Peter Holland Jr. // Asst. Sports Director
Homecoming week is supposed to bring students, faculty and alumni together to unite as one and show school pride.
What better way to do that than on a Saturday to tailgate and then watch the Panthers play at the stadium? But there’s one issue: getting people to attend the homecoming game.
In the last three seasons, homecoming attendance hasn’t been steady. The lowest was during the 2013 season when the Panthers finished the year with a 1-11 record overall.
The attendance for homecoming game that year, which was against University of Alabama Birmingham, was 13,163 people, according to FIUSports.com.
Santiago Archieri, an FIU cheerleader majoring in broadcast media, has attended every home game.
“The best we’ve done is the parade on game day,” Archieri said. “There has to be something to get fans in the seats to create a homecoming tradition and atmosphere.”
Looking back to last year’s homecoming game, with an attendance of 17,961, the Panthers put up a victory against Old Dominion University. During the game, starting quarterback Alex McGough broke all-time school records in passes and touchdowns and broke a single-season record for most touchdowns in his career.
Former FIUSM staff writer Jake Spiwak thinks that games like these are what homecoming is all about.
“I believe homecoming is about school spirit and students and alumni coming together,” said Spiwak. “FIU football is absolutely the key component of that. I just wish more people cared about their school and showed up at the game and parade.”
Despite little success, athletic director Pete Garcia and his marketing team will try whatever to fill out seats, especially during homecoming week. Other than free foods and tablets, who knows what Garcia will do next to get fans to attend this game.
“There’s not much else they can do,” said Archieri. “The marketing team at FIU is amazing and does their best, but losing 53-14 to UCF [several weeks ago], or getting blown out in three games to start the season at home isn’t enough.”
The Panthers will face Louisiana Tech for their homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m.
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