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In-Depth

East Carolina brings the purple haze

East Carolina

Greenville, N.C.

Stadium:

Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium

Capacity:

50,000

2015 average attendance:

43,274

Of note:

The top nine home crowds in school history have all come after a 2010 stadium expansion. ECU counts 12 games in all that have drawn crowds of 50,000 or more.

Building:

The expansion in 2010 raised capacity from 43,000 to 50,000 and added an 84-foot-wide video board. A $55 million renovation is planned for 2018.

Through the eyes of...
Shelley Binegar, associate athletic director for external operations

Turning point
ECU expanded its stadium by 7,000 seats in 2010 and the Pirate faithful immediately responded. ECU’s home games averaged 49,665 fans, up from 41,742 in 2009. The increase was the eighth largest in the nation. About the same time, ECU was scheduling more difficult opponents (North Carolina, N.C. State, Virginia Tech, South Carolina) and sometimes persuaded those teams to come to Greenville.

The 2010 season represented a significant lift for ECU football, which has often battled “little brother syndrome” from being in the middle of ACC country.

“There’s some history inside the state that does lead to having a chip on our shoulder and never feeling like we get the fair shake like the sister schools to the [west],” Binegar said. “It’s caused this us-against-the-world mentality that drives a very passionate fan base. … Now, we’ve won five straight games against ACC teams and there’s immense pride in that.”

Photo by: East Carolina

Revenue generation
As part of stadium renovations planned for 2018, ECU will create an end zone patio. Players will run past the patio and theoretically high-five the fans as they run by. The patio doesn’t have a name yet, but it will likely be an additional fee on top of the ticket and annual donation.

“I think it’s what fans want, to be on the field,” Binegar said. “We’re trying to get to a point that we can offer something for everyone.”

ECU projects that a season pass to the patio will be about $1,000.

Favorite part of game day
The Pirates’ entrance to Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” has become an important part of the ECU football brand. The athletic department works with the Army ROTC to obtain grenades that emit the purple haze as the players run onto the field.

East Carolina also has adopted Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer,” which plays at the last timeout before halftime. Binegar’s favorite moment is when the PA cuts off the sound and the fans continue singing.

Signature moment

Photo by: East Carolina

Having a pirate for your mascot opens the door to a lot of creative game-day thinking. At the end of the third quarter of each home game, ECU drops one of the flags from the pole behind the end zone and raises a red pirate flag for what it calls “No quarter.” In pirate parlance, that, like “take no prisoners,” means there will be no survivors when a band of pirates takes over a ship. A red flag flying from the pirate ship signifies those intentions. At the same time ECU plays an animated video on the video board to add to the experience.

“The Boneyard” student section was all in for a “Paint It Black” game.
Photo by: East Carolina
Idea other schools might steal
ECU’s Student Pirate Club boasts 10,500 students who pay $50 a year in addition to their student fees. The school calls it the largest student booster group in the country. Members receive giveaways and preferred seating in “The Boneyard” student section, and get a head start on accumulating points for the Pirate Club after graduation.

“It’s a great way to start building that habit of giving back to your school,” Binegar said. “We get a lot of calls from other schools about that.”

Idea taken from somewhere else
ECU has done the black-out and white-out, but this year the Pirates are trying something new — a stripe-out for the N.C. State game. Fans will be asked to wear purple or gold, based on what section they’re in. Binegar said she’s seen it executed effectively at places like Tennessee and Iowa.

“We’re going to try it and hope it looks as cool as other schools do,” she said.

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