MEGA Miami Fan Attendance -Discussion

[KrazyCane]

Stacking up wins will fill up the stands

 

[404Usernamenotfound]

Went to the game last night. Lets say i was highly disappointed in the turn out. I dont too care for what the media and rival fans say but i want the players to feel the love every game, V FSU or v Bethune.

If you live out of state or way up central and north FL, this is not about u. The money out of state fans have to spend to get to 1 game, dwarfs what local fans need to spend on season tickets.

Miami fans game attendance comes down to culture and mindset. Miami Dade population is 2.6 mill as of 2021, Broward is 1.9 mill and palm beach county is 1.5 mill. Roughly 6 million people live within 1 hour of Hard Rock stadium. Miami is a national program. Not getting 55-60k every week is culture and mindset.

I do put alot of it on the University. They do a really poor job of marketing the program. Why dont they bomb local gas stations and corner stores with canes gear and memorabilia, billboards, radio spots.

So FL has a higher median income than most small college towns. We can claim that other university have more alums than Miami, thats true. But Miami also attracts more fans that have no affiliation with the university because of brand recognition. The University is not maximizing the brand recognition.

In addition to the marketing i spoke of, i would reduce the capacity of Hard Rock and make the tickets more scarce.

This is gonna be the last negative fodder rivals and media use against us. We need to change it and stop making excuses.

Not because its been one way doesnt mean it always has to be that way. It only remain that way if we do the same thing. Winning alone wont bring fans. I seen clips of 2001 and there were 40k v Syracuse

Btw when i say market the team. Play on the hometown all american. There should be a billboard all over SO FL of Kam, James. They are not doing enough.

I would argue why do they schedule boring games where the opponent doesnt have a chance. Its not fun. Watching us score agaisnt a JV squad isnt entertaining. Then they scedule during the week when people work the next day. If it were up to me we would play FBS schools only.

 

[ItsAUThing.com]

Went to the game last night. Lets say i was highly disappointed in the turn out. I dont too care for what the media and rival fans say but i want the players to feel the love every game, V FSU or v Bethune.

If you live out of state or way up central and north FL, this is not about u. The money out of state fans have to spend to get to 1 game, dwarfs what local fans need to spend on season tickets.

Miami fans game attendance comes down to culture and mindset. Miami Dade population is 2.6 mill as of 2021, Broward is 1.9 mill and palm beach county is 1.5 mill. Roughly 6 million people live within 1 hour of Hard Rock stadium. Miami is a national program. Not getting 55-60k every week is culture and mindset.

I do put alot of it on the University. They do a really poor job of marketing the program. Why dont they bomb local gas stations and corner stores with canes gear and memorabilia, billboards, radio spots.

So FL has a higher median income than most small college towns. We can claim that other university have more alums than Miami, thats true. But Miami also attracts more fans that have no affiliation with the university because of brand recognition. The University is not maximizing the brand recognition.

In addition to the marketing i spoke of, i would reduce the capacity of Hard Rock and make the tickets more scarce.

This is gonna be the last negative fodder rivals and media use against us. We need to change it and stop making excuses.

Not because its been one way doesnt mean it always has to be that way. It only remain that way if we do the same thing. Winning alone wont bring fans. I seen clips of 2001 and there were 40k v Syracuse

Btw when i say market the team. Play on the hometown all american. There should be a billboard all over SO FL of Kam, James. They are not doing enough.

Idiotic to play Bethune-Cookman on a Thursday night. Period.

That is a Saturday 3:30pm or 8:00pm kickoff every time.

If you are going to schedule a Thursday night game, you take on a formidable ACC opponent in October after the season is underway.

Miami isn't a college town that shuts down for a Thursday night game, like when the Canes played in Chapel Hill a few years back—shops closing early and everyone walking over to the stadium for kickoff.

This is a large, metropolitan city and you're not going to see fans grinding out in bumper-to-bumper traffic on a Thursday night for the Bethune-Cookman game. Ever.

Go back to 2001; Miami was the #1 team in the country and officially back after a five-year probation drought—still playing in the beloved Orange Bowl—and only 31,000 showed up for a November showdown against Temple, as it wasn't an event or worthwhile game. (39,000 for Rutgers earlier in the year and 36,000 for Troy).

By late November, Washington was in town for a revenge game after the loss in Seattle the previous fall; 80,000 showed up and out—as THAT was an event and the OB was the place to be that night.

Your case-build leaves out the fact that alumni has a different tie to a university's football program than the average fan. Some non-alum love the Canes more than alum ever will, but not having ties to the school also makes it easier for fans to check out when the program sucks.

That, and the entertainment dollar has a lot more competition in South Florida. I lived in Gainesville and Tuscaloosa for college; there is NOTHING going on in either city outside of collegiate athletics. Saturday home games are DOMINATED by the football program and the out of town RVs start pulling in and setting up shop by Wednesday. Football is literally the lifeblood of the town.

Conversely, Miami has the Dolphins, Heat, Marlins, Panthers and now professional football—along with nightlife and other perks of living in a large, metropolitan city.

Miami is an events town more than it is a sports town and last night's game against Bethune-Cookman was simply not an event.

Hoping that after a win over Temple you'll see a decent turnout for Georgia Tech (and maybe even a night game) but you're legit not going to see that stadium packed until Clemson shows up late October. Period.

 

[404Usernamenotfound]

Part of the problem is some season ticket holders would rather hold onto their tickets and make no money rather than give them away. We have over 30,000 season ticket holders, I'm one of them, I couldn't go, no one wants to pay for last night's ticket so I gave my 4 away. I posted them on a Miami fan's Facebook page the guy took his kids and everyone is happy.

nice gesture but this wasnt the problem last night. There were tickets selling for $1 online.

 

[supacane]

The fact that our fanbase thinks that merely throwing money at the problem will fix this is further proof that people just don’t get it. If you live in South Florida and aren’t aware of the program, either you are not paying attention or are flat out under a rock. Social media, local tv and sports media all cover Miami football. The issue is the same as it’s always been: College athletics are built around the stakeholders, and that’s the issue at Miami. There aren’t enough local stakeholders because 1)Small private school and 2)Most students aren’t from the area and have no plans to stay after graduation. In other words, there aren’t enough local stakeholders to consistently fill the facility on their own, which means Miami unlike most schools have to rely on people with no connection to the school to do the heavy lifting. The issue is that unless there’s a very compelling reason to show up, there’s little reason for those fans to do so. Giving away tickets or plastering billboards all over the place doesn’t change that simple fact.

If i travel through anywhere from palm beach through central and north FL, there are seminole and gator stuff in pretty much every gas station and corner store. I wanted to get a shirt less than a mile from Hard Rock, i couldn't find shyyt. Thats one thing. Also i use tv or radio ads as an example. As a Jamaican i find out about alot of parties when i got the restaurants and see flyers for all kinda events. Miami should do these things, also barber shops with the schedule and Kam etc on it. How much would it cost them? If they keep doing the same bull of course nothing will not change. That's the whole point. We got fans, they simply want to go to the big games.

 

[ItsAUThing.com]

Stacking up wins will fill up the stands

No it won't.

Five year probation drought in the mid-to-late '90s—Miami is finally #1 again in 2001 and is getting 31K for Temple, 36K for Troy and 39K for the home opener against Rutgers—all at the beloved Orange Bowl, as none of these games were events.

When Miami got a rematch against Washington end of November 2001, over 80,000 showed out as THAT game was an event and had big meaning.

Events town, not a sports town.... takes more than just winning: still needs to be an event in a large, diverse metropolitan city where the entertainment dollars spread amongst a slew of pro sports, concerts, outings, events, nightlife, etc.

 

[Dyalect79]

> Why dont they bomb local gas stations and corner stores with canes gear and memorabilia, billboards, radio spots.

Yes this exactly.

This right here for real! Every time I walk in to a convenience store and go to the apparel sections where they sell the hats; there is always every other team EXCEPT UM. Suckeye hats and big 12 teams!! WTF, why!?

 

[supacane]

I would argue why do they schedule boring games where the opponent doesnt have a chance. Its not fun. Watching us score agaisnt a JV squad isnt entertaining. Then they scedule during the week when people work the next day. If it were up to me we would play FBS schools only.

Miami fan culture and mindset, like i said. Maybe we should schedule 12 games v USC, Bama, UGA, Clemson, Ohio etc.

 

[ItsAUThing.com]

If i travel through anywhere from palm beach through central and north FL, there are seminole and gator stuff in pretty much every gas station and corner store. I wanted to get a shirt less than a mile from Hard Rock, i couldn't find shyyt. Thats one thing. Also i use tv or radio ads as an example. As a Jamaican i find out about alot of parties when i got the restaurants and see flyers for all kinda events. Miami should do these things, also barber shops with the schedule and Kam etc on it. How much would it cost them? If they keep doing the same bull of course nothing will change. That's the whole point. We got fans, they simply want to go to the big games.

Florida and Florida State are both state schools in podunk towns where the university is literally THE biggest revenue generator in those cities. On Saturdays in fall, the entire towns shut down for football. Each university has over 40,000 undergrads and a slew of alumni that stayed in town after graduating.

To expect big city, private school Miami (with its 12K undergrads) to ever compete with that—it's just not gonna ever happen. Not in a large, metropolitan city with a slew of pro sports franchises, nightlife and other ways to spend the entertainment dollar. The exact opposite of a college town experience.

 

[SayWhat]

Yeah and it can be covered again. U man spent months claiming how Cristobal is in love with Bro style and would never hire air raid so why cant we talk about this?

U man act like there is nothing we can do about the attendance and i disagree. "Im not gonna go to Bethune cuz there only gonna be 35k". Thats how yall think. If the universoty just started spending on the program why do people assume they been doing all they can to market the team?

I did? That's news to me. I don't use the term bro style or whatever cute catch phrase is in its prime here.

What we can all agree upon is that this is a new offense to him. So I'd say say that until proven wrong those people were still correct. By the way, we still aren't running an air raid offense, just an FYI. That's part of the problem here, people have opinions, they just aren't informed.

Do I think there's ways to raise attendance, sure. Your original post though was a clear demonstration of how out of touch people are with this program, not just currently, but through the years. It's a can't see the forest through the trees thing.

Simply put, to get more butts in seats, a few things need to happen. Continue winning is front and center. Pricing, it's not at the right place where people value a ticket at whatever that price is. Lastly, last night's game is where you take a hit on what you're making and make it dirt cheap or free to the public. You target those that have no chance of buying tickets at whatever price is ideal.

Also, you do realize that attendance is on the decline across the country, right? That's another topic entirely.

All of this has been covered though. Have a blast hypothesizing how it can change. I'm really not being a **** here, but there's a lot of smart people across the land with balance sheets and all kinds of data streams with a vested interest in stopping the slow metriculationtof fans from seats to their sofas.

 

[supacane]

I did? That's news to me. I don't use the term bro style or whatever cute catch phrase is in its prime here.

What we can all agree upon is that this is a new offense to him. So I'd say say that until proven wrong those people were still correct. By the way, we still aren't running an air raid offense, just an FYI. That's part of the problem here, people have opinions, they just aren't informed.

Do I think there's ways to raise attendance, sure. Your original post though was a clear demonstration of how out of touch people are with this program, not just currently, but through the years. It's a can't see the forest through the trees thing.

Simply put, to get more butts in seats, a few things need to happen. Continue winning is front and center. Pricing, it's not at the right plave where people value a ticket at whatever that price is. Lastly, last night's game is where you take a hit on what you're making and make it dirt cheap or free to the public. You target those that have no chance of buying tickets at whatever price is ideal.

Also, you do realize that attendance is on the decline across the country, right? That's another topic entirely.

All of this has been covered though. Have a blast hypothesizing how it can change. I'm really not being a **** here, but there's a lot of smart people across the land with balance sheets and all kinds of data streams with a vested interest in stopping the slow meteiculation of fans from seats to their sofas.

And u can simply ignore the topic like i do with alot of shyyt i see on here. Thats your opinion. All yall on here telling me our attendance cant be better like yall did political polls on why cane fans dont come out but will show up for FSU or Notre Dame.

Also I didnt say lower the price of the ticket, i said lower the capacity of the stadium. I would absolutely do it.

When they try different and new stuff and it dont work then ill admit nothing is gonna change. But i know it absolutely wont if we keep doing the same thing we been for years.

 

[supacane]

Florida and Florida State are both state schools in podunk towns where the university is literally THE biggest revenue generator in those cities. On Saturdays in fall, the entire towns shut down for football. Each university has over 40,000 undergrads and a slew of alumni that stayed in town after graduating.

To expect big city, private school Miami (with its 12K undergrads) to ever compete with that—it's just not gonna ever happen. Not in a large, metropolitan city with a slew of pro sports franchises, nightlife and other ways to spend the entertainment dollar. The exact opposite of a college town experience.

Yet they see the need to blast their stuff all over the state.

 

[MedleyCane]

Complaining about UM attendance is akin to griping about having a small johnson...it is painfully obvious to everyone who notices it, and there is not a darn thing that could be done about it. Aside from some diehards who grew up in the area and still live relatively close to the sporting venues, there are not many true fans of local sports teams. It is a shtty sports area in general. Unless, of course, if local team is making a deep postseason run or if a team InterCourse Miami picks up a Leonel Messi. Again, this is not to discount some local diehards who support the local teams regardless of season.

 

[Empirical Cane]

Just FYI on a Canes fan in full gear in stands during home games.

Unconvetional for sure, but everyone grieves in their own way.

Keep on keep'n on.

 

[Highline17]

The universities influence over the city is really difficult. It’s more a rich resort school rather than a school for locals, so it’s really hard to build a base. Being a perennial winner is probably the only way to cultivate a large fanbase here, still need better community engagement tho.

The stadium is also hella inaccessible if you don’t wanna spend hours in traffic. As I’ve said many times before, connecting it to metro rail would do wonders.

 

[CTCANE]

I'm glad I live in a place where a game against Bethune doesn't have a large turnout.

 

[BigDikDaddyFromCincinnati]

Do you really think there ever were 50,000+ people who bought tix for a Bethune game in 2019 and 2022 (as that poster said) -- or in any other year? Thats what paid attendance means.

You'd have to believe 35,000 holding a ticket just decided not to show. Sure, there's always no-shows but that's sorta unbelievable.

Yes, however I don't have audit rights, so I don't know for sure. I'm not going to have a debate on degree of accuracy of my statement as I don't know how many season ticket holders are there. I spent about 90 seconds googling and couldn't come across a simple answer. This is not a new phenomenon. The Marlins under the Samson/Loria reign of terror were masters at this.

 

[L A M P]

Everyone grieves in their own way.

Yeah I keep forgetting the backstory when I've been critical. It's weird tbh but I wish him well. RIP to his brother.

 

[BigDikDaddyFromCincinnati]

The fact that our fanbase thinks that merely throwing money at the problem will fix this is further proof that people just don’t get it. If you live in South Florida and aren’t aware of the program, either you are not paying attention or are flat out under a rock. Social media, local tv and sports media all cover Miami football. The issue is the same as it’s always been: College athletics are built around the stakeholders, and that’s the issue at Miami. There aren’t enough local stakeholders because 1)Small private school and 2)Most students aren’t from the area and have no plans to stay after graduation. In other words, there aren’t enough local stakeholders to consistently fill the facility on their own, which means Miami unlike most schools have to rely on people with no connection to the school to do the heavy lifting. The issue is that unless there’s a very compelling reason to show up, there’s little reason for those fans to do so. Giving away tickets or plastering billboards all over the place doesn’t change that simple fact.

This response is confusing and a little odd. I asked "What marketing budget?" and you came back with this? My comment/question was a snarky way of saying UM doesn't have an athletics marketing budget. It was a little tongue in cheek.
Your response is not wrong; it just does not apply to what I was saying. That said, I disagree with your last statement. Giving away tickets to kids for a game like this is a great way to increase the number of those local stakeholders that you mentioned.

 

[Kalikgod]

Part of the problem is some season ticket holders would rather hold onto their tickets and make no money rather than give them away. We have over 30,000 season ticket holders, I'm one of them, I couldn't go, no one wants to pay for last night's ticket so I gave my 4 away. I posted them on a Miami fan's Facebook page the guy took his kids and everyone is happy.

This.

Best solution would be to start a non-profit for season ticket holders to donate tickets. Tax write-off could be worth more than the resale value on bad games. Distribute them through the local school systems. Students can claim them (first avail, lottery, whatever) but make them not available to resale markets. Get young fans hooked on Canes football, better chance they grow up canes fans and buy season tickets as an adult.

Gets more butts in seats without sacrificing ticket value or flooding after market.