Playoff Attendance

[EastStroud13]

OK, that crossed the line. Go ahead and rip all you want about attendance, but if you haven't been to GR, you probably should keep your opinions to yourself about the area. Maybe Jimmy T can fill you in some. Oh wait, the way he got ragdolled all over the field back when he played at Lubbers, he probably would rather forget that trip.

Maybe if you lot keep your thoughts about SR1 to yourselves, we'll keep our thoughts about flyover states to ours.

[EastStroud13]

No? I'm not the one who made the ridiculous assertion in the first place lol. Get more than 700 people at your Thanksgiving games in SR1.

Following up a ridiculous assertion with another ridiculous assertion doesn't make you any smarter. I could care less if less than 1000 people go to playoff games that aren't hosted by PSAC teams, it's not my problem.

[Redwing]

Maybe if you lot keep your thoughts about SR1 to yourselves, we'll keep our thoughts about flyover states to ours.

Uh, I'm keeping my thoughts to GR, Nothing about SR1. What is SR1 anyway? :-) :-) :-)

[IUPNation]

Students are all home for Thanksgiving. High school championships taking place in Detroit (multiple West Michigan schools playing). Ohio State - Michigan taking place at the same time (the state pretty much splits equally between MSU & Michigan — doesn’t matter your directional or lower division fandom). Also sub freezing temps out.

Not understanding your hating on the GVSU attendance.

Nearly all schools in the Midwest have lower attendance on Thanksgiving weekend unless you’re a top level d1 team playing a rivalry game.

I’m was just replying to Kle’s usual Napoleon complex nonsense.

[IUPNation]

No? I'm not the one who made the ridiculous assertion in the first place lol. Get more than 700 people at your Thanksgiving games in SR1.

Yes you did. IUP had almost 2000 last year for Ashland on the same weekend. You post nonsense because you feel entitled.

[IUPNation]

OK, that crossed the line. Go ahead and rip all you want about attendance, but if you haven't been to GR, you probably should keep your opinions to yourself about the area. Maybe Jimmy T can fill you in some. Oh wait, the way he got ragdolled all over the field back when he played at Lubbers, he probably would rather forget that trip.

Still hanging on to 2005 are we?

[IUPNation]

Any wonder why Grand Valley fans are the most loathed in D2? Ferris is right behind them. It must be the toxins in the water in Meatchicken.

Come to think of it, Cheaterine fans are aholes too.

:-)

[KleShreen]

Any wonder why Grand Valley fans are the most loathed in D2? Ferris is right behind them. It must be the toxins in the water in Meatchicken.

Come to think of it, Cheaterine fans are aholes too.

:-)

Most loathed because they're the ones who win. You should know that, Eagles fan.

[fitzpats]

One would think a big game for the local school would be at the top of the list of things to do in Grand Rapids.

So basically it’s okay for your largest in D2 school to have well below average attendance for a massive playoff game but a small Region 1 school with little playoff history draws a small crowd and they should be removed from D2. Got it.

You can go back through the archived stats for GVSU and see the attendance for the playoffs. In 2022, the second round game against NWMSU there were 4049, but the following week there were 13,000 for the FSU game. UM/OSU was the same date as the GV/NWMSU game.

In 2021, the GVSU/FSU game was at FSU with an attendance of 3742, was a second round game, and had to deal with the UM/OSU game.

We have to go back to 2016 for a second round GVSU game, but there were 3081 when the Lakers hosted Texas A&M Commerce, but still competing with the UM/OSU game. The next week, there were 12,177 in attendance for the GVSU/FSU game.

In 2015, the FSU/GVSU game was in the second round, and still had to compete with the UM/OSU game being played. This time, the GVSU/FSU game was in Big Rapids and had a whopping 1933 in attendance.

The UM/OSU pull is strong in this state. I tried to find the Ferris attendance stats, but they weren't kept for their games like GVSU keeps theirs.

[lutherd]

One would think a big game for the local school would be at the top of the list of things to do in Grand Rapids.

So basically it’s okay for your largest in D2 school to have well below average attendance for a massive playoff game but a small Region 1 school with little playoff history draws a small crowd and they should be removed from D2. Got it.

It's not. First off, GVSU isn't in Grand Rapids, it's about 20 minutes west.
Secondly, it was pretty uncomfortable weather. Not bad for late November in Michigan, but not super inviting.
Third, it was Thanksgiving weekend. GVSU has students from all 50 states, and even students from Michigan are mostly from the southeast corner of the state, so a three-plus hour drive back to campus for most of them.
Finally, you are underestimating the importance of The Game here in Michigan. Indiana doesn't have anything that compares to Michigan-Ohio State. Heck, nowhere does. It's why it's usually ranked as the best rivalry in all of sport. Even people who aren't Michigan fans—like me—will make sure we sit down and glue our eyeballs to the screen for this game. Now, I'll admit I had two screens going, and the other screen was GV-Pitt. But still, I was pulling quite heavily for Michigan to win, almost as much as I wanted GV to win. Why? Because it's Michigan-Ohio State.
If you get it, no explanation is necessary. If you don't get it, no explanation is possible.

And overall, there is an issue with "minor league" playoff attendance, regardless of sport or level. If you compare Division II football to, say, the American Hockey League, or USFL, or Minor League baseball, or the NBA G-League, you will find that all of those leagues suffer an attendance decline in the postseason. I used to be a season-ticket holder for the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit Red Wings top affiliate). During the regular season, you could expect anywhere from 7-10k (10,835 being a sell-out). In the playoffs, even on a Friday or Saturday night, that number dropped to 2-4k.
Why? I honestly don't know. But it happens.

[IUPNation]

Most loathed because they're the ones who win. You should know that, Eagles fan.

Eagles fans never demanded the Lions be moved to the BIG because the Ford family didn’t pony up the money to be competitive all these years. You finally have a coach.

[IUPNation]

It's not. First off, GVSU isn't in Grand Rapids, it's about 20 minutes west.
Secondly, it was pretty uncomfortable weather. Not bad for late November in Michigan, but not super inviting.
Third, it was Thanksgiving weekend. GVSU has students from all 50 states, and even students from Michigan are mostly from the southeast corner of the state, so a three-plus hour drive back to campus for most of them.
Finally, you are underestimating the importance of The Game here in Michigan. Indiana doesn't have anything that compares to Michigan-Ohio State. Heck, nowhere does. It's why it's usually ranked as the best rivalry in all of sport. Even people who aren't Michigan fans—like me—will make sure we sit down and glue our eyeballs to the screen for this game. Now, I'll admit I had two screens going, and the other screen was GV-Pitt. But still, I was pulling quite heavily for Michigan to win, almost as much as I wanted GV to win. Why? Because it's Michigan-Ohio State.
If you get it, no explanation is necessary. If you don't get it, no explanation is possible.

And overall, there is an issue with "minor league" playoff attendance, regardless of sport or level. If you compare Division II football to, say, the American Hockey League, or USFL, or Minor League baseball, or the NBA G-League, you will find that all of those leagues suffer an attendance decline in the postseason. I used to be a season-ticket holder for the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit Red Wings top affiliate). During the regular season, you could expect anywhere from 7-10k (10,835 being a sell-out). In the playoffs, even on a Friday or Saturday night, that number dropped to 2-4k.
Why? I honestly don't know. But it happens.

Nobody cares that GV had low attendance. We are just throwing grenades because Kle is on his I Hate Region 1 kick…

[KleShreen]

Eagles fans never demanded the Lions be moved to the BIG because the Ford family didn’t pony up the money to be competitive all these years. You finally have a coach.

All pro sports in the US should have a promotion/relegation system, and then the Lions would have rightly been in the lower levels of American football. Which is why the SR1 schools should all be playing rec league football. =)

[IUPNation]

All pro sports in the US should have a promotion/relegation system, and then the Lions would have rightly been in the lower levels of American football. Which is why the SR1 schools should all be playing rec league football. =)

So the Tigers would be AAA too.

[KleShreen]

So the Tigers would be AAA too.

Yes. Although probably not now.