Tar Heels to Fans: Where Are You?

UNC junior wide receiver Bug Howard tweeted on Tuesday what many Tar Heel fans in attendance were wondering during last Saturday’s game against Illinois. Where is everybody?

Despite Kenan Stadium’s capacity of 63,000, the announced crowd of 41,000 was UNC’s lowest since 2012, when 32,000 fans showed up in the pouring rain to watch a game against Idaho.

The tweet from Howard was an obvious reference to the fact that games at the Dean Smith Center routinely sell out, or are played in front of packed houses.

Not surprisingly, Howard found himself answering to the media just hours after posting his question online.

“I wasn’t sure about the attendance during the game,” Howard told reporters on Tuesday. “I just seen a picture of it.

“When I seen the picture, I was sitting with some basketball guys and we just had a talk. And they was just trying to figure out ways that they could help get people come out and support us.”

Without naming any of the basketball players he spoke with, Howard essentially agreed to take on the role of poster boy for the most recent Tar Heel football attendance crisis. Another game with under 50,000 fans in attendance would mark the first time since 2006 that’s happened on three separate occasions during a season.

It’s these kinds of stats that have players like senior offensive guard Landon Turner trying to come up with some non-basketball related solutions.

“I think the marketing department does a great job, as far as reaching out to the fan base,” Turner said, before offering his take. “I think, if anything, just kind of shifting focus from—obviously our season ticket holders we have now are important—but applying the same thing to people who aren’t, or who are on the fence, or who aren’t as interested [right now].”

While Turner focused on the business side of the dilemma, another Tar Heel wide receiver, junior Ryan Switzer, said it was something he learned in a sports marketing class that’s helped him understand what keeps fans from coming to games.

“We learned a lot about how the home atmosphere is a lot better [than the stadium],” he said. “You can see it on TV. You can have a cold beer in your hand while you’re sitting on the couch.

“Sometimes you can’t blame people for not coming, but we would certainly love to have 65,000 every home game cheering us on,” Switzer added.

All the talk about attendance, and the incredible atmosphere a packed stadium provides, had Switzer thinking back to his days as a high school player being recruited to play at UNC. Although, crowd size was not the final decision maker for him, he still hasn’t forgotten what some of those recruiting experiences were like at other top-flight athletic colleges.

“My most memorable visits were when I went to Penn State, and when I went to ‘Bama—where there were 105,000 people in the stands,” he said. “But Carolina’s a great place and there is few stadiums, especially on campus, like Kenan Stadium–just the all-around atmosphere.”

The real solution for the Tar Heels would be to keep winning games, which quarterback Marquise Williams has stated.

But it’s Howard who sent the tweet heard all throughout Chapel Hill, so he’s the one who forced he and his teammates to answer the tough questions. When asked why he wanted to see more fans out there, Howard’s response was simple.

“If we have a packed crowd—I mean, I feel like we feed off better, energy-wise, with a packed house,” Howard responded matter-of-factly. “So that’s why I feel like you should pack the stadium.”

It’s an easy formula. More wins leads to more fans, which leads to more energy. Which then leads to more wins—or something like that.

Either way, the Tar Heels have made a plea to their fans to show up and support their team this weekend and beyond. If the last two weeks have been any indication at all, they might be rewarded with a blowout victory.