Eastern Michigan University Fanbase and Attendance (or rather, the Lack Thereof)
This Article about college football attendance (another year of decline, although less than years past) lists the average attendances for every team in the FBS. I scanned the list and thought little of it, but Ace commented because he found the bottom team notable.
The team on the list with the worst attendance is, with a listed average of 4,897, Eastern Michigan University. Naturally.
Ace commented because he lives close to the Stadium and has never, ever noticed signs of a game going on. I found his comment notable not because it wasn't true, but because after almost 30 years of EMU invariably stinking, I didn't find this notable. I mean, they're always bad, and haven't even been interesting since the Charlie Batch years in the 90s (not coincidently the last time I saw a game there).
But it really is remarkable how irrelevant they are. Ball State is the only other FBS school that averaged below 10,000 fans; every other team, even the least relevant, draws at least five figures.
And I guess we really shouldn't be surprised. There just aren't many fans. In fact, there might not be any, aside from family members and employees. So I pose this question: Who is their fanbase? What conditions cause one to become an active fan of Eastern Michigan University?
And how can a school promote a team in the shadow of the University of Michigan that has such a fanbase problem?
December 18th, 2015 at 12:49 PM ^
by beating michigan in crisler ..... that's how
December 18th, 2015 at 1:03 PM ^
Naked cheerleaders. It's the only way.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:09 PM ^
that I could only upvote once.
December 18th, 2015 at 5:26 PM ^
That's a recruiting problem.
December 18th, 2015 at 2:16 PM ^
I loved me some EMU girls back in the day.
December 18th, 2015 at 12:50 PM ^
I went to eastern for 5 years and never once considered attending a game. Maybe it was because being a Michigan fan I would just go to the big house instead. But rynearson stadium is a good looking stadium but whether it be the product on the field or opponent, they can't do a damn thing to get people to attend.
Unless they get really good, I don't see this trend ever changing. If they announce a move to division 2, I doubt anyone will be surprised.
December 18th, 2015 at 12:55 PM ^
one of the requirements to be an FBS school is that you have 15,000 attendance one year in every two-year rolling period.
As part of Pepsi getting "pouring rights" on the EMU campus, it is literally part of the contract that Pepsi buys enough tickets to get EMU to that 15,000 number.
So: 2012, 2014, 2016 --- EMU gets to that 15,000 number. The odd-numbered years --- much more indicative of reality.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:07 PM ^
December 18th, 2015 at 1:43 PM ^
They do, and have for a while. Amazing considering they are 2 full levels below EMU. I can't imagine they are anywhere other than in the red.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:50 PM ^
Not on any level trying to be a dick to the Eagles but they need to move down to FCS, get their crap together, have some success and then consider moving back up.
December 18th, 2015 at 5:05 PM ^
December 18th, 2015 at 5:06 PM ^
December 18th, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^
I feel bad about this because it is our fault. Michigan sucks all of the oxygen out of the room when it comes to college football fans in the area.
No school can get by just on its own students / teachers / family / friends. You need some support from the surrounding community.
But there's not much left once Michigan is done. Add to this that fact that EMU sucks (largely becuause of the above), and you have an extremely small fanbase. I'm surprised that they can even get 4,000.
Would you want to spend a Saturday afternoon watching an Eastern game when Michigan is playing 5 miles away or is on the TV?
December 18th, 2015 at 1:02 PM ^
You see EMU, Georgia State, UMass, Kent State, North Texas, NIU and San Jose State.
Now, most of those schools aren't good --- but some of them are (3 of the above are Bowl teams). One thing they all do have in common: they are all in a major Metro area and they are all overshadowed by TONS of other college and/or pro teams.
If you're a team at the Sun Belt/MAC level, it's much better to be a Toledo, Western Michigan, Louisiana-Lafayette or a South Alabama type. Not in the largest Metro areas, but "enough" people live there to get good attendance, and they are truly the biggest sports show-in-town within 50 miles.
EMU, they're just stuck. Nobody's fault. Just the way it is.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:05 PM ^
Yes, unless they move the campus to someplace like Traverse City, they are screwed.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:29 PM ^
If the "NIU" to which you're referring is Northern Illinois, you're wrong about the "metro" area. DeKalb is 65 miles west of downtown Chicago and just over 40 miles southeast of Rockford. They're pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Aside from the university, the only other thing out there is a huge Nestle distibution center. They have been very good, in football, for 10+ years now. The only reason they get no media coverage is because DeKalb isn't considered part of metro Chicago. I still wonder why ND gets as much coverage as the (stink) Bears do when Northwestern IS part of the metro area (too many alums, I guess). And, NW has been pretty good for a while now. But, getting back to NIU, the only reason their stadium is pretty much empty is due to their location. You couldn't ask for a better (MAC) football program.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:51 PM ^
I literally have a Nielsen DMA map that hangs on my office wall --- DeKalb County as part of the Chicago DMA, not the Rockford DMA. I was going by that in calling them Chicago Metro.
Maybe NIU gets a lot of coverage on Rockford TV stations --- I have no idea, I've never lived nor even spent the night in the Rockford area.
I know local news is a bit of a thing of the past, but it still does matter somewhat. Toledo, WMU, South Alabama, ULL, et cetera --- they're in smaller markets but their football team is guaranteed to get quite a bit of local TV sports coverage given the TV coverage area. I was in San Angelo, TX in fall 2014: D-2 Angelo State led the nightly sports coverage! I'd argue it's not a coindicence that they're annually near the top of D-2 football attendance.
December 18th, 2015 at 2:18 PM ^
DeKalb County is also considered part of the Chicago Chicago-Aurora-Joliet Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the federal government's Office of Management and Budget.
So, yeah, DeKalb County is part of the Chicago metro area.
December 18th, 2015 at 11:11 PM ^
December 18th, 2015 at 12:53 PM ^
December 18th, 2015 at 1:19 PM ^
Hiring Brady Hoke would sell a ton of jerseys. Even people in Ohio would believe in him. That would be a good start.
December 18th, 2015 at 12:57 PM ^
December 18th, 2015 at 1:02 PM ^
I thought they outlawed hazing?
December 18th, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^
December 18th, 2015 at 1:25 PM ^
Same thought I had. Then I remembered they get paid like $800K+ per trip to go get slaughtered 3-4x a year in non conf.. Guess that pays for it.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:03 PM ^
December 18th, 2015 at 1:18 PM ^
Football in the MVFC, all other sports in the Horizon. Keeps EMU D-1. They could still get football paydays from the FBS schools, just not quite as much $$$. Shoot, MSU is playing Furman next year, which is absurd. They may as well play a local FCS.
Anyway --- Youngstown State currently follows that model. I do think both leagues would be open to conversations with EMU if EMU wanted to talk.
But, as you said --- I think that's a "non-starter" in the eyes of EMU admins. They want to stay FBS. Keeps them "a level above" the likes of Oakland University, who is of course in the Horizon.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:59 PM ^
EMU spends literally $10 million a year on athletics. Every year. That's money that could go to reduced tuition, improved facilities, better pay for adjuncts, etc.
A big reason is EMU has to spend that is to be "competitive" in D1-A football. Based on attendance, there is basically no interest in keeping the team at that level. But EMU regents need to keep up appearances, so that's the interest that matters.
EMU (which is quite good in some Olympic sports, like track and swimming) should either work with the MAC to see if they can get an exemption from the "all sports at same level" rule, or failing that, go GLIAC for football (where they can play peers Michigan Tech, Grand Valley, Northern Michigan, Wayne State) and Horizon for the rest (where peers Oakland, UIC and U of D reside).
EMU is directly at the same level as Oakland. In fact, during salary negotations, while it is mostly MAC schools who are used, GVSU is definitely in there. Heck, even U of M considering UWM, Wayne State, Wright State, Michigan Tech, Lake State, etc peers -- and their right, also.
All that said, unless there is a budget crisis (not just a deficit), this will never happen. And thus EMU will continue to go 1-11, 3-9, 4-8, etc in front of 5,000 fans.
http://facultysenate.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2015/03/12-1…
December 21st, 2015 at 6:55 PM ^
EMU spends literally $10 million a year on athletics. Every year. That's money that could go to reduced tuition, improved facilities, better pay for adjuncts, etc.
Lolwut? $10M a year is not a ton of money. Say they cut that budget in half (highly, highly unlikely).
$5M a year would pay for what, exactly? Definitely not any tuition reduction. A hundred or two hundred bucks a person? Yeah, no. Maybe you can bump up some adjuncts $1000-2000 a year. Again, that's not going to make a major change in the school.
Facilities might be an option - but even $5M a year isn't huge and likely is just going to get thrown in with your normal operating budget to make sure boilers don't explode and projector lamps are replaced in a timely manner.
And that's assuming the budget would be cut in half, which it certainly would not. Football probably is close to breaking even thanks to the checks they get for being body bags. Therefore, you're talking about an increase of $1-2M absolute max.
Obviously you can do something with any amount of money, but we're not talking about anything significant here.
EDIT: As some have mentioned, a switch to DII for footballl is also going to mean no big checks for body bag games, so moving the team down might actually increase the money needed to run the department - probably a big reason they are still in D1.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:04 PM ^
When they transformed from Hurons (a proud symbol BTW) to eagles they lost a lot of alumni.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:21 PM ^
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December 18th, 2015 at 1:06 PM ^
I went to school there and never attended a game. I was born a diehard Michigan Fan and just didn't care much about EMU. I was there when the Basketball team got to the Sweet 16 and lost to NC. That was fun for a couple weeks, but other than that, living in the shadow of the Wolverines and having a lousy team for a couple decades now will not likely create much fandom. It's also a big commuter school which doesn't help either.
Just for kicks that Basketball team was led by their 6'9" center Marcus Liberty and had the twins Carl and Charles Thomas at forwards and Lorenzo Neely at PG. Don't remember the 5th starter. I can picture him but don't remember his name.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:35 PM ^
Kory Hallas
December 18th, 2015 at 2:21 PM ^
Bingo! Thanks man!
December 18th, 2015 at 2:10 PM ^
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December 18th, 2015 at 2:23 PM ^
That's right my bad. Marcus Kennedy was a strong dude and I believe he got some time with Portland.
December 18th, 2015 at 4:34 PM ^
Grant Long in in the late '80s. Seems like he had a decent NBA career, IIRC.
December 18th, 2015 at 2:54 PM ^
This is a huge part of EMU's problem re: attendance. It also affects the overall campus vibe; i.e., there's not much of one.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:08 PM ^
Perhaps Michigan should help out. If you want Michigan season tickets, you get them at a discount if you agree to attend one EMU game per year.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:11 PM ^
December 18th, 2015 at 1:53 PM ^
They should try selling anti-depressants. That may do the trick.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:14 PM ^
December 18th, 2015 at 1:20 PM ^
The problem is that nobody wants the job. It's a career-killer.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:37 PM ^
December 18th, 2015 at 2:15 PM ^
But it's much tougher to raise the bar at EMU than it is at similarly-situated schools in the MAC or other non-Power 5 leagues. There isn't much that EMU can point to in its recruiting pitch, so it's difficult for a coach to carve out a niche there. The pool of prospects basically consists of kids whose only other offers are from FCS schools.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:19 PM ^
December 18th, 2015 at 2:15 PM ^
Eastern has historically not had much campus sprit and is often a communter campus (unlike Central or Western for example). At one point in the 80"s they were decent and drew decent crowds. But at one point in their history they had lost 27 straight.
I grew up in Ann Arbor and did not know anyone who had attended an Eastern football game.
But I was mighty excited about the prospects of the WFL Detroit Wheels who played in Rynearson Stadium and had a number of Michigan players. I would have gone to their games if they had not folded so quickly. Their coach Dan Boisture was Eastern's old football coach.
Who were the Detroit Wheels? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Wheels
They were trying to create local interest by signing ex-Michigan players. Mike Taylor played linebacker for Michigan was on the team with a couple of others.
December 18th, 2015 at 1:28 PM ^
December 18th, 2015 at 1:39 PM ^