Estimated attendance for San Jose game?

[PK]

This would seem to be the bylaw that applies, although the rules seem to be pretty vague as to what actually happens to someone who does not meet the attendance requirements. Most of the bylaws seem to talk about meeting appropriate amounts of scholarships (finacial aid) and sponsoring the appropiate number of sports. So for what it is worth, here is the only bylaw that I can find that seeems to address the issue and then only from the position of being on restrictive membership status.


20.3.5.1.5 Voting Privileges and Eligibility for Championships. The institution shall identify its preferred division and, during the period of “restricted membership,” shall be:
(a) In compliance to the greatest extent possible with that division’s scheduling criteria;
(b) Bound by all other applicable rules of the Association;
(c) Permitted to vote only on dominant issues, unless the “restricted membership” status is in one sport, in which case its loss of voting privileges shall apply only to that sport; and
(d) Ineligible for NCAA championships and postseason football contests, unless the “restricted membership” status is in one sport, in which case loss of eligibility for championships and postseason football contests shall apply only to that sport.

Now then, this last sentence (d) would indicate the NCAA's need for some legal help that understands proper english or at least reason. So if the problem is in basketball, postseason football contest would not be allowed for basketball????

[RGV Pony]

Well that sheds some light. It would appear that attendance this year is in fact a major factor. Why? Dip below 15k, then go to restricted membership & then next year, or the year after...when our young team is supposed to peak, they'll be ineligible for a bowl.

Forgive me for saying this, and don't interpret the wrong way, but it's hard not to say that I'd rather be ineligible for a bowl for the reasons were were 'in trouble' in the early eighties than for not having enough people give a damn about football.

[jtstang]

So we are 0-3 coming off of two absolute non-competitive blowouts, back in the Bottom 10, contending with the State Fair for the next month, and the Cowboys and Mavs for the rest of the year (no Stars though), and hoping to average over 15,000 per game in the stadium by year end. And I don't mean "official attendance"--I mean ACTUAL attendance. I am still concerned.

Get the word out to the neighbors, we need help. Buy them tickets if you have to. If everybody who actually went to the games would buy an extra end-zone cheap seat, and walked back out and in again to have that ticket torn, we could double our count for what, and extra ten bucks?

[mrydel]

Jstang:

Your last statement is one of the most important. I had understood (improperly), before this conversation that it was tickets torn, not turnstile count. I had an extra ticket to Tech and had it torn, but did not go in and out. For now, until we get a marketable product on the field, if you have any extra tickets, be sure to go in and out and have the turnstile count you for each ticket you have. It is truly a shame to even have to have this discussion, and hopefully in a couple of years we can look back and laugh about how concerned we were rather than how scared we are.

[EastStang]

Its not an issue for this year. We have homecoming against Tulsa which should draw about 18,000. That puts us at about 49,000. We need 75,000 to average 15000. That means we need 26,000 for the other three games (namely 8,666) per game. We have SJS, La. Tech, and Nevada. I suspect that SJS will still get close to 12-15,000. That puts us at 61,000 meaning we would need to average 7,000 for La. Tech and Nevada. Now let's suppose we are close. On the day of the final game, the cafeteria line for the students runs through the turnstiles, with brown bag dinners. They can stay or they can go. Either way, they're in the stadium. Option 2, the Boulevard becomes a part of the stadium requiring a ticket to get onto the boulevard, which ticket is torn as you enter the Boulevard. Thus, those tickets count. Either way, we get to the magic number.

[MustangStealth]

I suppose we could still compete in the C-USA as a division 1-AA team. If not will the NCAA be required to buy out our membership contract with C-USA, and pay us our projected income for TV revenues, etc.?

We could in theory participate in CUSA for all sports but football if we went to I-AA, but I don't think they would go for it. Maybe we could end up in the SWAC... (note sarcasm)

[jtstang]

Jstang:

Your last statement is one of the most important. I had understood (improperly), before this conversation that it was tickets torn, not turnstile count. I had an extra ticket to Tech and had it torn, but did not go in and out. For now, until we get a marketable product on the field, if you have any extra tickets, be sure to go in and out and have the turnstile count you for each ticket you have. It is truly a shame to even have to have this discussion, and hopefully in a couple of years we can look back and laugh about how concerned we were rather than how scared we are.

Actually the by-law lists several methods, including turnstiles and retained stubs, but I just don't know which we use. We need to cover all our bases to maximize our attendance.

[Eddie P]

This is not the year to worry about the 15,000 rule. We should be fine with only five home games, the Tech game doing well and homecoming ALWAYS a good turnout, regardless of our record. I can assure you this is not something the powers that be have ignored or are not aware of. Quite the opposite actually.

If you're going to worry about this, worry about it in the year when all the geniuses on this board who scream when we play a Big XII opponent at home (for attendance reasons) get their wish and we bring in some patsy for an early season win. That's the year I'm scared silly about...

[Eddie P]

And let me just add that we should all be very concerned about attendance every year and do all we can to get people into Ford Stadium. My above comments are merely an attempt to alleviate any panic attacks...we really should be fine this year IMHO. But please don't take this as a lack of urgency.

[jtstang]

It really is a kinda catch-22, isn't it Eddie P?

[Eddie P]

That it is, Jt Stang. That it is.

[SWC2010]

Its not an issue for this year. We have homecoming against Tulsa which should draw about 18,000. That puts us at about 49,000. We need 75,000 to average 15000. That means we need 26,000 for the other three games (namely 8,666) per game. We have SJS, La. Tech, and Nevada. I suspect that SJS will still get close to 12-15,000. That puts us at 61,000 meaning we would need to average 7,000 for La. Tech and Nevada. Now let's suppose we are close. On the day of the final game, the cafeteria line for the students runs through the turnstiles, with brown bag dinners. They can stay or they can go. Either way, they're in the stadium. Option 2, the Boulevard becomes a part of the stadium requiring a ticket to get onto the boulevard, which ticket is torn as you enter the Boulevard. Thus, those tickets count. Either way, we get to the magic number.

Great ideas... Perhaps eaststang should be granted Power-of-Attorney over the Marketing Dept @ SMU FB?