The first thing I’ll say is I don’t care about attendance. Fans griping about poor attendance is probably the most sustainable tradition at UH. If you use your tickets, you’ve done your job. Too many people worry about trolls on social media talking about UH’s attendance or aggregation websites using those social media posts to publish clickbait. But honestly, who cares? It’s not something you can do anything about, so why worry? My enjoyment of a game has nothing to do with how many people are in a stadium, and there’s no banner or trophy for most people wedged into an event.
But that does not mean UH shouldn’t be addressing attendance and the gameday presentation. And that starts with one of UH’s most significant issues: a lack of institutional knowledge. Athletics employees come in, try some things, get frustrated, and leave. The next guy does the same thing. If you’re like me and have been around 25+ years, you’ve seen that rinse/repeat cycle repeat a dozen times.
Understanding UH—a diverse, urban school with a less traditional fanbase than its peers—is more important than trying to fit the school into the same cookie-cutter mold taught in marketing classes.
Understanding the city of Houston is essential, too. Houston is an event town. There’s no greater example than the rodeo: RODEOHOUSTON is a cog, a vital part of the city’s DNA. The Texans, concerts, restaurant weeks, the marathon, art car parade, Renaissance Festival, zoo lights, and more are what this city thrives on. With an endless supply of things to do and 7,800,000 people looking to do them, it is difficult to stand out unless you are producing events. And the University of Houston needs to turn football games into events.
The blackout game is a prime example. This week, GoCoogs pitched the idea of turning the blackout game into the UNBREAKABLE Game, a once-a-year event where UH players and fans wear black, honor the legacy of Kurt Hester, and tie the game to cancer awareness, prevention, and funding. Use the game to celebrate the UNBREAKABLE people in the stands that are battling cancer, as well as our friends and family members we have lost. UH’s partnership with Memorial Hermann—including the new Memorial Hermann Football Operations Center—is a perfect way to engage the community in what could become an annual celebration.
Every football program has a ‘wear a different color’ day and an Armed Forces day, and those are great. But UH has to go beyond what everyone else does—in terms of innovation, affordability, and fan-friendliness.
As it stands, the gameday presentation at UH is not good. The parking situation is bad, prices are too high, congestion is an issue with any crowd over 30,000, and people are choosing to stay home because of it. And tailgating is not good, either (this season especially, with a Thursday night, Friday night, and two 11 a.m. kickoffs, which UH cannot dictate).
When my family first moved to the Houston area in the early 1990s, we were instantly drawn to the Astrodome for Astros games. And the Astros understood their fanbase: if you got to the game an hour before first pitch, you could park for $1. If you bought general admission tickets, they were a dollar. And on certain days of the week, hot dogs were a buck, too. At that point, being middle class might have been aspirational for us, but we were sports fans and wanted to attend live events. A family of three getting into the game for $4 was achievable.
Expecting that pricing would be unreasonable today, but the concept is the same: owner John J. McMullen could not fill the Astrodome. They averaged under 15,000 in those first two years we were here, so the Astros tried to encourage attendance any way they could. UH could take a lesson there: 20,000 empty seats priced at $45 aren’t making a dollar for Athletics. The outlying $30 pay-by-phone lots are too high for a casual fan looking to check out a game.
A family of three, like mine, would spend $158 to buy seats and parking for the TCU game.
It shouldn’t take a “celebrate the 2015 team” discount to get those people in the door. UH should offer tickets for $20 each until it can fill up the stadium. Not $20 plus fees plus tax. $20 total.
I’d go further: if you show up 2 hours before kickoff, outlying parking lots are $5. If you show up an hour before kickoff, parking is $10. Give people a reason to come and to come early. A family of three gets in for $65 if they arrive 75 minutes before the game. They can enjoy the tailgating scene, the kids’ zone, or walking around campus. Lower barriers to get non-traditional fans into the stadium and interested in the UH experience.
UH announced a crowd of 25,049 on Saturday, the lowest since the Kansas State game one year ago today (and the second-lowest since 2022). How does that happen for a ranked 7-1 team?
The Big 12 and media partners did you no favors with another 11 a.m. kickoff, especially the day after Halloween. But even with a 2:30 or 7 p.m. kickoff, there would have been 15,000+ empty seats in that stadium. The Athletics Department cannot control TV times, but they can control making it affordable and enjoyable to come to campus for a football game. That has to be where the focus is for the 2026 season.
