The Tuscaloosa News reported Oct. 26 that the Student Government Association at Mississippi State University’s SEC neighbor the, University of Alabama, had revoked blocked seats from a handful of student organizations due to low game attendance in portions of its student section. This season, MSU’s own student section has dealt with mediocre student attendance and frequent mass exoduses at halftime. This raises the question: could what happened at Alabama ever happen at MSU?
Scott Stricklin, MSU athletic director, said the Bulldog fans have done a good job of supporting the football team over the years.
“Our fans have endured some tough times and have gotten to enjoy some good ones, and obviously we want more good than bad. But that’s an important part of creating an atmosphere where our student-athletes and coaches can be successful, is getting the fans to buy in and to hang in there through good times and bad,” Stricklin said. “We started the sellout streak in a year where we had a losing record, and I think that speaks a lot about what makes Mississippi State people special is their understanding of it takes everybody doing their part.”
Meredith Dickson, Student Association Athletic Affairs co-chair, admitted there is a problem with MSU students leaving football games early.
“In the Student Association we’ve been thinking of ways to address the issue and to think of ways that we can stop people from leaving the game early,” Dickson said. “We’re trying to address that because it hasn’t seemed like it’s been a problem in the past, but this year things have changed.”
Scott Wetherbee, senior associate athletic director, said students leaving games early seems to be a nationwide problem and one athletic affairs has acknowledged and is in works to remedy.
“We know it’s a challenge, and so we try to talk about how we can make some adjustments and maybe is there some incentives or some things we can do to keep our students here,” he said.
Wetherbee said while he can never say never, he believes it is unlikely MSU will ever revoke student seating. Instead, he explained athletic affairs has taken a proactive approach and begun the brainstorming process to garner incentives to encourage students to stay in the stands.
Both Wetherbee and Dickson said students having to arrive to home games on average two hours prior to kickoff could be a possible reason for low attendance.
Wetherbee said that by halftime, a student on average has already spent four hours in the stands, twice the time of the average season ticket holder.
“Maybe if there’s something we can do differently, whether it’s reserved seating or blocking seats. We’re having those discussions, and we want student involvement in it, so that’s why we’re going to be cautious and take our time,” he said.
Wetherbee explained the athletic affairs committee is currently talking to sponsors to consider different incentives and giveaways to encourage students to stay for the entire duration of games.
“We’re looking at possibly also going to an app or a mobile website that would create memories or experiences. You’d have the opportunity to maybe come on down to the field or have the opportunity to reach out to those we know are in the stands,” Wetherbee said. “They (students) help make it so our paying ticket holders and general fans want to be a part of that (atmosphere) because they create that. We’re hoping we can continue to work on the experience, and that they want to stick around,” Wetherbee said.
Next year marks the 100th year of MSU’s football program in Davis Wade Stadium and the completion of the stadium enclosure. Wetherbee explained the new addition will allow all 11,000 student seats to be in the lower deck, which he said he hopes will encourage students to stay. Stricklin said the student section not only affects the atmosphere around Davis Wade, but also the players and coaches on the field.
“Just like if the fans didn’t show up one game, we’d still expect the players to do their part, and if the players have a bad day, the fans understand we still have to do our part, and we still have to support and make sure we’re creating an atmosphere that gives us the best chance to be successful,” Stricklin said.