The O Zone's new policies may drive students away from games.
In recent years, Division I programs such as Florida and Michigan, have fallen victim to a lack of student attendance for football and men’s basketball games — a worrying trend for athletic directors throughout the country. Ohio, however, has been a surprising exception to that.
Sporting the highest attendance in the Mid-American Conference for football and basketball games recently, Bobcat fans have earned the title of “The Best Fans in the MAC."
But with the new policies put in place this upcoming season, it’s quite possible that the “Best Fans in the MAC” may see a noticeable attendance drop.
In an email sent to students Monday, the O Zone, Ohio University’s official student section, announced a new policy that says students must wear their “O Zone wristbands” in order to gain entry into the front rows of The Convo and Peden Stadium.
This year, a wristband is acquired when students purchase an O Zone membership packet for $20, which includes a T-shirt and priority seating to all home events.
The email also mentioned that O Zone seating will be enforced at all home football and men's basketball games by making sure only students that paid for the packet will be seated at the front.
For a school struggling with keeping students at home football games past halftime, I don’t think making fans pay for a good view, while conveniently throwing in a T-shirt, is the best way to grow a fanbase.
Elsewhere in the MAC, Akron actually paid its students to attend basketball games last year, promising $5 to be added on students’ "Zip Cards" — the equivalent of Bobcat Cash — for each of the final three homes games they attended. An extra $5 bonus was given if they attended all three games.
With some students cheering for the Buckeyes rather than the Bobcats, forcing away potential fans because they didn’t pay a fee is ludicrous.
Students facing the prospect of having not so great seats in Peden or staying in their dorm rooms would probably choose the latter.
At last year’s vital end-of-season home basketball game against Bowling Green, fans were incentivized to attend by being offered free Chick-Fil-A, a delicacy in Athens.
And yet, the student section was barely filled.
Giving away free dinner, a college student’s calling card, still couldn’t encourage students to show up.
With making sure that only students that paid for a membership package get to sit in the front, not only might school spirit take a hit, but actual on-field performance might too.
I can say that with more students sitting closer to the action, the whole game’s atmosphere will become immensely better.
Not paying for the packet won't make the O Zone as feared as the "Cameron Crazies" for Duke basketball or the "12th man" for Texas A&M football, but it will make attending games a much bigger part of Ohio.
Instead, students should be able to fill the stands however they’d like and show their Bobcat pride without worrying about a fee.
