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Post by Florida_Owl on Apr 21, 2007 15:45:09 GMT -5
Basketball is on an upswing at FAU. I think we will break all of the attendance records this upcoming season. We have never had the student support like we had last year, and I think that will only continue to grow. That is key. It creates an atmosphere, which is something that has always been missing. To get the attention of our historically apathetic student body you need to make each on campus game an event, and the Rowdy Rexes abd prOWLers are helping to do that. Combine that with the long overdue arena upgrades and FAU basketball will become something that people will want to be part of. Face it, "The Burrow" could be a pretty dark and depressing place to be beacuse of the years of neglect. It had all of the charm of a high school gym. Hopefully $9 million worth of upgrades will change that. not being picky, but its $10 million....  |
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Post by fauowls44 on Apr 21, 2007 17:10:15 GMT -5
Basketball is on an upswing at FAU. I think we will break all of the attendance records this upcoming season. We have never had the student support like we had last year, and I think that will only continue to grow. That is key. It creates an atmosphere, which is something that has always been missing. To get the attention of our historically apathetic student body you need to make each on campus game an event, and the Rowdy Rexes abd prOWLers are helping to do that. Combine that with the long overdue arena upgrades and FAU basketball will become something that people will want to be part of. Face it, "The Burrow" could be a pretty dark and depressing place to be beacuse of the years of neglect. It had all of the charm of a high school gym. Hopefully $9 million worth of upgrades will change that. not being picky, but its $10 million.... Ok. Even better. |
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Post by owlfan1 on Apr 23, 2007 20:51:24 GMT -5
But from what I understand, UCF football support was skeletal for awhile as they lost game after game, but then turned around and won something like six games in a row. The fans started coming out as they won, of course, but was half a season enough to justify a 45k seat stadium? It's not like UCF has been packing stadiums for 3-5 years. UCF has consistently averaged over 20,000 fans per home game. In 2005 they averaged 28,000 per game (I don't have the 2006 numbers). That is far more than FAU. They could make the argument that 35,000 would attend games on campus. That would mean that a 45,000 seat stadium is being built in anticipation of continued growth in attendance numbers. We also have to remember that FAU is a number of years behind UCF in terms of program development. I think UCF is right to build a 45,000 seat stadium and I think FAU would be well served with a 25,000-30,000 seat stadium that could potentially be expanded to 40,000 if the need arises. The markets are very different. South Florida sports are a tough sell. Central Florida seems to be a better market in terms of fan support. GO OWLS!!! |
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Post by BMarkey on Apr 23, 2007 22:55:51 GMT -5
It sounds to me like - despite attendance increases - UCF is doing the same gate receipts math as FIU.
As far as fan support is concerned, UCF faces very tough comptition from Florida (1.5 hours away) , Florida State and even USF to some degree - not to mention some pro sports. The UCF fans regularly complain about biased coverage of Florida and other schools over UCF - even in the Orlando media. So it's not that much diffefrent than FAU's situation.
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FAUtuba
Spread The Wings
Posts: 178
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Post by FAUtuba on Apr 24, 2007 12:00:49 GMT -5
Last year's numbers:
Rank - School - Games - Attendance - Average
73. - UCF - 7 - 220,980 - 31,569
84. - Middle Tenn. St. - 5 - 110,185 - 22,037
111. - Florida Int'l - 5 - 75,552 - 15,110
119. - Fla. Atlantic - 5 - 46,382 - 9,276
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faualum
Full Flight
.....What do you mean smile? I am smiling!
Posts: 496
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Post by faualum on Apr 24, 2007 13:02:23 GMT -5
Last year's numbers: Rank - School - Games - Attendance - Average 73. - UCF - 7 - 220,980 - 31,569 84. - Middle Tenn. St. - 5 - 110,185 - 22,037 111. - Florida Int'l - 5 - 75,552 - 15,110 119. - Fla. Atlantic - 5 - 46,382 - 9,276 Was the Miami game considered a home game for FIU? Otherwise I don't get it. |
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Post by owlfan1 on Apr 24, 2007 15:16:42 GMT -5
It sounds to me like - despite attendance increases - UCF is doing the same gate receipts math as FIU. As far as fan support is concerned, UCF faces very tough comptition from Florida (1.5 hours away) , Florida State and even USF to some degree - not to mention some pro sports. The UCF fans regularly complain about biased coverage of Florida and other schools over UCF - even in the Orlando media. So it's not that much diffefrent than FAU's situation. I think it is very different. Fans in the greater central Florida region care about football. As we all know South Florida fans are very fickle. Miami can't even sell out. So even though UCF has lots of competition from UF, USF, and FSU to a lesser extent, they are in a better area with an overall stronger fan base. That is why they can justify building a 45,000 seat stadium and FAU cannot. GO OWLS!!! |
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Post by BMarkey on Apr 24, 2007 15:19:46 GMT -5
Central Florida has a smaller population, as well, compared to South Florida.
Friends of mine who live there tell me there is little UCF buzz, at least compared to the larger institutions nearby.
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Post by FIUFanatic on Apr 24, 2007 19:06:19 GMT -5
Regards folks. Attendance is based (for NCAA requirements purposes) on tickets sold. FIU had a fairly strong corporate basis of support in order to guarantee the 15,000 average mark.
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Post by illinoisowl on Apr 24, 2007 19:36:43 GMT -5
greetings Fanatic.
FAU had a strong corporate booster up until 2005. Then the president of that company left and the new president did some cutting back on those type of expenditures. I believe they would acually buy up what was needed to make quota for NCAA. I'm not 100% sure on that though. We have or had an employee of that company here as a member.
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Post by Talon on Apr 24, 2007 23:16:11 GMT -5
There are more than enough fans from Miami to palm beach to support both FAU, FIU and Miami. FAU and FIU will get there every little bit helps as it did us and as Fanatic pointed out. Both programs will build and it takes time. Over the next several years I believe we (both Programs) will be surprised. One reason will be due to the OOC schedules especially playing high caliber schools with a ton of tradition. I do agree South Florida has very fickled fans but the Alumni will also play a key role in the support and growth. As more OOC teams begin to fall, the stronger the association to the school and the programs. It just doesn't happen over night.
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Post by UCFSteve on Apr 25, 2007 23:25:54 GMT -5
I was hoping to read about your "village" and how it compares to what we're doing up here in Orlando, but we haven't moved past the football stadium!
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Post by owlcountry on Apr 26, 2007 2:11:01 GMT -5
I was hoping to read about your "village" and how it compares to what we're doing up here in Orlando, but we haven't moved past the football stadium! Well, at least you have a football stadium! We're about two to three years shy of that at the moment. The rest of the Village is a mix of housing, retail, and restaurants. We don't have specifics yet (I know UCF is going to have Ron Jon's, Outback, and some things we already have here, like a Barnes and Nobles and Starbucks). Hoping for a namebrand sit-down restaurant (like Bennigans), a video store, laundry place, clothing stores, and a nightclub. But we'll see. We should have more information next month. |
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Post by TeamBeer on Apr 26, 2007 10:26:28 GMT -5
and we're hoping for a waterpark! |
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Post by owlcountry on Apr 26, 2007 14:40:56 GMT -5
and we're hoping for a waterpark! And a rocketship. And a horse farm. Horses love football... almost as much as they love rocketships. |
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