After the Kentucky game, Bulldog fans should be ashamed. I’m certainly embarrassed.
I don’t mean because the team is 3-6 (1-4), or that it lost to a depleted Kentucky team at home. I don’t mean because State’s field goal unit didn’t show up on Saturday, either.
No, State fans should be ashamed because they only put 40,168 butts in the seats on Saturday. That’s a whopping 72 percent of the stadium’s capacity, for a crucial game.
We’re talking about a game in which State was favored by three points against a conference opponent. A game the Dawgs desperately needed to win to cling to slim hopes of playing in a bowl game.
What makes the abysmal attendance figure even worse is the fact that conditions were absolutely ideal this weekend. The weather was perfect and there were extra factors surrounding the game.
I’m not sure how many of you noticed, but there was a new addition to the football stadium unveiled Saturday. Is a brand new $6 million HD video board not worth going to a football game to see? I feel certain that the party that signed the check for it thought it was.
Also, the baseball and basketball teams were in action this weekend, albeit not playing actual games. That should have been extra incentive for folks that might not have made the trip otherwise.
I of course realize that MSU has not performed very well this year. The Bulldogs haven’t lived up to their billing this season. I know that attendance suffers when the team isn’t winning. Fans from other parts of the state don’t want to spend the time and, more importantly, money required to travel to see a struggling football team.
Yet, it sickens me to think that people have stopped coming just because the team is struggling. That practice is deplorable in general, not to mention the fact that our team is light-years ahead of where it was five years ago.
The curse of the fair-weather fan is no small reason why State is bringing up the rear in SEC athletic budgets.
Look at schools like Alabama. Alabama is a school we all love to hate, but there’s no doubt that its fans support its football team. The last time Bryant-Denny didn’t sell out for a home game? 1988. That’s right, even when UA went 3-8 in 2000 and 4-9 in 2003, the school sold every ticket to every home game. That’s with the highest ticket prices in college football.
For an example from this year, look to Tennessee. Make no mistake, the Volunteers are struggling. Tennessee has the same overall and conference record as our own Bulldogs, with a harder schedule and much, much higher program expectations. I read an article a few weeks ago chastising UT fans for not showing up due to the team’s lack of success. UT’s average attendance? A scant 101,651 fans. That’s out of a possible 106,000, or 95 percent.
I know MSU is not Tennessee or Alabama. I’m not expecting 100,000 plus at every game. However, is half of that too much to ask? Should we not shoot for similar percentages of stadium capacity?
What degree of success must State maintain to keep the bandwagon fans in the seats?
Brandon Wright is the sports editor of The Reflector. He can be reached at [email protected].