For any sports fan, attending events in person often creates an emotional connection to their favorite teams and athletes. They get to embrace each moment, looking to their friends and family in disbelief, saying, “How can a human do that?”
Some games bring an amalgamation of lifelong stories for fans: Hank Aaron’s 715th home run, Kobe Bryant’s 60-point final game and the New England Patriots’ historic comeback in Super Bowl LI.
But it’s not just across the globe where history happens. It happens in our backyards with Georgia State Panthers athletics.
Fans’ eyes will always glow when they talk about the Panthers roaring into Neeland Stadium and shocking the sports world in front of over 85,000 people. They will tell the story of RJ Hunter and his shot against Baylor in 2015 to their children. Neither of these events was supposed to happen, but it sums up what recently has become a respectable collection of teams.
Now more than ever, fans are itching to secure tickets for live sporting events, but can the same be said regarding the Panthers’ athletic programs?
Associate athletic director Mike Holmes thinks that the recent success stems from a variety of circumstances. Atlanta is a busy city and a common tourist attraction for many who live outside of the state. Not many of those tourists are looking to see all that Georgia State may have to offer, even on game days.
“It’s not that we’re just going against Georgia and Georgia Tech for fans. We’re going up against the Falcons, and Atlanta United, and the Hawks, and the Braves and other events like Music Midtown,” Holmes said. “There’s a reason we’re all drawn to the city of Atlanta, and it’s because there’s so much great stuff to do.”
Holmes has been at Georgia State in some way, shape or form since 1998. Over the 22 years, he’s seen plenty of other schools supported on campus with Georgia Tech, Georgia and Clemson hoodies, among other schools. As the Panthers continue to pave their way into people’s lives, Holmes and the athletics department are looking to modernize their Panthers brand’s marketability.
“What we’ve got to do is get young adults that are growing up as Georgia State fans, and when they come to Georgia State, that’s all they care about,” Holmes said.
However, Holmes is hoping that head coach Shawn Elliott and the Panthers’ football team can change that, but it won’t be immediate and may take a generation or two of alumni to change that.
“I’ve joked around before [that] if you walked around campus before 2010, you could see an equal number of Georgia sweatshirts, [Georgia [Tech] sweatshirts, Clemson sweatshirts cause we didn’t have football,” Holmes said.
However, the athletics department also understands that they aren’t a mainstream school like the three Holmes mentioned.
“We live in a culture that wants overnight changes. And we would love overnight changes, but I think we’ve seen even things like the Tennessee win,” Holmes said. “Great win for the program, did a million things for it, we couldn’t just sit back the next week [knowing the rest of our games would be sellouts].”
Unlike the Yellow Jackets, and more notably the Bulldogs and Tigers, the Panthers are still building a football program.
Lack of attendance is a sore spot when it comes to Georgia State football. Rival fans are quick to pounce on the large swaths of empty seats in Center Parc Stadium.
However, how concerned should Georgia State be about the lack of support?
Over 30,000 fans showed up to watch the Panthers’ first football game in 2010. Yet, the Panthers have failed to reach the same turnout since they defeated Shorter University that September day.
With over 50,000 students, Georgia State is the largest university in the state. Those numbers haven’t translated to students at football games.
One of the most significant issues is the lack of engagement within the student body.
However, the other factor not discussed when looking at attendance is the quality of opponents. Georgia State lacks the advantage that UGA and Georgia Tech have, playing quality opponents from their Power-5 conferences to fill seats.
Except for games against Georgia Southern, the stands are pretty empty.
Ben Moore of 247Sports sees the quality of matchups as a critical reason for attendance or lack thereof.
Moore is a Georgia State alum and insider for the program. He’s also seen Georgia State athletics’ rise and understands that building a program essentially from scratch in a college-crazed city like Atlanta is easier said than done.
“No one is clamoring to watch Georgia State face Louisiana-Monroe,” Moore said. “Except for Southern, [Georgia] State has to make their games an event to watch for fans.”
Georgia State’s 2021 football schedule looks to rectify that issue, with games against multiple power five programs, including Auburn and North Carolina. However, the Panthers will need to play more meaningful games at home to grow the fanbase.
“If the Panthers manage to get wins against a team like Auburn and North Carolina, fans will come,” Moore said. “It all comes down to winning, and Georgia State has to win consistently.”
In other sports, such as basketball, Georgia State consistently wins while playing in the GSU Sports Arena, what some consider the Sun Belt Conference’s worst arena. With the new Convocation Center’s construction, the Panthers will look to raise their profile and attendance.
“The stadium is a selling point for fans and recruits,” Moore stated. “I can’t wait to see the crowd when the Panthers play Tech in the new stadium.”
Former alumni Jack Brinson aka the ‘Blue Bandit’ highlights while still cheering on the Panthers, it comes down to lack of wins.
“I’m happy with the progress, but it feels like it’s taking too long to get where we need to be as a football program,” Brinson said.
When it comes to fan attendance at State, there are a variety of issues at play. However, for the Panthers to cultivate an active fanbase, they require a breakout season in all programs. While it’s easier said than done, the Panthers will have to carve out a niche in a crowded college scene in Georgia.
Regardless of Holmes’, Moore’s and Brinson’s associations with Georgia State, it’s an open secret that the Panthers are far from where they want to rank in attendance columns. Each of the three understands the common goal: win games and watch the fans fill the stands.
