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Post by catamountfanatic07 on Oct 5, 2023 8:22:10 GMT -5
I think the issue is no matter how good the team is, there are only so many people that want to go watch a football game in Cullowhee/Sylva/Campus. I mean you can give a free ticket to a philosophy major as an example, and I’ll bet a lot of money that seat stays empty because they just don’t care and/or know nothing about football. I know Boone is not as rural as it once was but it is still somewhat rural so how have they sold out every game for the last three years? I mean they draw 40K to Boone NC to watch a football game What I will say about football games in Boone is obviously the decade plus of consistent winning, and national championships. They also get media coverage in the largest markets in North Carolina. I have friends that have not one single tie to Boone or app but give thousands and thousands of dollars every year for club seats and all kinds of things. I’m sure one day western will have consistent high numbers of people in the stands and it will grow but being realistic We’ve now won 4 games. I’m just as excited as everyone else but it’s going to take consistent winning to get more and more people in the stands.
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Post by wcatradio75 on Oct 5, 2023 9:09:46 GMT -5
I think the issue is no matter how good the team is, there are only so many people that want to go watch a football game in Cullowhee/Sylva/Campus. I mean you can give a free ticket to a philosophy major as an example, and I’ll bet a lot of money that seat stays empty because they just don’t care and/or know nothing about football. I know Boone is not as rural as it once was but it is still somewhat rural so how have they sold out every game for the last three years? I mean they draw 40K to Boone NC to watch a football game Aside from media coverage in major markets and winning tradition, App is a little over an hour from W-S and less than 2 hours from Charlotte. It's almost double those drive times to Cullowhee with a lot fewer options for overnight stay. We DO have a passionate fan base and that is a good thing.
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Post by FLCATAMOUNT on Oct 5, 2023 9:57:39 GMT -5
Also who cares what happens in Boone and why the comparison to Western. Boone sucks and so does App. This board is about Western Carolina and I don’t think comparing us to the Goons benefits anyone.
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Post by mtncat1 on Oct 5, 2023 10:26:12 GMT -5
Also who cares what happens in Boone and why the comparison to Western. Boone sucks and so does App. This board is about Western Carolina and I don’t think comparing us to the Goons benefits anyone. It seems that the comparison was more about rural locations than schools, but to your point, that's about all that can be said as the rest is apples to oranges. Totally different situations. Maybe ETSU is somewhat similar? I don't think UTC is similar. It would seem the UTC fan base would be larger based on alumni and a decent sized city. On top of that, a bit better historical win record. It still is baffling why they don't draw more. Maybe this weekend they will draw a huge crowd. Hard telling, we'll see soon I guess. To me, Furman/Samford/Wofford/Citadel/VMI seem to "get a pass" because of their argument of having smaller alumni/student bases. Mercer seems to be drawing larger crowds, but I haven't really looked at their trends lately.
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Post by The Cats on Oct 5, 2023 10:33:47 GMT -5
Also who cares what happens in Boone and why the comparison to Western. Boone sucks and so does App. This board is about Western Carolina and I don’t think comparing us to the Goons benefits anyone. It seems that the comparison was more about rural locations than schools, but to your point, that's about all that can be said as the rest is apples to oranges. Totally different situations. Maybe ETSU is somewhat similar? I don't think UTC is similar. It would seem the UTC fan base would be larger based on alumni and a decent sized city. On top of that, a bit better historical win record. It still is baffling why they don't draw more. Maybe this weekend they will draw a huge crowd. Hard telling, we'll see soon I guess. To me, Furman/Samford/Wofford/Citadel/VMI seem to "get a pass" because of their argument of having smaller alumni/student bases. Mercer seems to be drawing larger crowds, but I haven't really looked at their trends lately. I would almost bet they don't clear 9k. Even in their championship seasons, they drew poorly for the size of the school and in a city with more than 180k population. I think if your school is not in Knoxville, it's not going to draw fans in Tennessee...
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Post by catamountalum04 on Oct 5, 2023 10:59:37 GMT -5
I only used Boone as a comp due to them being in the mountains of NC, being rural location, and honestly I don't know much about the states of Alabama and TN as it relates to the surrounding areas population and if those locations are considered rural. I have traveled alot around NC and SC so I can speak more clearly to those locations. I mean all the NC and SC schools in the SoCon aside from Western are not rural at all so I had to use Boone.
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Post by wcugrad95 on Oct 5, 2023 11:02:06 GMT -5
I asked about the expected crowd on the UTC board and the first reply was 10-12k - it is homecoming and of course is a huge SOCON game. But even their own fans admitted that the crowds are often impacted by whenever Tennessee plays. I have seen similar comments on the ETSU board in the past, where one poster on there (who also posts on AGS) refers to the team in Knoxville as "big brother". I think most SOCON schools would benefit from having stadiums that are more in the 8-12k size. I think ETSU built their stadium the right way - smaller to begin with, but designed in a way that you can add more if/when you need to.
As for Western, we say it every year - the fan support/crowd size really is pretty amazing given our history. Now it will be interesting to see how that grows if we can consistently give people a winning team.
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Post by catamountalum04 on Oct 5, 2023 11:52:05 GMT -5
i think if we keep winning the biggest increase will be in the student population. Alumni show up even when it was/is bad but the student body is fickle and needs to see a winner before they come and stay
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Post by The Cats on Oct 5, 2023 12:42:33 GMT -5
I asked about the expected crowd on the UTC board and the first reply was 10-12k - it is homecoming and of course is a huge SOCON game. But even their own fans admitted that the crowds are often impacted by whenever Tennessee plays. I have seen similar comments on the ETSU board in the past, where one poster on there (who also posts on AGS) refers to the team in Knoxville as "big brother". I think most SOCON schools would benefit from having stadiums that are more in the 8-12k size. I think ETSU built their stadium the right way - smaller to begin with, but designed in a way that you can add more if/when you need to. As for Western, we say it every year - the fan support/crowd size really is pretty amazing given our history. Now it will be interesting to see how that grows if we can consistently give people a winning team. In the two games they have played at home, they have averaged 7,282 per game (8123 KSU and 6440 for The Citadel). They haven't seen 10-12k in a long time... The Mocs averaged 7,976 for the 2022 season.
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Post by wcugrad95 on Oct 5, 2023 12:47:13 GMT -5
Agree - I thought it was a bit high as a number. One of the other posters said he expected less than 10k. But it is homecoming and a big game. I actually hope it is a good crowd, as both teams being 4-1 deserve for people to want to come out and see them.
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