As a season ticket holder since inception, I personally thought the overall game day experience was Amazing!! It was hands down the best football atmosphere I have experienced at a FAU game-USF at lockart being 2nd on the list!

Parking/Traffic:

We strategically arrived at 3:30 so we missed all the traffic the folks hit trying to get in at 6:30. I think everyone should have expected traffic to be ridiculous during rush hour on a Friday afternoon. Then factor in the biggest football game in the history of Palm Beach County with many Miami fans, and unfortunately, FAU fans coming in to navigate an unfamiliar territory. Yeah, you are definitely going to have traffic issues-plan accordingly. FAU has never experienced this type of attendance, tough to plan the logistics to a science on your first go around!

Atmosphere:

Our tailgate was composed of 40 people, about 50/50 FAU vs. Miami Fans. Every single one of us had a blast. The Miami fans in our group and even throughout the game were extremely complementary of the game day atmosphere, stadium, and our effort throughout the first half. A group of witnessed the player walk through and it was amazing. For once, it felt like I was part of a Big Time D1 program! Such energy and excitement from the students and fans!

Lighting Delay:

Yes it was a downer, however unpredictable! We would have left this out of the script had it been our choice. Was the staff prepared to accommodate all the extra people on in the Acura Deck, no. Once again, somewhat unforeseen and a learning experience for all.


Fights and Beer Spills:

Fortunately I wasn't in the area to witness these events, however welcome to big time college football! Lots of emotion will normally equate to some heated discussion, etc. I have seen this at every big time college game or NFL Game I have attended. Certainly never something I want my kids to experience, but I elected to leave them home this game given the magnitude of this game.

As a loyal and dedicated FAU fan it seems to me most of the issues highlighted are problems we have been eager to have as fans for years!! In my humble opinion; We have landed FAU, we have landed!! I wish every home game experience would mirror last Friday's game! I can assure you if we had 30,000 people in the stands every game we would have the logistical issues ironed out in a hurry.

Great Job FAU Staff!! It was an amazing day to be an Owl!! I'm confident I have never been more proud of my University and Football team than I was last Friday!!

Go Owls, now let's start winning some football games!!

I echo the above.

My expectations were set appropriately and every one of them was met.

I arrived early as we had a big tailgate as well, no parking or traffic issues for me but friends all said it was what they expected.

We headed in a little earlier than normal expecting large crowds at the gate and breezed right through 30 mins before kickoff. A slight delay getting up to the Hyundai deck, the stairs by Howard's statue were a little clogged up with only 2 reps checking tickets but it wasn't a huge deal.

The weather sucked and people were cramped for an hour, not FAU's fault.

I expected to see Miami fan's acting like idiots (we have our own too) and wasn't disappointed. Capped off by a scuffle in the men's room line (I had never noticed that the Hyundai deck only has one restroom until Friday, that was not ideal with the crowds).

I asked some guests of mine this week what they thought, two of the guys are Michigan and Clemson alum and they were not only really impressed with our facility but they both thought the game day experience was great, especially for our first time dealing with crowds. Attending a football game with 100k+ people will really put into perspective how easy going our Friday was. I too left my kids at home.

I think as fans, we've been spoiled over the years. I'll have an entire row to myself this weekend at the Buffalo game if I want it, I can arrive at 11:45 no problem…FAU has decided to not be that team moving forward. It was fun while it lasted but we're growing and on a path to the national championship and the only variable is time! As we finish building out our facilities and winning football games, events like last Friday night will be more common. And our options as fans are to continue to support and enjoy the ride (it may be bumpy at times) or bail. I guess you could also buy yourself a suite and never have to deal with unruly fans again too. Myself, I'm ready go!

teambeer said

I echo the above.

My expectations were set appropriately and every one of them was met.

I arrived early as we had a big tailgate as well, no parking or traffic issues for me but friends all said it was what they expected.

We headed in a little earlier than normal expecting large crowds at the gate and breezed right through 30 mins before kickoff. A slight delay getting up to the Hyundai deck, the stairs by Howard's statue were a little clogged up with only 2 reps checking tickets but it wasn't a huge deal.

The weather sucked and people were cramped for an hour, not FAU's fault.

I expected to see Miami fan's acting like idiots (we have our own too) and wasn't disappointed. Capped off by a scuffle in the men's room line (I had never noticed that the Hyundai deck only has one restroom until Friday, that was not ideal with the crowds).

I asked some guests of mine this week what they thought, two of the guys are Michigan and Clemson alum and they were not only really impressed with our facility but they both thought the game day experience was great, especially for our first time dealing with crowds. Attending a football game with 100k+ people will really put into perspective how easy going our Friday was. I too left my kids at home.

I think as fans, we've been spoiled over the years. I'll have an entire row to myself this weekend at the Buffalo game if I want it, I can arrive at 11:45 no problem…FAU has decided to not be that team moving forward. It was fun while it lasted but we're growing and on a path to the national championship and the only variable is time! As we finish building out our facilities and winning football games, events like last Friday night will be more common. And our options as fans are to continue to support and enjoy the ride (it may be bumpy at times) or bail. I guess you could also buy yourself a suite and never have to deal with unruly fans again too. Myself, I'm ready go!

Posted On: Sep 16th 2015, 10:01 AM #348766

+1 I had the same experience!  Did we tailgate together?  If you were planning on getting their right at kickoff with a full house, you had unrealistic expectations.  My only criticism was continuing to serve alcohol until the start of the 4th quarter even with the weather delay.  They should have cut it off.  They have very porous control to the entry of the Hyundai Deck which creates a couple of bad situations.  1.  You are not protecting the premium paid by the season ticket holders.  2.  The poachers have nothing to lose, meaning they get really DRUNK and they generally are the ones causing the problem in the section.  3.  Too many people in the section.  Looking at the seats on the Deck they looked like they were being used.  Meaning an excessive amount of people in bar/lounge/deck area.

Dad is that you???  

teambeer said

Dad is that you???  

Posted On: Sep 16th 2015, 10:38 AM #348770

Luke...I am your father.