Guess all our fans were staying home to watch the televised in-state rivalry between UT-K and Tenn. Tech.
13,505
- Thread starter MTFNBY5
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Sat with our church group that brought 17 yesterday in the NW Corner of the end zone. Had a church member comment to me about the attendance in the first quarter wondering the same thing. I estimated about 11,000, but even that number was too high of an estimate for him. A 71 degree day, sunshine, and Salute to Veterans, a then 6-2 record with five coaches poll votes, can't bring them in better than 13,505 at kickoff? Houston, we have a serious problem. And, that problem got much more amplified with a 25-45 loss in favor of a six year old FBS football program and now were finding the urgent need to operate with a backup QB going on the road for the next two!
Those were "all our fans"
As Autumn finally arrives and leaves are falling from trees, so are the frustrated fans falling away. Happens every season. Some return the next season and some don't.
Look, I saw some tweeting about the lousy fans, turnout and even wondering what the fans excuses were. Really? REALLY???
I love that the Chicago Cubs won the series after 108 years, what a great story and what great fans, and you have to wonder what causes a fan base to hold on to hope after 108 years, but I have no desire for the Raiders to assume the mantle of "lovable losers."
I didn't fall for the preseason hype that the Raiders were the preseason #1 pick to win the East Division. I had some hope early on, but that was finished in the overtime loss to wku. So while I'm disappointed, and disheartened, what I see is no surprise.
I had hope after Tony Franklin returned, but realizing that Byard and Barbour were gone from a defense that gave up tons of points last year, I knew that the offense was going to have to outscore the opposition at every turn.
Finger pointing towards alumni and town folk is counter productive. Like every child has been told, when you point a finger towards someone else you have four pointing back at you. Every question of why attendance is down is on display on game days in Floyd Stadium.
As Autumn finally arrives and leaves are falling from trees, so are the frustrated fans falling away. Happens every season. Some return the next season and some don't.
Look, I saw some tweeting about the lousy fans, turnout and even wondering what the fans excuses were. Really? REALLY???
I love that the Chicago Cubs won the series after 108 years, what a great story and what great fans, and you have to wonder what causes a fan base to hold on to hope after 108 years, but I have no desire for the Raiders to assume the mantle of "lovable losers."
I didn't fall for the preseason hype that the Raiders were the preseason #1 pick to win the East Division. I had some hope early on, but that was finished in the overtime loss to wku. So while I'm disappointed, and disheartened, what I see is no surprise.
I had hope after Tony Franklin returned, but realizing that Byard and Barbour were gone from a defense that gave up tons of points last year, I knew that the offense was going to have to outscore the opposition at every turn.
Finger pointing towards alumni and town folk is counter productive. Like every child has been told, when you point a finger towards someone else you have four pointing back at you. Every question of why attendance is down is on display on game days in Floyd Stadium.
I'm gonna surmise that had we won either of the previously lost games (VU and WKU) the crowd would have been somewhat better, but by how much?
Fans, we have a problem much deeper than a hurt QB, deeper than a paper thin defense, deeper than the inability to recruit D linemen, deeper than a coach's unfortunate contract, deeper than an assistant coach hanging around to enhance his state retirement, deeper than being in $EC country, deeper than having little media coverage, deeper than the ability to attract area talent, deeper than having a radio broadcast that can't even have proper connections to the locker room, deeper than the lack of money to promote or recruit or build adequate facilities, and deeper than the obvious lack of a D-1 fan base.
The problem is so deep that a complete overhaul, from top to bottom, is required or MT should drop FB.
And no, I won't quit being a fan nor will I quit buying season tickets and giving to the BRAA but I ain't happy!
Fans, we have a problem much deeper than a hurt QB, deeper than a paper thin defense, deeper than the inability to recruit D linemen, deeper than a coach's unfortunate contract, deeper than an assistant coach hanging around to enhance his state retirement, deeper than being in $EC country, deeper than having little media coverage, deeper than the ability to attract area talent, deeper than having a radio broadcast that can't even have proper connections to the locker room, deeper than the lack of money to promote or recruit or build adequate facilities, and deeper than the obvious lack of a D-1 fan base.
The problem is so deep that a complete overhaul, from top to bottom, is required or MT should drop FB.
And no, I won't quit being a fan nor will I quit buying season tickets and giving to the BRAA but I ain't happy!
Frankly, I'm perplexed. What area should MT start on with its overhaul to make an effective change that isn't a "one year wonder"? Coaching and Contracts? Recruiting? Facilities? Media? Marketing? Conference Affiliation (highly doubt that one)? Executive Leadership? Culture? Fan Expectation? Winning? Winning Bowl Games? I don't know, but whatever the present formula is in FB...is isn't working. And that isn't someone who is just angry about a 25-45 UTSA loss. Or even disappointing WKU or Vandy losses. This mindset was baked in long before yesterday's game was kicked off at 1:30 p.m. CDT in Murfreesboro, Tennessee or even before 2016 season. I said it before about two years ago, if we can't be in the top three teams of affinity in 37130 or even 37132, where can we do it? Think it's more about culture and expectations rather than money or talent (or lack thereof). Maybe MTFNBY5 is correct, in a overhaul being required. If we can't complete a sound long-term overhaul plan with appropriate vision, our best logical option might be dropping FB back to FCS level to the OVC? I really dislike saying that, but people speak with their non presence and their wallets and that has to be eventually recognized and not ignored. Our stadium renovation is approaching 20 years old-- it's no longer new or state of the art, even among our conference brethren. Our FBS program is in its 18th season (from 1999) and its now been 21 years since we announced the "move to 1-A". Administration and fans should be partners and demand excellence--and don't get that feel that we do consistently. We're middle of the road at best with an occasional surprising win, quickly followed by a terrible loss (which yesterday was!) Our program has to keep up or come to realization that we need to fix these things to be a champion. We have zero outright conference championships since moving to FBS, no wins against a top 25 team, no AP/Coaches poll rankings (though we received 5 votes in coaches last week, and that will fall to zero today), only one special season to date (2009, 10-3, New Orelans Bowl win). Finishing this season at 9-3 will be extremely tough even with our soft schedule..it's looking more of 7-5 or 7-6 after the bowl game with what we know now. Our culture simply should be about doing our best and getting the pieces needed to accomplish that mantra.
If we would have been undefeated and ranked in the top 25 I don't think there would have been that many more, maybe 16-18K. Murfreesboro doesn't really care, most of the students don't care and for sure most of the Alumni don't and half the fans that post of these forums don't go. I don't know how you fix it. I was there, all my tickets (7) were used. I will be there at the last game.
I'm somewhat believing our issue is related to a cultural mindset. We are not relevant in Murfreesboro, much less throughout Middle Tennessee in the game of football. Yes, our product on the FB field hasn't been as consistent as it needs to be to have sellouts at every game (even with our tarps in place that lowers net capacity). I'm beginning to think upper deck may should be tarped too, except at HC, WKU, Marshall, or with other P5 teams coming in to play. Businesses don't get as excited any more either: For instance, Didn't hear the announcement that Toot's gives five free wings with ticket if we score 42, just heard the McDonalds one if we hold our opponent to 24 or less that our ticket is a "buy one get one" coupon good until Monday. We are not generating ROI for them, apparently. And, we have a tiny fan base relative to 120,954 (2013 census) population of Murfreesboro or the 127,000 estimate that I saw more recently. Bottom line, is we are not doing the required things that helps us be a champion. Our goal is to get bowl eligible, win a notable game every now and then, but sleepwalk in games we are supposed to win by 17-19 points, and lose by 20 (in the case yesterday, but there are others like it).
I'm convinced we could go undefeated for 2 straight years and not have 1 single sell-out.
I think you hit the nail on the head in the first couple of sentences. I couldnt make the game yesterday because I had high school basketball games to watch. I was watching the game on my phone and one of my players asked what I was watching. I said the MT game and his response was "THEY SUCK!" WHen I told him that we were 6-2 he looked shocked. This county does not care about this football team. I don't know what the solution is but somebody who is getting paid to do so needs to figure it out
Well, the perception is losing to vanderbilt means the team sucks, especially as badly as MT played. We've lost to vandy two years in a row and win over a hapless Missouri doesn't even register.
It's death by stagnation. This program isn't moving forward. It's not moving backward. Good teams sell titles. Bad teams can sell hope. Stagnant teams sell the same stale product over and over again.
At this level, you only have one or two chances a year to really make some fans - Rivalry games, hyped games, championships, bowl games.
All the wins vs FIU or UTEP in November don't equal a single loss vs WKU/Vandy at home.
People still don't get it - it doesn't matter if the record is 6-2, in the games that really counted, we're 0-2.
At this level, you only have one or two chances a year to really make some fans - Rivalry games, hyped games, championships, bowl games.
All the wins vs FIU or UTEP in November don't equal a single loss vs WKU/Vandy at home.
People still don't get it - it doesn't matter if the record is 6-2, in the games that really counted, we're 0-2.
Part of it is that the MT administration folks and marketing people do next to nothing to get out in the community. The city will continue to not care until you go out there and make them care.
This year's marketing logo has been: "Our Town, Our Team" Think it's a excellent message! And I hope we keep it for a while. It speaks to my thought about the importance of 37130 and 37132 and other immediate zip codes in the Murfreesboro area. But, MTOleBlue, you're onto something about making it attractive to care. Not just for 1-2 games, but consistently. Building the brand. Too often, quality from radio broadcasts all the way to the product on the field, court, and diamond is many times been riddled with poor play, poor coaching, poor execution in message, or doing next to nothing to get the message in the community. The slogan is good, but we don't back the effort. But, we have to take the next step if we want to be relevant. There are too many things to do for us to be the default choice on a Saturday Afternoon or Evening in Murfreesboro. Everything needs to be on message and have proper resources behind them. We cannot afford to be accidental and expect championships in any sport. We have to prepare! We finally righted the ocean liner in MBB back to respectability with an NCAA win over the Michigan State Spartans, we have to follow up with another strong season with similar results. In football, the standard has to be the C-USA East Division crown, not bowl eligibility at 7-5 or 6-6. It's the total package top to bottom and I'm not sure I see that in many of our programs. We often take a "middle of the road" approach which is not terrible, but it is not great either.
I get that feeling of stagnation in comparison to when I first moved to the Boro in 2009. 7-5 in a league like CUSA doesn't generate fan interest, if you aren't hosting CUSA championship games every other year, then no one will pay attention. MT feels like the tallest midget in CUSA, beat up the chumps and lose to any who can play at a higher level
Not a bad idea. Do you prefer gun to the head or knife to the throat approach? Or maybe the psychopath girlfriend approach like the one in Gone Girl approach where you just manipulate people and play mind games? Perhaps a tv commercial where you hypnotize people? Exactly how does a marketing team make someone care?
This topic is getting so old, and I swear the finger pointing as to why there isn't a crowd get more and more lame with each topic. My brother came up here with his 2 year old son- first MT game. One hour drive to see this team play like they did. Maybe before he left I could have introduced him to a marketing rep to make him come for the next game.Or our team could have put on a show and played up to their potential.
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The reality of the situation is that a team like MT or WKU or a UTEP should be sending coaches up to the P5 schools on a 4-5 year basis. If we aren't doing that, we are stuck and we are doing it wrong. If the big boys aren't calling then we have something nobody wants.
Chris Massaro has made the worst business deal that will prompt the administration to start playing multiple body bag games or eliminate things in order to pay for this mess that he created.
You have a coach that after 10 years has no championship, hovers around .500, and has made terrible game time and management decisions. There is no coaching changes outside of the man at the top that will fix this situation.
You want to blame 9k butts in seats (13k inflated)....look no further than the dude up in the pressbox.
Who wants this for their program?
Chris Massaro has made the worst business deal that will prompt the administration to start playing multiple body bag games or eliminate things in order to pay for this mess that he created.
You have a coach that after 10 years has no championship, hovers around .500, and has made terrible game time and management decisions. There is no coaching changes outside of the man at the top that will fix this situation.
You want to blame 9k butts in seats (13k inflated)....look no further than the dude up in the pressbox.
Who wants this for their program?
The reality of the situation is that a team like MT or WKU or a UTEP should be sending coaches up to the P5 schools on a 4-5 year basis. If we aren't doing that, we are stuck and we are doing it wrong. If the big boys aren't calling then we have something nobody wants.
Chris Massaro has made the worst business deal that will prompt the administration to start playing multiple body bag games or eliminate things in order to pay for this mess that he created.
You have a coach that after 10 years has no championship, hovers around .500, and has made terrible game time and management decisions. There is no coaching changes outside of the man at the top that will fix this situation.
You want to blame 9k butts in seats (13k inflated)....look no further than the dude up in the pressbox.
Who wants this for their program?
Chris Massaro has made the worst business deal that will prompt the administration to start playing multiple body bag games or eliminate things in order to pay for this mess that he created.
You have a coach that after 10 years has no championship, hovers around .500, and has made terrible game time and management decisions. There is no coaching changes outside of the man at the top that will fix this situation.
You want to blame 9k butts in seats (13k inflated)....look no further than the dude up in the pressbox.
Who wants this for their program?
I think the magic number may be 4,100. This was the Tuesday night attendance for ECU at Memphis, 10/27/09 on national TV. The Tigers lost to UT 56-28 the following week 11/7/09 and West was fired on Monday. His epic rant on YouTube is still a classic. Why RC Johnson and Bob Winn gave him a microphone and bully pulpit afterwards is still a head scratcher.
Those diehards in attendance that night even formed the "4,100 Club". Now it's become a badge of honor and just like Woodstock, they all claim to have been there.
Whatever the number is, attendance (or lack thereof) is what gets coaches fired.
Those diehards in attendance that night even formed the "4,100 Club". Now it's become a badge of honor and just like Woodstock, they all claim to have been there.
Whatever the number is, attendance (or lack thereof) is what gets coaches fired.
This is a great point.
Everyone is afraid of losing a quality coach.
But the fact is, a place where a coach can move up - is a place that's desirable to coach.
Look at Ark State, Boise. WKU. They've all had to deal with turnover - but when one coach leaves, candidates look at it as a stepping stone, and there's no shortage of quality coaches wanting to take over.
Longevity at our level is not always a great thing.
First post here on a topic I'm passionate about:
The biggest problem with our attendance is the administration. Yes, the on-field product can sway tickets, but any seasoned sports sales/marketing pro will tell you that you have it ignore the product as much as possible. Unlike most other industries the product you're selling here is ever changing. It's literally being produced at the exact same time it's being consumed.
In regards to admin, they have set up the stadium to be empty weekly. There's one salesperson on staff. Total. You can't sell a product if you do not have a staff to sell it. If you build up a strong STH base, then you can weather the storm of poor on field performance.
Prices should not have been raised this year, and shouldn't be for a while. It's simple supply and demand. There's an excess supply of seats, therefore demand is low. You do not raise prices in those economic conditions. You're only angering the customers who are currently loyal to you.
There is no service staff. When you're competing with people's home theater systems what is one differentiator? Customer service. The top organizations in sports have full service staffs dedicated to STH's. Adding value, building relationships, visiting clients in games, troubleshooting, making STH's feel like they're a part of the org, etc.
Another differentiator? In-game experience. The band needs new songs, the PA announcer is not exciting, the in game promos are lacking. On the flip side, the concessions options can be improved, stadium aesthetics are outdated, ushers/ticket takers/hawkers/concessionaires/parking attendants all need full training in customer service. If the product on the field sucks, make sure everything else a customer touches is as close to amazing as possible.
The marketing department is doing the same promotions and executing the same plans as they have been for the last 15+ years. They have not evolved. Sticking some yard signs in the ground at intersections didn't drive walk-up then, and it's not driving walk-up now. Without walk-up you don't have leads for a sales staff to call.
They're not utilizing the university's greatest asset - i.e. young talent. There are sales classes, graphic design students, marketing majors, web content developers, social media gurus, etc etc etc. Give these students real-life experience while they are in school. Work with the professors to develop programs to benefit both the students and the organization.
Yes it needs a lot of work, but with the right investment and training it can be done.
The biggest problem with our attendance is the administration. Yes, the on-field product can sway tickets, but any seasoned sports sales/marketing pro will tell you that you have it ignore the product as much as possible. Unlike most other industries the product you're selling here is ever changing. It's literally being produced at the exact same time it's being consumed.
In regards to admin, they have set up the stadium to be empty weekly. There's one salesperson on staff. Total. You can't sell a product if you do not have a staff to sell it. If you build up a strong STH base, then you can weather the storm of poor on field performance.
Prices should not have been raised this year, and shouldn't be for a while. It's simple supply and demand. There's an excess supply of seats, therefore demand is low. You do not raise prices in those economic conditions. You're only angering the customers who are currently loyal to you.
There is no service staff. When you're competing with people's home theater systems what is one differentiator? Customer service. The top organizations in sports have full service staffs dedicated to STH's. Adding value, building relationships, visiting clients in games, troubleshooting, making STH's feel like they're a part of the org, etc.
Another differentiator? In-game experience. The band needs new songs, the PA announcer is not exciting, the in game promos are lacking. On the flip side, the concessions options can be improved, stadium aesthetics are outdated, ushers/ticket takers/hawkers/concessionaires/parking attendants all need full training in customer service. If the product on the field sucks, make sure everything else a customer touches is as close to amazing as possible.
The marketing department is doing the same promotions and executing the same plans as they have been for the last 15+ years. They have not evolved. Sticking some yard signs in the ground at intersections didn't drive walk-up then, and it's not driving walk-up now. Without walk-up you don't have leads for a sales staff to call.
They're not utilizing the university's greatest asset - i.e. young talent. There are sales classes, graphic design students, marketing majors, web content developers, social media gurus, etc etc etc. Give these students real-life experience while they are in school. Work with the professors to develop programs to benefit both the students and the organization.
Yes it needs a lot of work, but with the right investment and training it can be done.
I hate to be disagreeable, but there isn't anything to market. 90% of the attendees are people that care - The players and their families, the Cheerleaders and their families, the band, the flag pole wavers, the die hard fans (maybe 5K of these is they all showed up, and the blue hairs that have been coming for 40 years and maybe 3-500 students. This is your base, they care. You are slowly losing them...think about that for just a second.
And, we can't afford to upgrade the things your talking about their is no ROI, none, zero, nada. Aside from winning more and holding our staff accountable, the best thing the AD can do is market to the diehards and use them to get more folks at the game. I have 7 season tickets, you want me to expand this group, then give me a ticket deal I can sell and turn me loose versus squeezing me for more money.
The idea that in our current state we are going to hire some additional resources and beautify the stadium and improve the experience is not going to work. Saturday, we had a 6-2 team on a beautiful day and we got 13K announced.
I agree with you that referrals are a great way to grow business. Referrals always work in any industry.
I also should have prefaced my comment above with my credentials. I have a marketing degree (from MT), a Masters in Sports Admin, and 8 years of experience in sports & entertainment. What I outlined above works. Every time. I am speaking from experience and research. It's not rocket science. It's having an administration that is willing to invest in the people needed to do the job correctly.
Excellent post!
There is really only two ways to get people in the stadium. #1 Win big. Beat your rivals, beat P5 teams, beat named teams, get ranked, and win championships. Other schools may not have to do all those things to have good attendance but we do. Other schools similar to us ( Memphis, Southern Miss, Marshall, etc.) with decent attendance numbers have a better history and more tradition so they can rely on their built in bases to sustain their numbers.
#2 Make the game a must be at event. People still go to the Titans games, even though they suck, because of the in game atmosphere. It feels "big time". They have to improve things at Floyd if they want people to leave their comfy living rooms and sports bars to come to the game.
MTBRaider has some excellent ideas to improve things. Unfortunately, I don't see any real changes being made while this administration is still here. They will just keep rolling out the same ole stuff year after year with an occasional half ass facility "upgrade". McPhee and Masarro are the problems in my opinion. When they are gone maybe we will have a chance to right the ship, but I believe its going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
This is what I've been saying all along. Thank your writing it all out in a much more thought out way than I usually do, lol. It is NOT rocket science, it's effort and right now we have really one person doing most of the work and she cannot do it all especially with an admin that is content to just sit back and watch things collapse.
The admin:
A friend of mine called the ticket office on Saturday morning to ask about tickets to the UTSA game. Office was closed, he got no answer, and instead heard a voicemail message saying it was game day and to come on out to Floyd Stadium to watch the Blue Raiders battle Western Kentucky.
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