Is Fresno State football seeing the coming of ‘The Next Wave’? Student attendance surges

The Red Wave for decades has been synonymous with Fresno State, but the aging of a fan base that helped build Bulldogs sports, and the long-term financial impacts of that, has been a growing concern for officials through three athletics department administrations.

There have been some down years with declining attendance, without question.

But Fresno State could now be seeing loud hints of what athletics director Terry Tumey referred to as “The Next Wave” after the No. 22 Bulldogs’ 38-30 victory over UNLV on a Friday night drew a crowd of 35,093 including an overflow number of rambunctious students.

The usual allotment of 3,500 student tickets were snapped up by Thursday afternoon and the athletics department continued to move students into other sections to make sure no one was left out.

But the key is to keep those students coming back, engaging with Bulldogs athletics teams and the university.

“We have to figure out how to continue the momentum of these students supporting us the way they are,” Tumey said. “This is a different version (of students). They are absolutely incredible, so we have to figure out how to continue that. This is ‘The New Wave.’ We love our Red Wave, but the wave is generational and this is that next generation and we have to figure out how to keep feeding these kids.”

To fuel interest with students, reach new markets and attract a next generation of fans, the athletics department put together promotions to drive student season ticket sales. It has increased its social media presence posting edgy graphics, photos and videos to Twitter and Instagram. It has launched a popular podcast featuring former Bulldogs student-athletes.

Fresno State also discounted student tickets to $5 from $10 for the past two games.

Fresno State cultivating ‘The Next Wave’

“When it comes to our students and getting them to engage in these experiences for this university, I don’t think we as a university are so worried about the price of admission,” Tumey said. “What we’re concerned about is our students feeling really good about this institution and wanting to be there and if our students really want to be there, we’re going to get them there. If we need to reduce the ticket price for a student in order for them to enjoy their university and fellow students in competition, we’re going to do that.

“We’re going to figure out how to make sure they know they’re an appreciated part of this community, and we hope other community members will support that and support us as we continue to show the best parts of this Valley to the nation.”

That has happened at the start of this season. and seldom in the past few years. The difference between the first three home games and the past seven or eight seasons is stark.

Student attendance at football games has been down since 2013, when Derek Carr and Davante Adams led the Bulldogs to a Mountain West Conference championship.

Some lean seasons on the football field followed, but even in 2018, when Fresno State won a conference title under coach Jeff Tedford, there were a lot of empty seats in the student seating section in the south end zone.

The most student tickets scanned at entry gates that season was 3,339, according to data provided by the university. The average for six home games was just 1,716.

The average in 2017 was 1,698.

The average in 2019 was just 1,093.

There were games in all three years that there were fewer than 1,000 student tickets scanned at the entry gate, and in 2019 three of the six home games had fewer than 1,000 student tickets scanned.

It is a difficult sell on a commuter campus where the age of undergraduate students trends older and there is limited on-campus housing.

That isn’t likely to change, but student attendance at football games could be starting to turn with a team that is ranked in the Top 25 and led by quarterback Jake Haener and a deep set of wideouts who combine for a lot of exciting plays.

The next three weeks will provide a test – the Bulldogs, 4-1 and 1-0 in the Mountain West, do not play their next home game until Oct. 23 against Nevada. But if Fresno State wins games at Hawaii and at Wyoming sandwiched around a bye week and remains ranked in the Top 25, that Nevada game could be the first sellout at Bulldog Stadium since the 2014 home-opener when it was overrun by Nebraska fans in a crowd of 41,031.

Bulldog Stadium crowd was largest since 2018

Fresno State on Oct. 23 will retire the No. 22 jersey of Lorenzo Neal, who played three seasons with the Bulldogs and was the second-leading rusher in school history when he was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 1993 NFL Draft.

It also is homecoming weekend and the Bulldogs will be playing a Wolf Pack team that was picked to win the West Division in the Mountain West in a preseason poll of media that covers the conference.

The future and financial implications aside, it also is a plus on the football field.

“Man, it was awesome,” coach Kalen DeBoer said, of the crowd for the victory over UNLV. “We can’t say enough about how it feels to walk into a stadium, coming down the ramp in the third quarter.

“The frustrating thing is we gave up a play right away and I know our guys, they want to do it so bad for the Red Wave and give back. They love hearing that place rocking and it was great tonight.”

The crowd – Fresno State had averaged just 25,530 for its past three Friday night home games and has not had a larger attendance at a home game since 2018 – definitely had an impact against UNLV.

“I would say me being here for five years, that was probably the most packed I’ve seen since probably the 2018 team when we played Boise here,” said defensive end Arron Mosby, who had a big sack and forced fumble that was recovered by the Bulldogs to help seal the victory.

“Just having their support, them coming alive in the fourth quarter, played a big role.”

This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 3:00 PM.