by Joe Chee / 10.21.2011
COLUMBIA – The EndZone tailgating space had a full lot last Saturday for the Homecoming game against Iowa State.
According to MSA President Eric Woods, as many as 300 to 500 tailgaters were present. Whether or not The EndZone will yield those numbers again before tomorrow’s Oklahoma State game, though, seems doubtful.
“I understand it was homecoming, and it was the hundredth homecoming, so obviously I’m not sure we can emulate that at the next game,” Woods said. “But I’d like to see that momentum keep up to a certain extent.”
MSA re-branded The EndZone as a “new event” this year in place of last year’s “The Jungle,” which had lackluster attendance in 2010. Woods said MSA had added its own “spin” for this year’s student tailgating program.
“It’s a kind of friendly low-stress tailgating environment where we provide amenities such as food, games, music, tents, chairs, “ Woods said. “So it’s essentially a spot where we provide things for tailgating that a lot of students might not have.”
Even with the new name, attendance is experiencing a slow climb.
“Our first game was a little rough because it was labor day weekend, and it was an 11 o’clock game, so, the numbers were not as we had anticipated,” Woods said.
The next game, however, doubled the number of tailgaters. Woods also thinks that homecoming accomplished the goal of getting the word out about The Endzone.
“I feel like people have been made aware of the space since they’ve seen or experienced it during homecoming, and I’ve heard a lot more people asking me how they can get a spot, what they need to do, who they should talk to, what they should bring, does it cost anything, what are the rules,” Woods said.
