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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Football Looks to Meet Attendance Goal
November 07, 2006 | Football
Nov. 7, 2006
By JACK CARLE, Sentinel Sports Editor - To avoid possible NCAA sanctions, Bowling Green needs to have a paid attendance of over 22,000 for its football game with Miami Nov. 15.
Greg Christopher, Bowling Green's athletics director, said Friday he doesn't anticipate any problems reaching that number.
The actual figure needed for Bowling Green to avoid NCAA probation for failing to average 15,000 fans in either of the last two seasons is 22,722. Last year, BG reported a turnstile count of 12,597 to the NCAA. This season, Bowling Green has a paid attendance average of 13,070 per game.
If Bowling Green fails to reach the needed total, it would go into a 10-year probation period when it would have to make the 15,000 attendance figure each year. If a school fails to reach the 15,000 number in any of the 10 years, it would not be bowl-eligible that year, regardless of its record.
"We're not going to get dropped down to I-AA or kicked out of the MAC (Mid-American Conference)," Christopher said.
There are two ways attendance can be counted -- paid attendance or the actual number of people in the stadium. Those numbers can't be mixed and matched to help increase the end of the year figure.
"You can report whichever is higher to the NCAA," Christopher said. "To get to the 15,000 average our number of people in the stadium is so far under water this year, that we are put in a position we need to go with the paid number.
"We're focusing all of our attention on this paid number. That's why we've cast this net to alumni, donors, season ticket holders, corporations, asking them to buy blocks of tickets (for the Miami game)," he added. "People are being extremely generous ... We are well on our way to that number."
To add some confusion to the mix there is also a third number, the attendance which is announced at the game. Christopher said the announced number at Bowling Green is the number of tickets distributed plus game staff.
"The box score attendance doesn't really mean a whole lot," Christopher said. He added he usually receives the final attendance number on Tuesday after a Saturday game after everything is double-checked by the university auditor.
If the actual attendance number is used, game workers, the band etc. can be counted. For paid attendance, only people who paid what the NCAA terms a "legitimate rate" for a ticket can be counted. The legitimate rate is one-third of the normal ticket price.
Christopher said the normal ticket rate for the Miami game is $21, so group tickets are being sold at $7.
The athletics department is also pushing student attendance to help reach the needed number. At Bowling Green, students are admitted free with a valid ID. However, a student must actually walk into the stadium to be counted as a paid admission.
There are several student-related promotions planned for the Miami game. The students will sit on the East side of Perry Stadium to provide a better appearance for the ESPN2 national telecast of the game.
A less than expected crowd for Bowling Green's opener with Wisconsin in Cleveland Browns Stadium, which counted as a home game for the Falcons, and bad weather for two September home games has helped put the athletics department in position to need 22,722 paid admissions for the Miami game.
The actual paid attendance for the Wisconsin game was 21,791.
"We got a nice boost in attendance at the Cleveland game, but it wasn't a home run," Christopher said. "Had there been 50,000 people in the stadium, we won't be having this conversation."
Planning to boost attendance for the 2007 season has already started. The Falcons are currently scheduled to have home games with Florida International, Boise State and four MAC games in 2007.
"You can blame a lot of reasons and throw out a lot of excuses, but at the end of the day, I think that's what they are: excuses. We just need to do a better job of getting people in the seats," Christopher said. "When people say `How do you fix attendance at Bowling Green?' I don't think it's a short-term issue. It's really a broader, culture issue.
"There is a fundamental difference between ticket marketing and ticket selling," he added. "Over the last few years, I'm guessing we've done a nice job of marketing our tickets and we need to continue to do that. But we've also got to get out in front of people and actually sell tickets."
