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Northwest Missourian reporter Trey Houchin addresses NW Athletic Department AD Andy Peterson regarding concerns about decline in home sports attendance for Bearcat Football and Basketball.
Northwest Athletic Department Talks Decline In Home Sporting Attendance
TREY HOUCHIN | Missourian Reporter | @NWMSports
Apr 22, 2025 Updated 1 hr ago
At Northwest, the roar of the crowd once filled the air and was a symbol of school pride with a prominent athletic tradition, drawing a sea of passionate fans.
Today, those stands sit eerily quiet, with home attendance in football and men’s and women’s basketball games dwindling. Beyond the statistics lies a crucial reality — those fans are not just spectators; they are the beacon of school spirit, team morale and, ultimately, the success of athletic programs.
This closer look reveals a deeper issue that goes beyond the sport — what factors are preventing students, alumni and local supporters from attending home games they once flocked to? This delves further into the shifting attendance numbers at home games in football and men’s and women’s basketball at Northwest since 2015.
For a university where school spirit and community pride are integral, the absence of fans could have lasting effects — not just on team performance, but on recruiting efforts, funding and the heart of campus culture. Andy Peterson, director of athletics at Northwest, said this year has seen a different outcome with the University's success in athletic programs since he took the position July 24, 2018.
“I think we’ve kind of went through the perfect storm of, especially this year, the output that we’ve had has not been as high as it's been in the past,” Peterson said. “We’ve been spoiled the last 20-plus years with our main revenue generated from sports with football and basketball, and so, to have the down year that we’ve had this year has been a little more telling. People want to go and watch teams succeed and win, and we haven’t done that at the level that we’ve done in the past.”
Peterson, a former student-athlete and coach who has served Northwest’s athletics administration since 2013, spent 10 years as the Bearcat golf coach from the 2014-15 season to the 2023-24 season and was an assistant men’s basketball coach from 2011-17. Peterson played basketball for Northwest from 2003-08.
Peterson helped the ’Cats claim the MIAA tournament title in 2008, while earning All-MIAA Honorable Mention and Academic All-MIAA recognition. After his playing career, Peterson spent two seasons as a graduate assistant for Northwest men’s basketball from 2008-10. Then, Peterson spent the 2010-11 season as the head men’s golf coach and assistant men’s basketball coach at Southwestern Community College in Creston, Iowa, before returning to Northwest.
Peterson said finding ways to bring people to attend home games has been an ongoing challenge.
“We continue to try to reach out and connect with kids, and connect with high schools and find out what is passionate to them,” Peterson said. “It’s an ongoing issue that everybody is having to face to try and connect with people. Really, what it boils down to is, you just have to find a few people, some leaders, that are going to go out and bring people, and we really need our student-athletes to connect with people. The best way to get students at games is for the student-athletes that we have to be connected on campus, whether it’s through classes, clubs or student organizations.”
Football
Following a 23-7 loss against No. 13-ranked Pittsburg State Nov. 16, 2024, to end the regular season in football, Northwest decided to not renew then-head coach Rich Wright’s contract, effective Dec. 31, 2024. Wright finished the regular season 6-5 (5-4 MIAA), which is the worst season since 1995. Peterson began searching for the school’s 21st head football coach and appointed John McMenamin, a Bearcat alum, as the program’s new head football coach Dec. 5, 2024.
Over the past four football seasons, Northwest’s home games have seen a troubling trend: attendance numbers steadily dropping, with the once-packed stands now growing emptier each year. Although the Bearcat football team is coming off its worst season from a win-loss standpoint, McMenamin is excited to pave the way to earn more wins in his first year as head coach, with hopes of filling the stands in Bearcat Stadium next fall.
“I think everyone wants to be involved when there is excitement, and there’s expectations around this brand and this football program, and so, anytime there’s a new hire and new staff, you create excitement,” McMenamin said.
The total and average attendance at Northwest home football games last season was the lowest it has been in at least nine seasons, and has been cut from 8,227 (2018) to 3,808 (2024). The biggest decline of average home game attendance came between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, going from an average of 8,227 with a record of 10-3 (9-2 MIAA), to an average of 5,612 when the Bearcats finished 12-2 (10-1 MIAA) in 2019.
To get more people in the bleachers at home games, McMenamin said it is going to take everyone on the team to bring a better product on the field come next fall.
“The two things that I really hope to do is put a great offense out there to score some points and keep the excitement levels high, and then also win games,” McMenamin said. “I mean, that’s by far the number one thing; if you win, they will come. If you’re not winning, they are going to go away, they’re going to lose interest. So, as a coach in the program, it’s just ways to create interest.”
McMenamin served as the offensive co-coordinator/pass game coordinator/wide receivers coach at Tulane University in New Orleans from December 2021 to July 2023. He helped orchestrate the biggest one-year turnaround in NCAA history as the Green Wave went from 2-10 in 2021 to 10-2 in 2022. Northwest will be McMenamin’s second head coaching job, as he was the head coach at Wayne State College from December 2019 to December 2021.
McMenamin played football as a Bearcat from 1998 to 2002 and was part of two national championship squads in 1998 and 1999. He was a member of four MIAA championship teams and was voted a team captain in 2002. He was a first-team all-MIAA quarterback in 2002 and set 27 Northwest and MIAA passing records during his playing tenure. McMenamin still holds the Northwest school records for passing yards in a game — 473 vs. Central Missouri Oct. 27, 2001 — and total offense in a game — 475 vs. Central Missouri Oct. 27, 2001. He passed for 6,225 yards and 48 touchdowns in his career.
In the world of college football, the fan atmosphere and home crowds can turn a game in an instant. The roar of the crowd, the variety of chants and school colors can give players an extra boost when the game is on the line. As attendance continues to dwindle, the question arises: does the absence of fans at home games impact the team’s ability to win?
“I think without a doubt, the better the fan base, the better the program, and that goes the other way, the better the program, the better the fan base,” McMenamin said. “It definitely gives the players just a little pick-me-up when they need them, and then just a sense of, you know, we don’t want to let these people down as much as they are helping us.”
Senior quarterback Chris Ruhnke has been a part of the Bearcat football program since 2021, earning the starting position this past season in 2024. Ruhnke started all 11 games, passing for 2,848 yards and 19 touchdowns — and one rushing touchdown. With Ruhnke being in the program for the last four seasons, he said the declining attendance at home football games is not something he thinks about in the moment of playing, but it does have an effect.
“There’s a lot of momentum changes in football games, and having a bigger crowd makes those momentum changes feel bigger because of the crowd’s energy and noise,” Ruhnke said. “Energy is contagious, so big plays feel like even bigger plays when there’s a large crowd during big moments.”
Men’s Basketball
This season, Northwest’s men's basketball team faced a tough stretch, with a series of losses on the court and a noticeable drop in home game attendance. While the men’s basketball team has always been a source of pride on campus, this year’s struggles have seen the home stands grow emptier compared to the previous decade. Many point to the departure of the previous Head coach Ben McCollum, who moved to a Division I program, as the turning point of it all.
McCollum, architect to the most successful men’s college basketball dynasty of the last decade, was named the men’s basketball head coach at Drake University following the 2023-24 season at Northwest. McCollum spent 15 seasons as head coach of the Bearcats and won four national championships — 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022. He finished with a career record of 394-91 and earned five National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II National Coach of the Year awards — the most for a single coach in Division II history — and was a 2024 Missouri Sports Hall of Fame inductee.
Now, as the team navigates a rebuilding stage with first-year head coach Matt Keeley, times have been tough with a 6-22 (4-15 MIAA) record in his first season as head coach (2024-25). Northwest’s home record this men’s basketball season was 0-10 — the program has not had fewer than two home wins in a season since 2012-13.
Keeley served as a head coach at Ottawa University Arizona for the last seven seasons, posting a record of 113-89. He was named the 2023 National Christian College Athletic Association National Coach of the Year, guiding the Spirit to three consecutive national tournament appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2021 and a spot in the 2023 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Fab Four.
Keeley said handling the difficulty this basketball season has been a test in his first year as head coach at Northwest.
“There’s certainly been some adversity to our group, and that we’re not winning as much as Northwest is used to, but whether you are winning or losing, you continue to give a vision of optimism and hope,” Keeley said.
Northwest men’s basketball has faced a noticeable dip in home attendance this season. The range of average attendance at home basketball games over the last decade has been between 1,223 (2017-18) and 1,661 (2022-2023). This season, 2024-25, has seen its total attendance drop by over half — 17,700 to 8,038 — and average attendance decrease exponentially compared to previous seasons.Now, questions loom about how the team will regain its winning ways and reenergize the home fan base. The challenges the first-year head coach faced and the strategies he plans to implement moving forward to fill more people in the stands rely on one thing — winning.
“The better products you put out, the more people want to come and watch,” Keeley said. “The Bearcats have proved that when you’re in the national hunt and you’re in the hunt for conference titles in the MIAA, they show up. Like anything, the better you are, the more fun you are to watch, and so, the simple answer is we have to keep getting better.”
Women’s Basketball
Despite consistently strong performances on the court over the last four seasons, the Northwest women’s basketball team, led by head coach Austin Meyer, has seen a troubling decline in home game attendance. With the history of competitive play and a loyal fan base, the dip this season has raised concerns about what might be behind the shift.
For Bearcat women’s basketball, the program has been to four-straight MIAA Conference Tournaments, dating back to the 2021-22 season when it finished 17-12 (12-10 MIAA). Meyer has now taken the Bearcats to the MIAA Championships five out of seven seasons in his tenure as head coach.
Just last season in 2023-24, Northwest had a 23-8 overall record and finished with the second-most MIAA wins in its program’s history with 16 — and only six losses. During the 2023-24 season, the ’Cats earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and saw their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 13 years — just the fifth in the last 33 years.
In the 2024-25 season, Northwest secured back-to-back winning regular seasons for the first time in 17 years and finished with the toughest schedule in Division II — ranked No. 1 of 301 programs in strength-of-schedule. With its victory over Emporia State March 1 on Senior Day, the Bearcats also marked the fourth straight .500 or better regular season with a record of 15-14 (8-11 MIAA) — their longest stretch since 1991.
Despite the recent success, the total home attendance in the 2024-25 Northwest women’s basketball season marked its lowest total over the last nine seasons with 6,752, and its second-lowest average attendance of 675 since the 2021-22 season (640). Meyer said the rise of social media has played a major factor in attendance at sporting events in general
“Obviously, the top 10 teams that are winning every game have the atmosphere, but in general, I don’t feel like you see the same engagement as you did seven to 10 years ago,” Meyer said. “I think this day in age with social media, I feel like if your team is not top five in the country, the perception is you’re not very good, so people don’t support you as much.”
Regardless of consistently strong performances on the court over the past four seasons, Northwest women’s basketball has seen the second-lowest average home attendance over the last nine seasons. With a track record of competitive play and impressive talent, the drop in fan support has raised questions about what might be driving students, alumni and local fans away from the stands.
Meyer said the presence of a strong fan base can affect the team’s performance on the court as players seem more motivated when games are well-attended.
“Everybody loves it when you walk into the gym and it’s full and you have an atmosphere,” Meyer said. “Especially late in games with fatigue, it can help with that extra energy. But with recruiting and stuff too, it definitely helps when you have recruits in and they see a packed house, it only helps the overall excitement level for the program.”
Plan for the Future
As attendance at home football and basketball games at Northwest takes a hit, the University faces an important question: how can it reignite the fan atmosphere and bring the energy back to the stands? With a rich athletic tradition and dedicated student-athletes, the potential is there — it’s just a matter of finding the right strategy that fits its campus.
Peterson said further investigation of digital media and its effect on overall attendance is something he and his department need to look at more.
“If you can create connectivity and make the athletes more accessible to people through digital media, or however they consume their information, the better off you’re going to be,” Peterson said. “The best strategy that we can have here, especially at an institution of this level, is making sure student-athletes are acting like human beings. Things that make them seem like a human to others, so that there’s some natural connection there and the people want to see them succeed no matter what.”
Moving forward, the plan focuses on student engagement, enhancing game-day experience using digital marketing and social media the correct way, and strengthening the ties between the athletic teams and the local community. Additionally, the University aims to partner with local business and alumni to build a more unified fan base that will support the teams both on and off the field and court.
“It’s about having the camaraderie and the collegiality of, ‘Hey, this is a sporting event and we’re all here together,’” Peterson said.
Northwest Athletic Department Talks Decline In Home Sporting Attendance
TREY HOUCHIN | Missourian Reporter | @NWMSports
Apr 22, 2025 Updated 1 hr ago
At Northwest, the roar of the crowd once filled the air and was a symbol of school pride with a prominent athletic tradition, drawing a sea of passionate fans.
Today, those stands sit eerily quiet, with home attendance in football and men’s and women’s basketball games dwindling. Beyond the statistics lies a crucial reality — those fans are not just spectators; they are the beacon of school spirit, team morale and, ultimately, the success of athletic programs.
This closer look reveals a deeper issue that goes beyond the sport — what factors are preventing students, alumni and local supporters from attending home games they once flocked to? This delves further into the shifting attendance numbers at home games in football and men’s and women’s basketball at Northwest since 2015.
For a university where school spirit and community pride are integral, the absence of fans could have lasting effects — not just on team performance, but on recruiting efforts, funding and the heart of campus culture. Andy Peterson, director of athletics at Northwest, said this year has seen a different outcome with the University's success in athletic programs since he took the position July 24, 2018.
“I think we’ve kind of went through the perfect storm of, especially this year, the output that we’ve had has not been as high as it's been in the past,” Peterson said. “We’ve been spoiled the last 20-plus years with our main revenue generated from sports with football and basketball, and so, to have the down year that we’ve had this year has been a little more telling. People want to go and watch teams succeed and win, and we haven’t done that at the level that we’ve done in the past.”
Peterson, a former student-athlete and coach who has served Northwest’s athletics administration since 2013, spent 10 years as the Bearcat golf coach from the 2014-15 season to the 2023-24 season and was an assistant men’s basketball coach from 2011-17. Peterson played basketball for Northwest from 2003-08.
Peterson helped the ’Cats claim the MIAA tournament title in 2008, while earning All-MIAA Honorable Mention and Academic All-MIAA recognition. After his playing career, Peterson spent two seasons as a graduate assistant for Northwest men’s basketball from 2008-10. Then, Peterson spent the 2010-11 season as the head men’s golf coach and assistant men’s basketball coach at Southwestern Community College in Creston, Iowa, before returning to Northwest.
Peterson said finding ways to bring people to attend home games has been an ongoing challenge.
“We continue to try to reach out and connect with kids, and connect with high schools and find out what is passionate to them,” Peterson said. “It’s an ongoing issue that everybody is having to face to try and connect with people. Really, what it boils down to is, you just have to find a few people, some leaders, that are going to go out and bring people, and we really need our student-athletes to connect with people. The best way to get students at games is for the student-athletes that we have to be connected on campus, whether it’s through classes, clubs or student organizations.”
Football
Following a 23-7 loss against No. 13-ranked Pittsburg State Nov. 16, 2024, to end the regular season in football, Northwest decided to not renew then-head coach Rich Wright’s contract, effective Dec. 31, 2024. Wright finished the regular season 6-5 (5-4 MIAA), which is the worst season since 1995. Peterson began searching for the school’s 21st head football coach and appointed John McMenamin, a Bearcat alum, as the program’s new head football coach Dec. 5, 2024.
Over the past four football seasons, Northwest’s home games have seen a troubling trend: attendance numbers steadily dropping, with the once-packed stands now growing emptier each year. Although the Bearcat football team is coming off its worst season from a win-loss standpoint, McMenamin is excited to pave the way to earn more wins in his first year as head coach, with hopes of filling the stands in Bearcat Stadium next fall.
“I think everyone wants to be involved when there is excitement, and there’s expectations around this brand and this football program, and so, anytime there’s a new hire and new staff, you create excitement,” McMenamin said.
The total and average attendance at Northwest home football games last season was the lowest it has been in at least nine seasons, and has been cut from 8,227 (2018) to 3,808 (2024). The biggest decline of average home game attendance came between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, going from an average of 8,227 with a record of 10-3 (9-2 MIAA), to an average of 5,612 when the Bearcats finished 12-2 (10-1 MIAA) in 2019.
To get more people in the bleachers at home games, McMenamin said it is going to take everyone on the team to bring a better product on the field come next fall.
“The two things that I really hope to do is put a great offense out there to score some points and keep the excitement levels high, and then also win games,” McMenamin said. “I mean, that’s by far the number one thing; if you win, they will come. If you’re not winning, they are going to go away, they’re going to lose interest. So, as a coach in the program, it’s just ways to create interest.”
McMenamin served as the offensive co-coordinator/pass game coordinator/wide receivers coach at Tulane University in New Orleans from December 2021 to July 2023. He helped orchestrate the biggest one-year turnaround in NCAA history as the Green Wave went from 2-10 in 2021 to 10-2 in 2022. Northwest will be McMenamin’s second head coaching job, as he was the head coach at Wayne State College from December 2019 to December 2021.
McMenamin played football as a Bearcat from 1998 to 2002 and was part of two national championship squads in 1998 and 1999. He was a member of four MIAA championship teams and was voted a team captain in 2002. He was a first-team all-MIAA quarterback in 2002 and set 27 Northwest and MIAA passing records during his playing tenure. McMenamin still holds the Northwest school records for passing yards in a game — 473 vs. Central Missouri Oct. 27, 2001 — and total offense in a game — 475 vs. Central Missouri Oct. 27, 2001. He passed for 6,225 yards and 48 touchdowns in his career.
In the world of college football, the fan atmosphere and home crowds can turn a game in an instant. The roar of the crowd, the variety of chants and school colors can give players an extra boost when the game is on the line. As attendance continues to dwindle, the question arises: does the absence of fans at home games impact the team’s ability to win?
“I think without a doubt, the better the fan base, the better the program, and that goes the other way, the better the program, the better the fan base,” McMenamin said. “It definitely gives the players just a little pick-me-up when they need them, and then just a sense of, you know, we don’t want to let these people down as much as they are helping us.”
Senior quarterback Chris Ruhnke has been a part of the Bearcat football program since 2021, earning the starting position this past season in 2024. Ruhnke started all 11 games, passing for 2,848 yards and 19 touchdowns — and one rushing touchdown. With Ruhnke being in the program for the last four seasons, he said the declining attendance at home football games is not something he thinks about in the moment of playing, but it does have an effect.
“There’s a lot of momentum changes in football games, and having a bigger crowd makes those momentum changes feel bigger because of the crowd’s energy and noise,” Ruhnke said. “Energy is contagious, so big plays feel like even bigger plays when there’s a large crowd during big moments.”
Men’s Basketball
This season, Northwest’s men's basketball team faced a tough stretch, with a series of losses on the court and a noticeable drop in home game attendance. While the men’s basketball team has always been a source of pride on campus, this year’s struggles have seen the home stands grow emptier compared to the previous decade. Many point to the departure of the previous Head coach Ben McCollum, who moved to a Division I program, as the turning point of it all.
McCollum, architect to the most successful men’s college basketball dynasty of the last decade, was named the men’s basketball head coach at Drake University following the 2023-24 season at Northwest. McCollum spent 15 seasons as head coach of the Bearcats and won four national championships — 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022. He finished with a career record of 394-91 and earned five National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II National Coach of the Year awards — the most for a single coach in Division II history — and was a 2024 Missouri Sports Hall of Fame inductee.
Now, as the team navigates a rebuilding stage with first-year head coach Matt Keeley, times have been tough with a 6-22 (4-15 MIAA) record in his first season as head coach (2024-25). Northwest’s home record this men’s basketball season was 0-10 — the program has not had fewer than two home wins in a season since 2012-13.
Keeley served as a head coach at Ottawa University Arizona for the last seven seasons, posting a record of 113-89. He was named the 2023 National Christian College Athletic Association National Coach of the Year, guiding the Spirit to three consecutive national tournament appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2021 and a spot in the 2023 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Fab Four.
Keeley said handling the difficulty this basketball season has been a test in his first year as head coach at Northwest.
“There’s certainly been some adversity to our group, and that we’re not winning as much as Northwest is used to, but whether you are winning or losing, you continue to give a vision of optimism and hope,” Keeley said.
Northwest men’s basketball has faced a noticeable dip in home attendance this season. The range of average attendance at home basketball games over the last decade has been between 1,223 (2017-18) and 1,661 (2022-2023). This season, 2024-25, has seen its total attendance drop by over half — 17,700 to 8,038 — and average attendance decrease exponentially compared to previous seasons.Now, questions loom about how the team will regain its winning ways and reenergize the home fan base. The challenges the first-year head coach faced and the strategies he plans to implement moving forward to fill more people in the stands rely on one thing — winning.
“The better products you put out, the more people want to come and watch,” Keeley said. “The Bearcats have proved that when you’re in the national hunt and you’re in the hunt for conference titles in the MIAA, they show up. Like anything, the better you are, the more fun you are to watch, and so, the simple answer is we have to keep getting better.”
Women’s Basketball
Despite consistently strong performances on the court over the last four seasons, the Northwest women’s basketball team, led by head coach Austin Meyer, has seen a troubling decline in home game attendance. With the history of competitive play and a loyal fan base, the dip this season has raised concerns about what might be behind the shift.
For Bearcat women’s basketball, the program has been to four-straight MIAA Conference Tournaments, dating back to the 2021-22 season when it finished 17-12 (12-10 MIAA). Meyer has now taken the Bearcats to the MIAA Championships five out of seven seasons in his tenure as head coach.
Just last season in 2023-24, Northwest had a 23-8 overall record and finished with the second-most MIAA wins in its program’s history with 16 — and only six losses. During the 2023-24 season, the ’Cats earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and saw their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 13 years — just the fifth in the last 33 years.
In the 2024-25 season, Northwest secured back-to-back winning regular seasons for the first time in 17 years and finished with the toughest schedule in Division II — ranked No. 1 of 301 programs in strength-of-schedule. With its victory over Emporia State March 1 on Senior Day, the Bearcats also marked the fourth straight .500 or better regular season with a record of 15-14 (8-11 MIAA) — their longest stretch since 1991.
Despite the recent success, the total home attendance in the 2024-25 Northwest women’s basketball season marked its lowest total over the last nine seasons with 6,752, and its second-lowest average attendance of 675 since the 2021-22 season (640). Meyer said the rise of social media has played a major factor in attendance at sporting events in general
“Obviously, the top 10 teams that are winning every game have the atmosphere, but in general, I don’t feel like you see the same engagement as you did seven to 10 years ago,” Meyer said. “I think this day in age with social media, I feel like if your team is not top five in the country, the perception is you’re not very good, so people don’t support you as much.”
Regardless of consistently strong performances on the court over the past four seasons, Northwest women’s basketball has seen the second-lowest average home attendance over the last nine seasons. With a track record of competitive play and impressive talent, the drop in fan support has raised questions about what might be driving students, alumni and local fans away from the stands.
Meyer said the presence of a strong fan base can affect the team’s performance on the court as players seem more motivated when games are well-attended.
“Everybody loves it when you walk into the gym and it’s full and you have an atmosphere,” Meyer said. “Especially late in games with fatigue, it can help with that extra energy. But with recruiting and stuff too, it definitely helps when you have recruits in and they see a packed house, it only helps the overall excitement level for the program.”
Plan for the Future
As attendance at home football and basketball games at Northwest takes a hit, the University faces an important question: how can it reignite the fan atmosphere and bring the energy back to the stands? With a rich athletic tradition and dedicated student-athletes, the potential is there — it’s just a matter of finding the right strategy that fits its campus.
Peterson said further investigation of digital media and its effect on overall attendance is something he and his department need to look at more.
“If you can create connectivity and make the athletes more accessible to people through digital media, or however they consume their information, the better off you’re going to be,” Peterson said. “The best strategy that we can have here, especially at an institution of this level, is making sure student-athletes are acting like human beings. Things that make them seem like a human to others, so that there’s some natural connection there and the people want to see them succeed no matter what.”
Moving forward, the plan focuses on student engagement, enhancing game-day experience using digital marketing and social media the correct way, and strengthening the ties between the athletic teams and the local community. Additionally, the University aims to partner with local business and alumni to build a more unified fan base that will support the teams both on and off the field and court.
“It’s about having the camaraderie and the collegiality of, ‘Hey, this is a sporting event and we’re all here together,’” Peterson said.
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