excerpt:
...Need to sell tickets? Consult the near-5,000 BYU fans who caravanned to Murfreesboro to watch a 4-4 team play a 5-3 one.
The Cougars have gone nationwide to market to LDS members. If SEC programs won't have them, they'll visit the neighbors.
"Of all the road games in 2014, the Middle Tennessee State game sticks out," said Greg Wrubell, the radio voice of the Cougars. "It was a very tough time for BYU, coming off of four consecutive losses and the injury to [quarterback] Taysom Hill. We arrived in the area not knowing what to expect, and sure enough, there's thousands of our fans to greet us.
"That's very much how BYU is going to embrace independence. The Big 12 would be great, certainly, but in the meantime, we're going to have a great time going around the country and seeing the turnout from fans."
In a muddy field across from the MTSU livestock building, BYU fans set up tents, a catered barbecue lunch, a live band and all the trappings of a major tailgate, with the exception of copious alcohol. Even though the alumni population in Nashville is modest (the chapter reports 500 on its mailing list), others drove from out of state.
"They hadn't been over here much in the Southeast. We did some research that it would be a good fit and sold the Nashville area as a great road trip," said MTSU athletic director Chris Massaro. "[With them] being a little bit like Notre Dame, we expect to draw church-affiliated fans who had maybe never seen campus."
Massaro said BYU sold its 4,000-ticket allotment and provided a "healthy" walk-up, creating an announced crowd of 18,952. MTSU's average is 17,408. A 35-10 win at UConn drew 35,150, more than the 27,461 average. In 2013, the Cougars pushed Houston's attendance to 33,115, more than the 24,256 average.
"We scheduled the series before the SEC policy went in place, so it wasn't a point of discussion, but I avoid power labels. A team in a power conference doesn't make them a power school. We enjoyed having a nationally recognized opponent coming to our stadium, and only the second national championship-winning program, after Georgia Tech visited," Massaro said.
The further from Provo, often the better for a national fan base.
BYU's religious affiliation builds any game weekend into an event. Several hundred spent their Halloween in a creaky auditorium at Central Magnet School for a BYU fireside. Before every road game, coaches, local LDS leaders, and players mingle with fans in an event that's part church service, part meet-and-greet.....
This post was edited on 2/27 8:04 PM by SpaceRaider
...Need to sell tickets? Consult the near-5,000 BYU fans who caravanned to Murfreesboro to watch a 4-4 team play a 5-3 one.
The Cougars have gone nationwide to market to LDS members. If SEC programs won't have them, they'll visit the neighbors.
"Of all the road games in 2014, the Middle Tennessee State game sticks out," said Greg Wrubell, the radio voice of the Cougars. "It was a very tough time for BYU, coming off of four consecutive losses and the injury to [quarterback] Taysom Hill. We arrived in the area not knowing what to expect, and sure enough, there's thousands of our fans to greet us.
"That's very much how BYU is going to embrace independence. The Big 12 would be great, certainly, but in the meantime, we're going to have a great time going around the country and seeing the turnout from fans."
In a muddy field across from the MTSU livestock building, BYU fans set up tents, a catered barbecue lunch, a live band and all the trappings of a major tailgate, with the exception of copious alcohol. Even though the alumni population in Nashville is modest (the chapter reports 500 on its mailing list), others drove from out of state.
"They hadn't been over here much in the Southeast. We did some research that it would be a good fit and sold the Nashville area as a great road trip," said MTSU athletic director Chris Massaro. "[With them] being a little bit like Notre Dame, we expect to draw church-affiliated fans who had maybe never seen campus."
Massaro said BYU sold its 4,000-ticket allotment and provided a "healthy" walk-up, creating an announced crowd of 18,952. MTSU's average is 17,408. A 35-10 win at UConn drew 35,150, more than the 27,461 average. In 2013, the Cougars pushed Houston's attendance to 33,115, more than the 24,256 average.
"We scheduled the series before the SEC policy went in place, so it wasn't a point of discussion, but I avoid power labels. A team in a power conference doesn't make them a power school. We enjoyed having a nationally recognized opponent coming to our stadium, and only the second national championship-winning program, after Georgia Tech visited," Massaro said.
The further from Provo, often the better for a national fan base.
BYU's religious affiliation builds any game weekend into an event. Several hundred spent their Halloween in a creaky auditorium at Central Magnet School for a BYU fireside. Before every road game, coaches, local LDS leaders, and players mingle with fans in an event that's part church service, part meet-and-greet.....
This post was edited on 2/27 8:04 PM by SpaceRaider
