Ryan Peters, a senior accounting major at the University of Memphis, said before last season he had never missed a Tiger basketball game.
Growing up just outside the city in Olive Branch, Mississippi, Peters said he has been a life-long, die-hard Tiger fan. Through the highs of the Calipari era in basketball to the lows of the Larry Porter era in football, Peters would be in the stands cheering on his local team.
This season though, Peters has only attended one game. He said, “It doesn’t even feel like Tiger basketball anymore.”
“I’ve been a Tiger fan forever and watched all the games growing up,” Peters said. “Now it’s not fun. There is no energy.”
Peters said the defining moment when he lost faith in the program came last season, when the Tigers fell to Temple 80-75 in the first round of the American Athletic Conference tournament.
Peters is not the only Tiger fan who has lost faith or lost interest in the Tiger basketball program, as the Memphis Tigers men’s basketball program has had an average attendance of only 5,889 fans per home game this season, as discovered in a Freedom of Information Act request filed by The Commercial Appeal.
The contract between the Grizzlies and the U of M states that if Memphis averages fewer than 10,000 fans it will only receive a portion of the $800,000, and if it averages fewer than 6,000 fans it will lose all $800,000. If the attendance falls under 6,000 in two consecutive years, the Grizzlies can break off the agreement completely.
The program’s attendance struggles could result in losing all of the $800,000 payout it receives from the Memphis Grizzlies if it cannot get an average of 6,666 fans to each of the three final homes games this season.
Memphis fans have been up in arms this season, as the Tigers have not preformed to the standard to which Tiger nation has come accustomed. The Tigers missed the tournament last season, which was the first time since the 1999-2000 season under interim coach Johnny Jones. With only six games remaining and a 14-11 record (5-7 AAC) through 25 games, the Tigers seem headed for a similar finish this season.
Will Carter, a sophomore accounting major and avid Tiger fan, echoed a similar sentiment to Peters, saying this Tiger basketball team is “painful to watch.”
Carter, who played basketball at Briarcrest High School before attending the U of M, said the defining moment was when he realized his high school squad played a better brand of basketball than the Tigers.
“I stopped attending the games when I realized that the brand of basketball I played as a high-schooler was at a higher level and IQ then the Memphis Basketball team,” he said. “The team has no fundamentals and attempts to play a fast pace game, yet cannot do it without 15-20 turnovers.”
Knowing that the program needs all the fans it can get in its final three home game this season, Peters and Carter differed in whether or not to attend the games.
Peters said he wouldn’t be returning to the games until there is a better product on the court.
Carter on the other hand said he will be going to the games because he doesn’t want the program to lose a key-recruiting tool in the FedExForum.
“I am going to the final three games because the facilities of the FedExForum are too nice for the University of Memphis to lose,” Carter said. “If we lose the Forum, we will lose a huge recruiting factor.”
Low attendance has been a common theme at University of Memphis men’s basketball games this season. Attendance has dropped nearly 44 percent in the last two years.
