Interesting idea/post, but I’ve been doing some thinking on this Friday. UCA’s enrollment is just over 10,000, with many of those being online or post-grad’s with full time jobs. It’s got me thinking, if UCA even say grew to 11,000-13,000, I’m not sure it would make a difference in attendance for sports.
Many Conway folks don’t attend games regularly or have ever attended at least one game. While Football seems to stay steady, I’m not sure we will ever see much of an increase in Basketball/Baseball attendance. With online games, it seems more would rather watch at home. This goes with all small D1 schools. It just seems attendance is down and will be that way until a shift in something.
Does Conway support UCA well? I’d say so at a decent level. Many folks from around the state want to move to Conway if it’s not Jonesboro or NWA. Lots of folks out of state or even from NWA, move to Conway for a cheaper cost of living compared to a bigger city. We have the capacity on the outskirts to grow both business-wise and housing-wise.
A 4-Year College bubble pop is coming in some way in the next 10 years. Not sure if it will affect UCA as much as some schools. I think ATU has lost some the past several years, but not sure why. They use to be a beacon of light back in the 2000’s.
SAU has grown and will continue to grow some in Magnolia (I’m guessing more online than in person.)
HSU in Arkadelphia is coming back, but they may only see so much.
OBU is growing leaps and bounds but for other reasons.
ASU is similar to UCA I feel in their growth in some ways.
UAM will probably stay the same and stay flat overall. They are similar to SAU, but just doesn’t have as much going for their school or town.
