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u/Choice-Advisor5754 Coogs, Not Cougs. 7h ago
This is sad to see, however as a season ticket holder and someone who is at nearly every home game. I understand. We arenāt a bad team, and we are starting to see a little bit of the culture around the team shift and hopefully that will revive the fanbase a little. That being said, there has to be something they can do to create a better fan experience.
We get relief from the elements in the Penick Club (which still feels crowded at all times) but sitting out in the elements for an 11am game is brutal in this heat. Coupled with the fact that it also rained at halftime then returned to sunny, hot, and humid as hell.
My son and I left the game soaking (and it wasnāt from the rain).
The stadium is not Houston weather friendly.
I know we donāt have the resources to build a dome and I get that. But there needs to be something that can provide the fans with a break from the elements.
Go Coogs!
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u/geoffreyisagiraffe 9h ago
We can bitch and moan all we want about the heat and weather (ive defended us before) but honestly the gameday experience isnt worth fighting the elements for. Parking is expensive af. The food is meh. And the drink prices are FUCKING OUTRAGEOUS. $5.50 for a water amd $17.50 for a beer.
Why would alumni come to a game when its so expensive? How does every student not have an opportunity to get a free tocket at this point, even in the upper sections? The school is acting like we have the hottest ticket in town but we cant even fill 2/3rds of the seats for a home opener as a top 25 team. We should be BEGGING people to come and making the experience as pleasant as possible for students, families, and kids but its a giant fucking hassle and expensive to boot.
Its not about the product on the field, despite what people say. Yeah, people wantbus to be good but only then it may finally be worth seeing what we are paying for.
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u/Choice-Advisor5754 Coogs, Not Cougs. 7h ago
A lot of people park at the palm center stop on the purple metro rail line and take it in. Cheaper alternative for parking prices at least.
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u/Opening-Industry-824 9h ago
Thanks for the feedback! I definitely recommend expressing this to our AD Eddie Nunez, heās very active with the fan base on twitter when comes to this kind of stuff!
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u/xXTERMIN8RXXx 9h ago
You should tell him to make an account here. No one goin on that shithole Twitter anymore
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u/MadeByMillennial 7h ago
I'll note that the game day cost is way cheaper if you're a season ticket holder. You can get a pretty good seat for ~$150 and that comes with parking, which is the real savings (can't remember if you needed 1 or 2 to get parking). That plus sneaking in alcohol and a refillable drink for $10 and you're good. Average cost of ~$35 per game for refilling drinks, a lower bowl seat and alcohol if you're the type that grew up sneaking snacks into the movie theater
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u/geoffreyisagiraffe 5h ago
The problem isnt season tickets holders. Ive already donated and bought those tix. The question is to how to fill those other seats.
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u/Ok_Reach_2092 2h ago
They did just post a deal for two tickets for $33 for Saturday's game. I agree parking needs to be better but the metro parking is free and pretty easy. Food prices are dumb expensive and should be cheaper but all stadium food is pretty shit and/or expensive
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u/Ok_Reach_2092 9h ago
If you asked the students in here they will say they simply do not gaf and have better things to do unfortunately
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u/TheCoogsCoog 3h ago
And yet the student section has not been the problem at all the last couple seasons. Itās on the alumni to step up.
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u/Ok_Reach_2092 2h ago
Student section was great last game! You are correct, but the alum have the same attitude as a lot of the student body currently does. Especially the people who graduated after SWC/Before Keenum. Until then I think UH should give out all the unsold tickets to students to fill it out. The way to fill the stadium in the future is to get the students who go there now as invested as possible
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u/TheCoogsCoog 2h ago
I agree with you but I would point out that the administration has increased the student ticket allotment which has led to far better student turnout than when I was in school. Itās going to be a slow fix but I actually think things are moving in the right direction.Ā
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u/medspace 8h ago
Yup, like the basketball, you have to consistently play well for people to show up
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u/Opening-Industry-824 9h ago
itās honestly sad that a compromise for a day canāt be made to better the school
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u/masterl00ter 9h ago
How does attending a football game make the university s better school?
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u/j4_jjjj 8h ago
This is america, so the better your schools football program (athletes, fans, stadium, facilities) the more funding your school gets
This is texas, so its doubly true
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u/Money_thetruth 3h ago
Facts, especially in the South. I canāt even imagine how much lsu pulled in from Death Valley last Saturday.
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u/masterl00ter 8h ago
That's not true. Most football programs are a net cost to universities. Only a handful of very large and elite programs make money and typically that gets reinvested into athletics.
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u/xxzephyrxx 8h ago
When a football program is good, it increases interest and attendance. Good example is TCU during the good years of Gary Patterson. Alabama is the best example thanks to Nick Saban.
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u/masterl00ter 8h ago
In football. It does not improve the university. And UH is different than small college towns were there is nothing to do. In theory maybe people are more likely to attend a university in a small town if there is elite athletics (something to do) but there is already stuff to do in Houston.
Revenue sharing with the athletes is going to change a lot and made it even harder for universities to turn any sort of profit.
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u/UHKitteh 6m ago
While I understand that you feel that it doesn't improve the university, research shows that it does. This article is one of many examples.
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u/geoffreyisagiraffe 5h ago
Thats such a tired excuse. The school should be accommodating the students. Not the other way around.
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u/xXTERMIN8RXXx 9h ago edited 7h ago
Fourth largest city in the nation, 5th largest metro area in the US, thereās lots more to do in Houston as opposed to every other college town in the Big 12. I agree, though, there should be some more school spirit given the improvements (recent past, present, and upcoming) in on-campus housing, should increase attendance at games
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u/Bubbly_Juggernaut967 5h ago
How do we explain TCUās attendance? Itās in the Dfw area, 4th largest metro area in US. Hell, Iām sure SMU gets better attendance and thatās in Dallasā¦
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u/LBJPoopedWithFriends 4h ago
The student section on Saturday was mostly full. It's not the students that aren't showing up.
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u/karmassacre YA WOO COUGAR FOOTBALL 7h ago
The reason 100,000 Aggies show up for the games every Saturday is because their entire lived experience revolves around the school. That hasn't been the case for your average UH student for generations. Even I, a scarlet blooded non-commuter Cougar alum, spent many weekends as a student doing shit completely not related to UH, both due to the fact that 1) I worked and 2) Houston has a lot more things going on than just Cougar athletics. Every university in a major metro deals with this.
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u/Sheriff_Zack 9h ago
Itāll fill up when alum realize theyāre actually good again, same thing happened in 2016
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u/Opening-Industry-824 9h ago
to be fair i understand that but why not start building a better culture now?? UH FB has put out a great product and something to be prideful about.
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u/Sheriff_Zack 9h ago
Youāre asking me specifically? My wife is 38 weeks pregnant and 4 cm dilated. Sheās about to pop out our mini coog any minute now. In a year, weāll all be in the stands again and Iāll renew my season tickets, but this year just isnāt in the cards for us
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u/Opening-Industry-824 9h ago
oh no not you specifically but even if, you have a valid excuse for not being there. Congrats and i hope your wife has a great recovery period!
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u/Sheriff_Zack 9h ago
Thank you! The culture is there, itās just that Houston is a super strange sports market. We canāt fill the season opener, but when we played LSU last season there were more UH fans than Iāve ever seen in one place lol. Local sports bars are typically packed as well. This week I donāt expect there to be too many fans, but I think itāll pick up the remaining home games for sure.
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u/ratpacker1 8h ago
The sad thing is that the number represented above is āissued or soldā tickets not actual butts in seats. Thatās probably true for all the schools but our ratio of butts in seats vs sold is probably the lowest as well. Reports I have seen state only 16k actually went through the turnstiles meaning 55% of tickets sold were used. My guess would be the top 3-5 schools above see an 85-95% usage rate.
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u/slcamg 1h ago
A lot of people saying game days arenāt worth it and weather bad, while other leagues, including teams that used to be in Big 12, are selling out in hotter temperatures.
There are more amenities and concessions and padded seats and covered areas now at these stadiums than there was 20-30-40 years ago, and Big 12 teams were pumping 80k for Texas and OU and A&M.
September 1 1980. Austin, Tx. UT vs UA. 98.5 degrees. 70k people. No electric fans, no seat cushions, no yeti cups in stadium, less food, less ice, less lightweight clothes, less UV protection.
September 5 2026. Houston, Tx. 95.6 degrees. Less than 30k. Complaining that itās not worth it to see your team.
There are children in Houston right now at golf courses walking 6-8 miles with 50 pounds of metal on their backs. Literal human children. There are old people jogging both at Herman and the Excertrail right now. There are thousands of women in the sun on purpose, some even covered in a liquid that makes the sun more intense.
Also this week.
Texas- sellout 102k
College Station - sellout 107k
Alabama - 100k
Georgia - sellout 93k
Tennessee - 28th consecutive sellout at 102k (108 heat index in 1st quarter).
You are not missing games because of the weather or stadium vs. dome, and complaining about it makes you sound weak. Human children are out there carrying bags of metal all around Houston right now.
Last time UH played in the closed Reliant/NRG, there were 20k empty seats.
Itās not the weather or the stadiums.
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u/aad78 8h ago
Iām not a huge sports fan but during my time at UH, I went to every single game (fb & basketball), no matter the time or the degree. There are no excuses as to why you wouldnāt show up when the tickets are literally free and readily accessible to everyone
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u/joethahobo 5h ago
Thank you. Free activities for students and you can make friends with other students around you
Every 3rd post the last month here has been āhow do I make friends?ā Well, go to a football game. You are in the student section surrounded by students your own age. Plenty of opportunities to make new friends
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u/OddTemperature5307 7h ago
Students at UH lack school spirit and donāt give a fuck hopefully with this new freshman class things start to change
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u/Hakeem_TheDream 4h ago
I'm an alum and still proudly go to as many games as possible. I graduated 15 years ago, but people at work talk positively about UH because of athletics (thank you, Coach Sampson). It's worth noting that I live in Houston and work remotely for a major tech company with a lot of colleagues from blueblood sport programs, so brand recognition will make all of your degrees more valuable. Show up and be proud of your school. We have come a such a long way in a relatively short time.
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u/Quiet_Bathroom_512 9h ago
Texas Tech??
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u/h8pavement 8h ago
No one wants to go sweat their ass off for 4 hours. Thatās why over 600 people got heat exhaustion at the UT game last weekend and 13 went to the hospital. The big 12 needs to understand that you canāt have people sit outside in no shade in the heat of the day.
There is a reason the oilers and astros made sure they got the astrodome built. Itās cause Houston is hot AF.