Years ago, I covered a college basketball game in a snowstorm where we literally counted 47 people in the stands. The game box said 800. When I asked the sports information direction why, he said that was the number tickets sold.
I have heard every excuse why attendance figures are inflated so the 28,777 that papers said was the “announced attendance” (code for b.s.) didn’t surprise me.
RFK Stadium looked more than one-third filled, which for a 54,000-seat stadium by my weak math means 18,000. I’ll even go 22,000 because looking at the stands is an inperfect science, but almost 29,000 was a push for credibility.
A bowl game in Washington before Christmas was a nice idea but not practical. They don’t get time to really market it, .500 teams that don’t draw and an old facility that some fans said they were surprised was still open. Guess they’re not D.C. United fans.
Too bad Navy blew it, but it was a good game. Better than expected. For that, I give bowl officials kudos.
on Dec 22nd, 2008 at 2:17 pm
The Bowl game was a good idea, but handled poorly!
There is noooooooooooooo way it should have been played at RFK and the powers that be should have done a lot more advertising………I think I saw two commercials and that was it!
Bad managment will probably sink this bowl and I doubt it returns next year!
on Dec 23rd, 2008 at 12:13 am
maybe you should ask some of the folks who attended the game what they thought of it. the game was amazing, the fans were top notch and the fan experience was a great one. sure the stadium wasn’t full but that isn’t all the fault of the organizers. it just means that there is plenty of room for improvements next year!
on Dec 23rd, 2008 at 1:08 am
Great idea, and it should be repeated- but they knew attendance would be anemic, otherwise they’d never have tried the 4th Q stunt of offering DC Gov employees free tickets.
Oh wait, nevermind, come to think of it, maybe the Learners could learn a thing or two…
on Dec 23rd, 2008 at 3:01 am
Agree with kcdc - great start for what will hopefully turn into a great new sports tradition for DC. My girlfriend (a Wake grad) and I went and had a blast - competitive game and a good number of fans from both teams. At first I thought the 11am time was going to be a pain, but it actually worked out great for a hometown bowl game. As for improvements, I think the advertising could have been better - it was the first bowl game of the season, but the organizers didn’t play up that fact at all. Also, the ticket prices were a little steep for a start-up bowl game.
on Dec 23rd, 2008 at 8:51 am
The game was great, except for the fact it was very difficult to find coffee or hot chocolate being sold anywhere. It was definitely needed for the cold weather! We only stayed until halftime b/c it was so cold, and we noticed a lot of people heading out about that time too.
on Dec 30th, 2008 at 3:22 am
uai7Ap Thanks for good post
on Feb 3rd, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Wow, someone from an Irish band reads me. Cool.