PSAC Attendance - Week 6

[Fightingscot82]

PSAC Week 6 Attendance
Edinboro - 5,850
Bloomsburg - 3,282
Shippensburg - 3,012
East Stroudsburg - 1,748
Clarion - 999
Mercyhurst - 778
Lock Haven - 723
Gannon - 523

Attendance Averages Through Week 6
Slippery Rock - 6,776
West Chester - 5,854
Indiana - 5,586
Shepherd - 5,331
Shippensburg - 4,357
Kutztown - 3,950 (just 1 of 3 games reported)
Edinboro - 3,645
California - 2,870
Bloomsburg - 2,709
East Stroudsburg - 1,884
Clarion - 1,531
Lock Haven - 1,360
Mercyhurst - 1,254
Gannon - 1,124
Millersville - 1,075 (just 1 of 3 games reported)
Seton Hill - 786

[IUPbigINDIANS]

PSAC Week 6 Attendance
Edinboro - 5,850
Bloomsburg - 3,282
Shippensburg - 3,012
East Stroudsburg - 1,748
Clarion - 999
Mercyhurst - 778
Lock Haven - 723
Gannon - 523

Attendance Averages Through Week 6
Slippery Rock - 6,776
West Chester - 5,854
Indiana - 5,586
Shepherd - 5,331
Shippensburg - 4,357
Kutztown - 3,950 (just 1 of 3 games reported)
Edinboro - 3,645
California - 2,870
Bloomsburg - 2,709
East Stroudsburg - 1,884
Clarion - 1,531
Lock Haven - 1,360
Mercyhurst - 1,254
Gannon - 1,124
Millersville - 1,075 (just 1 of 3 games reported)
Seton Hill - 786

Just 523 for Gannon ... coming off a good showing at IUP and with a big team in town. That's terrible.

All four on the bottom this week -- Clarion, Mercyhurst, LH and Gannon -- just awful numbers.

Obviously, we all know the Clarion situation but to not crack 1,000 on Homecoming ... yikes.

[Fightingscot82]

Just 523 for Gannon ... coming off a good showing at IUP and with a big team in town. That's terrible.

All four on the bottom this week -- Clarion, Mercyhurst, LH and Gannon -- just awful numbers.

Obviously, we all know the Clarion situation but to not crack 1,000 on Homecoming ... yikes.

I wonder if the Clarion number is just one of those fake ones thrown out there. I have a hard time believing 999 is an accurate number.

[ShoNuff]

I wonder if the Clarion number is just one of those fake ones thrown out there. I have a hard time believing 999 is an accurate number.

I actually thought the same thing...

[Ship69]

Just 523 for Gannon ... coming off a good showing at IUP and with a big team in town. That's terrible.

All four on the bottom this week -- Clarion, Mercyhurst, LH and Gannon -- just awful numbers.

Obviously, we all know the Clarion situation but to not crack 1,000 on Homecoming ... yikes.

A lot of students still go home on the weekends at PASSHE schools and you're lucky to get much student attendance for a good team, let alone one that's having its problems. I don't know that I'd be going to games if I were at Lock Haven. Not much fun to see your team wiped out all the time.

[shipfbfan1]

A little disappointed in the Shippensburg numbers but the Millersville game (Homecoming) will be at least 5k with good weather, and if we upset Kutztown Saturday evening then it'll be a sellout crowd of 7500 with decent weather for homecoming.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

A lot of students still go home on the weekends at PASSHE schools and you're lucky to get much student attendance for a good team, let alone one that's having its problems. I don't know that I'd be going to games if I were at Lock Haven. Not much fun to see your team wiped out all the time.

Forget the students. That's a rabbit hole at most of our schools. They could care less. Get the locals and townies. They come back week after week, buy tickets and spend more inside the stadium. If you show them you care, many will also start to donate.

The weeks you get some students ... it's a bonus. IUP is almost exclusively a 'local' following. Some games kids show up but not often. They showed up for the Kutztown game and got very engaged. That almost never happens here.

My theory forever in the PSAC is if you want to be a really good program, your HC better be a really good talker (shaking hands and kissing babies approach). And, most importantly, he better be a good (corporate) fundraiser. You can't consistently win without top players, and, you can't get top players without a lot of money (albeit in 'scholarship' money as we call it in the West or with other money as they call it at some East schools). Either way, the money talks.

As for Clarion, from the few times they showed the home side it was fairly full in the first half. I'd say that was certainly a made up number. I'd have guessed 2,000 from the video and photos I've seen. Second half, however, looked like about 200.

[Fightingscot82]

This past weekend was Edinboro's homecoming. They most certainly could have had more in that number with all the options for entertainment - that's probably some of the story for Clarion. The game is one of a dozen things happening that day and its not the feature, the parade is. There was more tailgating for this game than I've ever seen at Edinboro in years past. I bet that's easily a couple hundred people hanging out without walking through the gate. Plus wrestling was holding an outdoor practice, there were vendors & kid activities on the opposite side of campus and a big downtown festival after the parade that probably kept many locals at the bend in town instead of wandering over to the game. Probably several thousand people on campus or immediately adjacent who were distracted from the game itself. Big congrats to SRU folks who showed up.

Unless the parade route goes to the stadium, people aren't going to the game.

[Ram Tough]

A lot of students still go home on the weekends at PASSHE schools and you're lucky to get much student attendance for a good team, let alone one that's having its problems. I don't know that I'd be going to games if I were at Lock Haven. Not much fun to see your team wiped out all the time.

Success greatly impacts attendance. The Shepherd football program really started to take off at the D2 level while I was a student there. Many games, we probably had 1,000 - 2,000 people, depending on a variety of factors. Now, they will average around 5,000 or so a game, which is really good when you consider the size of the school and surrounding area. People like to watch a winner.

[Ship69]

Forget the students. That's a rabbit hole at most of our schools. They could care less. Get the locals and townies. They come back week after week, buy tickets and spend more inside the stadium. If you show them you care, many will also start to donate.

The weeks you get some students ... it's a bonus. IUP is almost exclusively a 'local' following. Some games kids show up but not often. They showed up for the Kutztown game and got very engaged. That almost never happens here.

My theory forever in the PSAC is if you want to be a really good program, your HC better be a really good talker (shaking hands and kissing babies approach). And, most importantly, he better be a good (corporate) fundraiser. You can't consistently win without top players, and, you can't get top players without a lot of money (albeit in 'scholarship' money as we call it in the West or with other money as they call it at some East schools). Either way, the money talks.

As for Clarion, from the few times they showed the home side it was fairly full in the first half. I'd say that was certainly a made up number. I'd have guessed 2,000 from the video and photos I've seen. Second half, however, looked like about 200.

Considering the small population of Shippensburg and our enrollment compared to some of the other PASSHE schools, we draw pretty well for football. I was somewhat baffled by the West Chester attendance, although it seemed like more than 3,000 to me as the Ship stands had filled in fairly well by the second half. Sky looked a little threatening, which might have kept some people away. Obviously I'm looking for a bigger crowd at homecoming in two weeks. West Chester and most other PASSHE teams don't bring the visiting crowds they used to. Bloom used to bring a lot of fans to Ship, but they've dropped off along with their team's record the past few years. For most visiting teams, it's parents or relatives of the players and that's about it. The Shepherd-Ship game is probably the only reliable big draw we have now. Students don't attend sporting events in nearly the numbers they used to. Their attendance at our basketball games is a joke, despite the team's success in recent years. We used to draw more back when the school was half the size it is now.

[Ship69]

Success greatly impacts attendance. The Shepherd football program really started to take off at the D2 level while I was a student there. Many games, we probably had 1,000 - 2,000 people, depending on a variety of factors. Now, they will average around 5,000 or so a game, which is really good when you consider the size of the school and surrounding area. People like to watch a winner.

Winning does help, and the average attendance figures for the year illustrate that. Cal is the only consistently winning team averaging below 3,000 attendance.

[Bart]

Considering the small population of Shippensburg and our enrollment compared to some of the other PASSHE schools, we draw pretty well for football. I was somewhat baffled by the West Chester attendance, although it seemed like more than 3,000 to me as the Ship stands had filled in fairly well by the second half. Sky looked a little threatening, which might have kept some people away. Obviously I'm looking for a bigger crowd at homecoming in two weeks. West Chester and most other PASSHE teams don't bring the visiting crowds they used to. Bloom used to bring a lot of fans to Ship, but they've dropped off along with their team's record the past few years. For most visiting teams, it's parents or relatives of the players and that's about it. The Shepherd-Ship game is probably the only reliable big draw we have now. Students don't attend sporting events in nearly the numbers they used to. Their attendance at our basketball games is a joke, despite the team's success in recent years. We used to draw more back when the school was half the size it is now.

The price of gasoline has gone way up.

[Ship69]

The price of gasoline has gone way up.

People travel from all over this state to watch Penn State play, pay $20 or more for parking, and Lord knows what for their tickets. I drive to Ship, pay nothing to get into the games because I donate a couple of hundred bucks, and park for free. My brother pays $2500 for four season tickets as PSU, not including the Nittany Lions Club. That's a lot of gasoline.

[Ram Tough]

People travel from all over this state to watch Penn State play, pay $20 or more for parking, and Lord knows what for their tickets. I drive to Ship, pay nothing to get into the games because I donate a couple of hundred bucks, and park for free. My brother pays $2500 for four season tickets as PSU, not including the Nittany Lions Club. That's a lot of gasoline.

I see that same attitude in West Virginia. Most people seem to look down on D2 as low rent, and if you look at some facilities, you can't blame them that much. But I really find it stunning that people in Charleston will flock to Morgantown every chance they get. Hell, there are many more people from Charleston in Morgantown than there are at University of Charleston football games. I don't get it. Others just don't see it as quality football, when it most definitely is a lot of fun to watch.

[Bart]

People travel from all over this state to watch Penn State play, pay $20 or more for parking, and Lord knows what for their tickets. I drive to Ship, pay nothing to get into the games because I donate a couple of hundred bucks, and park for free. My brother pays $2500 for four season tickets as PSU, not including the Nittany Lions Club. That's a lot of gasoline.

Some fans would walk through hell in a gasoline suit to watch a football game.