Ducks Attack Message Board Forum

whosyourwally wrote:note that some of these b10 schools pack 100k+ into their stadiums during the regular season as well. State College, PA is a great example. Tiny town not near any big city, still has capacity crowds at every game (Penn State). Do we think UO could fill a 100k stadium every saturday?

I'd like to think most ducks fans are more passionate than most buckeye fans, seeing as the buckeyes fans never have to hang through dry spells, but everyone in ohio gets behind the buckeyes at least as a casual fan. I went to miami (oh) university (17,000 students), and on saturdays during buckeye games our stadium was empty while people traveled back to columbus to go to the buckeye games. big ten football is a part of the culture here. ohio revolves around the buckeyes. im sorry to disagree, but, while uo fans may be more passionate, with out a doubt a much higher percent of people here care about their team. and their team is always the buckeyes. i've lived in portland, and i live in columbus.

Pennsylvania's population is 12,448,279 vs. Oregon's 3,790,060. So, with three times the Oregonians, as they have in PA, yes. I think Oregon would easily fill a 100k stadium every Saturday. With a much smaller population, we already fill a 60k one with no measure of how much more we would fill if more seats were available. Not only that, Oregon is two times larger than either OH or PA, meaning that the average distance that Oregon fans have to go to see the game is certainly higher.

Ohio's population is 11,485,910. Also three times larger than Oregon's population. So, the math:

Stadium Capacity (assuming tOSU fills all seats as UO does) / Ohio's population = .00870
Stadium Capacity / Oregon's population = .01583

So, in fact, on a seats filled / state population ratio comparison, Oregonians are around twice as likely to make the trek (usually a longer one) to game day as Ohioans (sp?). Given that Columbus' population is 5 times larger than Eugene's, comparing just the cities is skewed even more in Oregon's favor.

I think that your observation from living there comes from the fact that the chances of you seeing somebody doing something Ohio State related are greater because there is simply a greater quantity of people and fans there. But, the ratio per capita appears to favor Oregon. Also, I don't think that comparing Portland to Columbus in that respect is fair. Portland has no allegiance to the UO. In fact, a lot of anti-UO sentiment lives in Portland between "don't change the Made In Oregon sign" movements and Nike protests. Where as Columbus is the college location. A better comparison would be to imagine Eugene, where school support is quite apparent, being five times larger than it is, like Columbus.

All this lends to my idea that Ohio State fans simply think the spring game is more important than Oregon fans do. I'm not sure if there will be a boost in spring game attendance at Oregon this year (probably will be due to the other games going on that day). But, going by last years numbers:

Ohio State Spring Game attendance 76,346 / Ohio's population = .00664
Oregon Spring Game attendance 14,107 / Oregon's population = .00372

Conclusion:

Oregonians are twice as likely to travel farther on average to Duck football games as Ohioans. But, Ohioans are twice as likely to go to the Buckeye spring game. Spring game attendance is an eastern pissing match that hasn't caught on in the west.

I don't disagree that on Saturday's there isn't a more passionate fanbase than the UO's. Your stats show that Oregonians are willing to drive to fill up Autzen on game days. That's where it ends though, there isn't the year round fanatacism you see in places like College Station, or Tuscaloosa.

Anyone who has lived in places like West Texas or Florida will tell you that without a doubt, football has an elevated cultural standing in those areas. I agree with you also on Spring Game attendance being a relatively new trend, but look where this trend manifests itself: tOSU, Alabama, Clemson, Florida, etc... All areas where, culturally, the sport holds a different importance. You can see it in HS football in these areas.

Also, stadium attendance numbers per population are misleading. Because stadiums have finite seating, you can only predict "willingness" to a certain point, which is capacity. In other words, we know that 57,000 Oregonians are "willing" to go to the game; but we don't know how many more tried to get tickets and couldn't because of the sell out. In reality there were prob thousands more who would be willing to go if they could get in. The same principle applies to tOSU

i like this discussion because there is finally something relevant to my state other than terrell pryor and tajh boyd.

Archie Griffin, Eddie George, and so many others come back to live here because even after mediocre nfl careers, they are eternal celebrities here. They own restaurant chains named after themselves and there are reality t.v. shows that some call the news following maurice clarrett around in and out of prison. People know what Jim Tressel eats for breakfast, and people get fired for wearing maize and blue to work.

Its sorta like an obession here. Not a passion. A car flipping, couch burning obsession. And then multiply that by 10 when they lose.

And if you want to invest in a safer market buy osu vs. michigan tickets and let the bcs do their magic. Assuming michigan gets it together, you should expect to sell your tickets for $1000 a piece. Thats a pretty good ROI.

An interesting, but impossible stat to see would be what percent of Oregon fans went to UO or had family that did vs the same at Ohio State.

I love my ducks, but dude football fans are a different breed here. Come experience it before you disagree.

I don't contend that people follow football in a different manner in different places. Really, that's what I'm saying about them thinking the spring game is more important than Duck fans do. I'm sure that that does follow out to other patterns that are different as well. However, I think that making the trip to the games qualifies a person as a supportive fan.

Following details of Tressel's breakfast, imo, does not increase the fan support a program has. That's just something fans of a different program choose to spend their time with. I certainly don't feel like the Ducks are behind in fan support because they don't publicly obsess over them enough. I think they speak for themselves when it counts, on game day.

lets be clear tho. i would take a duck fan over a buckeyes fan any day. you can actually talk football with a ducks fan.

typical uo fan comment on game day: "we match up well against them."

typical osu fan comment on game day: "we will kick their ass. we are awesome. who do we play?"

As long as we are on the same page about that!

I wasn't meaning to question your duckness or give you a hard time. That's a debate point (fan support in the NW) that has come up in other recruiting debates. So, I had been curious how the numbers stacked up. But, had been too lazy in the past to look it all up.

who do we play?"[/quote]

The answer to that question is Troy, Charleston Southern, Basket Weaving U, etc.

gofightingducks wrote:who do we play?"

The answer to that question is Troy, Charleston Southern, Basket Weaving U, etc. :lol

which brings us to another one of my favorite topics.... they did play a pac10 school last year...

The part II of that one is one of the non-Duck match-ups I'm really looking forward to this year.

Should be closer considering USC is with a new QB and Pryor has more experience and will be at home. But, I think the Trojans come out on top again.