[Sly Fox]

Actually our attendance went up this year after we averaged just 14,630 in 2010 in five home dates. Now keep in mind that 2010 was skewed a bit because we had the season opener moved to City Stadium where only 8k & change showed up. And the season finale against Stony Brook only netted us 10,521 because of fall break. But the fact remains that our attendance rose by nearly 1800 a game on average.

[Purple Haize]

Beating JMU would have helped local fence sitters to believe that maybe we got something here and come back for a game. That's why IMHO, it hurt us more then in the W and L column.

[bradyfan]

I think the reason for that is twofold (even if you are joking Purple):

1. Success. The Mountaineers won (or shared) 6 straight conference titles and when you have that much success people are going to come to the games
2. Market. Boone is home to one of five D-I football programs in NC (come 2013 itll be up to 6). thing is, the only other D-I program on that side of the state is Western Carolina (and the lack of success for the Catamounts over the last bunch of years is well noted). When you only have two shows to choose from that Id think will lend itself to big attendance numbers.

great points, app states location being so far away from the triangle schools and westerns lack of a decent program over the years has a lot to do with their all around success but I dont really see any reason why we couldnt be as successful as them, especially with the national audience we potentially have as a religious school. Thats an advantage a lot of schools dont have, our athletic dept. just has to be more proactive with tapping into that market.

One thing that works against us is what I think of as a "glut" of Division I football in VA. You have Virginia, VT, ODU, James Madison, Richmond, William and Mary, Hampton, ODU and VMI all in the state. Virginia has turned around this year, VT is traditionally very good, Richmond was done well the last couple years (down year this year of course), William and Mary was a top 5 team last year (also had a down year) and JMU has done well also. I would agree that marketing would be helpful for us as well. If we can get LU football marketed on radio stations outside of the Victory FM footprint (which is growing with all the translator stations that are opening up) that would be helpful to our cause as well.

For the record, Liberty is discussed on WFIR 960, an AM station out of Roanoke. My dad actually sponsors, "The Liberty Minute" which can be heard on that station.

[R i]

Beating JMU would have helped local fence sitters to believe that maybe we got something here and come back for a game. That's why IMHO, it hurt us more then in the W and L column.

LU football is more attractive to the Locals than it ever has been. Beating JMU or Richmond in the next few years will have a bigger impact on our program than winning a playoff game, IMO.

[Purple Haize]

Beating JMU would have helped local fence sitters to believe that maybe we got something here and come back for a game. That's why IMHO, it hurt us more then in the W and L column.

LU football is more attractive to the Locals than it ever has been. Beating JMU or Richmond in the next few years will have a bigger impact on our program than winning a playoff game, IMO.

Agreed. That was sort of my point. A win over JMU this year would have exponentially increased not just interest but butts in seats. A play off win is great but from an interest point people locally will remember if you beat JMU the a first round win against Maine.

[R i]

Richmond also. If we still have a series with them scheduled.

[RVAparks]

Richmond also. If we still have a series with them scheduled.

We're playing @ Richmond in 2013, and they come to Lynchburg in 2014. Here's the link: http://www.richmondspiders.com/ViewArti ... =205317856

[jbock13]

Yeah cjsweat, I live near roanoke and listen to greg roberts and was wondering if we were paying for that slot. I really think roanoke is such an untapped market for LU. At least i haven't seen the hatred for LU there than I have in lynchburg. Sure its a drive, but I drive for all the football games.

And sly thank you for your analysis on the attendance numbers. That makes it understandable now.

[RVAparks]

Yeah cjsweat, I live near roanoke and listen to greg roberts and was wondering if we were paying for that slot. I really think roanoke is such an untapped market for LU. At least i haven't seen the hatred for LU there than I have in lynchburg. Sure its a drive, but I drive for all the football games.

And sly thank you for your analysis on the attendance numbers. That makes it understandable now.

Roanoke is definitely an uphill battle with Tech closer than Lynchburg. Athletic marketing team will have their work cut out for them.

[bradyfan]

Yeah cjsweat, I live near roanoke and listen to greg roberts and was wondering if we were paying for that slot. I really think roanoke is such an untapped market for LU. At least i haven't seen the hatred for LU there than I have in lynchburg. Sure its a drive, but I drive for all the football games.

And sly thank you for your analysis on the attendance numbers. That makes it understandable now.

Greg is the man. Roanoke has some potential, especially Roanoke County but your right. VT is only 45 minutes from Lynchburg and generally when they don't find their needs in the Tidewater area, Roanoke gets hit. I think bringing in Woodrum will help this though.

[jbock13]

Yeah cjsweat, I live near roanoke and listen to greg roberts and was wondering if we were paying for that slot. I really think roanoke is such an untapped market for LU. At least i haven't seen the hatred for LU there than I have in lynchburg. Sure its a drive, but I drive for all the football games.

And sly thank you for your analysis on the attendance numbers. That makes it understandable now.

Roanoke is definitely an uphill battle with Tech closer than Lynchburg. Athletic marketing team will have their work cut out for them.

Yes, but half the Hokie fan base doesn't care about road games. You know who they are if you live around here, the "Casual Hokies", the ones who love VT in football, and Duke or UNC in basketball.

Think about it in these terms. Around Lynchburg, if you say you go to Liberty you get scoffed at, more times than not. Around Roanoke (outside of Roanoke City), everybody just says "oh, that's cool". That's why I think it would be beneficial to try, because at least Roanoke is still willing to listen to us, unlike Lynchburg where everybody's mind is made up.

[RVAparks]

I agree with you jbock, it's certainly worth a shot. I was just noting it'd be a pretty tough uphill battle. But who knows, it could work out great!

[bradyfan]

Yeah cjsweat, I live near roanoke and listen to greg roberts and was wondering if we were paying for that slot. I really think roanoke is such an untapped market for LU. At least i haven't seen the hatred for LU there than I have in lynchburg. Sure its a drive, but I drive for all the football games.

And sly thank you for your analysis on the attendance numbers. That makes it understandable now.

Roanoke is definitely an uphill battle with Tech closer than Lynchburg. Athletic marketing team will have their work cut out for them.

Yes, but half the Hokie fan base doesn't care about road games. You know who they are if you live around here, the "Casual Hokies", the ones who love VT in football, and Duke or UNC in basketball.

Think about it in these terms. Around Lynchburg, if you say you go to Liberty you get scoffed at, more times than not. Around Roanoke (outside of Roanoke City), everybody just says "oh, that's cool". That's why I think it would be beneficial to try, because at least Roanoke is still willing to listen to us, unlike Lynchburg where everybody's mind is made up.

+1. There's also a plethora of high-schools in the Roanoke area.

[jbock13]

I can also tell you that many high school football players around the Roanoke area are very aware of the success we are having at the FCS level. When I chose Liberty my senior year, I heard, "oh yeah, they have pretty good football over there."

Sure, they don't know of our issues with getting to the postseason, but they know who we are.