Football Attendance Committee

[Otto]

Originally posted by Stallion:
quite frankly the time to reach a great number of these fans is past....

I couldn't disagree more strongly. Dallas is the ultimate front-runners' town. If SMU (grant me a little latitude here) suddenly went 10-1, Ford would be packed. But more than that, Dallas loves a team that's on the rise. I'm not saying we'd sell out against UAB or someone while we're on the way up, but it sure would have a different feel around the stadium on Saturday afternoons.

[Stallion]

that's the point-SMU will not go 10-1 until it makes the fundamental changes necessary to compete on a long term basis. Unless of course the tooth fairy sprinkles our football players will pixie dust...

[NavyCrimson]

stallion - with the exception of the 'commitment' & what changes the board/administration has already made, what else is there? (& i'm asking sincerely)

thanx. :hmm:

[PerunaPunch]

Correction, we go 6-5 and you'll win back many of the SMU alumni and get 25K in Ford any Saturday against any team. You'll sell out Ford for TCU and OSU, and the stadium will look full against any team (e.g. TTech) that travels well. 8-10 wins consistently and our attendance problems are solved.

The current problem is getting 20-25K every week until we can go .500

[SoCal_Pony]

In 1981, during the height of our Pony Express days, during the height of our rare dominance of college football, SMU was SWC champs with a 10-1 record.

The last 2 home games of the season were against Rice and TTech. Per our own records the attendance for those 2 games was 28,750 against Rice and 24,410 against Tech. I can tell you first-hand that the Rice game, which was Homecoming, could not have had more than 20,000 fans in attendance.

So the fact is winning, especially in a less significant WAC or C-USA, will not guarantee high attendance. Being a small private school with low enrollment is the primary reason we are not in the Big XII. That, and our non-commitment to winning, is the primary reason we have low attendance.

In conjunction to winning, we need a plan to reach out to the non-SMU community in Dallas. Russ Potts had such a plan, we need to duplicate it or find another.

[OldPony]

SoCal- I'm glad someone has paid attention to our "crowds" in the past. You are dead on. Only exciting Dallas in some way will ever build the crowds. Just winning won't do it. We must become Dallas's school. That starts by each and every SMU fan being an ambassador to welcome all those not exactly like us. This is a very long term probelem and solution though because minds and hearts must be changed. Stallion is right too in that if we don't compete on an even field (or nearly even) we will never build any excitement. Most of us go to a football game knowing we will be beaten. Until you can excite the 1500, nothing new will help.

[Johnny Rock]

Unfortuneately, Copeland may have to start a new coaching search soon. I looked at the schedule for next year and who are we going to beat? Why do we play more road games than home games? Why do we play powerhouses like Texas Tech and OSU? Next year will be another disaster waiting to happen. I like Bennett and he has brought in some great talent compared to years' past but it will not show on the field. It is a shame that SMU has screwed its athletic programs up so bad. Maybe another winless season will finally force some 'real' changes on the Hilltop.

[GoRedGoBlue]

11 game schedules usually flip flop with 5 home/6 away one year, and 6 home/5 away the next...

The big schools usually load up on 2for1's with lesser schools (1AAs and low 1As) so that they ALWAYS have 6 home games or sometimes 7 (bama, Fla, etc).

LaTech had 3 home games recently, because they were playing so many 2 for 1s...

Originally posted by Johnny Rock:
Unfortuneately, Copeland may have to start a new coaching search soon. I looked at the schedule for next year and who are we going to beat? Why do we play more road games than home games? Why do we play powerhouses like Texas Tech and OSU? Next year will be another disaster waiting to happen. I like Bennett and he has brought in some great talent compared to years' past but it will not show on the field. It is a shame that SMU has screwed its athletic programs up so bad. Maybe another winless season will finally force some 'real' changes on the Hilltop.

[GoRedGoBlue]

You can't become Dallas' school until we win.

Dallas is too fickle.

Originally posted by OldPony:
SoCal- I'm glad someone has paid attention to our "crowds" in the past. You are dead on. Only exciting Dallas in some way will ever build the crowds. Just winning won't do it. We must become Dallas's school. That starts by each and every SMU fan being an ambassador to welcome all those not exactly like us. This is a very long term probelem and solution though because minds and hearts must be changed. Stallion is right too in that if we don't compete on an even field (or nearly even) we will never build any excitement. Most of us go to a football game knowing we will be beaten. Until you can excite the 1500, nothing new will help.

[PerunaPunch]

SoCal,

I was at most of those games in the '80s, and like many, I was up in the stands drinking, socializing and not paying much attention to football. Texas Stadium (especially during the affluent '80s) was not a great venue for college football. Furthermore, back in the '80s, SWC chumps like TTech and Rice couldn't draw a crowd if you gave the tickets away.

Today's climate is a lot different. I think there are a lot of fans who are disgusted with professional athletics and would like more (and reasonably priced) family-oriented activities. I think SMU athletics could fit a nice niche if they were able to pick up some Ws and appeal to the Dallas general public.

I concede that you raise a viable concern with your past attendance figures, but the proof that this is a different scenario entirely are the crowds we've drawn on opening day since football moved to Ford (it's completely different comparing the game-day experience we have now with either the dilapidated Cotton Bowl or Texas Stadium). If we didn't continue to disappoint on opening weekend, we'd keep the stands fairly well filled throughout the season.

[mrydel]

From the attendance I have witnessed over the past 30+ years, I would say that Ford Stadium is the proper venue for SMU. A winning program will give us capacity or near capacity games, especially with the closer competition in CUSA. To hope for more than that is a dream. But I would be ecstactic to have tickets being scalped outside of Ford some day. 35,000 to 40,000 will be more than enough for me. I will complain about those figures when we begin to average them.

[Diehard Pony]

Just an informaional note. It doesn't appear that Woody Norris is part of mix any longer. He is no longer listed on the athletic administrative list. I had heard rumors (including that it was not cost driven), and this makes me believe it to be true.

<small>[ 02-14-2004, 09:50 AM: Message edited by: Diehard Pony ]</small>

[cowboypony]

Please elaborate on the rumors.