Football Attendance

gtapp · Post by **gtapp** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:58 pm

Since this is the slow time of year I have summarized the W-L record vs attendance:

MSU FOOTBALL ATTENDANCE

YEAR W-L RECORD AVG ATTENDANCE

Gatton Field
1967 7-3 8167*
1968 6-4 7500
1969 1-8 8800*
1970 2-8 5500
1971 2-7-1 8925*

Bozeman HS Stadium
1972 8-3 5940

Reno H Sales

1973 7-4 5940*
1974 7-3 7705
1975 5-5 7703*
1976 12-1 6900
1977 6-4 10,150*
1978 8-2 11,768
1979 6-4 9978*
1980 3-6 7801
1981 3-7 9089*
1982 6-5 8142
1983 1-10 8041*
1984 12-2 9465
1985 2-9 10,444*
1986 3-8 8533
1987 1-10 10,795*
1988 4-7 9132
1989 4-7 9297*
1990 4-7 9055
1991 2-9 8906*
1992 4-7 7617
1993 7-4 12,617*
1994 3-8 8817
1995 5-6 7955*
1996 6-5 6787
1997 6-5 8650*
1998 7-4 8279

Bobcat Stadium

1999 4-7 8920*
2000 0-11 7049 (8308)***
2001 5-6 10,842*
2002 7-6 9535
2003 7-6 12,059*
2004 6-5 12,365

* CAT/GRIZ in Bozeman
*** 2000 included the Cal St. Northridge game that snowed so hard you could not see the other side of the field. Only 750 fans so I listed both averages (with and without that game).

Attendance figures before 1978 were estimstes
All data from the 2004 football media guide

CatfaninGA · Post by **CatfaninGA** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 7:45 pm

Interesting stuff

Suprised to find the pretty low attendance in our 1984 championship year, folks didn't realize the special group that team was.

I see no reason why we should not average at least 12K this year

gtapp · Post by **gtapp** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 8:09 pm

CatfaninGA wrote:Interesting stuff

Suprised to find the pretty low attendance in our 1984 championship year, folks didn't realize the special group that team was.

I see no reason why we should not average at least 12K this year

Part of the reason for the lower 84 attendance figure is that the playoff games were included and the weather for those games probably made for low attendance (not sure) and that probably brought the overall average down.

If the 05 team plays as well as hoped and the non-conference record is 3-1 (or better) we may average close to 13K. The CAT-Griz game will bring in 15K+ alone (they bring in extra seats and sell standing only tickets to that game). The HC game should be a sellout again so after two games you are averaging over 14K with only four games left.

VictorG · Post by **VictorG** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 8:21 pm

I didn't realise that the Cat's hadn't won more than 7 games since 84. Man, you're way over due!

GOKATS · Post by **GOKATS** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 8:32 pm

CatfaninGA wrote:Interesting stuff

Suprised to find the pretty low attendance in our 1984 championship year, folks didn't realize the special group that team was.

I see no reason why we should not average at least 12K this year

The '83 season dictated the attendance for '84. The reasons why '84 attendance figures are higher then '83 is because we finally put together a "team", and had folks filling the stands for the playoffs.

Numbers jumped in '85 on the previous years National Championship, which started a slide that has taken a long time to climb out of.

Hysell started the comeback and Coach Kramer (and staff) has definitley worked on his part.

With the current squad, and what I think will result this season, 13K is not out of reason.

gtapp · Post by **gtapp** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 10:49 pm

VictorG wrote:I didn't realise that the Cat's hadn't won more than 7 games since 84. Man, you're way over due!

Our NC schedule each year has been USC, Oklahoma, FSU and LSU.

CatfaninGA · Post by **CatfaninGA** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 4:32 am

gtapp wrote:
CatfaninGA wrote:Interesting stuff

Suprised to find the pretty low attendance in our 1984 championship year, folks didn't realize the special group that team was.

I see no reason why we should not average at least 12K this year
Part of the reason for the lower 84 attendance figure is that the playoff games were included and the weather for those games probably made for low attendance (not sure) and that probably brought the overall average down.

If the 05 team plays as well as hoped and the non-conference record is 3-1 (or better) we may average close to 13K. The CAT-Griz game will bring in 15K+ alone (they bring in extra seats and sell standing only tickets to that game). The HC game should be a sellout again so after two games you are averaging over 14K with only four games left.

I was at every game in 1984, most of the crowds were decent, of course they increased as the season went along, as bad as the weather was for the 2 playoff games at home, I don't remember there being an empty seat for either game, of course I was 12 so maybe I was seeing things differently

jagur1 · Post by **jagur1** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 8:04 am

Looking at the numbers and seeing how Bozeman has grown it looks like state may have missed the boat. If you could draw 11k in '77 you should be able to draw 15k to 18k in a nice stadium in 2005. Things are going in the right direction. I see no reason why Bozeman and Msla couldn't both draw 20K for football games.

mquast53000 · Post by **mquast53000** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 8:21 am

jagur1 wrote:Looking at the numbers and seeing how Bozeman has grown it looks like state may have missed the boat. If you could draw 11k in '77 you should be able to draw 15k to 18k in a nice stadium in 2005. Things are going in the right direction. I see no reason why Bozeman and Msla couldn't both draw 20K for football games.

Missoula has a very good local base to pull from so I can see them getting 20k people at all of their home games (if they win at least 7 games a year). Bozeman on the other hand doesn’t have as large of a local population, so you would need more out of town fans to come to games to reach that 20k mark. I really think that the marketing job for the Cats in Billings is weak. You have the largest city in the State less then 2 hours away, but you are not drawing a very large crowd from there. Part of the damn problem is that the Gazette doesn’t cover the Cats very well, and the other part of the problem is that it seems like the Athletic Department doesn’t really think that they can get Billings on board. If the Cats got the kind of support from Billings that they get from Great Falls then I truly believe that the Cats could get 15k fans (stadium can’t hold anymore then that right now) at each game.

Helcat72 · Post by **Helcat72** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 8:24 am

jagur1 wrote:Looking at the numbers and seeing how Bozeman has grown it looks like state may have missed the boat. If you could draw 11k in '77 you should be able to draw 15k to 18k in a nice stadium in 2005. Things are going in the right direction. I see no reason why Bozeman and Msla couldn't both draw 20K for football games.

I think we have to get the newcomers to the Gallatin Valley interested in Bobcats. I have heard that they may have other interests right now.

CARDIAC_CATS · Post by **CARDIAC_CATS** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 8:40 am

mquast53000 wrote:
jagur1 wrote:Looking at the numbers and seeing how Bozeman has grown it looks like state may have missed the boat. If you could draw 11k in '77 you should be able to draw 15k to 18k in a nice stadium in 2005. Things are going in the right direction. I see no reason why Bozeman and Msla couldn't both draw 20K for football games.
Missoula has a very good local base to pull from so I can see them getting 20k people at all of their home games (if they win at least 7 games a year). Bozeman on the other hand doesn’t have as large of a local population, so you would need more out of town fans to come to games to reach that 20k mark. I really think that the marketing job for the Cats in Billings is weak. You have the largest city in the State less then 2 hours away, but you are not drawing a very large crowd from there. Part of the damn problem is that the Gazette doesn’t cover the Cats very well, and the other part of the problem is that it seems like the Athletic Department doesn’t really think that they can get Billings on board. If the Cats got the kind of support from Billings that they get from Great Falls then I truly believe that the Cats could get 15k fans (stadium can’t hold anymore then that right now) at each game.

I'm am trying my best to market the Cats as much as I can here in Billings to every person I meet here. I have talked 4-5 people already this year into getting Cat season tickets as it's a fun time and not a very long drive up to Bozeman. The Bobcats really should market the Cats a lot more in Billings and it has the population base as well as the short drive over. I think the Cats will break the all time attendance record this year for sure. We have a very good slate of home games this year. NDSU will probably bring up at least 3500 fans at the minimum I would be betting as well. That game should be a sellout no problem I would think. I think we should be able to 'average' 14,000 minimum this year if people get on the stick and get up there to every game. This is Lulay's last year and we need to send him out well and support him and the rest of the Bobcats EVERY GAME this year. I really feel this season is very important to keep the momentum going with the Cat program. I think it will.

CelticCat · Post by **CelticCat** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:03 am

I'm just scared that when Lulay leaves, we will fall back to our under .500 clubs. I'm not saying it will happen, but it does worry me.

I think 14k a game this year is stretching it, I'd be happy with 13k a game. I think 13.5k a game is possible though, 14k would be amazing.

CatfaninGA · Post by **CatfaninGA** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:12 am

Just to put things into perspective, the average Clemson fan drives 2.5 hours to see the Tigers play, I drive 1.5 hours each time from Atlanta to see them play. If 80,000 plus can fill up a town of 16,000 in Clemson, then MSU should have no problems getting people to drive into Bozeman to see them play. Of course a winning program helps.

CelticCat · Post by **CelticCat** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:14 am

I swear to Bob if you say Clemson one more again, I'm going to tackle you.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:17 am

CatfaninGA wrote:Just to put things into perspective, the average Clemson fan drives 2.5 hours to see the Tigers play, I drive 1.5 hours each time from Atlanta to see them play. If 80,000 plus can fill up a town of 16,000 in Clemson, then MSU should have no problems getting people to drive into Bozeman to see them play. Of course a winning program helps.

Yep, I agree. If MSU had a city the size of Atlanta 1.5 hours away, it would likely draw more attendance.

mquast53000 · Post by **mquast53000** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:44 am

CatfaninGA wrote:Just to put things into perspective, the average Clemson fan drives 2.5 hours to see the Tigers play, I drive 1.5 hours each time from Atlanta to see them play. If 80,000 plus can fill up a town of 16,000 in Clemson, then MSU should have no problems getting people to drive into Bozeman to see them play. Of course a winning program helps.

Comparing Atlanta to Billings and Georgia to Montana is a little silly… Just look at the population density in either state. We are dealing with a significant difference. We are not comparing apples to apples here… When you talk about Clemson please keep it to pictures of their cheerleaders!

WYCAT · Post by **WYCAT** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:50 am

mquast53000 wrote:
CatfaninGA wrote:Just to put things into perspective, the average Clemson fan drives 2.5 hours to see the Tigers play, I drive 1.5 hours each time from Atlanta to see them play. If 80,000 plus can fill up a town of 16,000 in Clemson, then MSU should have no problems getting people to drive into Bozeman to see them play. Of course a winning program helps.
Comparing Atlanta to Billings and Georgia to Montana is a little silly… Just look at the population density in either state. We are dealing with a significant difference. We are not comparing apples to apples here… When you talk about Clemson please keep it to pictures of their cheerleaders!

Factor in that the road conditions in Montana in late October are probably a little more difficult than in Georgia makes it even harder to compare a 2 hour drive. I agree with Quast - all Clemson references are welcome in regards to their cheerleaders.

Ponycat · Post by **Ponycat** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 10:36 am

Clemson has a winning program?

CatfaninGA · Post by **CatfaninGA** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 10:58 am

Ponycat wrote:Clemson has a winning program?

Please you don't want to go there.

What I was trying to say, is people from all over the South drive to attend a game at Clemson, 2.5 hours is the average, not just Atlanta areas. Yes we have a much larger population base and the weather is better.

jagur1 · Post by **jagur1** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:15 pm

Ok if you go 14.5K this year. Next year they raise ticket prices to see who stays around. If you do 14.5 again with higher ticket prices I say the AD gets of his butt and builds more seats. Nothing will annoy a AD faster than people wanting to buy tickets that can't buy tickets.