2015 home attendance bounces back so far from 2014

[Fido]

2014 had the lowest home attendance since 1981 (I believe is the stat I saw) with 57,141--while stadium capacity is listed as 63,725. This year's' games look better than last year so far:
9/12 - Boise State - 63,470
10/2 - UCONN - 56,393
10/10 - East Carolina (Homecoming) -
10/17 - Cincinnati -
10/24 - Wagner -
11/21 - Fresno State -

Hopefully the numbers for next week are good with homecoming--though I hear there might be some rain again next weekend like there was this past weekend. The 2 game average is 59,931.5 but I'd LOVE to see it top 60k again. Wagner of course will be the lowest attendance I'd bet unless we have a weekend with terrible weather.

[Cougs_Rule]

Two games does not an average make in comparison to a Full season.
After a big win fandom was up was up for the DONKS--not to mention that a bunch of DONKS came down to spike attendance. But after two losses, some late starts, and some weather, It's already trending downward. After more bad weather and likely another loss in next few weeks and some weak late season scheduling,expect attendance to be on par with last season and likely lower. Your assertion that "attendance has bounced back" is pretty weak. Sorry to be negative, but attendance isn't going to finish up. The only thing that would have boosted attendance would have been WINNING.

[mtnradio]

Cougs ... first, I hope you are wrong about another loss in the next few weeks. (Although, the team will have to play better than they have the last 2 weeks to avoid that). BUT, what I don't get is why attendance has been dropping. Sure, winning and weather both make a difference, but I think something else is going on. A couple of years ago there seemed to be almost an animosity between the coaches (and the team?) and fans. Fans almost seemed tolerated rather than embraced. BUT, that seems to have changed. Bronco seems almost personable, pizza is delivered to fans (students) waiting for tickets, players come to thank the fans in line ... etc. Is it a lingering effect from the earlier years? Am I missing something else? More fans should be in attendance.

[Fido]

Two games does not an average make in comparison to a Full season.
After a big win fandom was up was up for the DONKS--not to mention that a bunch of DONKS came down to spike attendance. But after two losses, some late starts, and some weather, It's already trending downward. After more bad weather and likely another loss in next few weeks and some weak late season scheduling,expect attendance to be on par with last season and likely lower. Your assertion that "attendance has bounced back" is pretty weak. Sorry to be negative, but attendance isn't going to finish up. The only thing that would have boosted attendance would have been WINNING.

I guess I would counter by pointing out that your assertion that its "already trending downward" is at least as weak as my assertion that attendance is bouncing back since 1 game does not a trend make. I'm hopeful that homecoming will keep attendance at a respectable level but I guess we'll see. I think only having 1 November home game helps attendance since weather is less likely to be a problem in October.

[scott715]

I think there are more students attending due to the magic of the first two games. They had a great time and will come to more games. That BSU game cemented them as fans.

[Fido]

And part of the reason I bothered to look is because the MWC fans were slapping each other's backs for having a conference-wide average of 29,682 so far this year. Still think the MWC is the place to be?

[Cougs_Rule]

Attendance level at MWC has nothing to do with why I think BYU needs a conference to win and dominate (assuming we get tv rights we want). This formula is working for BSU.
But the largest variable is that BYU has to play very tough schedules and it doesn't now nor has it ever had the depth to compete at the P5 level. BYU will limp through the rest of the year. I wish it did, but I dint think anyone would argue that BYU has a ton of depth.
Anyway, let's see how this season plays out. I dont love the MWC, but not having a Conf title to play for, and now that we ar edit of playoff and NY6 consideration, what is there left to play for? Playing for Cougar pride alone isn't going to get it done year in and year out. It has a half life.

[Cougs_Rule]

Two games does not an average make in comparison to a Full season.
After a big win fandom was up was up for the DONKS--not to mention that a bunch of DONKS came down to spike attendance. But after two losses, some late starts, and some weather, It's already trending downward. After more bad weather and likely another loss in next few weeks and some weak late season scheduling,expect attendance to be on par with last season and likely lower. Your assertion that "attendance has bounced back" is pretty weak. Sorry to be negative, but attendance isn't going to finish up. The only thing that would have boosted attendance would have been WINNING.

I guess I would counter by pointing out that your assertion that its "already trending downward" is at least as weak as my assertion that attendance is bouncing back since 1 game does not a trend make. I'm hopeful that homecoming will keep attendance at a respectable level but I guess we'll see. I think only having 1 November home game helps attendance since weather is less likely to be a problem in October.

Close. You are not comparing the two seasons game by game. You are taking the season as a whole and BYU ha yet to have its lowest projected attendance games of Wagner and Fresno. So, unless something great happens w homecoming or Cincy, at best attendance will be flat. But I fear worse is yet to come.

As for other reasons attendance is down, another variable could also include availability of tv coverage mixed with late start times, weather, mania all but gone which doesn't attract the the fair weather fans that show up if the season looks special.

[Gunk]

IMO, attendence is down for a number of reasons:

1) Games on TV. It's easier and in a lot of cases cheaper to watch the games from home. Throw in a DVR and the watching experience just became a whole lot better.
2) Ticket prices. Buying a bunch of single game tickets on the spur of the moment and taking the family out to watch a game has gotten a whole lot pricier.
3) Game time. Since going independent games have been later. For the older fans and fans with younger kids, late games in the cold are not appealing. Factor in traffic and it's a long night.
4) Lack of familiar teams. For the casual fan, it's harder to keep up with BYU and the impact of games as an independent. There's very little familiarity - East Carolina who? Are they any good? Is it worth plopping down $100 to go see BYU play East Carolina?
5) Apathy. IMO, this is the biggest. Win, and all the other reasons go out the window. BYU hasn't done much on the winning side of things to excite people. If we were 5 - 0 right now, BYU would be the hottest ticket in town and we'd be discussing how evil scalpers are.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Fido]

Close. You are not comparing the two seasons game by game. You are taking the season as a whole and BYU ha yet to have its lowest projected attendance games of Wagner and Fresno. So, unless something great happens w homecoming or Cincy, at best attendance will be flat. But I fear worse is yet to come.

As for other reasons attendance is down, another variable could also include availability of tv coverage mixed with late start times, weather, mania all but gone which doesn't attract the the fair weather fans that show up if the season looks special.

Mercy, so you can see going game-by-game from year to year doesn't really line up well.

2014 attendance
Houston 57,630
Virginia 59,023
Utah State 64,090
Nevada 56,355 (Homecoming)
UNLV 53,622
Savannah State 52,123

2015 attendance
Boise State - 63,470
UCONN - 56,393
East Carolina (Homecoming) -
Cincinnati -
Wagner -
Fresno State -

East Carolina and Cincinnati are both pretty good opponents so hopefully fans continue to come out and support the team. Wagner is about as bad as Savannah State was last year so that one may have similar attendance.