SDSU Plea for Fans in the Stadium Before the Albany Game

[1983 Griz]

Below are some quotes from an SDSU fan post prior to their Albany game. So funny! I wish I could cut and paste the image, but eGriz won't let me.

"Plenty of tickets remain for tonight's game vs Albany. Tickets are $7. We're the #1 team in the country for God's sake."

"They sold 26,000 seats up in Montana and that fan base is living in the past."

"Put the CornHole bags down, turn off the re-runs of Duck Dynasty, put on your Bunny Ears and Carhartts and get down to the stadium ASAP!"

 

[BozAngelesGriz]

Below are some quotes from an SDSU fan post prior to their Albany game. So funny! I wish I could cut and paste the image, but eGriz won't let me.

"Plenty of tickets remain for tonight's game vs Albany. Tickets are $7. We're the #1 team in the country for God's sake."

"They sold 26,000 seats up in Montana and that fan base is living in the past."

"Put the CornHole bags down, turn off the re-runs of Duck Dynasty, put on your Bunny Ears and Carhartts and get down to the stadium ASAP!"

To be fair, I think this last one is an invite to the Brookings Furry Convention

 

[Jackedforlife]

As a Jacks fan this is all valid. Not really defending anything but there are a few factors regarding playoff attendance especially. Although all trends point to the positive after setting attendance records in every playoff game.

-success is still new. In all the D2 years they only made the playoffs once. Typically a .500 team. Many people were afraid at how horrible the team would be in the FCS.

-Brookings is a community of 24k, with students on holiday break that drops considerably.

-Weather is a factor still for Jacks fans, I hope in time it becomes less and less. I think we’re seeing it somewhat.


Not saying we’ll ever attain WaGriz sell out attendance in the playoffs but I think within 5-10 years it’ll consistently hit 85-90% capacity. Make no mistake, we are all aware of what attendance in Missoula is. We even try to compare. But the calls out for people to attend are moreso because those of us there realize how awesome it is and we don’t want anyone missing out.

 

[BozAngelesGriz]

As a Jacks fan this is all valid. Not really defending anything but there are a few factors regarding playoff attendance especially. Although all trends point to the positive after setting attendance records in every playoff game.

-success is still new. In all the D2 years they only made the playoffs once. Typically a .500 team. Many people were afraid at how horrible the team would be in the FCS.

-Brookings is a community of 24k, with students on holiday break that drops considerably.

-Weather is a factor still for Jacks fans, I hope in time it becomes less and less. I think we’re seeing it somewhat.


Not saying we’ll ever attain WaGriz sell out attendance in the playoffs but I think within 5-10 years it’ll consistently hit 85-90% capacity. Make no mistake, we are all aware of what attendance in Missoula is. We even try to compare. But the calls out for people to attend are moreso because those of us there realize how awesome it is and we don’t want anyone missing out.

I’m surprised there’s not a bigger draw from Sioux Falls. With a city of 200k about an hour away with a bunch of SDSU grads seems like it would be easy to fill a stadium at $7/ticket. I expect the growth in SD (particularly among the younger demographic) could change this.

 

[BadlandsGrizFan]

As a Jacks fan this is all valid. Not really defending anything but there are a few factors regarding playoff attendance especially. Although all trends point to the positive after setting attendance records in every playoff game.

-success is still new. In all the D2 years they only made the playoffs once. Typically a .500 team. Many people were afraid at how horrible the team would be in the FCS.

-Brookings is a community of 24k, with students on holiday break that drops considerably.

-Weather is a factor still for Jacks fans, I hope in time it becomes less and less. I think we’re seeing it somewhat.


Not saying we’ll ever attain WaGriz sell out attendance in the playoffs but I think within 5-10 years it’ll consistently hit 85-90% capacity. Make no mistake, we are all aware of what attendance in Missoula is. We even try to compare. But the calls out for people to attend are moreso because those of us there realize how awesome it is and we don’t want anyone missing out.

Good thing the weather in Missoula never sucks. Always has been called “The Miami of the Rockies”

 

[1983 Griz]

As a Jacks fan this is all valid. Not really defending anything but there are a few factors regarding playoff attendance especially. Although all trends point to the positive after setting attendance records in every playoff game.

-success is still new. In all the D2 years they only made the playoffs once. Typically a .500 team. Many people were afraid at how horrible the team would be in the FCS.

-Brookings is a community of 24k, with students on holiday break that drops considerably.

-Weather is a factor still for Jacks fans, I hope in time it becomes less and less. I think we’re seeing it somewhat.


Not saying we’ll ever attain WaGriz sell out attendance in the playoffs but I think within 5-10 years it’ll consistently hit 85-90% capacity. Make no mistake, we are all aware of what attendance in Missoula is. We even try to compare. But the calls out for people to attend are moreso because those of us there realize how awesome it is and we don’t want anyone missing out.

I would disagree with the validity of the comment that Griz fans are living in the past. I believe we’ve garnered a lot of new support since our heydays. Winning is a great aphrodisiac.

 

[Jackedforlife]

As a Jacks fan this is all valid. Not really defending anything but there are a few factors regarding playoff attendance especially. Although all trends point to the positive after setting attendance records in every playoff game.

-success is still new. In all the D2 years they only made the playoffs once. Typically a .500 team. Many people were afraid at how horrible the team would be in the FCS.

-Brookings is a community of 24k, with students on holiday break that drops considerably.

-Weather is a factor still for Jacks fans, I hope in time it becomes less and less. I think we’re seeing it somewhat.


Not saying we’ll ever attain WaGriz sell out attendance in the playoffs but I think within 5-10 years it’ll consistently hit 85-90% capacity. Make no mistake, we are all aware of what attendance in Missoula is. We even try to compare. But the calls out for people to attend are moreso because those of us there realize how awesome it is and we don’t want anyone missing out.

I’m surprised there’s not a bigger draw from Sioux Falls. With a city of 200k about an hour away with a bunch of SDSU grads seems like it would be easy to fill a stadium at $7/ticket. I expect the growth in SD (particularly among the younger demographic) could change this.

I also expect it to help. The issue with a younger demographic come playoffs is kids activities. I know it’s the same in Montana, between Christmas programs, basketball and wrestling the Friday nights and Saturdays get filled quickly. As an empty nester it’s not an issue but I know of at least 40 tickets personally that didn’t get sold due to activities.

 

[3-7-77]

25,000+ or whatever the figure, and it's not $7 a seat. Add in the tithing to GSA and you are looking far north of $35 each.

 

[BadlandsGrizFan]

Just seeing a ton of excuses by sdsu. It’s fine to admit that we have what is probably the largest fan base at this level. You don’t need to make attendance excuses.

Your football program can do the talking which they have over the last 5 years.

 

[Jackedforlife]

Just seeing a ton of excuses by sdsu. It’s fine to admit that we have what is probably the largest fan base at this level. You don’t need to make attendance excuses.

Your football program can do the talking which they have over the last 5 years.

Excuses/reasons, tomato/tomahto. Good lord, has any SDSU fan said anything about the Griz not being a blue blood, not having a huge(biggest FCS) fanbase? Jeepers, I hope, pray, the Jacks can pack a playoff stadium like the Griz someday. If playoff attendance was a downward trend I’d be concerned. Truth is, all time attendance record was set. Had over 18k at the Target field game 4 hours away against a pioneer league school. Attendance hasn’t even peaked yet and the brand continues to grow.

We've lived in the shadows of the bison and their ability to sell out stadiums too. That and what the Griz do are what most FCS institutions shoot for. The top HBCU’s actually do that and then some.

We diehard Jack fans have these pleas because that’s what we want. Heck we even give crap to little brother USD because we want their attendance to improve. The teams and players deserve it.

 

[mtgriz]

SDSU has the Vikings, Gophers, Wild, Timberwolves all in-season and less than 200 miles away. Same with the other Dakota schools. It’s just not comparable and doesn’t need to be.

 

[BozAngelesGriz]

SDSU has the Vikings, Gophers, Wild, Timberwolves all in-season and less than 200 miles away. Same with the other Dakota schools. It’s just not comparable and doesn’t need to be.

Does UM (Minnesota) really draw a football crowd? And if I were a Vikings fan I would relish the opportunity to be a fan of a winning program that doesn’t play in a dome.

 

[EverettGriz]

SDSU has the Vikings, Gophers, Wild, Timberwolves all in-season and less than 200 miles away. Same with the other Dakota schools. It’s just not comparable and doesn’t need to be.

This excuse is vastly overblown to justify shitty fcs attendance.

 

[Jackedforlife]

SDSU has the Vikings, Gophers, Wild, Timberwolves all in-season and less than 200 miles away. Same with the other Dakota schools. It’s just not comparable and doesn’t need to be.

This excuse is vastly overblown to justify poop fcs attendance.

The Vikings, Chiefs, Wolves, Wild have zero impact on whether Jacks fans show up. I’ll even say the Gophers may increase SDSU attendance. I know several that have swung over to the FCS.

 

[mtgriz]

This excuse is vastly overblown to justify poop fcs attendance.

The Vikings, Chiefs, Wolves, Wild have zero impact on whether Jacks fans show up. I’ll even say the Gophers may increase SDSU attendance. I know several that have swung over to the FCS.

Relax guys, it was an anecdotal comment. I don’t need to be right. Just trying to find reason for the attendance anomaly.

 

[MinnesotaJack]

The Vikings, Chiefs, Wolves, Wild have zero impact on whether Jacks fans show up. I’ll even say the Gophers may increase SDSU attendance. I know several that have swung over to the FCS.

Relax guys, it was an anecdotal comment. I don’t need to be right. Just trying to find reason for the attendance anomaly.

The simple answer is we've been building a fanbase from almost scratch and it's taking a lot longer than many of us would like. Football was never that big of a deal here before the move up, in our entire history of D2 we had one playoff appearance. Besides that I would say trying to convert Nebraska fans mostly, along with some Iowa & Gopher fans. The pro sports teams probably don't have any effect.

 

[mtgriz]

Relax guys, it was an anecdotal comment. I don’t need to be right. Just trying to find reason for the attendance anomaly.

The simple answer is we've been building a fanbase from almost scratch and it's taking a lot longer than many of us would like. Football was never that big of a deal here before the move up, in our entire history of D2 we had one playoff appearance. Besides that I would say trying to convert Nebraska fans mostly, along with some Iowa & Gopher fans. The pro sports teams probably don't have any effect.

Giving it some more thought, I’d posit that there are a couple other reasons for the difference. I can’t speak to how intense the SDSU-USD rivalry is, but the Cat-Griz rivalry is top drawer and creates a game-in, game-out commitment that translates to loyalty and thus a butt in a seat on an on-going basis. The other reason is that Griz fans have been fortunate to witness several iconic playoff games, both winning and losing, and the fear of missing out on another one of those is motivation to “get your ass to the game”.

 

[MinnesotaJack]

The simple answer is we've been building a fanbase from almost scratch and it's taking a lot longer than many of us would like. Football was never that big of a deal here before the move up, in our entire history of D2 we had one playoff appearance. Besides that I would say trying to convert Nebraska fans mostly, along with some Iowa & Gopher fans. The pro sports teams probably don't have any effect.

Giving it some more thought, I’d posit that there are a couple other reasons for the difference. I can’t speak to how intense the SDSU-USD rivalry is, but the Cat-Griz rivalry is top drawer and creates a game-in, game-out commitment that translates to loyalty and thus a butt in a seat on an on-going basis. The other reason is that Griz fans have been fortunate to witness several iconic playoff games, both winning and losing, and the fear of missing out on another one of those is motivation to “get your ass to the game”.

The rivalry with JSD is picking back up as it almost completely went away when they waited 6-7 years to follow us into D1. It's so far behind the football rivalry with NDSU now that I don't think it will catch up to that. But even as intense as the rivalry with NDSU is, that one only started when we went D1 together as any "rivalry" with them was nonexistent in D2.