“Are the football games free for students?”
This question might be more frequently asked than you think. In fact, I was asked today by sophomore Courtney VanLangen.
The Eastern Michigan football team has had a spectacular season this year with a record of 5-4 and as the season progressed, many people expected the attendance to increase with every win the Eagles took. However, the attendance has remained almost constant.
The season opener on Sept. 4 attracted 3,563 fans (granted the game was postponed due to the weather) and this past Saturday’s game attracted 3,288. Through five games, the average home attendance is 4,354.
Which causes us to wonder, why?
“I think people just don’t want to go,” VanLangen said. “A lot of people go home on the weekend, too.”
Junior Tyler Clark, who has never been to a football game, shrugged and replied, “They [Eagles] haven’t done so well in the past.”
A big part of the reason though, is that many people go home on the weekends and those who do stick around, don’t know that the football games are free for students.
Clark said the reason he has never gone to a football game is because he lives in Ann Arbor and VanLangen, a new transfer student, said she doesn’t know “what they offer.”
Senior Adam Irish’s reasoning why most students aren’t attending the games is the school consists primarily of commuters.
“I don’t think they can do much to try to raise attendance,” Clark said. “I mean the games are already free.”
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the football games will attract any more people than what they have been getting and even though the Eagles have a decent record, that fact doesn’t interest people enough to watch the football games.
However, there is hope in the incoming freshman class. Lydia Seale, who has been to two football games this year, said she goes because she likes football and the marching band.
“I think many people aren’t expecting them [Eagles] to keep winning,” Seale said. “And most people go home on weekends regardless if there is a football game or not. I think a great way to get more people to go would to be lower concession costs or hand out free stuff.”
If the record of the season isn’t a good enough reason to attend the football games, Eastern might have to think of a different way to grab
people’s attention. Until then, it doesn’t look like the rest of the season will make much of a difference attendance wise.
We can only hope that the incoming freshmen can be excited enough to change the school spirit of this school and cause the attendance to grow.
