Topic: Something going on everywhere....

[herd2win]

Watching games today there are thousands of empty seats in almost every stadium...I don't think I watched one game today with a full crowd...ECU is half empty tonight, UCLA-USC had thousands of empty seats...Ga Tech and Va had thousands of empty seats...OK St and WVU had thousands of empty seats....Alabama and Citadel had thousands of empty seats....

With improved TV and the change in college students today...it is going to be difficult to capture the student support...every school is suffering through this...MU has lost more than its share but to expect crowds of the past is just not going to happen...it is not happening anywhere...

[svherd]

Fact - in 2017, CBS, ABC, NBC and ESPN all saw significant drop college football viewership.  People are deciding to do other things with their time and money.

[herdorbust]

Watching games today there are thousands of empty seats in almost every stadium...I don't think I watched one game today with a full crowd...ECU is half empty tonight, UCLA-USC had thousands of empty seats...Ga Tech and Va had thousands of empty seats...OK St and WVU had thousands of empty seats....Alabama and Citadel had thousands of empty seats....

With improved TV and the change in college students today...it is going to be difficult to capture the student support...every school is suffering through this...MU has lost more than its share but to expect crowds of the past is just not going to happen...it is not happening anywhere...

And maybe that is also part of the problem. Maybe social media and a declining fanbase in this area is a big part of the problem. But when you add it all up its not good for a mid major like marshall. You better be creating a buzz and great day fan experience or its going to crumble. You have to capture the fanbase in this day and age.  Way to much to do now days and fans wont just be there because its marshall. You better have a buzz about the program. Football or basketball.

[herd2win]

I think the re-alignment along with the non stop pushing of about 6 schools each year has destroyed college football...I like the region rivalries way better than what we have today...even look at WVU...would they have better fan support playing Va Tech, Pitt, Syracuse, Penn St, Maryland Boston College of the spread out conference they are in...also the playoff and the massive amount of bowls has made it less interesting.

[herdorbust]

I think the only thing to save it is a G 5 playoff. I know i could get excited. Even 8 teams would be good. Lets say ucf, houston, boise st, san diego st, marshall, cincinnati, niu and uab made the playoffs for a G5 NC. That would be 10 times more exciting than a meaningless bowl.

[MicDrass1]

I think the re-alignment along with the non stop pushing of about 6 schools each year has destroyed college football...I like the region rivalries way better than what we have today...even look at WVU...would they have better fan support playing Va Tech, Pitt, Syracuse, Penn St, Maryland Boston College of the spread out conference they are in...also the playoff and the massive amount of bowls has made it less interesting.

And quality of play.  Rules changes and systems being run.  Playcalling with no reason or rhyme.  FG kickers that can't kick over 40yds anymore.  Wr's that catch 7 passes but drop 3.  Rb's that get max 15 carries a game.  Undersized players playing out of position.  Everything shotgun.  Coaches without in game maintenance.  Buddies getting jobs.  Retread coaches considered more important than young and upcoming coaches.  Politics killing the game.  People rather be on there phone.

[herd2win]

Watching Wash St..a top 10 power 5 team with a stadium smaller then MUs and there are thousands of empty seats at their game...

[coalherd]

herd2win and MicDrass1, throw in a couple other factors, too, IMO:  average college football fan has become more nonchalant and disinterested as the game has become more jaded and nothing but another chase for the $$$$$$ as Power programs are more and more paying their coordinators 7 figure salaries, and probably some position coaches will be, or perhaps are, in the same salary range!!  Then there is the incessant "arms race" in terms of facilities as, again mostly among the power programs, millions and millions of $$$ are constantly being thrown into such "necessities" as plush training facilities, player recreation facilities including food preparation and dining areas, players' lounges, lavishly furnished, similar study facilities, and other recreational amenities such as bowling alleys, etc.!!!

Finally, there is the incessant "bleat" from the media, primarily the ESPN family, CBS, ABC, etc., hyping, promoting, discussing, CONSTANTLY "who's in?" it seems beginning about the start of the SECOND week of the regular season!!  This constant and meaningless discussion continues throughout ALL game telecasts, no matter if its a Power conference game, a G5 game, or even during some FCS telecasts.

A lot of casual football fans are just turned off by all the crass commercialization in the college game which just appears to be wanting to be a somewhat lesser, and maybe cheaper, version of the NFL!!

[ThunderDent]

Over half of the Instagram pics & quotes on the Facebook broadcast of the game were from dedicated Herd fans, watching the game from Huntington, Barboursville, etc. One lady even said “I can hear the stadium from my house right now, but it’s too cold to go today so we are watching on FB”

There are still a huge number of our fan base out there. Has Apathy set in. Somewhat, yes.
Is it Snyder at UTEP apathy, no.

I had to watch from Home as well. Was on small kid duty. And family is more important.
Once the kids get old enough, we’ll be back at the games.
It was a sad sight yesterday though fan wise.
But our offense was inept. We just can’t put down the gas. Huge opportunities blown, stupid mistakes, and red zone inefficiency. It’s hard to watch. Because we used to be so good.

And TBH, it’s not very easy watching us on TV. Most of the production is poor. It’s not like we’re watching a big game broadcast. And I absolutely cannot stand our low camera angle. It is so bush league. Peoples hands and objects on the field level get in the way of the field. And the lighting is poor. I have no idea why we can’t build a dedicated camera deck on top of the press box to get much better look to the broadcasts.

I’ll be the first to admit, I care zero about this league we are in. Save Southern Miss.
And I want us to be part of the American. But, we could get our swagger back and firepower, be exciting, and the fans will be back.

[DJdaHERDfan]

There needs to be a fair playoff system for all schools.

That’s what makes college basketball tourney so special

When these little schools get in and knock off the big boys, it gets the average viewer interested and watching

[CoachSkip]

MU football has become irrelevant , hate to say it . We are 7-3 , not bad , but nobody cares . Im not sure what can get the excitement back but whatever it is ,its going to take a while , apathy has concreted itself in pretty tight. The bowls we go to I could care less about and with four kids in college , I cant afford to go to them anyway. The only way to get some excitement back would be the IAA route and im pretty sure thats not an option . In IAA there was always a chance we could get a national championship , where we are now , it aint happenin , EVER . Im hoping this might be just a valley we are going thru right now but I just hope its a quick one .

[chris88]

Watching Wash St..a top 10 power 5 team with a stadium smaller then MUs and there are thousands of empty seats at their game...

Which is why they have no virtually no chance of being in the playoff.  Money grabbers don't care about best team as much as money in their pockets. WVU had little chance either before losing to Ok St. There are only a handful of schools that they really want and will position those teams in the playoff rankings accordingly.

[lexkyherdfan]

It isn’t apathy.  It is the fact that people have so much else going on and can just turn on the TV.  I went alone yesterday because my son had basketball practice at 1:00.  Stadiums across the country have more empty seats than ever. Fans feel entitled to be the best and score 40 points a game etc. if a team doesn’t they quit going and do something else.  Throw in the “playoff factor” and people don’t care.  Really the top 32 teams should just break away and be like the NFL and he rest just play at the NCAA level.  All you hear anyway is only a few teams have a shot at the start of the season. Maybe 10-12.  The rest of FBS is just playing amongst themselves.

The cost has got high as well. We could fire Doc and we wouldn’t see that much of a spike. It wouldn’t be 18-19k people there or tickets sold but it wouldn’t be more than 26k-27k on average. Too many of our fans move away.  To me it was always a telling sign of how our fans are was the fact they wouldn’t drive to Charleston to watch the annnuak basketball against WVU.  There was no excuse we couldn’t split that place in half but we didn’t.

[ThunderValley]

Everyone is loving football for about 5-6 games. After that it starts to get boring to the average fan. TV is loaded with games.
When you wake up and realize your team has no chance of going anywhere it's not so exciting anymore. If you are a fan of teams like Bama you know there is going to be a chance you will be in the playoff. If you are a fan of a team in a horrible conf. that just is not exciting, you are turned off after a few games because you finally realize you love your team but it's excitement is dead.

Nebraska is a team that fans have supported more than any in football. Sellouts since 1962. They now have something to get excited about. A young coach that knows what it takes to win. He made UCF what it is today. Now he is setting up Nebraska to be the kid that will dethrone Ohio st and some of the other kingpins in the big10.

All it takes to bring fans back is an exciting way to play football. Sad to say but we haven't had that in so long we forgot what it feels like. Give us some excitement and swagger and we will be back. But in the meantime, keep playing Don Nehlem boring football and believe it or not fans will find other games to watch.
This is JMO of how MU is losing it's fan base.

[HaveUherd]

The game atmosphere has a similar feel now as going to a wake.

It wasn’t even much better with NC State even though a lot of people were there. After everyone saw we couldn’t play to their level and the rain came it was over.

It’s been a long, slow gradual bleed since Pruett left with a little blip of excitement for a couple of years under Doc.

I don’t think it can be fixed either with the way we got left to dry in the conference shuffle where we didn’t get shuffled and the way college football has changed in general. It’ll possibly get even worse when Doc leaves I’m afraid because like it or not he has been able to get talent in here though often he can’t use it the right way.

In short I’m not seeing any light at the end of the tunnel.

[svherd]

I try to stay positive on the area and MU but I hate to think what it will be like in 20 years. They’ll be more recovery houses than actual businesses and Marshall may have 10 K in enrollment, if that.

[herdorbust]

There has to be a G5 playoff or its over for football. Its that simple. Just nothing to look forward to in football like there is in basketball. You start the year with the main goal of going to a bowl nobody cares about.

[HerdinNT]

All are excellent points.  So, it breakdowns to the environment today, social changes, and money.  Gee, and I thought it was Doc and MH that were to blame for the entire demise.  And yes, I don't like our play calling but that is not what started or continued this change in attendance.   

[jstherd]

I'm going with Herdorbust. A G5 playoff would certainly help. It would give the mid[majors something to play for.....and keep the excitement longer into the season.

[Johns1124]

And maybe that is also part of the problem. Maybe social media and a declining fanbase

How do you have a Declining Fan base? You have new incoming freshman every year.

[chris88]

Hton area population continues to shrink along with WV in general.  UCF has more students than the whole town of Hton has residents

[bbcard1]

I have been reading the board long enough to know that I should blame Doc Holiday.

[banker]

The world has changed and people have changed. This, like most things, I blame on social media, and the Internet in general, to a large extent. 

Going to football games isn't just going to an athletic event, or at least it wasn't.  Going to football games used to be about meeting up with friends with which you shared a common interests.  Tailgating with people and sitting with them at games was a great chance to catch up, see how they were doing, how the family was, and cheer for your team.

Nowadays, people are constantly connected.  The younger generations are more comfortable "interacting" in a non face to face manner.  They have no patience for the pace a football game moves, or almost anything else for that matter.  Heck, they can't even drive for 10 minutes without checking various social media platforms, texting, etc.

The proliferation of games available on various platforms doesn't help either.  When I was growing up, as with most of the people who post on here, there was one college game a week on TV.  If you liked Marshall and wanted to watch them play, you had to go to the stadium.

Most people in college towns, many of which are smaller towns, had a couple options for fall entertainment - go to a movie, go to a football game, or go shopping.  Now the whole world is at your fingertips no matter where you are.

I have no idea for a solution and it will get worse as our older fans continue to reach the point where they are unable to attend.

[lexkyherdfan]

How do you have a Declining Fan base? You have new incoming freshman every year.

But you have to factor in deaths and then the fan base moving out of state. I am sure that is what the OP meant.  I know if I didn’t live 2 hours away I wouldn’t be at the games and have season tickets.