Barry Odom is putting his money where his mouth is.
Last Thursday he told fans he'd pay for their tickets if they didn't have a way to attend Missouri's home finale against Arkansas, which will again be played on Black Friday, when student crowds tend to be sparse during the school's Thanksgiving break.
Mizzou's ticket office opened the phone lines and took orders under the Odom special, offering free general admission seats priced at $25 through Tuesday at 5 p.m. The numbers are in: MU took orders for 5,537 tickets, athletics department spokesman Nick Joos said on Wednesday.
That adds up to $138,425 on the head coach's tab.
"You'd like for any time you play at home for the place to be at capacity," Odom said Monday. "That's one of the goals I have to get done, to eventually build it to that. The element of having the fans behind you playing at home always gives you an advantage. The emotion of the game, the ways the pageantry and passion of our league and fan bases, that's part of what makes it really unique. For our seniors, they're going to remember every aspect of their last home game. You'd like for the support to be there."
It's been well documented that attendance figures are on the decline nationally. Mizzou has seen a dramatic drop in crowd size the last three years, and, in turn, a drop in ticket revenue, which greatly impacts the athletics department's bottom line. Heading into Friday's game against the Razorbacks, Mizzou ranks 32nd nationally in average attendance at 51,297 fans per home game. From 2008-14, MU ranked between 22nd and 28th in attendance, never dipping below 61,000 for a season's average crowd.
In 2015, Gary Pinkel's final season as coach, average attendance was 65,120. That season, of course, included the football player boycott that lasted less than 48 hours but had an immeasurable impact on future attendance figures. It surely didn't help that the Tigers struggled on the field that season and during Odom's debut year the following fall, but while athletics donations have risen the last three years, attendance continues to slip, from 52,236 in 2016 to 51,490 in 2017 to this year's average. Memorial Stadium's capacity was reduced to around 60,000 this year during the construction of the south end zone complex set to open in 2019, but the closest Mizzou has come to capacity this season was 58,284 on Sept. 22 -- and that included a throng of Georgia fans who made the trip to Columbia. That was the largest home crowd of Odom's three seasons as head coach -- and the school's largest announced home crowd since Pinkel's final home game in 2015, when 59,575 were on hand against Tennessee.
Starting in 2019, capacity will be around 65,000 with the newly constructed south end zone seating options.
2019 RECRUIT
DROPS PLEDGE
Missouri's recruiting class lost a commitment on Wednesday when New Jersey wide receiver Charles Njoku announced he was dropping his pledge on Twitter.
Njoku committed to Mizzou in July and was projected as a possible tight end in MU's offense. If so, he might have faced a logjam of older players ahead of him, assuming redshirt sophomore Albert Okwuegbunam returns for his junior season. The All-SEC candidate and John Mackey Award finalist is eligible to enter the 2019 NFL draft, but with a shoulder injury that's already sidelined him for the last two and a half games, he could opt for another college season to enhance his stock for 2020. The Tigers also return freshmen Daniel Parker Jr, who's been a revelation at tight end since moving from defensive end end, and Messiah Swinson, who's missed this season with a torn ACL but recently returned to limited duty in practice. The Tigers are also set to return redshirt freshman Logan Christopherson and redshirt sophomore Brendan Scales.
It was widely expected that Njoku would give Miami a strong look if the Hurricanes began to pursue him. His older brother David played tight end there, and now plays for the Cleveland Browns, while older brother Evidence is a current freshman wideout at Miami.
Mizzou now has 15 commitments for the 2019 class.