Cincinnati Bearcats Anticipate Near-Sellout Against Miami (OH)

After drawing a hair under 32,000 fans to their home opener against the Toledo Rockets last Friday, the Cincinnati Bearcats are anticipating a near-sellout in their annual Battle for the Victory Bell Game against the Miami (OH) Redhawks.

Despite weeks of anxiously waiting for this team to hit the field, I had originally figured the excitement of a potential undefeated season and the hype of Gunner Kiel would have drawn several more thousand fans out of the coffers. But it appears the appeal of local high school football on Friday night was too strong for many.

It is what is and a battle UC will probably face for many years to come until a strong, loyal base of Bearcats fans is grown into the 30,000’s.

The good news is that the University of Cincinnati is anticipating roughly 40,000 for the Battle for the Victory Bell game this Saturday. Not having to compete with high school football helps as does the fact that the Bearcats are playing a relatively local opponent. While Oxford is on an island in the middle of Southwestern Ohio farmland, there are several thousand alumni that live in the Cincinnati area. As such, a game at Paul Brown Stadium is far easier trek to make than the hour-plus long drive up 27 to Yager Stadium.

Miami “hosted” Kentucky in downtown Cincinnati a few years ago and while Big Blue Nation vastly outnumbered Redhawk fans, there was still a solid swath of red in the seats that day.

With the upper deck blocked off, UC is looking at an adjusted capacity at Paul Brown Stadium of 40-45,000 this season. So approaching that number will certainly make for a more energetic environment on Saturday night, even if a few thousand of them are collar poppers.