Should UIL go to a three year stadium rotation for football state games?

[AggiesAreWe]

So the total attendance number for the state championship games was 213,665. Far short of the 250,00 the UIL

was predicting. With the numbers going down, how about rotating the venue the way it should be?

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

I'd like a rotation every realignment. 🤷🏾‍♂️

[Tiger33]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Buddy Garrity said:

I'd like a rotation every realignment. 🤷🏾‍♂️

I like that idea! 

[AggiesAreWe]

1 minute ago, Mr. Buddy Garrity said:

I'd like a rotation every realignment. 🤷🏾‍♂️

I agree.

Each realignment one of the three venues (AT&T, NRG, Alamo) hosts those two years. Then rotate every realignment to the other venue.

I like rotating each year to one of the three. Every three years each venue gets to host.

Or, just simply let the two coaches in each game decide where they want to play.

[WOS1986]

I agreed 1,000 percent with ya.

I highly doubt that won't happen because UIL location in Dallas so don't want come to Houston and San Antonio because of expense such as UIL staff pay hotels and transportation. They want save money.

Again, I support that we should rotate.

 

[PAT00]

I also agree with rotating the stadiums. One thing l wish they would start doing which probably won’t happen. When a game is over…during the break they should have the stands cleared out. That way the fans for the next game can get good seats first. Then the other fans can fill in if they choose to stay for the next game. We were waiting in line and when they finally let us down stairs the seats were mostly filled with Desoto fans and other fans already…that was some bs. 

[PN-G bamatex]

If the issue is attendance, then let's address the issues underlying declining attendance. In sum:

• The increasing popularity of watching livestreams and broadcasts of the games, instead of actually going to them.
• Distance, both with respect to convenience and to the costs of transportation and lodging.
• Weather, which is less of an issue in domed stadiums but still factors into travel.

Rotating locations probably isn't going to address all of those issues very well. If you move the championship games from AT&T to NRG and you have another year where four greater D-FW area schools are playing in four out of twelve championship games, you're probably going to see even lower attendance. Will shorter drives for greater Houston-area schools improve their attendance numbers? Probably. Enough to offset the losses among Dallas-area fans, overall? That's anybody's guess, but I'm skeptical.

I know the UIL will never do this, but if the UIL really wants to gin up attendance numbers, reinstitute the ban on live broadcasts of the games. Make going to the game the only option to see the game in realtime.

Regarding location, I think the smart play by the UIL would be to contract with multiple stadiums across the state, like AT&T, NRG, the Alamodome, DKR and Kyle Field, and assign championship sites based on which locations are the closest to being equidistant from the two high schools competing in each game. Would that improve attendance numbers? Probably in some games (I guarantee you that playing in Houston or College Station would have increased PN-G's already impressive numbers from last Friday), but I'm skeptical that it would increase attendance across the board. Either way, I suspect it would reduce the cost borne by most of the involved schools to get their students to the games, and generally make it easier on traveling families. Again, I know it's something the UIL will probably never do because of the cost to itself, the problems that would cause with respect to media coverage and the UIL's obvious preference for broadcasting games.

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

The prices went up this year I hear. Tickets......etc...... 

[PAT00]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Buddy Garrity said:

The prices went up this year I hear. Tickets......etc...... 

$20…..$15 with promo code online

[Coach_Izzy]

They tried this already in 2015 at NRG…attendance was down it’ll never be anywhere else other than Jerry’s World the UIL is in the business of making money and the most is made at Jerry’s world

[PAT00]

$25 for parking smh….plus you couldn’t park close to the stadium without a permit. They didn’t do that in the past.

[AledoAlumni]

1 hour ago, AggiesAreWe said:

So the total attendance number for the state championship games was 213,665. Far short of the 250,00 the UIL

was predicting. With the numbers going down, how about rotating the venue the way it should be?

Are the numbers trending down or they down this one year? Also do we know how the TV numbers did? 

[NHSBulldogFan]

12 minutes ago, aledoalumni said:

Are the numbers trending down or they down this one year? Also do we know how the TV numbers did? 

Here's some unofficial numbers I found NOT counting 2020 for the COVID year its easy to see why the UIL never returned to NRG...while the numbers have been up and down they've still been above 200,000 consistently that's also why UIL state won't be going anywhere 

 

2012: 205,238

2013: 221,339

2014: 250,652

2015: 156,143

2016: 235,311

2017: 203,423

2018: 221,167

2019: 217,679

2021:220,585

2022:213,665

[Coach_Izzy]

28 minutes ago, NHSBulldogFan said:

Here's some unofficial numbers I found NOT counting 2020 for the COVID year its easy to see why the UIL never returned to NRG...while the numbers have been up and down they've still been above 200,000 consistently that's also why UIL state won't be going anywhere 

 

2012: 205,238

2013: 221,339

2014: 250,652

2015: 156,143

2016: 235,311

2017: 203,423

2018: 221,167

2019: 217,679

2021:220,585

2022:213,665

Bingo…not sure why this is even a topic of discussion or maybe some just don’t understand business 

[89Falcon]

3 minutes ago, Coach_Izzy said:

Bingo…not sure why this is even a topic of discussion or maybe some just don’t understand business 

Business? Thought UIL was about "equity". I suspect like most professed "equity" agendas, that all stops once pockets are glazed. 

[Bansheefan]

Nrg is not in a good location as far being close to being centralized would prolly have to be at&t or San Antonio. Basically all the big cities centralized east to west host a uil sport with San Antonio doing basketball and Austin doing baseball

[navydawg31]

I know it’s a long shot, but I wish they could utilize all 3 stadiums… 2 will be the host of semi finals while the third one will be championship game… I know logistics will have to go with it. But still would be nice…

 

If/ should I say when UIL does decide to make 7A IMO they should staggered the seasons like they did with Covid Year… 1A-4A start first then 5A-7A start a week or two later…. 
 

I know 1A starts on Wednesday but why can’t the UIL just allow games on Sunday for the state championship… is there a rule? Or do they not want too? That would start championship games on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday or do they not want to compete with the NFL? I’m just curious… it shouldn’t throw peoples schedules off to bad. 

[AshlyHasBeen]

People keep pointing out the one year at NRG. There were three or four newer schools playing. 5A-DI George Ranch vs Lake Ridge (15,743).  5A-DII Cedar Park vs Frisco Lone Star (13,479). Not much of a following built up with a lack of alumni. Plus the big thing people don’t like to bring up. DFW doesn’t travel as well. They’ll show up when it’s in their backyard. Katy vs Lake Travis drew 43,718 in Houston. North Shore vs Westlake was 28,841.

Schools within 100 miles of AT&T Stadium went (5-1) this year. China Spring is 109 miles away and also won. There is a real home field advantage for the DFW. 

Stephenville (west of DFW) might have brought 5,000 fans in 1999 to the Astrodome. That was crazy to me considering the monster program they had built.

I like the idea of a 3 stadium rotation and San Antonio is most central location with a dome if a rotation isn’t possible.

There’s also the crowd talking about the experience the kids get playing in AT&T. Well I’ll say Newton was just a excited to win a title in Tyler Rose Stadium when the weather was in the 20’s as they were when winning it AT&T. 

 

[WOSdrummer99]

2 hours ago, AshlyKBMT said:

There’s also the crowd talking about the experience the kids get playing in AT&T. Well I’ll say Newton was just a excited to win a title in Tyler Rose Stadium when the weather was in the 20’s as they were when winning it AT&T. 

Dome in 86 and kyle field in 87 in the rain was just as good as NRG in 15 and AT&T in 16. Just another fan opinion, but we tend to forget this is about the kids. Wonder what they'd rather? Also I feel the novelty of AT&T is wearing off. So many people went just to go. Now not so much. I've been 3x and won't go back until WOS does... 🤐

[JBizzle]

NRG is terrible for most of the state. Long haul for a lot of schools to bring their kids. I'm not opposed to rotating it, but I think a venue so far to one side of the state is not a good fit for it.

[Coach_Izzy]

7 hours ago, WOSdrummer99 said:

Dome in 86 and kyle field in 87 in the rain was just as good as NRG in 15 and AT&T in 16. Just another fan opinion, but we tend to forget this is about the kids. Wonder what they'd rather? Also I feel the novelty of AT&T is wearing off. So many people went just to go. Now not so much. I've been 3x and won't go back until WOS does... 🤐

Kids would prefer AT&T and it’s not even close…

[navydawg31]

26 minutes ago, Coach_Izzy said:

Dfw Kids would prefer AT&T and it’s not even close…

[Mr. Thornton Melon]

Live streams really hurt attendance. It will never be the same

[Coach_Izzy]

3 hours ago, navydawg31 said:

3 hours ago, Coach_Izzy said:

Dfw Kids would prefer AT&T and it’s not even close…

Having coached there 3x with a bunch of kids from Houston I would say this would be the furthest from the truth…

[Bansheefan]

2 hours ago, Mr. Thornton Melon said:

Live streams really hurt attendance. It will never be the same

How they have been live streamed ever since they  started playing there in 2010. I could see this argument for playoff games but not state