Fanbase size study

[admin]

Pretty interesting. Says that although Vandy has the smallest fanbase in the SEC, it would be ranked in the middle of the big 12 if it were in that conference.

[cc11316]

That is a very interesting article - love the visuals. Okay, where are these 800k fans that Vandy is supposed to have? I wonder if 800,000 different people have even passed through the gates at Vanderbilt stadium since it was originally built in 1922 - excluding UT fans (they don't count).

The article shows me something else or at least validates what I already thought - 50% of all fans cheer for one of the Top 16 programs (12% of ALL teams). It does show a fair weather nature to fans as there aren't that many alumni to cover a fraction of that.

[commadore]

That is a very interesting article - love the visuals. Okay, where are these 800k fans that Vandy is supposed to have? I wonder if 800,000 different people have even passed through the gates at Vanderbilt stadium since it was originally built in 1922 - excluding UT fans (they don't count).

The article shows me something else or at least validates what I already thought - 50% of all fans cheer for one of the Top 16 programs (12% of ALL teams). It does show a fair weather nature to fans as there aren't that many alumni to cover a fraction of that.

Our problem is the fans are spread all over the country. Won't find a bigger fan than me, but I live over 300 miles away. Have gone to Hawaii twice and all but one of the bowls this century. Even shared Basketball season tickets and came up for a baseball regional in 2018. Still, very hard to get away to drive up, get a hotel, and get back on a regular basis.

[docdore]

That is a very interesting article - love the visuals. Okay, where are these 800k fans that Vandy is supposed to have? I wonder if 800,000 different people have even passed through the gates at Vanderbilt stadium since it was originally built in 1922 - excluding UT fans (they don't count).

The article shows me something else or at least validates what I already thought - 50% of all fans cheer for one of the Top 16 programs (12% of ALL teams). It does show a fair weather nature to fans as there aren't that many alumni to cover a fraction of that.

Our problem is the fans are spread all over the country.

how about...all over the world?

[commadore]

That is a very interesting article - love the visuals. Okay, where are these 800k fans that Vandy is supposed to have? I wonder if 800,000 different people have even passed through the gates at Vanderbilt stadium since it was originally built in 1922 - excluding UT fans (they don't count).

The article shows me something else or at least validates what I already thought - 50% of all fans cheer for one of the Top 16 programs (12% of ALL teams). It does show a fair weather nature to fans as there aren't that many alumni to cover a fraction of that.

Our problem is the fans are spread all over the country.

how about...all over the world?

Well, most of the Vanderbilt grads in London, Paris, or Manila don't give a rat's ass about Vanderbilt football or baseball

[coachinwaiting]

Pretty interesting. Says that although Vandy has the smallest fanbase in the SEC, it would be ranked in the middle of the big 12 if it were in that conference.

The XII would probably listen if VU ever wanted/needed a new conference affiliation. It's also interesting that their leader WVU, which was brought in as a result of the departure of A&M and Mizzou, yet has a fan base nowhere near A&M and almost 1M less than Mizzou.

[vandy86]

I would like to see some stats on our student body. What percent went to sporting events at their high school? What percent go to Vanderbilt games? What percent know where the games are even being played?
I read an article in SI several years ago about Notre Dame's student body. Better than 25% of the males were captains of their football teams. That in itself says a lot. I would bet we may hit between 0-1/2 %.
I would like to see the break down of where the student body comes from in the US and around the world. A break down of where the alumni live would also be interested.
When I graduated in1967 our class had just over 425 graduates. That was 55 years ago .At that rate we would have just 23,375 alumni. That number is probably much larger because the classes are most likely larger today. Of course there are several from the classes before mine are still alive. Wonder what the exact number is?
Oh well-----ANCHOR DOWN DORES!!!

[bornadore57]

...who love the Black and Gold. Go 'Dores!!!! Anchored down for life!!

[AuricGoldfinger]

I find this incredibly fascinating and have probably spent way too much time with it.

Some random observations:
* Georgia's fanbase is smaller than I would have thought (its engagement beyond its alumni and local ties is puny, although it probably doesn't get much credit for the Atlanta metro because I'm guessing Athens is located just outside the 50-mile radius from the center of Atlanta as determined by the study), but then Georgia hasn't been consistently excellent on the field until the last few seasons.
* There's an implied assumption that private, academically-oriented schools located in large metro areas have greater potential for fan base engagement. Analytically, I get that. But practically speaking, it doesn't seem to work that way even when those programs win.
* It's also interesting how fandom for one school's basketball program doesn't seem translate into fans for football. There are lots of Duke basketball fans, but hardly anyone calls themselves a Duke football fan. Decades of winning trumps everything.
* The analysis of "at risk" fanbases is also interesting, although I would argue that Stanford is proof again that even when they were winning they weren't expanding their fanbase.
* I wish there was more detail about the methodology employed.

[nyyankeeDore]

I would like to see some stats on our student body. What percent went to sporting events at their high school? What percent go to Vanderbilt games? What percent know where the games are even being played?
I read an article in SI several years ago about Notre Dame's student body. Better than 25% of the males were captains of their football teams. That in itself says a lot. I would bet we may hit between 0-1/2 %.
I would like to see the break down of where the student body comes from in the US and around the world. A break down of where the alumni live would also be interested.
When I graduated in1967 our class had just over 425 graduates. That was 55 years ago .At that rate we would have just 23,375 alumni. That number is probably much larger because the classes are most likely larger today. Of course there are several from the classes before mine are still alive. Wonder what the exact number is?
Oh well-----ANCHOR DOWN DORES!!!

That claim seems like an extreme case of journalistic license.

[commadore]

I would like to see some stats on our student body. What percent went to sporting events at their high school? What percent go to Vanderbilt games? What percent know where the games are even being played?
I read an article in SI several years ago about Notre Dame's student body. Better than 25% of the males were captains of their football teams. That in itself says a lot. I would bet we may hit between 0-1/2 %.
I would like to see the break down of where the student body comes from in the US and around the world. A break down of where the alumni live would also be interested.
When I graduated in1967 our class had just over 425 graduates. That was 55 years ago .At that rate we would have just 23,375 alumni. That number is probably much larger because the classes are most likely larger today. Of course there are several from the classes before mine are still alive. Wonder what the exact number is?
Oh well-----ANCHOR DOWN DORES!!!

That claim seems like an extreme case of journalistic license.

Maybe 25% played on their high school team, but no way that many were captains.

[OldDude]

I would like to see some stats on our student body. What percent went to sporting events at their high school? What percent go to Vanderbilt games? What percent know where the games are even being played?
I read an article in SI several years ago about Notre Dame's student body. Better than 25% of the males were captains of their football teams. That in itself says a lot. I would bet we may hit between 0-1/2 %.
I would like to see the break down of where the student body comes from in the US and around the world. A break down of where the alumni live would also be interested.
When I graduated in1967 our class had just over 425 graduates. That was 55 years ago .At that rate we would have just 23,375 alumni. That number is probably much larger because the classes are most likely larger today. Of course there are several from the classes before mine are still alive. Wonder what the exact number is?
Oh well-----ANCHOR DOWN DORES!!!

That claim seems like an extreme case of journalistic license.

I thought so as well. Some recent figures as best I could find:

In 2020 ND with 8874 undergrads
52% male so 4614 male undergrads

If 25% were captains of their HS football team,
then 1153 fit this claim

There are approx 16,000 high school football teams in US.
Does seem a bit of a stretch that 7.2 % of all football captains end up at one college

[VU1970]

There are probably many fans of "winning" who don't really like football all that much.

[nyyankeeDore]

There are probably many fans of "winning" who don't really like football all that much.

Such as UUT "baseball fans".