DECEMBER 17, 2009 ISSUE
Lots of Fans Showed Up for ASU Games, Even in Montana
It doesn’t surprise ASU Athletic Director Charlie Cobb anymore when he shows up in an out-of-town football stadium and sees a crowd of fans in black and gold.
So when he arrived in Missoula, Mont., last week and saw almost 500 ASU fans there for the FCS national semifinal game, it wasn’t a shock.
“It was great,” he said. “Honestly, it was a tough trip and not the cheapest place to get to on short notice.”
One of those fans in attendance was Blowing Rock Mayor J.B. Lawrence, who went with the Yosef Club to the game.
Lawrence said that he had been to all of the other games this season and didn’t want to miss this one.
He and those other ASU fans watched as the Mountaineers had a chance in the final seconds to tie the game against the Grizzlies, but couldn’t complete a last-second pass, so they lost 24-17.
No matter, the experience of going to the game was great for Lawrence and others.
“The first guy I talked to was someone who asked me if I knew his sister who lived in Blowing Rock,” Lawrence said. “After the game, one fan came up and said that ASU was best team they played all year and that he wanted to trade caps with me. I came home with a Grizzlies’ cap.”
Lawrence and others could have just as easily stayed at home and watched on ESPN, as the ASU-Montana game was the only college football game being played in that time slot.
Plenty of fans did watch.
According to The Nielsen Company and NCAA, the game is the highest rated (1.9 cable rating) NCAA FCS playoff game ever, including national championships, on CBS, ESPN or ESPN2.
Chris Fitzpatrick, the associate director of broadcasting for the NCAA, said in an email that “the game also earned a four share and 1,857,000 households/impressions” and that “Nielsen’s actual estimated viewers for the game were 2,547,000.”
Fans who made the almost 2,300 mile trip got to see a great game—just not one with a happy ending for the visitors.
The loss was the first for the Mountaineers when playing on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU in 16 televised games. It also pushed the Mountaineers record to 0-9 in games played on the west side of the Mississippi River.
Having played in front of big crowds all season probably helped the Mountaineers when they played in Montana.
The Mountaineers and Grizzlies were actually 1-2 in the FCS in average attendance, with ASU winning that title with 317 more fans per game than Montana.
“It was every bit the kind of ball game we expected it to be,” ASU coach Jerry Moore said after the game. “I don’t think the crowd or weather had any effect at all. We’re from pretty much the same environment ourselves.”
“The fans were absolutely super and the atmosphere was super,” Lawrence said. “All football fans could take a lesson from Montana fans on being loud.”
That environment in Boone was tough this year for opponents.
This was the third straight year that the Mountaineers had the largest attendance average in the FCS. This year’s number (25,969) was down from 2007 (27,140) and 2008 (28,727) but there were still some big-time crowds there to see the team.
On November 21 against Western Carolina, the attendance was 30,098, which was the third largest crowd in the history of Kidd Brewer Stadium.
The 27,914 fans who showed up for the September 12 loss to McNeese State was the ninth largest crowd.
In road games against Elon (for the Southern Conference title) and Richmond (in the playoffs’ second round), there has been plenty of talk about ASU fans outnumbering home fans.
While those numbers can’t be tabulated, Cobb admitted to a loud fan base for the Mountaineers.
“What’s been awesome the last couple of years is that there is a core group of people who make plans to travel with us to games,” Cobb said.
At home, the large numbers can be contributed to the students in attendance.
Cobb said that Saturdays in the fall have become “social events,” too.
“At the end of the day, the number one driver of all the success is that the students show up and create the atmosphere,” he said. “Then everyone else comes to see what the excitement is with the students. These kids are excited about their team and school.”
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