Attendance so far

[jdcurran235]

Grambling State = Not Listed
Texas College = Not Listed
Miss College = 7,612
Sam Houston = 9,308
SE Lou = 7,799
HBU = ?
IWU = ?

[LUFAN]

That is shitty...

[puddin tane]

Not good....

[CS]

Game experience for the casual fan is boring and outdated. I have very little interest in attending a Lamar game with all of the good football on TV on Saturdays. Lamar needs to show some vision. Hire an outside firm to fix the gameday experience. Disney is a good place to look. (i'm not kidding) - You have to make fans WANT to attend even if the team is playing a terrible opponent or one that will blow them out.

Bolster the downtown experience. We need to make Beaumont better. Better bars, places to hang out. And we need to make it safer.

Implore the Texas Lawmakers to allow casinos to be built on Texas land or water. Keep the money we are sending to Louisiana.

Have you ever been to a night game at McNeese? It's electrifying. Lamar? I've been to better High School games. (mid county madness)

VISION

[NorthoftheBorder]

I am not going to debate the game day experience and need for improvement. What I will say is that had LU beat Sam, then the attendance the rest of the way out would have been near capacity, if they continued to win!! Now, if LU had beat TAMU and was going to go 12-0, then we would be averaging near 20k!!

[KABrother88]

Grambling State = Not Listed
Texas College = Not Listed
Miss College = 7,612
Sam Houston = 9,308
SE Lou = 7,799
HBU = ?
IWU = ?

According to this the Grambling attendance was 9,520 and Texas College was 7,226.

http://www.lamarcardinals.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2014-2015/teamcume.html#TEAM.CMB

Grambling brought a good number of fans but also remember the weather forecast wasn't great from the first few games of the year...not that it matters all that much when your only 40-60 % capacity but it still kept a few people away...agree with the masses that this program needs a major shot in the arm...it's a very lame atmosphere compared to the first couple of years when most games were played in front of 14,000+ consistently

[CraigS]

Game experience for the casual fan is boring and outdated. I have very little interest in attending a Lamar game with all of the good football on TV on Saturdays. Lamar needs to show some vision. Hire an outside firm to fix the gameday experience. Disney is a good place to look. (i'm not kidding) - You have to make fans WANT to attend even if the team is playing a terrible opponent or one that will blow them out.

Bolster the downtown experience. We need to make Beaumont better. Better bars, places to hang out. And we need to make it safer.

Implore the Texas Lawmakers to allow casinos to be built on Texas land or water. Keep the money we are sending to Louisiana.

Have you ever been to a night game at McNeese? It's electrifying. Lamar? I've been to better High School games. (mid county madness)

VISION

They aren't going to like you very much for this post - oh wait, they already don't! lol

I agree with this 100%

on another note: In the FCS world, you don't go to the games because it's better than what's on TV (that will never be the case) You go because you support your hometown team...that's all! Which brings me full circle that nothing ever gets supported in commuter town BMT!

Even if LU brought in Alabama the LU -v- Bama would not be as good as Miss St -v- Auburn or even the UT -v- KState....TCU -v- baylor...etc etc....

[LUSportsFan]

Grambling State = Not Listed
Texas College = Not Listed
Miss College = 7,612
Sam Houston = 9,308
SE Lou = 7,799
HBU = ?
IWU = ?

Here are the others. They are available at lamarcardinals.com and on the 2014 Lamar Cardinals football team Wikipedia site. My understanding is that ESPN was not a good source for attendance at the beginning of the season...saw lots of comments about lack of that stat on other sites.

Grambling State = 9,520 (Many of us in attendance thought this might have been an under count. Ticket takers had no scanners when we entered the stadium that day.)
Texas College = 7,226
Miss College = 7,612
Sam Houston = 9,308
SE Lou = 7,799
HBU = ?
IWU = ?

Attendance has been disappointing to me. The most disappointing was the Southeastern Louisiana game with a top 10 team coming into town. The weather may have held some back (it did rain for about 10 minutes), but we should have had more at that game anyway. For comparison, here's the rest of the conference. Also, boxes color coded green indicate sub-D1 opponents to see if that has any impact.


<tbody>
Game
ACU
UCA
HBU
UIW
LU
McN
Nich
NwSt
SHSU
SLU
SFA


Record
4-4
4-4
1-6
1-6
5-3
4-2
0-8
4-3
3-4
6-2
5-2


Ranking





#11



#8



Capacity
15,075
9,000
5,000
6,000
16,000
17,575
10,500
15,971
12,593
7,408
14,575


1
10,500
10,727
4,108
4,078
9,520
17,469
5,821
9,284
7,595
3,822
8,103


2
12,674
10,027
3,823
3,474
7,226
11,429
5,001
8,931
9,678
7,105
7,821


3
8,913
9,748
3,158
3,412
7,612
11,744
5,103
7,895
8,418
4,165
11,816


4
8,117
4,726


9,308
14,464



8,766
10,012


5




7,799








6













7












</tbody>

There are some things the Athletics department is trying. Still I guess it's what it takes to "float your boat". Everyone might not like everything. I'm sure the Athletic Department would appreciate any well thought out ideas. At any rate, I hear people saying attendance will pick up as the team wins. I'm the other way around. I think we should show support with our presence at the games as the program is building. At least that's the decision I made a few years ago. While I wish the record had been better and we didn't have sub-DI schools on our schedule, I've enjoyed the games. I have a dvr so competing games are not an issue as long as I don't try to record more than 4 games at one time.

- We had halftime fireworks for the Southeastern Louisiana game. I'd like to see more of that. (Speaking of the Southeastern Louisiana game, it was a great game for the first three quarters. The last quarter was a killer, though.)
- There is a "kid zone" before every home game in the Dauphin Center parking lot.
- It looks like there is a pretty good group of tailgaters based on walking by the sites on the way to the stadium.
- One of the big box stores has and will be giving a 50" HDTV away every home game.
- The Raisin' Canes promo in between quarters is interesting. There have been winners of a year's supply of Raisin' Canes chicken each of the last two games.
- There's another promo for a chance at a $40,000+ pickup truck each game. The chances are slim, but probably not much worse than a chance to win the lottery.
- I enjoyed the youth football players with two games played concurrently on both ends of the field few games ago. Plus it's a good way to get family members to the game to watch the kids. We had something similar at halftime for the SLU game. The kids who participated in the drill team clinic performed with the band and spirit groups. (At least it was interesting for this old geezer.)
- There was live music before each game in previous seasons. To tell you the truth, I can't remember if that has been dropped or not.
- If you are a member of the Cardinal Club at certain giving levels, there are some pre-game benefits starting around 1-2 hours before the game. We've made one of those and enjoyed it.
- There is a "5th quarter competition" after each game for the students. It could be a little fun if more folks stuck around.
- Then there's the band and spirit groups. The band is smaller than it was before dropping football, but the musicians are good and put on a good performance.

I still think we need to come up with a way to make the team and Lamar sports THE SPORTS for the area. The key is to get the area to buy into the program. While we have around 80,000 living alumni, there is a lot bigger market to draw from if we can get the local folks who didn't go to Lamar to buy in...even a portion of them. I did that in some of the cities I lived in while still supporting MY teams. It was a nice outing and a good way to get out of the house.

[puddin tane]

I enjoy the pre game and the games..as was mentioned, theres good tailgating, kids zone, live bands, fireworks...

what this area suffers from...is the live and die on Friday night folks, still wearing their 30 yr old letter jackets . Craig always likes to talk about the size of the area..hell, I bet 80% of the area cant even find Lamar and have no desire, cuz real football is Friday......peeshaw

we could have the Dallas cowboy cheerleaders doing naked pole dancing on the 50 yard line...wouldn't change attendance much

the blowout to Sam hurt big time, dull Ray Ray is hurting attendance, the crap home schedule is hurting attendance...HBU and IWU..in deer season...maybe 5k..

want to see someone having fun? bring a kid..get him close to where they are throwing footballs, shirts, etc...then throw passes to him on the field after the game

[puddin tane]

not really an attendance thing..but I sure wish the other schools would bring their bands....if nothing else, we could have band wars...

[CraigS]

I enjoy the pre game and the games..as was mentioned, theres good tailgating, kids zone, live bands, fireworks...

what this area suffers from...is the live and die on Friday night folks, still wearing their 30 yr old letter jackets . Craig always likes to talk about the size of the area..hell, I bet 80% of the area cant even find Lamar and have no desire, cuz real football is Friday......peeshaw

we could have the Dallas cowboy cheerleaders doing naked pole dancing on the 50 yard line...wouldn't change attendance much

the blowout to Sam hurt big time, dull Ray Ray is hurting attendance, the crap home schedule is hurting attendance...HBU and IWU..in deer season...maybe 5k..

want to see someone having fun? bring a kid..get him close to where they are throwing footballs, shirts, etc...then throw passes to him on the field after the game

Not that you care...and not that I've always conveyed my view very well...But I do agree with this post. Simply stated, and I've said it a million times...I just don't think Woodard is the ONLY problem. I'm just asking how fair is it to fire a guy under current circumstances, then improve the circumstances, hire a new coach, then say....see I told you it was the coach..

[puddin tane]

Not that you care...and not that I've always conveyed my view very well...But I do agree with this post. Simply stated, and I've said it a million times...I just don't think Woodard is the ONLY problem. I'm just asking how fair is it to fire a guy under current circumstances, then improve the circumstances, hire a new coach, then say....see I told you it was the coach..

its rayray..its very fair


forget all other things..he's dull on commercials, he looks bored to death on the rayray show...boring don't sell

as for attendance..its FCS football..every FCS team (well maybe not NDSU) has one similar problem..the wannabe, tshirt fan
I was figuring attendance would level off around 8-10k..dont think will make that this year

[BigNasty92]

From what I've seen, student attendance SUCKS. The ones that do show have a great time and and are spirited..but there aren't very many of them at all.

I can't disagree with the over all atmosphere being blah, either. I've mentioned it before, but the PA announcer does NOTHING help the atmosphere at all.

Do any of you tail gate on the Montagne side lot? They have 'live' music over by the cotton cargo trailer. The music being played over there is ACOUSTIC COUNTRY. Talk about a buzz kill. That crap puts people to sleep before they even get into the stadium. Crap...how about cheesy classic rock cover band or even zydeco? SOMETHING.

[LUSportsFan]

<tbody>
Game
ACU
UCA
HBU
UIW
LU
McN
Nich
NwSt
SHSU
SLU
SFA


Record
4-4
4-4
1-6
1-6
5-3
4-2
0-8
4-3
3-4
6-2
5-2


Ranking





#11



#8



Capacity
15,075
9,000
5,000
6,000
16,000
17,575
10,500
15,971
12,593
7,408
14,575


1
10,500
10,727
4,108
4,078
9,520
17,469
5,821
9,284
7,595
3,822
8,103


2
12,674
10,027
3,823
3,474
7,226
11,429
5,001
8,931
9,678
7,105
7,821


3
8,913
9,748
3,158
3,412
7,612
11,744
5,103
7,895
8,418
4,165
11,816


4
8,117
4,726
3,386
4,558
9,308
14,464


7,073
8,766
10,012


5

11,163


7,799





13,881


6













7












</tbody>

Here's the table updated with Saturday (Oct 25) attendance. Looks like SFA and UCA really made a good showing.
(Home teams on Saturday were UCA, HBU, UIW, SHSU, and SFA - shown enlarged and bolded.)

[Cardfan2010]

If the Beaumont Enterprise would cover Lamar sports as much as it covers high school girls track and volleyball it might get people interested enough to attend. I'm sorry but the Enterprise sports page is nothing but high school. Pictures of high school students so grandmas and aunts and uncles will buy the paper. The Enterprise should have NOTHING on the front page on Lamar game day BUT articles on the upcoming game and Sunday should have the whole front sports page devoted to the game covering and grading. Maybe the paper can put a special section just for high school sports, but please! Why cant the paper treat Lamar games as an event??? It bugs me to no end. Front page sports should be devoted to College and pro sports. The Enterprise needs to get its act together and support the football and basketball programs at Lamar at least as well as covers an upcoming Nederland vs. Port Neches-Groves. (or worse girls high school soccer. With quarter page color pictures!...Really?) I will NEVER buy another Enterprise until the sports writers there grow the hell up!

[LUFAN]

I will say this... my main complaints are as follows with the LU games... The kickoff music has been the same since yr 1... its is old and played out... lets change that... love what u of h does on their kick offs... The announcer is as good as listening to paint dry... the basketball anouncer is way better.. love the emotion... Also TURN UP THE volume on the scoreboard... If they would do a few other things the games would be more fun... also i think that we need to work to create the PECKERS... a section of rowdy folks like the bull pen .. make it a club in school that is meant to go to games and be LOUD and jack with the opposing teams...

[LamarKA1865]

students try to mess with the other team and our own LUPD tells them to stop. Even when its not inappropriate from what I've seen

[LUFAN]

Have you brought this to the administration or the student govt?? seems to me like a policy shift is needed... dont just let some barney fife ruine your game day experiences..

[geezer]

I don't know for sure whether there are any conference rules that affect what is allowed but my understanding was that was why the student section for LU basketball games was moved years ago. When I first started attending basketball games the student section was right behind the visitors bench.

[LUSportsFan]

<tbody>
Game
ACU
UCA
HBU
UIW
LU
McN
Nich
NwSt
SHSU
SLU
SFA


Record
5-5
5-5
2-7
2-7
6-3
6-2
0-10
4-5
5-4
6-3
6-3


Ranking





#11



#8



Capacity
15,075
9,000
5,000
6,000
16,000
17,575
10,500
15,971
12,593
7,408
14,575


1
10,500
10,727
4,108
4,078
9,520
17,469
5,821
9,284
7,595
3,822
8,103


2
12,674
10,027
3,823
3,474
7,226
11,429
5,001
8,931
9,678
7,105
7,821


3
8,913
9,748
3,158
3,412
7,612
11,744
5,103
7,895
8,418
4,165
11,816


4
8,117
4,726
3,386
4,558
9,308
14,464
5,002
9,178
7,073
8,766
10,012


5

11,163


7,799





13,881


6




10,212








7












</tbody>

Here's the table updated with Saturday (November 1) attendance.

(Home teams on Saturday were LU, Nich and NWSt - shown enlarged and bolded.) Two games were played at neutral sites.
SFA and SHSU played at NRG Stadium in Houston in the annual BOTPW game. The attendance at that game was 26,788. UCA and ACU played at John Clark Stadium in Plano, TX.
Attendance at the 14,442 capacity Plano ISD stadium was 8,435.

[Cplatt]

Attendance will keep this program at the FCS level. Got to have a bigger and better stadium to attract bigger conferences (unless ur Rice). Winning brings in money, Facilities bring in athletes (sad but true) and a mixture brings in exposure to expand. Right now we are just a rocking chair. Were moving but in the same spot. Facts.
Cplatt

[LUSportsFan]

Not including playoff games, here's how we compared with the rest of the Southland
Conference (using home attendance from home field for the comparison).

(Sort is based on average attendance in descending order.)

<tbody>
Team

Capacity

Avg
High

Low

BOTW

Avg w/ BOTW



McN

17,610
12,096
17,469
7,402
N/A
N/A


UCA
9,000
8,636
10,727
4,726
N/A
N/A


LU
16,000
8,347
10,212
6,751
N/A
N/A


NWSt
15,971
7,895
9,284
4,189
N/A
N/A


ACU
15,075
7,801
12,674
4,800
N/A
N/A


SFA
14,575
7,743
13,881
4,810
Visitor
Visitor


SHSU
12,593
7,696
9,678
5,717
26,788
10,878



SLU
7,408
5,838
8,766
3,822
N/A
N/A


Nich
10,500
5,206
5,821
5,001
N/A
N/A


UIW
6,000
3,800
4,558
3,474
N/A
N/A


HBU
5,000
3,502
4,108
3,124
N/A
N/A

</tbody>

Here are our trends since the program reboot.

<tbody>
Season

Average

High



2014
8,347
10,212


2013
8,379
10,738


2012
11,119
15,367


2011
14,442
15,367


2010
16,078
17,306

</tbody>

For comparison, here is a list of our highest attended games.


<tbody>
Date

Opponent
Attendance


9/13/1980
Baylor
18,500


9/22/1979
Louisiana Tech
17,600


10/9/2010
Langston
17,306


10/6/1979
West Texas State
17,250


9/17/1977
Louisiana-Lafayette
17,222


10/2/2010
Sam Houston State
17,187

</tbody>

[NorthoftheBorder]

Not including playoff games, here's how we compared with the rest of the Southland
Conference (using home attendance from home field for the comparison).

(Sort is based on average attendance in descending order.)

<tbody>
Team


Capacity


Avg

High


Low


BOTW


Avg w/ BOTW




McN


17,610

12,096

17,469

7,402

N/A

N/A



UCA

9,000

8,636

10,727

4,726

N/A

N/A



LU

16,000

8,347

10,212

6,751

N/A

N/A



NWSt

15,971

7,895

9,284

4,189

N/A

N/A



ACU

15,075

7,801

12,674

4,800

N/A

N/A



SFA

14,575

7,743

13,881

4,810

Visitor

Visitor



SHSU

12,593

7,696

9,678

5,717

26,788

10,878



SLU

7,408

5,838

8,766

3,822

N/A

N/A



Nich

10,500

5,206

5,821

5,001

N/A

N/A



UIW

6,000

3,800

4,558

3,474

N/A

N/A



HBU

5,000

3,502

4,108

3,124

N/A

N/A


</tbody>

Here are our trends since the program reboot.

<tbody>
Season


Average


High




2014

8,347

10,212



2013

8,379

10,738



2012

11,119

15,367



2011

14,442

15,367



2010

16,078

17,306


</tbody>

For comparison, here is a list of our highest attended games.


<tbody>
Date


Opponent

Attendance



9/13/1980

Baylor

18,500



9/22/1979

Louisiana Tech

17,600



10/9/2010

Langston

17,306



10/6/1979

West Texas State

17,250



9/17/1977

Louisiana-Lafayette

17,222



10/2/2010

Sam Houston State

17,187


</tbody>


You cannot look at this any other way but a downward trend. Winning against better competition is really the only answer to attendance. There are not any family friendly promotions that will turn that around if we keep losing by big margins to the best of the SLC along with playing the Texas/Mississipi Colleges in our OC schedule at home. People can keep trying to spin things but the turnstile numbers tell the truth!!