Mercer Football lands Five Star Commit

There are few schools left in the FCS that can draw 20k plus. In 2014, FCS schools averaged just over 8,000 fans a game. The SoCon schools average over that, despite losing their two biggest draws (App State and Georgia Southern). Not only did those schools draw well at home (App consistently around 25k for the last ten years or so, and GSU consistently approaching 20k), but they also brought a lot of fans on the road.

Last season, only one school in the FCS drew over 20k a game--Montana. Montana, unlike many FCS schools in the south, is a flagship university with multiple national titles and 18 conference titles. With maybe one or two exceptions, the "biggest draws" at the FCS level fit one of three profiles: (1) major universities in states outside of the South (Delaware, UNI, NDSU, Montana), (2) Ivy League (Yale, Harvard, etc.) or (3) Historically Black Colleges (Jackson State, Southern, etc.)

Mercer does not fit one of those profiles. Mercer, like several of the remaining SoCon schools, is a small private college located in a state already dominated by large football programs. Mercer has a large alumni network, but many (probably most) of their grad students have allegiances to other universities. There are not many folks that "grow up" a Mercer or Furman fan like one grows up an Alabama or Georgia fan. That fan base has to be created, and it is usually limited to those people that attended or who had close family that attended the school. Obviously, that number is going to have a limit.

For those used to watching big programs like Georgia and Auburn, the FCS can feel a little high schoolish. However, Mercer's stadium, like most in the SoCon, are far bigger than most college parks around the country. In my opinion though, it is the way college football is meant to be, not this semi-pro garbage that takes over the airwaves for months every year.

I think if you are going to look at Mercer's future attendance, there are plenty of good comparables. College football attendance is down (D1 attendance dropped by nearly 700k fans last season). Furman and Wofford are both small liberal arts colleges with lower undergraduate enrollment than Mercer. Samford is a very similar school. Those schools, these days, tend to draw between 7-10k fans. In good years, Furman would push 13k. I think now that GSU and App (and their large fan bases) are gone, and once the "newness" factor wears off, Mercer will find itself somewhere in that range.

Interesting question.  I think there are some significant differences.  First, Georgia Southern has an undergraduate population that is over three times larger than Mercer's.  Second, unlike Macon, Statesboro is pretty well close to nothing but Savannah, which is a remote outpost in Georgia (i.e., they have a captive audience).  Third, Georgia Southern has a long history of the one thing that brings out fans in droves - winning (six national titles).  

Even then, their last year in the SoCon Georgia Southern drew only about 15k fans. There was only a reported 12k fans there in 2013 to see the final game of an intense rivalry with Furman.

You raise an interesting issue about Macon as a sports town.  Unlike other cities of similar size in Georgia (Columbus, Savannah, Augusta, etc.), Macon has had difficulty for years supporting sports franchises.  The fan base has largely been disinterested.

I'm not sure the military will have much effect.  Robins AFB is overwhelmingly civilian (compared to many Georgia Army bases which are overwhelmingly active duty).  One of the oddities of Middle Georgia is that Warner Robins and Macon have always struck me as having a strained relationship.  Despite having a lot of commonalities, there is very little interest on either side of engaging one another in a sort of "shared" economic enterprise. I think now that there is a bit more competent leadership in the city, that relationship may improve.  Who knows what effect it will have on football.

Any team can become a dominant player in the SoCon.  Mercer has some advantages over their competition.  Their competition has some advantages over Mercer.

It is not as simple as you might make it out.  High school recruits are fickle (just like the high school population, generally).  They choose schools for any number of reasons.  Winning is just part of the equation.

That is where we are missing one other.  Remember, Mercer has a brand new stadium.  Brand spanking new.  What is there really to enhance? Sure, they built the pressbox on the wrong side and have no shade within 400 yards of the park.  Other than that, it is already a really nice facility.

Furman just renovated parts of Paladin Stadium, which was built (and left relatively untouched) since 1981. Furman appeared in three national title games, won a championship, and won all but 2 of their 13 SoCon titles playing in that stadium.  They had the #1 team in the country as recently as 2005 when that stadium was almost 25 years old.  That is to say, you don't need only shiny new facilities to attract quality recruits.  Samford has a very good team and a tiny stadium.  Wofford has been a top five team with little substantive commitment to facilities that I am aware of.

My opinion?  Give Mercer ten years.  Have some good and bad seasons and see what changes need to be made.  It is foolish to overbuild a football stadium because of excitement generated in the first two seasons.  Let some of the shine wear off, have a couple mediocre seasons, and then gauge whether facility enhancements are needed.

good to hear that about MU FBS teams.... it's very important to have that type of competition on your schedule.

You have to free your mind from an SEC-biased view of the world.  The overwhelming majority of college football programs in the country play in modest stadiums in front of a couple of thousand fans.  The arms race that is the SEC and major college football is nothing like what you will see at the FCS level.  Those schools rake in tens of millions in revenue.  Most FCS schools (and most FBS schools, too) are lucky to break even.

Just my opinion, but I would suggest visiting those stadiums you consider terrible before jumping to conclusions.  Most are quite nice.