Video by Tarrian Rogers and Leo Beas







"Our fans need to step up."







Those were the words uttered by Nevada football head coach Brian Polian

days before the Wolf Pack faced Fresno State at home on Nov. 23.

Polian’s words had merit to it.







The matchup was crucial. For one, it was a de facto Mountain West

Conference Championship play-in game with the winner all but assuring a

spot in the title game against Boise State. Two, it was senior night,

no less. Two of the campus’ most visible athletes — quarterback Cody Fajardo and mullet-wearing defensive end Brock Hekking — were playing

their final games at Mackay Stadium.







In the lead up to the showdown, Fresno State’s athletic department

urged its fan base to turn Reno “red” (their school colors). Polian

countered with hopes of coating Mackay Stadium blue.







In the end, the game was neither blue nor red. Rather, it was grey, the

color of empty bleachers. The fans didn’t step up, illustrated by the

announced attendance of 21,446 — the third lowest home crowd of the

season.







The turnout was the latest example of lukewarm fan support for the Wolf

Pack. Here we examine why Nevada has struggled to draw fans.







Does the fault lie within the athletic department? The marketing of the

program? The on-field success of Wolf Pack teams? The monopoly that is

ESPN?







Nevada is fresh off a 2014 fiscal year where it posted a $39,450 budget

shortfall, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal. The athletic

department has operated in the black just once since 2009.







As long as attendance issues linger, budget problems will sure to

follow.





[MEDIA:1446080]







Winning is everything?





The end-all, be-all cure to boosting attendance is winning, just ask

Wolf Pack assistant athletic director of marketing and promotion Holly

Aycock.







“Winning is everything. If you can win on the field, my

entire job gets easier.”





“Winning is everything,” she said. “If you can win on the field, my

entire job gets easier.”







A peak into Nevada men’s basketball season-ticket sales proves that.

During the 2007-08 campaign — the season after the Wolf Pack qualified

for its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament — the athletic department

sold a record-high 9,768 season tickets. Lawlor Events Center’s max

capacity is 11,516. That’s 85 percent of the arena being filled by

season tickets alone.







Fast-forward to 2014, Nevada hasn’t reached the Big Dance since and

reported 4,103 in season-ticket sales for this season — a 58 percent

plummet from its 2007 peak. Of course, the Wolf Pack went 15-17 a year

ago, its second consecutive losing season.







However, winning hasn’t always translated into high attendance at

Nevada.



Look no further than the Wolf Pack football team’s 2010 “dream” season,

led by now-San Francisco 49ers’ signal caller Colin Kaepernick. Nevada

posted a 13-1 record and finished the season ranked No. 11 in the

Associated Press poll — both marks were program highs.







But just how much of Mackay Stadium’s 29,993-person capacity was filled

that year? During the Wolf Pack’s seven home games, it averaged a

measly attendance of 19,576 or 65 percent of the stadium’s capacity.







Need more evidence of Nevada’s Jekyll-and-Hyde fan support that season?

An overflow crowd of 30,712 watched the Wolf Pack defeat No. 3 Boise

State at home late in November. A week before that cult-classic game,

an abysmal 10,906 fans turned out to see Nevada battle New Mexico State.







Sure, the caliber of opponent was a steep drop off, but a

20,000-person-worthy drop off? All the while, the Wolf Pack was the No.

19 team in the nation? It’s hard to explain.







If it’s not on-field performance, then what gives?







Men’s basketball







cellspacing="2">SeasonSeason-Ticket SalesRecord2007-089,76821-122008-098,82021-132009-106,10321-132010-117,01513-192011-125,12621-82012-135,19012-192013-144,53115-172014-154,103TBDFootballcellspacing="2">SeasonAvg Home AttendanceRecord200717,0876-7200819,0437-6200917,5008-5201019,57613-1201115,7767-6201223,4327-6201324,9394-8201423,8627-5Creating the fan experienceAsk the Nevada athletic department’s four-person marketing team whattheir purpose is and you’ll hear something along these lines:“We make the magic happen — from when the fan buys the ticket, to thetailgate, to the music and beyond,” Aycock said. “We want fans, win orlose, to have a great experience and that’s what my job is.”Whether it’s the football team running out of the tunnel engulfed insmoke with Kanye West’s “Power” blaring on the loudspeakers or thewomen’s basketball team’s annual Susan G. Koman Foundation night, themarketing team has their fingerprints on it.Lately, the marketing team has focused on cause-driven promotions andthe women’s basketball team and its head coach Jane Albright has beenthe motor.Exhibit A: On Dec. 10, the team will host its annual “When I Grow Up”kids game against Cal State Stanislaus. During the 11 a.m. game,thousands of Washoe County School District students will take a fieldtrip to Lawlor Events Center to watch the game.“By history, women’s sports have always been in the background of men’ssports,” Albright said. “We need to connect with our fans one-on-oneand really show we want to give back to the community.”Aycock admits it’s harder to market women’s sports, especially with itsniche audience that trends toward families and elderly people. But shefalls short of saying the marketing team cares more about themoneymaking sports such as football and men’s basketball.“We put as much effort into promoting women’s sports, if not more, thanwe do on men’s sports,” Aycock said.However, marketing only makes up half of the game-day experience. Theother is the facilities in which the games are played..mediaplayer-box:before {content:"";display:block;padding-top:56.25%;The arms raceHere’s a little known fact: the track that surrounds the gridiron atMackay Stadium doesn’t meet the NCAA requirements to be able to host ameet. Due to the bleachers that hang above the two arcs of the track,the Wolf Pack women’s track and field team can’t compete in front ofits home fans.This dilemma has been a crutch for the program, according to Nevadarunner Mariah Gramolini.“Not being able to host a home meet is a huge burden,” she said. “Wehave to find other ways to get fans involved with us because we don’thave games where the fans can support us.”That’s just one of the multitude of problems that face the Wolf Packathletic department in terms of its facilities.The others? Worn-out tennis courts for its men’s and women’s programs.An outdated Mackay Stadium, which hasn’t seen a major facelift since1996. No indoor practice facility for its athletes once winter hits. Noshooting range on campus for its rifle team. No diving platform for theswim team. The list goes on and on.The good news is Nevada athletic director Doug Knuth has all theaforementioned issues on his radar. The bad news is the cash-strappeddepartment (which has the smallest budget in its 11-team conference)can’t pay for everything anytime soon.“I can’t prioritize the projects, I can’t put one ofthese off one month, or six months, or a year. I got to get them alldone now.”“I can’t prioritize the projects,” Knuth said. “I can’t put one ofthese off one month, or six months, or a year. I got to get them alldone now.”Knuth’s never-say-never mentality has already paved the way for one ofthe changes — an $11.5 million renovation of Mackay Stadium.The Nevada Board of Regents approved the upgrade on Dec. 5, a movewhich Knuth calls a “game-changer.”The facelift is slotted to trim Mackay Stadium’s capacity by 4,000seats, however, will add club-level seating, more than 4,000 permanentchair-backs to seats, additional restrooms and make the entire stadiummore handicap-friendly with rails and ramps.The deadline for the renovation’s completion has been bookmarked forthe start of the 2016 season.The news shows Nevada’s athletic department is heading in the rightdirection, but it still has ways to go before catching up to itsconference counterparts. The benchmark should be Boise State, which hascompleted more than $82 million in facility projects since 2006,according to the RGJ.With that said, is the in-game experience diminishing?All of the LightsTen of the Wolf Pack football team’s 12 games had a kickoff time of7:30 p.m. or later this season.Playing under the lights isn’t under the discretion of Nevada’sathletic department. Instead, the conference’s television partners —ESPN and CBS Sports — set the time.Televised nighttime games are a double-edged sword. On one hand, theWolf Pack receives six-figure bonuses for playing on ESPN and exposurethat is second-to-none.“We could not pay for all the advertising we get on TV,” Aycock said.“You want to be on TV. It helps the entire school, helps in recruitingand you can’t turn that down.”On the other hand, those late start times, coupled with chilly weatherin October, November and December, has possibly thwarted fan turnout atfootball games.This season, the Wolf Pack’s November home games against San Diego State and Fresno State drew the least and third-least attendance of the

year, respectively.







Late-night TV games raise the question for the Silver and Blue

faithful: sit in the warmth of your home to watch the game or pay to

sit outside and brave the cold?







The Verdict

The jury is still out on this one. There’s no way of pinning Nevada’s

lukewarm fan base on one thing. There are too many variables —

television deals, on-field success, budget shortcomings, marketing and

even Northern Nevada’s culture.







Take a stroll around Reno and it becomes apparent, the Wolf Pack has a

special place in the community. The abundance of Silver and Blue garb

and merchandise is telling.







“Reno is a small-town community and I really believe they want us to

succeed,” Aycock said.







Nonetheless, that support isn’t making its way into the stands. For an

athletic program operating in the red and under achieving on

the field, fans need to step up if the Wolf Pack's situation is to

improve.









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See what Nevada Wolf Pack fans are saying here





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