids and families go home and travel out of town.

NDSU is getting bored with winning

Sitting in the Fargo dome for 4 hours also is miserable if you’ve never done it. It’s weird lighting and it’s just loud racket like someone banging metal pipes with wrenches. You leave with a headache

I wonder if there is a cost objection to the ticket price.

I was thinking the same. Earlier this week I looked at seats were $50 each. So probably between that and they are going to kick our arse, their view is why bother

 

[kemajic]

A lot of talk around a pretty simple issue. The FCS playoffs have never drawn overall. Exceptions of course for good matchups or a rabid home crowd, but those are more than offset by the empty stadiums for low-drawing auto-bids and matchups with opponents never heard of. The data is available. A lot of regular season attendance is driven by season ticket holders who after a long season (probably a couple no-shows) they've had enough rather than pony up more money for post-season tix. The FCS playoffs are just not as generally popular as we think and the more they expand the playoffs, the more diluted the enthusiasm.