WINSTON-SALEM | Development Guide

[Nomad9]

Wake doesn’t need a bigger stadium. The “problem” is that it’s a small, rich, private, academically strong school in a traditionally blue collar area without having dominated any sports (Duke is similar, but their basketball history bridges that gap and enables a broader fanbase). The campus is beautiful but feels like a country club isolated from the surrounding city.

Add to that the presence of UNC and NC State, two public universities with more connection to locals and much larger alumni bases, and Duke (see above). Not to mention other public schools like App State and ECU. There aren’t many local fans up for grabs.

So with few “casual” fans, you’re stuck with mostly alumni and students. Alumni are pretty good about supporting the school and its athletics (I was shocked by the great turnout of Deacon fans in Omaha!). But there aren’t many of them (us), and they’re spread across the country. So you’re not filing up a huge stadium with local alums. Students? Many are from wealthy northeastern families where college football just isn’t a big deal, and that attitude shows at games. They’re usually off to some frat party by halftime, or they don’t care about sports and stayed back at the dorms/libraries.

All that said, Wake just probably isn’t ever going to have a large fandom unless one or both happen: (1) huge increase in enrollment (which probably dilutes the academic profile and character of the school), and/or (2) they go on to be a dominant force in basketball like Duke (we’ve been good in football, but we’ll never be a consistent top 4-5 program).

So all that said, I’d rather Wake focus on what it’s good at. Keep academic quality the priority, but continue to invest alumni $$$ to build state of the art training facilities so we can entice great recruits and at least be competitive. Consistent competitiveness will snowball alumni involvement and gradually build a broader fanbase. I’m probably in the minority, but I’d almost rather have a smaller basketball stadium on campus. The Joel is just big, sterile, and feels like…well, a bland municipal stadium rather than a beautiful facility tailored to Wake.

Anyway, go Deacs!