About three weeks after its last spring practice, Arizona completed a somewhat irregular spring football season Saturday by staging Fan Appreciation Day at Arizona Stadium.
I walked into the stadium about 12:30, midway through the event, and there couldnโt have been more than 200 fans. Remember, this is a Power 5 Conference school in a metro area of more than 1 million people. Even notoriously fan-needy ASU drew 4,600 for its โFan Festโ a week earlier.
A ticket bench set up by the entrance at Arizona Stadium, manned by three people Saturday, did virtually no business. Part of it is that Arizonaโs home schedule doesnโt have a get-your-tickets-now appeal: NAU, Houston, Utah, Wazzu, Oregon State and UCLA.
Additionally, the UA football program has no real personality. There are no stars around which to build a marketing campaign, as UA basketball did last week when it sent an email blastย about the return of Allonzo Trier.
Across the five months since beating ASU in the Territorial Cup, the โbiggestโ news created by the Arizona football program was that it scheduled a home game against FCS powerhouse North Dakota State in 2022.
Pretty. Darn. Sad.
