BYU has a national following

This topic has 19 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 3 months ago by Red Don.

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- 08/14/2017 at 7:25 PM #36959
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  ladyinred
  Participant
  
  So, this is something that I constantly hear tds fans say, and it has always annoyed me so I need to talk it through. This idea that BYU has a national, hell they even claim an international, brand and following.
  
  Do they believe this because they think the program is still riding the coat tails of the 1984 championship? (F**k that was nauseating to type)
  
  Do they believe it is because they have alumni that live all over? As if that’s somehow unique to their school?
  
  Is it the missionary thing? Like they think that converts suddenly give a s**t about American football?
  
  Help me understand this, thanks.
- 08/14/2017 at 7:29 PM #36960
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  ladyinred
  Participant
  
  Oh, and I left out a 4th possibility: is it just because the ugliest and most unwanted unsold t shirts and hats make their own way via donation to poor villages worldwide, giving the appearance that random kids in china or India like BYU?
- 08/14/2017 at 7:38 PM #36961
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  Utahute72
  Participant
  
  Wards all over the US and abroad used to broadcast their games (don’t know if they still do this). So many of the kids grow up with BYU as the familiar school.
  - 08/15/2017 at 5:08 PM #37065
    
    Red Don
    Participant
    
    Yes, but if you get out of the Wards, most people don’t know or care about them. I have lived all over the country and USU is non-existent to most people out of the state. BYU-P is not that well known and I’ve seen a lot of people confuse them with Utah actually. This was pre-Pac-12 and I doubt if that is much the case anymore. Many humorous posts on Cooterboard where disappointed fans complain their “gear” was mistook for Yale and Yahoo. This is just another myth they like to tell to make themselves feel good and pretend that they are relevant.
- 08/14/2017 at 7:42 PM #36963
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  AlohaUte
  Participant
  
  You are putting your head in the sand if you think BYU doesn’t have a national following. They may not be huge but they are a heck of a lot larger than Utah’s national following. I know many Ute fans like to disprove any sort of feather in BYU’s cap, but trying to deny that BYU has a national following is just stupid and honestly, it doesn’t matter one iota to we Ute fans. Our progam is still better, we are in the Pac-12, and with Coach Whit and the integrity with which he runs this program, I’m proud to be a Ute fan.
  - 08/14/2017 at 7:53 PM #36966
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    ladyinred
    Participant
    
    So, nowhere did I say Utah has a bigger national fan base or even one at all. But if I kept repeating that they did, would that make it true? I keep hearing BYU fans repeat this national fanbase claim but I’m not seeing the evidence.
    
    I travel a lot, both in the US and abroad, and honestly I have never heard someone say something along the lines of “oh, you live in Utah? How about that BYU team, they sure are neat”. Usually people I talk to actually have a negative association, granted not necessarily with BYU but with the religion in general.
  - 08/14/2017 at 9:42 PM #36975
    
    rbmw263
    Participant
    
    The benefits of being the premier school of a nationwide religion. They don’t have a national following because of their mass appeal. Which is is what a saying you have a national following implies
    - 08/15/2017 at 12:07 AM #36992
      
      AlohaUte
      Participant
      
      Wait, in no way does having a National Following exclude the fact that they are the flagship school of a major religion. Since when is the definition of National Following, “Anything that has broad appeal across the nation excluding religious institutions”? By your definition Notre Dame could also be excluded as having a national following because if they weren’t a Catholic institution they likely never would have reached the prominence they have. It was precisely their Catholic affiliation + high success in football that built their brand across the U.S. To the point where now they are beyond Catholicism. Now BYU may never get to that level of prominence, but the equation is essentially the same. Religious affiliation + success in football (no, not at ND’s level). But if BYU were terrible in sports or not D-1 they wouldn’t have near the national following that they do.
      
      Question, does BYU have a substantial following across the nation? Answer: yes. Sure they are all Mormons, but there are a lot of Mormons out there.
      - 08/15/2017 at 6:49 AM #37001
        
        ladyinred
        Participant
        
        I’m willing to accept the argument that this supposed national fanbase exists via their members, though it is certainly weakened at least in my mind if really the ”only” appeal is because of a shared religion.
        
        Also, if the allusion to a national fanbase exists because some % of x million members is a fan, I’m also highly skeptical. I can see I’ve drawn a lot of LDS into the discussion, so I hope this doesn’t offend, but I’m not sold on the numbers that are reported by the church on their membership in the first place. I fully realize that my view is distorted by the fact that I live in Sugarhouse, but I see literally not one single person on my street walking to church on Sunday. In the whole neighborhood, you’re more likely to see people walking their dogs and holding a coffee/going to the bar. And yet the church claims to still have huge membership numbers in Salt Lake City? I think this is because people are still claimed on their rolls who are definitely NOT members (myself included). If you extrapolate out to other states and even countries, I’m willing to bet the numbers are not what they claim, and therefore the % of byu fanbase seems to be minimized in my mind.
        
        Anyway, fun discussion. Go Utes!
  - 08/15/2017 at 4:21 AM #36997
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    Duhwayne
    Participant
    
    Aloha do you have anything measurable to support the claim? TV doesn’t favor BYU and Utah travels pretty well in comparison.
- 08/14/2017 at 7:44 PM #36964
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  noneyadb
  Participant
  
  I’d ask a national following with what age group? 40 and over? Whoopee…
- 08/14/2017 at 7:51 PM #36965
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  UteFanatic
  Participant
  
  The sprawling LDS population does contribute to their “national fanbase” claim, but reality does not match their claims. For example, TV viewership numbers compared to Utah over the last several seasons should favor BYU if their audience is as massive as they claim, but that is not the case.
  
  A lot of it also has to do with the intermixing of religion and sports. Many of their “fans” are simply Mormons who attend games because it’s a fun family activity and they feel like they are supporting their faith in a way.
  - 08/14/2017 at 8:43 PM #36967
    
    Chidojuan
    Participant
    
    Going along with this, I believe it’s a part of LDS culture. For good or bad, take it as you will. Just yesterday I had a coworker mention that he thinks LDS church members who cheer for Utah do it because they want to find some way to “rebel.”
    - 08/14/2017 at 9:21 PM #36970
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      ironman1315
      Participant
      
      Which has been directed at me. Couple with my habit of saying damn s**t and hell andby affinity for caffeine and I may as well be an atheist to some in that fan base. Seriously, though it is maddening to hear that rebel line.
      
      Admittedly they do have a national dollies my of Utah transplants that attended BYU or children of Utah transplants that attended BYU but moved back to the home state, but it’s not particularly large, in my experience.
      - 08/14/2017 at 9:26 PM #36971
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        Chidojuan
        Participant
        
        I agree. I’ve been a Ute fan since I played little league and started getting into football. I’m not sure why so many feel like you can only be LDS and a BYU fan. We’ll see how they feel when the streak extends to 7.
        
        08/14/2017 at 9:39 PM #36972
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        ironman1315
        Participant
        
        Because there are too many LDS church members that live in a myopic bubble that believe you must all be the exact same person because there is only one way to be perfect, which is a false belief created by the Satan himself, if you actually read Mormon scripture and understand that Satams plan was to make us drones, of a kind.
        
        08/14/2017 at 10:23 PM #36986
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        Puget Ute
        Participant
        
        We had a counselor in the stake presidency tell us that we need to be sure to wear our byu gear around town to generate missionary oppotunities. I (EQP, Utah grad) looked at my friends (Exec Secretary, USU grad) and (Young Mens President, USU grad), and we just shook our heads.
        
        Personally I would be embarrassed to wear the ‘down arrow’, in a phishing attempt to get people to ask me about the church.
        
        **edit – and this was before the rape scandals.**
- 08/14/2017 at 9:59 PM #36980
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  Utah
  Participant
  
  Utah has more fans in the state and consistently has better tv ratings than BYU.
  
  There is no “national” fan base.
  
  There is just that one guy in every out of state ward that won’t shut up about BYU’s “national” fan base.
- 08/14/2017 at 10:12 PM #36983
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  UteDuke
  Participant
  
  Their claim to a national following all stems from the fact that the school is inseparably connected with the LDS church. Even people that couldn’t care less about BYU sports will often recognize the “Y” because of the things they have heard about the church itself.
  
  BYU for many members is an inheritance. Their grandparents went there, their parents went there, and they will most certainly go there. It is these members that will make the claim that BYU has a national fan base because they assume all other members will think like them.
  
  It is also very easy for those that are members of the church but not into sports to pick BYU as their favorite team because they really couldn’t care less. I am a very committed member myself, but Utah is absolutely my team. I’ve found dozens of other members that are fans of other teams as well. I served my mission in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and returned home just weeks before BYU played in the Miami Beach Bowl. That picture of all the missionaries in the stands for the game, I know almost every one of them. I have talked with several of them about sports and a good number of them are PAC-12 fans. If I had still been on my mission I’d have been at that game, but only because I enjoy football and would be cheering for Memphis. Instead, I spent my first weekend home down in Vegas supporting my Utes!
  - 08/15/2017 at 7:57 AM #37005
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    PlainsUte
    Participant
    
    Even the church membership numbers are exaggerated. Independent polls show 1.7 percent of people in the US self identify as Mormon. About half of those people live in Utah and nearby parts of adjoining states. Go outside that corridor and less than 1% of people are Mormon. What percentage of those are BYU fans? Some people who are sympathetic to BYU because of their religion (but are fans of their alma mater or local school), BYU alums, children of BYU alums, some mission presidents that push attendance at out of state games as a mission service and use mission monies to send missionaries and prespective members to the game.
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