The Unofficial Furman Football Page

Did Furman really have 11K fans at the game on Saturday? I though we only pulled 6-8K on a good weekend.

Apologies if this has already been covered.

paladinfan12 wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 09, 2021 1:10 pm

Did Furman really have 11K fans at the game on Saturday? I though we only pulled 6-8K on a good weekend.

Apologies if this has already been covered.

They did.

It is more rare now, but that sort of draw used to be pretty common for Furman. I went back and randomly pulled 2005 (a year we were pretty good), and there was only one home game for the entire regular season (Hofstra) where we pulled under 10k for a home game.

https://furm_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/sports/m-footbl/2005-06/teamgbg.htm

It's not just about App/GSU leaving the conference either. Sure, those bigger schools traveled well to Furman. IN 2005, though, we drew nearly 12k for Elon (who stunk), 13k for Samford (who stunk), and 13k for Wofford.

That Hofstra game ranks as one of the best ever played at Paladins Stadium in my opinion.

Great for Furman! I'm glad to see over 10K for a game. I was there 08-11 (up and down years). 10K any week was a great turnout.

Hope they can keep it up!

One thing to keep in mind when eyeball-assessing the crowd and trying to compare it to how you previously eyeball-assessed FU crowds later reported as X,XXX.

With all of the areas now open around the field for fans to enjoy, congregate, fellowship, and spectate, there will NATURALLY be less peeps ‘chained to’ their seats in the stands for you to eyeball assess. And, those “common areas” will ‘hold’ many more people than you think they will…and there will also always be a goodly number of peeps in transit from their seats to a “common area” or from one “common area” to ‘tother.

Seen this at Mercer for a few years… “NO WAY are there 9,000 people in those ‘empty’ stands!” That’s correct. Those 9,000 peeps are all around the stadium having a great time AND watching the game.

Will be the same appearance and, hopefully, bigger (possibly looking ‘emptier’) at FU games for the foreseeable future.

I agree Bear but I think there were a good many no shows too. Could be wrong. Do know the parking lots were full.

Our AD and his staff did a fantastic job of creating a super game day atmosphere. You could see our players get excited as they came on field through the sororities, it was a fun atmosphere. Shout out to NC A&T and their team, fans, and band. They were a class group! That was the largest crowd I have seen in Paladin stadium in a very long time.

Time to build the upper deck!

Furmanoid wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 10, 2021 9:06 am

Time to build the upper deck!

If by “upper deck,” you mean an elevated viewing deck in the Wicked Weed End Zone, you are SPOT ON!

How about just make the "visitor" side wicked weed seating. The stands would look more filled and rowdy.

I have gotten tired of the high school feel, especially on tv, that the visitor side shows. Heck, I would buy season tickets on that side, especially if it came with a parking spot in the shade behind the chapel.

It felt great being in the stands last week. Felt great seeing and hearing people cheer.

JohnKX512 wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 10, 2021 11:57 am

How about just make the "visitor" side wicked weed seating. The stands would look more filled and rowdy.

I have gotten tired of the high school feel, especially on tv, that the visitor side shows. Heck, I would buy season tickets on that side, especially if it came with a parking spot in the shade behind the chapel.

It felt great being in the stands last week. Felt great seeing and hearing people cheer.

This may just be me, but I've sort of stopped being concerned with how full the stands look on the broadcast.

Attendance has always been about making whatever it is you are doing more interesting that whatever else it is you could be doing. The goal is not necessarily to make the stands look full on the broadcast.

If you are live-streaming a Furman football game, you are either interested in Furman or interested in the other team. And if you are one of those two things, you aren't concerned how far people are spread apart on the visitor side.

But if you are a recruit in TX or OH and you see what appears to be an empty stadium whenever you watch FU on TV it might be a turnoff.

Furmanoid wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 10, 2021 6:04 pm

But if you are a recruit in TX or OH and you see what appears to be an empty stadium whenever you watch FU on TV it might be a turnoff.

Easy-Peasy. Need to involve FU’s Computer Science majors. (They still have that, right?)

CGI-generated crowd overlaid into ESPN+ Broadcast. Visitor’s Side PACKED e’ry week!

The visitors side should be $10 general admission for all, kids under 6 free IMHO.

Furmanoid wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 10, 2021 6:04 pm

But if you are a recruit in TX or OH and you see what appears to be an empty stadium whenever you watch FU on TV it might be a turnoff.

With the exception of very few FCS programs, you watch just about any team play and you'll see empty seats.

I mean, even Georgia Southern just drew 15k fans last week in a stadium expanded to fit 25k. Furman's crowd Saturday would have outdrawn three 2019 Georgia Southern home games.

Our recruiting does not seem to be impacted. Most of the kids we are are recruiting are also being recruited by a bunch of other schools that don't pack in stands shoulder to shoulder.