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FAU Football near bottom in attendance

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jgf2017 said

How is it laughable to suggest Orlando has little to nothing to do compared to the tri county area? 

If you took away the people that vacation to Orlando for the theme parks, there’s basically no tourism.

Do you realize that tourists flock to the tri county area and not to Orlando? They don’t even have access to the beach. 

So what if you have a few UCF alum friends that live here and go up to Orlando for games. Isn’t their stadium only like 40k capacity? 

There was a game in 1995 that a certain school to the south with 4 national championships in the last dozen years drew less than 20k for Rutgers. They were handing tickets out before they became a really good team in the early 80’s.

The reason we don’t draw is because we have a lot of Fun activities to do in the tri county area. And we still have unfinished business like making the top 25. That’ll bring the fans to the stadium.

Face it, Orlando=theme parks. Without that they’re a blip on the radar. Even comparing Orlando to the tri county area in terms of possible activities, well that’s “laughable”. 
Posted On: Apr 27th 2021, 2:17 PM #401887

Keep thinking that, I am sure UCF is hoping you don't fix a thing.  They will keep taking the best students,  have bigger fanbase and keep FAU in CUSA.

By way Orlando Media market has past Miami,  guess they are all tourists.

Nielsen DMA 2021 Rankings | MediaTracks Communications

Till FAU quits trying to be single A baseball team they will keep getting same results.  I am sure UCF and USF would love that.  FAU needs to remember FIU was picked up before them and know if they don't change something it will happen again.

When UM is winning they draw pretty well,  the same can not said for FAU.
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This subject has been all over the place. I forgot my opinion. Let's just agree that getting to the level we all would like, is not easy. And I don't have the answer. I will simply keep showing up and introducing it to as many of my friends as I can.
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Yea it has become a Richard measuring contest of Orlando vs South Florida.

Was more about FAU's struggles to not be in the bottom of D1 football in attendence.

Teambeer is the most knowledgeable FAU sports fan I know, way smarter than me.
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Message received :)
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UCF first home game ever was against University of Texas. They almost beat them and the atmosphere at the stadium was great. FAU needs to do home and home games against Miami. You need to get FSU to come down to your stadium…Give up 3 games at their place for one at yours…You may lose the games but fans will start to come out. You gotta schedule games against teams that will also travel. Pick the Big 10….Schedule a game against a Rutgers, Northwestern, Indiana in Late October or November. Their fans will treat it as a vacation. Wisconsin played UNLV one year in Vegas and they brought 20k fans with them. Gotta get created and the fans will show up. If the fans are ok with 7-5 seasons but winning your conference then you gotta schedule out of conference games against teams that will come down and bring their fans as well. 
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Did not read all comments so I might be repeating what some have already posted.

Multiple things make it a challenge for FAU to get solid attendance.

One of the biggest is so many people are staunch supporters of UF, FSU, and Miami. Most did not even attend any of the three universities, but would still prefer to stay home and watch those teams play rather than attend a game at FAU.

UCF has a much bigger campus presence than FAU. I think this allows for UCF to draw more fans than FAU. FAU is closing the gap and is establishing more of a traditional campus atmosphere, but there is still a long way to make football games feel like a must see event. Not sure how this is done, but it is a process.

FAU has not managed to break through and get the national attention. Again, comparing to UCF, the Knights gained national visibility with bowl games against Georgia, Baylor, Auburn and LSU. FAU has not had the same visibility. I think it takes that kind of recognition to get the momentum going to fill the stadium.

All these points are debatable. Just my thoughts.

GO OWLS!!!

2017 and 2019 Conference USA Champions
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AND UCF has played very well in those games and NOT embarased itself as we have MANY times!
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Coach Dave Kelly who was part of UCF staff is now part of FAU Staff….I remember being there with them DAY 1….UCF was terrible at that time. They did not have a stadium on campus. UCF used to play in the Citrus Bowl. When they played in that stadium it used to be empty during their games. When UCF finally went and put a stadium on campus it made a major difference. They took on Texas in game one as I mentioned before….They were a huge under dog and they made a game out of it.

FAU has a ton of potential. I truly believe this. Boca is a great place to live. If you are a coach…their wives are going to like Boca. The campus reminds me a little of UCF…you are close to the beach. I know a few people who used to be huge Miami fans and now only go to FAU games. If the team gets consistent in their winning and go to bowl games every year…The fans will start to come. I get it their are other teams but Palm Beach is far enough from Miami that those fans may not want to make the drive down there every weekend.
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I agree that more big name programs coming down here would increase interest in the program and we’ve seen that happen already. I think it’s just going to be a matter of consistent winning and athletics doing a better job of community outreach. I have a degree from Miami as well but I haven’t been to a game since 2017. Would much rather go to an FAU game because it’s closer and I personally like the stadium better for a college game. And traffic is not a hassle. That said, I do attend a few Miami watch parties for the big games throughout the season (usually against FSU, Clemson or ND) but, the majority of the folks at said parties didn’t go to the school. Just grew up Miami fans living in the area. By contrast, If FAU had an away game, 95% of the time I’m watching it solo at home. Maybe I’ll go to a bar and watch a nationally televised game with an old class mate or something but that last time I did that was when w replayed OSU in ‘19. I think that’s what has to change. We need athletics to do a better job of community outreach promote more events when FAU is playing an away game. Little things like that can change. Also, put more FAU gear in retailers in the northern part of the county. Once you get north of Delray, hard to find FAU merchandise in any of the malls or Dick Sporting stores. We gotta do better at building the brand. And I get the program is only 20 years old but come on. 3 conference titles, 5 bowl berths, at least 2 nationally televised games annually, had Kiffin down here for a bit, that is some nice national exposure. Wonder how many programs would love to say the same about the past two decades
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