Making Game Day Better - Pregame activities

There is no one demographic which has been reliable when it comes to football attendance. The Alumni, Students, and Community all seem to have a brief surge here and there but it's seldom together and it's never for long. UB has made steady improvements over the past decade but there is a lot of room to improve.

Part of hooking in Community and Alumni crowd is a decent tailgate, something which is related to our food truck plea. Something else would be getting your hard core tailgaters closer to the stadium so other fans get to see what they are missing as they walk by.

But tail gating, as us old geezers think of it, will not be a major factor in the attendance of the students and other young people in the area. What's Drawn Students in the past?

Concerts! And it seems the Department is way out ahead of Bull Run on this one!

If you bring in the right combination of established high profile and new acts to UB games you might be able to get traction with those UB students who are not attending games now. The on campus kids who like football enough to root for their favorite pro team but who can't seem to drag themselves out of bed on Saturday.

Turn that lot into reliable football fans and attendance could see a very noticeable bump towards that 100,000 director White has been pushing towards.

It's also possible that the right acts will pull in measurable foot traffic from the Amherst, Tondawanda, and North Buffalo areas if it's advertised correctly. The Fan, AM1270 and home of the Buffalo Bulls is a sister station with WEDG.

When I was working in Buffalo Shredd and Ragan were part of my morning drive as they are for so many others. The two are a staple in Buffalo and WEDG as a the Edge, as a Active Rock station, might be the best place for UB to get the word out.

So who is UB bringing in?

Well you're going to have to watch this summer as they release the name of one band a week but so far what do we know?

During home coming, October 5th, fans will be treated to two-time Grammy Award winner Kool and the Gang will be performing. Kool and the Gang bring will be at the UB campus right after the first leg of Kid Rock's Rebel Soul Tour.

Their UB appearance comes off the heels of their wildly successful 50 plus city tour last year with Van Halen. With 25 certified top ten hits such as "Get Down On It" and the classic hit "Celebration," Kool and the Gang have performed continuously longer than any R&B group in history.

Sayth Danny White

"We couldn't be more excited about the UB Football Tailgate Concert Series along with the other promotional enhancements we have in store for our fans. In addition to the headline acts appearing at UB Stadium this season, Stampede Square will come alive with interactive fan activities, giveaways, and the broadcast of a live radio pregame show courtesy of CBS Sports Radio THE FAN 1270 am.

It's a good move, depending on who the other acts are this might help bump UB over the 20,000 per game mark White has been aiming for since the spring.

UPDATE Band 2 - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Fans going to the UMass game will be treated to "Big Bad Voodoo Daddy". The band will be performing at UB Stadium October 19th two hours before Kickoff.

The band was named Big Bad Voodoo Daddy after Scotty Morris met blues guitar legend Albert Collins at one of the latter's concerts. "He signed my poster 'To Scotty, the big bad voodoo daddy'," Morris explains. "I thought it was the coolest name I ever heard on one of the coolest musical nights I ever had. So when it came time to name this band, I didn't really have a choice. I felt like it was handed down to me." --Wiki