UTEP vs. Texas Tech: Did late kick off affect attendance?

UTEP football games against Texas Tech usually draw in large crowd.

But with the kick off at 9 p.m. and the game possibly ending at midnight would the game draw in the same amount of fans?

UTEP hasn’t had a kick off at 9 p.m. in 100 years.

Tailgaters said the late kick off did change the feel of the pre-game atmosphere.

Usually packed with party-goers and Miner fans, the parking lots looked pretty empty on the UTEP campus Saturday afternoon.

“It’s dead,” said UTEP junior Jose Castro.
“At the Oklahoma University game, by this time the whole lot was full,” said Gabriel Sambrano.
“It did start slow but I think the late start had something to do with it” Eric Herrera told ABC-7.

But most Miner fans didn’t mind.

“I like it later in the evening,” said Sambrano
“I do like it…it ends later and after that you can have a couple drinks,” said Castro
“I like that UTEP is getting exposure nationally that’s why the game got moved. Me, personally, I have kids. I’d rather see an earlier start time” said Herrera

When ABC-7 asked football fans what they were going to do for the three extra hours of pre-gaming they pretty much all said the same thing.

“Grill have a couple drinks, with my co-workers, enjoy it, I mean what else is there to do?,” said Castro
“You eat, you have your friends hang out with you and just be a Miner fan,” said Herrera.

It might be easier to drink and party for the younger fans but what about the more seasoned fans like Laura Garcia who’s been coming to football games for close to 20 years.
“It’ll be a little difficult(staying until midnight) but, you know, when you’re a Miner fan, your a Miner fan, no matter what time the game is,” said Garcia

The last time Texas Tech played at UTEP was in 2006 and the attendance was a little over 51,000.

According to UTEP 35,422 were sold for Saturday night’s game.