Time to Sellout Whitmire

Will the Catamount nation once again lead The Southern Conference in home football attendance? Last season the Catamounts averaged 9,876 fans in Whitmire Stadium, good enough for second place, just behind Mercer at a 10,605 average.  

That 9,876 average ranked Western Carolina, #22 in the FCS for the 2022 season, just behind William & Mary, at an average of  10,026.  However, to move up in both the SoCon and FCS standings, WCU fans will need to buy tickets and put butts in the seats in Cullowhee this year.  While we were behind Mercer, three other fan bases, The Citadel, Furman, & ETSU were right on our heels in home attendance.  The Citadel came in at 9,865, Furman had 9,646, and ETSU was at 9,571 for the season. 

Certainly, Mercer, Furman, The Citadel and ETSU are more than capable of putting more fans in their stadiums, especially Furman and Mercer, if preseason expectations prove correct.  While both Samford and Chattanooga also have favorable expectations, history has proven they will not be in the race to lead home attendance, as last season, Chattanooga just broke the 8k mark, and Samford, with a championships season, came in at 5.5k for the year. 

A good start for the Catamounts will be to sell out the home opener against Samford. Not only is this the conference opener, it's against the defending conference champion, and expectations for the coming season are running high for both fan bases. We need to support this team and coaching staff by our attendance, and continue to make Cullowhee and E.J. Whitmire Stadium the place in our conference that everyone dreads to make that trip up Hwy 107, through Catamount Gap. Go Cats, fill up Whitmire on September 9th.