We can get big numbers. Jacksonville State has neighboring AL (#1 in FBS attendance) and Auburn, has a smaller population of 12K, a median household income lower than Youngstown, and has a smaller enrollment. There's many reasons why our attendance numbers are lacking, but even in the age of streaming internet broadcasts, and cheap flat screen TVs, some FCS schools are getting big crowds in 2016. You just need the right ppl in the drivers seat.
Jacksonville is in the center of a county with a population of about 113,000, but that doesn't really harm your point. Our attendance was worse than your current average prior to 2010. We opened our expanded and much-improved stadium that year, and perhaps just as importantly defeated Ole Miss the week before the first home game. Also made a few significant improvements to the game day experience. But we didn't really get to our current level of attendance until a mediocre head coach was shown the door and a few short seasons later we got the state's attention with an oh-so-close loss to Auburn and the deepest of runs in the playoffs.
You guys should be fine, as long as Pelini & Co. do one important thing: Win. A lot. Get started on that first thing next year, OK?
Oh, and one more thing about the environment here: Yes, we suffer the same struggles with the Tide and Tigers you guys do with the Buckeyes. But nothing our athletic department does on Saturdays would give you any clue there is a game going on anywhere other than in Jacksonville. Gameday here is all about the Gamecocks (and our band). You'll see some fans in crimson and some in orange on Saturday if you make the trip, but they've become a small minority. Youngstown State football is something special, and you should treat it as such.
