Was just looking through some old numbers. Here is Mizzou's average attendance:
2019: 54160
2018: 51466
2017: 51490
2016: 52236
2015: 65120
Obviously we know the reason for the big dip between 2015 and 2016. There was another small drop for 2017 and 2018, but it rebounded and was actually the 26th biggest increase in 2019.
Through three games of 2021: 46193
This is with a new coach, a new AD, the first year fans are allowed back in the stands. This is after a year where that coach overachieved on the field, signed the best class in school history and is in the process of backing it up with another top 25ish class.
I'm not blaming anybody. I'm not telling anybody to go. I'm just curious what you guys think as to why this is happening. I don't by any means expect attendance to be at pre-2015 levels. Not until Missouri puts a product worthy of that on the field. I am just curious as to why the drop in a year where it seems like there was more preseason excitement around the program than there had been in at least a decade.
For some perspective, I went back and looked at some years before Pinkel resurrected the program.
2006: 55918
2005: 53364
These were pre-nationally relevant Mizzou. They had Brad Smith and then Chase Daniel, but had never won more than eight games and had been to two Independence Bowls and a Holiday Bowl over the last 21 years heading into 2005. And yet attendance was 7000 more per game than it is so far this year.
It's not the schedule because Missouri's schedule has always been pretty similar to this. TV explains why it might be less now than it was in 2005, but it doesn't explain why it's less than it was in 2016. All the games were on TV then too. It's not that the team is 2-3 because we didn't know they were going to be disappointing before the season.
I'd never really looked at all these numbers and it's pretty eye-opening. Is there something Mizzou can do to get people back or do Mizzou fans simply not have the interest in the program they used to? I wonder how many gave it up in 2015 and found they don't miss it all that much. And then I wonder if a good number of people who couldn't go last year figured out they liked doing other things with their Saturdays more. And obviously those people haven't been replaced by new attendees. Honestly, I see it on this website. We have a LOT of people who have been here for a long time. But I'd be willing to bet we have a lot more subscribers over 50 than we do under 30. It may just be a generational thing...and I'm not sure if it's generational all over the country or if it's generational HERE.
This isn't exactly a new topic, but it does have some hard numbers put to it. I'm not trying to be confrontational or blame anyone and I hope to actually have a real conversation about why it is where it is.
2019: 54160
2018: 51466
2017: 51490
2016: 52236
2015: 65120
Obviously we know the reason for the big dip between 2015 and 2016. There was another small drop for 2017 and 2018, but it rebounded and was actually the 26th biggest increase in 2019.
Through three games of 2021: 46193
This is with a new coach, a new AD, the first year fans are allowed back in the stands. This is after a year where that coach overachieved on the field, signed the best class in school history and is in the process of backing it up with another top 25ish class.
I'm not blaming anybody. I'm not telling anybody to go. I'm just curious what you guys think as to why this is happening. I don't by any means expect attendance to be at pre-2015 levels. Not until Missouri puts a product worthy of that on the field. I am just curious as to why the drop in a year where it seems like there was more preseason excitement around the program than there had been in at least a decade.
For some perspective, I went back and looked at some years before Pinkel resurrected the program.
2006: 55918
2005: 53364
These were pre-nationally relevant Mizzou. They had Brad Smith and then Chase Daniel, but had never won more than eight games and had been to two Independence Bowls and a Holiday Bowl over the last 21 years heading into 2005. And yet attendance was 7000 more per game than it is so far this year.
It's not the schedule because Missouri's schedule has always been pretty similar to this. TV explains why it might be less now than it was in 2005, but it doesn't explain why it's less than it was in 2016. All the games were on TV then too. It's not that the team is 2-3 because we didn't know they were going to be disappointing before the season.
I'd never really looked at all these numbers and it's pretty eye-opening. Is there something Mizzou can do to get people back or do Mizzou fans simply not have the interest in the program they used to? I wonder how many gave it up in 2015 and found they don't miss it all that much. And then I wonder if a good number of people who couldn't go last year figured out they liked doing other things with their Saturdays more. And obviously those people haven't been replaced by new attendees. Honestly, I see it on this website. We have a LOT of people who have been here for a long time. But I'd be willing to bet we have a lot more subscribers over 50 than we do under 30. It may just be a generational thing...and I'm not sure if it's generational all over the country or if it's generational HERE.
This isn't exactly a new topic, but it does have some hard numbers put to it. I'm not trying to be confrontational or blame anyone and I hope to actually have a real conversation about why it is where it is.
