Fresno State has a lot to play for this football season. But where are the fans?

Fresno State has increased its football attendance over the past three non-COVID football seasons, running contrary to a national trend. It has engaged with its students, who have come back to games in greater numbers. It also is sitting on what could be an historic season, with the talent returning from a team that was 10-3 a year ago.

But with the season-opener against FCS Cal Poly less than two weeks away, athletics department officials are staring at ticket sales projections that barely trickle past the 30,000 mark, and there is more at stake for the Bulldogs than wins and losses on the football field with the potential looming for further conference realignment and perhaps even a full makeover of the NCAA and its Division I.

“This is where we as an institution and a partner in the community really lean on the importance of not only winning the game,” athletics director Terry Tumey said. “I think we need to start understanding that a true win for our community is not only beating the opponent on the field of play, but also the statement that we make in terms of engagement, the statement our community makes in terms of how we are celebrating this institution.

“For us, we always want to put our best foot forward, and our young people and the coaches that are stewarding them will always put their best efforts forward for us to win the games. But it’s just as important for our community to be there, to partner with us and to witness it and be a part of it, to experience the benefits of it and to enjoy the contest. That’s a win as well.”

Fresno State moved the Cal Poly game to a Thursday night to accommodate a national TV broadcast, which could be impacting ticket sales. But it also is out of a three-day holiday weekend window, and it is worth noting the Bulldogs opened 2015 against a FCS opponent on a Thursday night and the attendance for that game was 32,547.

That ‘15 team did not have the star power or the upside that the Bulldogs do this season, with an offense loaded and led by quarterback Jake Haener, running back Jordan Mims and wideouts Jalen Cropper and Josh Kelly.

And, given the landscape of college football, there’s more to watch than just the final scores week to week.

Three of the four teams that were invited to join the Big 12 Conference sold 89% or higher of their available seats last football season — BYU (96.7%), Cincinnati (93.3%) and Central Florida (89.2%) — and the fourth is in the eighth largest media market in the United States.

Attendance impact on Fresno State program perception

“We have shown our ability to do exactly what those other institutions have done,” Tumey said. “A 90% threshold in a 40,000-seat stadium is 36,000 people. We’ve done that. Our challenge this year is to be consistent with that, to consistently show support, to consistently be there.

“I don’t say that from any vantage point other than the fact that if we are truly going to show the nation who we are, we have to step up and be a part of it. We have to show that this is important to us. We know that it is. We know we can do it, and I have much appreciation for our community. But it has to happen every week. It should not be a fluke that we are at 90% to 95% capacity. That’s not a fluke. That’s who we are.”

Fresno State has run a number of ticket specials including a buy-one-get-one-free promotion that started Wednesday. It has partnerships with Costco, Univision and Marco’s Pizza to offer ticket specials, and has offered specials to a number of local businesses including Valley Children’s Hospital.

The game against the Mustangs will be the first in a newly-named Valley Children’s Stadium.

But there has been no uptick in sales, yet.

The Bulldogs’ Sept. 10 game against Oregon State is tracking well, likely to get into the high 30,000s and could sell out. But, Tumey said, that needs to be the case six times a season.

“You’ve got a very successful campaign from last year that we’re building off,” he said. “You’ve got the return of a coach who is proven and historically has had success here. You have a lot of returning players from your team coming back. You’ve got the added push or drive to prove what you are, with the transformation of football and what’s going on with the NCAA.

“You have a chance right now to define what Fresno State is, not only to our region, but to our nation. There’s no better time than right now to move it forward and show who we are, and literally the way we win in doing that, is just for people to engage and show up and be a part of this community.”