Lack of fan interaction with Michigan Football
This was mentioned the other day in another thread and I thought it would be interesting discussion to bring to everyone.
Fan interaction is dead. The Men's Football Experience and Women's Football academy were axed years ago as well as Fan Day.
Meanwhile, Michigan Basketball has selfie night where you meet the players and coaches. Hockey has Skate with the Wolverines and Softball obviously has their academy and makes the players very accessible.
And before "distraction" is brought up as an excuse, Alabama sure seems distracted by their fan day which is also known as the Running of the Gumps. Playoff teams Georgia, Clemson and Oklahoma also have fan days.
What are some ways you would help rebuild fan access/interaction?
We will never get another 4 or 5 star recruit again! All of our 2019 commits will flip and we will have to take the walk ons rejected by the Ivy league schools. There will be exactly zero fans in the stands next year. Brandon Peter, Dylan McCaffrey and Joe Milton will all transfer this summer because of Shea
And the big one, we will never, ever again beat OSU or MSU and you can probably throw PSU and Wisconsin in there as well. We won't beat them on the field or ever get a recruit that any of the schools have offered.
Definitely won't be selling any jerseys in Ohio, either.
other than a handful of 21s and 2s back in the 90s
(Old MGoJoke goes right over your head)
But what about the hordes of 20-40 year old kids that want player autographs? Why are Harbaugh and Manuel not thinking about them?
The father's day camp is new but the youth camp (5th thru 8th) has been held for a few years. Check-in is 8 til 9 and then camper and parent can go through the locker rooms down tunnel and on field for photos and can meet some of the players. Then intro by Harbaugh, smokehouse race, 5 man tackle drill, county fair (individual drill rotation), picnic style lunch in Glick, agility stations ,then recess football coached by players. Players involved last year --Gary, Evans, McDoom, Runyon, Winovich, Bush, St. Juste, Ruiz, Newsome to name a few. It was a great time and you came away with a much greater appreciation for the players as great young men. ( Girls are also welcome since most of the activities are non-football specific).
Let’s not make this any harder than it needs to be.
I don't think it works with football like it does the other sports. Football is the most popular, by far. Therefore, Football has the best opportunity for people to not realize that the events are supposed to be just for kids, by far.
There are some weirdos out there when it comes to college football...
(Looks at thread)
loves bringing negative energy to the board using football as his platform as of late.
He's a basketball fan now!
It's not an apparell thread. He gets a pass from me.
It feels strange to have to say this as I'm not inherently for paying players (we can have that conversation, just not in this thread), but as long as they're not being paid a wage, which is the status quo as of today, they don't owe the public anything, either.
The players are free to start their own stuff, like Winovich's fundraising, or respond to invites. You don't drag students into public events unless they have a say.
And this shit is meaningless.
Years ago, Band Day brought 25-35,000 high school students to play with the Uof M Marching Band on the field at half time. A lot of those students would probably never have attended a Michigan game. Great way to bring expose a lot of young people (and probably many of their parents) to Ann Arbor and the UofM.
It would be relatively easy to resume. Schedule it for the 'worst' home game and allow 25-35,000 fans sitting in the south end zone and corners to be reimbursed for their tickets by UofM. Lots of fans doen't really want to see that game anyway. Here are the games I'm speaking of:
- Aug 31 2019: Middle Tennessee
- Sep 19 2020: Arkansas State
Weak opponents for 2021 and 2022 haven't been scheduled yet, but one can easily predict the quality of that team, given the above.
Band Day was designed to fill seats that would never be sold in an era where sellouts didn't routinely happen for non-rivalry games.
Buying out paying fans to fill seats with 30,000 band kids that probably don't want to be there? Seriously?
Please consider this:
- One of my good friends was a high school band instructor back in the day. His students loved going to band Day. What makes you believe the high schoolers don't want to be there?
- OTOH, I'd wager there are at least 25-35,000 season ticket holders who don't really want to be at the Arkansas State or Middle Tennessee games. In a sense, they're being forced or coerced to buy those tickets in order to see the 3-4 home games that really do matter.
- The promotional benefits, good will, free publicity and exposure to possible future students and fans would more than cover the 'lost revenue', IMO.
- There might be an even higher demand for season tickets if the 'weak sister' game was excluded from the package.
The way the football program is trending, all of this may be moot. Maybe there will come a time in the not too distant future when the demand for football tickets will look like it did when Bump Elliott was the HC and UofM will once again be looking for ways to fill the stadium.
Bring back the state Jazz Band Festival back to Rackham Hall. That was the highlight of my senior year in high school.
Dads?
Because there's fucking weirdos and creeps who already tweet at players, coaches, and recruits all the time. Do we really want to subject our players and coaches to them in person?
If it could be limited to kids only, then yes a fan day would be cool.
I think adult men complaining about not having time to take pictures with college kids is really weird.
BBQ at the Big House should be a 2 day event. Saturday for recruits and their famalies. Sunday should be for fans to meet and greet coaches and players, walk on the field, maybe a punt, pass, kick competition.
What you're describing is basically what the Victors Club luncheons used to be. There would be athletes hanging around, coaches would give speeches, the donors and their families/guests felt appreciated and valued, and you got to build friendships with other folks around the community. The culmination was usually an open practice (i.e., watching the most basic drills), then the kids could go get autographs and stuff. Always came during spring practice.
Needless to say, don't think they do it anymore, at least not in the same form. Started petering out in the late 90s-early 00s, when the Athletic Department got sick of doing it, I guess.
This thread feels more about "why doesn't the football team cater to me, 20/30-something-year-old internet denizen", even if WD mentioned the other types of events.
These debates always feel like a can't-win scenario. Michigan puts on an event, people complain the coaches and players should focus on winning games and beating rivals. They stop doing them and people get mad they aren't open to the public enough.
It's a fucking football team made up of college students. If the NCAA and the schools are going to keep calling them amateur student-athletes and not let them cash in on their likeness, I wouldn't expect them to stand around at an event that, at times, charges admission.
The yutes have to pay to attend >>the players get paid to teach/ instruct. It's a very part-time job.
True. But as you mentioned, it's a job they are paid for. Being there in uniform in the spring so people can ask for their autograph on a novelty helmet is a bit different.
Just win against our rivals, I am so tired of being told what I need to be as a fan, and the football team does not win against MSI, OSU or anyone good.
WIN and Michigan will get plenty of fan interaction.
Basketball does both.
They don't sign things either at selfie night, that's not allowed. It's just nice to get to meet the players and maybe get a picture or something.
To what end, though? Why should adults care about having weird forced chit-chat with a college student? Why should a college student want to have weird forced chit-chat with adults they don't know? What does any of that accomplish for anyone?
WD - if you want to meet Harbaugh, it’s easy. Make a very large donation to the football program and you can meet him multiple times a year. He still won’t know your name, but at least you can get your picture.
They literally just posted a Father's Day Youth Camp for dads and their kids.
He's asking for the manchildren
IGNORE ME
If you want to see the players then do something productive like volunteer at Mott.
Since the players are not being paid, why put them in the awkward position of signing things that people are going sell on the internet later? Sure, you can try to prevent the players from signing things, but if some random dealer thinks they can make money, they would pressure the players to sign.
The program can pay for for us to eat steak with the team!
Because then Dipshit Matt Dudek won't have anything to brag about on Twitter (because you know he isn't bragging about the 'croots)
They should bring the Women's Football Academy back, at least. Good cause, and apparently a great time was had by all involved. Got the women in my family actually interested in football, and reasonably knowledgeable about it too.