Says more about our fanbase than it does about our schedule.
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Yeah, weāre facing p4 teams not the Tulanes and Tulsas of the world anymore. Damn near every game should be 80% full atleast. This year we have a ranked team every home game, no excuses from the fans
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Only way weāll get good attendance is do like we did in theb 60ās, go independent and play SEC schools plus Florida St.
Enjoy more. This one from a Tech fan. I was there two weeks ago and I can see why they are confused. But the lack of fans is so bad that even giving tickets away will not fill the stadium. That is the absolute sad part.
Iād like to see Willie challenge the fan base. Heās beat around the bush on occasion mentioning fan support. Why not just put it out there. Call em out.
I think we need to package a deal with football and basketball season tickets for 2027-28.
Some type of discount for people who have both so we donāt have to choose one or the other.
Maybe that can help with season ticket sales and attendance for football.
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Weāre Top 25 in both football and basketball with sparse attendance, and weāre only getting our full Big 12 share starting in 2026. If the AD can get it together, imagine what we could do with better attendance revenue and years of full Big 12 payouts. Big if, I know, but our peers donāt have this kind of untapped potential.
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Iām sure Eddie has studied marketing case studies on schools , who turned around their athletic attendance and how!
Hereās Metaās Case Studies
Yes ā there are a lot, and they are some of the most studied examples in sports marketing. Most schools stopped relying on āwinningā alone and treated attendance like a business problem. Here are the best-documented successes:
- Ohio University Football - 85% Increase in Student Attendance
The problem: Like most mid-majors, Ohio was fighting student apathy. Students said they didnāt know when games were.
The plan: When MBA student Drake Bolon became Director of Marketing, he implemented a saturation campaign:
ā¢ Physical: posters, sidewalk chalk, graffiti wall on campus every game week
ā¢ Digital: Paid promotion of games to ALL students on Facebook/Twitter, not just followers of athletics - āThereās never an excuse for a student not to know when a game isā
ā¢ Experience: Created Bobcat Student Park next to Peden Stadium - free food from local sponsors like Chipotle and Chick-fil-A (5,000 units per game), giveaways like flags/hats/scarves, and a pre-game gathering place
Result: Student attendance increased 85% since 2008-09. By 2012, 16,000 of 20,000 students attended at least one game, and students made up more than 25% of the stadium every week.
- St. Maryās College of California Basketball - 4X Attendance with Rewards Ticketing
The problem: Getting students to low-interest games.
The plan: Implemented TicketReturnās UStudent rewards-based ticketing system in 2005. Students swipe ID cards to earn points for attending games. Points = priority for premium/rivalry games.
ā¢ Less desirable games = more points
ā¢ Created competition via leaderboards
Result: Quadrupled attendance at basketball games after implementation. The model has since been copied by Boston College, Ohio University, and others tying attendance to better seats for high-demand games.
- UCF Football - From 0-12 to Capacity Crowds
A classic case study in using branding + coaching hire as marketing.
The problem: Averaging ā¼26,000 fans during a winless 2015 season.
The plan:
ā¢ High-profile coaching hire: Scott Frost brought buzz - āWhile this buzz does not last forever, an optimistic, enthusiastic new coach can breathe life into a stale program and reenergize the fan baseā
ā¢ Rebrand: In May 2016, unveiled 64 new Nike uniform combinations to modernize the brand
ā¢ Month-long marketing push: TV commercials, billboards, direct mail for season tickets
Result:
ā¢ 2015 (0-12): ā¼26,000 average
ā¢ 2016 (6-7): ā¼32,000 average / 35,802 officially
ā¢ 2017 (13-0 undefeated): over 40,000 / 36,846 officially, then 43,853 in 2018 ā a 40% increase in 3 years that the athletic department described in one word: āsuccessā.
- Kansas State Basketball - The Bacon Effect & Points System
Two tactics that became industry standards:
a) Promotional giveaways: When Kansas State passed out free bacon at a womenās basketball game, student attendance more than tripled. Studies show low and high-value giveaways both drive ā¼10.8% increases in attendance.
b) Group Points System: K-State student government approached athletics in 2009 about the line for marquee games like the Sunflower Showdown vs. Kansas. They created a system where attending ALL home games earns priority lineup position for the rivalry game. It forced attendance at low-demand games to earn access to high-demand ones.
- Other Proven Playbooks
Nebraska Football - Tradition as Marketing: The textbook for āfront porch of the university.ā With capacity expanded to 85,000, Nebraska has maintained an NCAA-record 361 consecutive sellouts since 1962 by leveraging tradition, PSL donations ($25M annually at Alabama is cited as similar model), and constant community messaging.
Baylor Basketball - Shrink to Grow: Baylor moved from a 10,000-seat Ferrell Center to the 7,000-seat Foster Pavilion in 2024. The explicit strategy: āautomatically increase ticket demandā and have a āmuch better shot to fill 7,000 seatsā, creating scarcity and louder home-court advantage. National trend: 88% of new major arenas since 2015 are smaller.
4 Likes
What we need to do is raise ticket prices, parking prices, lower the quality of the concessions, and have ore games that kick off in the hottest part of the day in september.
12 Likes
That game will draw a big crowd. OSU will bring a lot of fans and weāll have a lot of fans. Be great if we can beat K State, then have a showdown game with Okie Stateā¦This city likes big games and that will be a big gameā¦
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Just a lot more to do for the average Houstonianā¦especially when for the first time in months you can exit the air conditioning.
This is the time of year you can finally take the kids to the park, zoo, or fishing.
Lots to do for regular peopleā¦finally.
1 Like
7.9 million people and we canāt get 30K to watch a ranked team?
Some changes need to be made.
It kils the āwin and they will comeā excuse.
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They donāt show up for Astros, Texans, and Rockets either when they are above average, or mid-season. Usually has to be a game with playoff implications.
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You should email that to Nunez; he might learn something, if Iām honest.
UH fans donāt care about the Texas Bowl?
So you clearly didnāt go to the game last year
I guess that attendance record was made up.
7 Likes
Which of those models do you think would work at UH? What did you learn that you think Eddie doesnāt know?
FWIW thatās TCU near the end of the 1st quarter. Most of that top deck looked blue to the bad old eyes. The top of the right side certainly was BYU fans.
A close game with a 6pm start against #10.
(I think the other side was full though)
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With rain throughout the game
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Drawing crowd were the opponent is bringing crowd cannot be the solution. Itās a home game. That should mean something.
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Penn State, the Pinnacle of attendace had empty upper decks
1 Like