It wasn't all that much better when Miami was DOMINANT and all the students had to do was show up to the Metrorail and ride it to the OB. This is something our fans, most of whom couldn't find campus with GPS refuse to understand. Even when the team is elite, unless it's a huge game, the students don't care. Want an example? Look at the basketball program. Even though L has taken Miami a HISTORIC ride, you can see that the kids only really care about the big games. That's a facility ON CAMPUS, all you have to do is walk over to the Watsco, and there are STILL games where the student section is half full, and it holds far less than what a football stadium does.
This is absolute and complete bull****. And so typical of the know-nothing-but-think-they-know-it-all alums of the last 15 years.
I've detailed this before, but I'll make it simple.
First, in the 1980s and 1990s and early 2000s, we were REQUIRED to pay the Athletic Fee. Thus, we COULD go to the games for free. We didn't have to decide to pay the fee or buy individual tickets. And don't try to tell me "it wasn't all that much better when Miami was DOMINANT", because you are flat-out wrong.
And I'm not saying that because I "disagree" with you, I'm saying it because I actually know the numbers. Because you are ALSO wrong about "all the students had to do was show up to the MetroRail and ride it to the OB". Uh, nope. The UM students actually had to get a TICKET to ride the Metro, which was handed out by people like me, the members of Student Government. And because we got all those tickets from the Athletic Department (who got them from the MetroRail people), we had VERY good data on attendance and ridership (which could be different, as "off-campus" students drove to the OB on their own, while "on-campus" students tended to take the Metro).
Second, your point about the students "not caring" is just ridiculous. Though you have cited a "basketball" example, I've also seen great attendance WHEN SCHOOL IS IN SESSION and when we make the post-season. It's not instantaneous. A winning streak doesn't immediately double or triple the student attendance. But being good FOR PROLONGED PERIODS absolutely helps attendance.
And let's also not pretend that "UM students" are some unique type of creatures who differ from every other college student in America. There are PLENTY of schools in this country where students are interested in going to university athletic events. And before you try to gaslight me by saying that UM is such a special place due to the warm weather, I would point out that I was just at the Final Four, where I saw quite a few students from UM...and FAU...and SDSU...three of the four Final 4 schools were from "warm-weather climates" where those special snowflake students could find lots of other things to occupy their time.
At the end of the day, the COMMON ISSUE that both "dopey UM alums of the last 15 years" and "non-UM alums" overlook is that AT EVERY UNIVERSITY IN THE COUNTRY (including UM), successful athletic programs and STUDENT ATTENDANCE at those athletic events are precursors to "involved students" and "involved alums" and most importantly "alums who make donations back to the university".
So while short-sighted people want to yammer on and on about "poor student attendance", they are absolutely overlooking THE REASON that a university will invest massive amounts of money in sports:
(A). To increase APPLICATIONS to the university, eventually driving an increase in the ACADEMIC RANKING of that university (see, generally, the University of Alabama)
and
(B). To increase ALUMNI DONATIONS to the university, which come when students had a GOOD TIME at the university, enjoyed their experience, and want to walk the streets proudly wearing the merch from the university which continues to have good football/basketball/baseball teams.
So while I understand and acknowlege the feeling among non-UM-alums that "Hurricane Club donations" and "season ticket sales" are the primary drivers here, I guaran-*******-tee you that the UM administration (and the administration at every P5 university) sees the equation far differently, as they view the investment in sports to be much more about Points (A) and (B) above. And I also guaran-*******-tee you that the money generated by ANY university alumni base (for ALL forms of donations) DWARFS that raised by any athletic support club, such as Hurricane Club.
So...no...you can't just write off "student attendance", because it's "bad" right now or because you don't think it will "improve" in the future. That's not how ANY university administration thinks. Don't believe me? Look at what just happened at Colorado. Look at their spring game attendance in 2022...and then compare it to 2023 (in the snow!). Do you think that Colorado threw a bunch of money at Neon Deion because of his pleasant personality?
**** NO.
It was to energize the students and alums, who have been drifting after decades of ****** on-field performance. The stats were down. THE MONEY WAS DOWN. So Colorado decided to do what Miami did one year earlier, and finally invested in sports (again).
You can't write off the students. The students become the alums. And the alums write (most of) the checks FOR THE ENTIRE UNIVERSITY.
