Carter's Corner: Time Change Boosted Crowd And Vibe at Orange & Blue Debut
Wednesday, April 20, 2016 | Football, Scott Carter
Florida's spring game attendance increase ranks second in SEC
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The decision to turn on those Friday Night Lights for the Florida spring game proved well worth the cost of electricity.
The Gators held their annual Orange & Blue Debut for the first time at night on April 8 and fans responded enthusiastically as an announced crowd of 46,000 turned out for head coach Jim McElwain's second spring game at UF.
Besides quarterback Luke Del Rio's impressive performance (10 of 11, 176 yards, two touchdowns), the biggest takeaway I had was that the change in time was an upbeat success. The Swamp felt alive and while only half full compared to most Saturdays in the fall, the crowd dwarfed that of the 2015 spring game.
With Arkansas the only SEC team yet to play its spring game – the annual Red-White Game is Saturday – Florida's attendance spike ranks second in the league only behind Georgia this spring. (See chart below).
No announcement has been made on the time of next year's game, but McElwain was clearly pleased at the turnout afterward.
"It was really good,'' McElwain said. "The success of this is something that will always just keep growing. We doubled the crowd from what we had a year ago, all the events going along with it, the students were jacked up and they were in it. And it's going to give us a great opportunity to spend a full day with some guys that are staying over as far as the recruiting piece goes."
The change provided the Gators great exposure with the game broadcast live on the SEC Network during a window that featured no other spring games. In addition, the University Athletic Association added auxiliary events outside the stadium prior to the game such as the BUBBA Burger Gator Fan Fest and the Swamp Wing Cook-Off.
For the record, whether day or night, the Swamp Wing Cook-Off needs to become as synonymous with the Orange & Blue Debut as, well, actual football.
There's talk of more fan-friendly events being added outside the stadium prior to the game, which could help create a street-festival atmosphere in the future and turn the event into a Friday night out for locals and an opportunity for out-of-towners to take Friday off and kick off a three-day weekend back on campus.
Make it a Florida Friday with the Orange & Blue Debut as the main event. And as McElwain pointed out, the recruiting piece fits nicely into place for the football program.
Here is a look at the crowds at SEC spring games via attendance figures compiled by SaturdayDownSouth.com:
| SCHOOL | 2016 | 2015 | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | 93,000 | 46,815 | + 46,185 |
| Florida | 46,000 | 21,000 | + 25,000 |
| Alabama | 76,212 | 65,175 | + 11,037 |
| South Carolina | 32,916 | 22,580 | + 10,336 |
| Tennessee | 67,027 | 63,016 | + 4,011 |
| LSU | 21,000 | 18,565 | + 2,435 |
| Vanderbilt | 3,500 | 5,000 | - 1,500 |
| Missouri | 24,473 | 30,117 | - 5,644 |
| Mississippi State | 15,717 | 21,500 | - 5,783 |
| Auburn | 45,723 | 62,143 | - 16,420 |
| Kentucky | 28,441 | N/A | N/A |
| Texas A&M | 27,412 | N/A | N/A |
| Arkansas | N/A | 41,220 | TBD |
| Ole Miss | N/A | 15,000 | N/A |
Notes: Ole Miss did not have 2016 spring game due to stadium renovations; Kentucky and Texas A&M did not have 2015 spring games due to stadium renovations.
Last but not least (by one of those tasty wings), I want to share the results of the inaugural Swamp Wing Cook-Off. A disclaimer: there were no bad wings. Each of the contestants clearly knows wings. My tastebuds can confirm. Still, some wings are better than others, and according to the four judges, the big winner was Bill Gair and his orange habanero bourbon wings. Check out this story by Andy Staples of SI.com for a more comprehensive breakdown of kicker Eddy Pineiro's performance and of Gair's winning wings.
Thanks to UAA marketing assistant Yanna Pantelis, here are the final results:
Winners for each category are:
Dry Rub
- Jason Ross
- Bill Gair
- Kenny Kingswell
Traditional
- Bill Gair
- Jason Ross
- Nathan Meth
Overall
- Bill Gair
- Nathan Meth
- Jason Ross
