PurpleBlood87
Active Member
No.
Interesting post from Gary about attendance...
- Thread starter tcumaniac
- Start date
No.
BrewingFrog
Was I supposed to type something here?
This.
Breaking that trust with the hardest of hard core fans was something that, in me at least, broke that spell that kept me coming back. Section V was special, and it was killed off and discarded in the mindless quest for more cash. Sure, I still have Season Tix, but I haven't been in ACS since the SMU debacle of two years ago. Yes, there were terrible extenuating circumstances which greatly impeded my ability to travel, but I probably still could have made a game if I really wanted to. Problem was, I didn't. That elusive magic was gone...
Now that the Plague Year has passed, I looked at my game tix for the Cal match and weighed the 5-hour drive, lodging arrangements, stress and strain on the pets, and leaving the livestock to their own devices (They are very clever bovines...) against loafing in the pool and eating Rum and Ginger cocktails.
It wasn't a hard choice: I mailed the tix to my nephew. I'm sure he had a great time.
So, he's calling out the disloyal fans that sell their tickets?
No need to do that publicly. TCU knows who owns those seats. If CGP really wanted this fixed, the athletic department could deal directly with those season ticket holders and fix it.
God forbid TCU reward season ticket holders who actually put purple fans in the seats, and punish those who Stubhub premium seats to the opposing team fans...
Gary needs to worry more about winning games. He hasn't done that consistently for a while. Putting a winning team on the field cures alot, if not most of the attendance problems. Maybe not hiring his buddies & wedding guest would help also put a much better product on the field that people might want to actually come out to see.
Smooth42
Active Member
Poor OC last 3 years, a defense that looks below average, his continuing iron fist and sideline antics, keeping Robinson as starter waaaaay too long, Let's face it, some of GPs decisions have been very poor the last 3 years. He needs to concentrate on putting the team in a better position to win. Hopefully, he can turn this ship around. Many of us have our doubts based on his recent decisions.
Big12
2020 -5-4
2019 3-6
2018 4-5
12-15 Big 12 record.
Big12
2020 -5-4
2019 3-6
2018 4-5
12-15 Big 12 record.
Big Frog II
Active Member
Yes, three years of mediocre football and the pandemic is affecting our attendance, but it is affecting most everyone's attendance. That and crappy start times are a recipe for empty seats.
TAINTed frog
Active Member
Perhaps Gary needs to “Take a Step Back”. “Game On!!”
NewFrogFan
Full Member
Our attendance has always been a problem. I am sure it is frustrating for him given his longevity and success. Hell, it is frustrating for me to see schools pack their stands week after week and we struggle other than a few games per year.
But the issue for now is our program has no juice. We have been about 500 the last three years and there is no real indication this year will be different. It is as if we have slipped to the point where every game is a fight and every season a fight to get to 7-5. I dont expect 10-2 but the fact is we have no juice.
But the bottom line in my view is it is a bad PR move on his part. So while it isnt really that big of a deal and it will pass, it would have been better to leave it to others to address that.
But the issue for now is our program has no juice. We have been about 500 the last three years and there is no real indication this year will be different. It is as if we have slipped to the point where every game is a fight and every season a fight to get to 7-5. I dont expect 10-2 but the fact is we have no juice.
But the bottom line in my view is it is a bad PR move on his part. So while it isnt really that big of a deal and it will pass, it would have been better to leave it to others to address that.
allclearforfrogs
Active Member
I miss 2014.
Prime BEEF
Active Member
Didn’t realize it was that bad. The product on the field definitely needs to improve. An expectation of going at least 6-3 every year in the big 12 is very reasonable. Averaging 4-5 is not acceptable…
Froginbedford
Full Member
But it is evident that 2014 was an aberration....Personnel has not been at the same level since....
LVH
Active Member
If I was visiting this site from another planet I'd assume from the postings here that we had the worst coach in all of sports, not just college football
Gary not winning lately is the problem. And the ridiculously loud gameday presentation. One literally cannot talk to a seat-mate during the game, unless one shouts.
Also, consider that there are only 75,000 TCU alumni, many of whom don't live local, and of course we don't have 30,000 in our student section like some schools
We need the t-shirt fans!
HFrog1999
Member
Probably the best TCU team we’ve seen or ever will see, and the best team in the country that year
Not just college football -- colleges generally.
The colleges pricing themselves ridiculously and hoping people will go into hock for an "arts" degree or something in the "social studies" is coming home to roost.
There are 1.5mm fewer college students now than there were 5 years ago, with 500k of that decline in the last 9 months. And much of that decline is male attendance, which now makes up only 40% of enrollment nationwide:
https://hechingerreport.org/the-pandemic-is-speeding-up-the-mass-disappearance-of-men-from-college/
Gehörnter Frosch
Tier 1
29 other posters (and growing) agree with me. Seems that you are in the minority, sir.
The time to address the attendance issue isn't a few days before the game; rather, it is in the months leading up to it. That was my point, and it is either ignored by, or completely lost on, Gary Patterson. He cares more about secrecy and locking down the program than he does about building fan engagement and excitement.
He isn't infallible, and for whatever reason, he thinks the edge gained by locking down the program is more advantageous than the edge gained by having more fans in the stands. They absolutely have an inverse relationship, and any P5 coach worth his salt knows it. If you lock down the program and limit access, you lose fans. Period. You lose on the field, then you lose even more fans. Period.
He is engaged with big donors, yes. But the empty seats aren't empty because of missing loyal fans. No, they are empty because he (and the Athletics Department in general) have utterly failed to sell the programs to the DFW area. You need casual fans to fill the stands, and between the exorbitant ticket prices, terrible game-day atmosphere, and lack of marketing in the area, TCU has failed to motivate casual fans.
If the buck doesn't stop with him, then where does it stop?
I don't know. Maybe it stops with the Band Leader who chooses to have more Xylophones than Tubas. I mean, what football fan doesn't love a good Xylophone solo on Saturday at 12:30 pm, in 95 degree weather! Nothing gets my heart pumping more, I can tell you that!
Big Frog II
Active Member
Almost every school is having attendance issues save a few this year. Did you ever think you would see empty seats at Ohio State? There were thousands and thousands. Tennesssee, UCLA, USC, FSU, etc. etc. are all having similar problems. With the high price of tickets, and the crappy TV times you better be real good are face this same problem, and even that is no guarantee today.
