At the University of Wisconsin, men’s and women’s soccer are not typically the most popular sports, at least compared to their higher-attended counterparts like football and basketball.
The Kohl Center routinely sells out for men’s basketball games. The football team had 77,331 screaming fans to welcome it home to Camp Randall on Saturday vs. Akron.
But before Friday night, neither the men’s nor women’s soccer team was able to amass even 800 fans in attendance at the McClimon Complex.
PAC the MAC—at least for one night—changed that.
On Friday, the women’s and men’s teams brought in 1,160 and 1,834 supporters respectively, and were able to reap the benefits of a strong home-field advantage and a raucous student section.
It’s cynical, but necessary, to question why PAC the MAC (now in its eighth year) is consistently able to attract far bigger fan bases than usual for the school’s soccer teams.
Perhaps it’s the free student admission, face painting or meet-and-greet with Badger athletes. Or was it the trophy displays and sports inflatables that were part of this year’s “Pre-Game Badger Fan Experience”?
It’s impossible to know the specific reason that every attending fan showed up to PAC the MAC. But it is fair to say that the plethora of promotions and giveaways organized by the Badgers’ athletic department did have some role in getting these people into the door.
Nonetheless, amid all of the advertising and hype that PAC the MAC receives, there is still something to be said about the achievement of getting over 1,100 attendees apiece for two non-revenue games. These fans may have been enticed by the promotions, but they still needed to have some semblance of interest in soccer for them to bother coming to the event.
Whatever the reasons for fan attendance, both the men’s and women’s soccer players reveled in the support and attention they got during PAC the MAC. Any athlete will tell you that playing in front of a loud, packed fan base is a thrill, and such a rush doesn’t come around very often for Wisconsin’s soccer teams.
Though a large fan base provides players with a fun atmosphere to play in, of greater importance is the way fan support can genuinely impact results on the field.
No, there isn’t an exact science explaining the amount of energy and support that each fan provides. But there is no denying that the men’s and women’s respective double overtime victories—draining, exhausting and frustrating—were at least, in part, fueled by the unwavering support coming from the stands.
That doesn’t mean that these teams will be unable to win in the future without such a large outpouring of support. Contrarily, it also doesn’t mean they have an excuse to point to if they do slip up at home.
All it means, really, is that for one night, Wisconsin’s men’s and women’s soccer teams received far more support than usual. The fans enjoyed watching their nail-biting wins, and the players enjoyed playing in front of the crowd.
Some of the fans may return to the McClimon Complex, their interest in the sport piqued by PAC the MAC. Others, who will only remember the bouncy castle and face painting, are less likely to follow suit.
Either way, the men’s and women’s soccer teams will probably be largely unfazed and uninfluenced by these developments. PAC the MAC was an unabashed, if fleeting, success, but they will now return to business as usual.
No meet-and-greets, no face painting, no bouncy castles.
Just soccer.
