We Need to Prepare a Presentation for the Pac 12 ASAP!!

[SMUstang]

I don't think it would be feasible to move the press box and suites to the visitors side of the stadium. But I do think something like that should be done. The sight of an almost empty Ford Stadium on TV is detrimental to our program. Showing the world that we have little or no fan support. Very few, if any, other programs present such an image to the TV audience. We are one of the few G5 private schools that even gets on TV regularly. Rice and Tulane would look equally bad if they were even on TV. I don't know what, but something should be done.

By the way, I have been an SMU fan/alum/supporter for about 60 years now. For anybody who questions my loyalty.

[SMU_Alum11]

I think people underestimate the snobbery of sports in DFW. If you aren't playing someone interesting then no one is going to show. I think this has and will always be the messaging SMU has communicated to the P5. If any regional or name brand P5 program came in here with both us ranked, guarantee sold out crowd.

We've seen in the past whenever a old SWC team comes into town; we have a great turnout. Sadly we just haven't performed to win over the t-shirt fans.

The dead horse in all of this is the size of alum base and how spread they are nationally. Correct me if I'm wrong but more than half come from out of state. With a small base, that makes it extremely challenging. I'm assuming if we have on average 1,700 graduate each year and multiply it by 50 to get a base that can go to games, you have at best 85,000. If you have 40% that are in the area that gets you to 34k which would require us to get 100% support. I would assume half that population cares getting you 17k and the rest is filled by families and friends of the alums. I doubt we are getting any t-shirt fans but we desperately need them.

I wonder if would be worth a marketing effort to get people to fill out if they're affiliated with SMU or not to get an idea if any of the marketing campaigns are doing anything.

[Water Pony]

Here is Chicagoland and Big Ten Country, Northwestern with its small enrollment obviously struggles to fill Ryan Stadium. Their saving grace is the alums living in Chicago from all the other Big Ten Schools, plus Big Ten fans tend to travel well, e.g. especially Wisconsin, Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan, and Nebraska.

That is why Dallas is so appealing. It is a destination for many.

[DiamondM75]

I don't think it would be feasible to move the press box and suites to the visitors side of the stadium. But I do think something like that should be done. The sight of an almost empty Ford Stadium on TV is detrimental to our program. Showing the world that we have little or no fan support. Very few, if any, other programs present such an image to the TV audience. We are one of the few G5 private schools that even gets on TV regularly. Rice and Tulane would look equally bad if they were even on TV. I don't know what, but something should be done.

By the way, I have been an SMU fan/alum/supporter for about 60 years now. For anybody who questions my loyalty.

What would it take to add a stationary camera on the east side of Ford? The television director could occasionally show views from that camera to show the west side crowd.

[Water Pony]

I don't think it would be feasible to move the press box and suites to the visitors side of the stadium. But I do think something like that should be done. The sight of an almost empty Ford Stadium on TV is detrimental to our program. Showing the world that we have little or no fan support. Very few, if any, other programs present such an image to the TV audience. We are one of the few G5 private schools that even gets on TV regularly. Rice and Tulane would look equally bad if they were even on TV. I don't know what, but something should be done.

By the way, I have been an SMU fan/alum/supporter for about 60 years now. For anybody who questions my loyalty.

What would it take to add a stationary camera on the east side of Ford? The television director could occasionally show views from that camera to show the west side crowd.

Would the remote cameras facing west be a challenge, when facing the the sun?

[JBigginsSMU94grad]

I agree that for television purposes the cameras should only show the South endzone w/ the SMU students & kids filled to capacity on the hill, the home side stands which are usually at least 75% full, & the Suites which are always full. Regarding increasing actual attendance, the school should focus on getting butts in the seats for increased fan support & the optics of it by doing a marketing blitz campaign such as "Stampede to a Conference Championship" where every SMU alum who purchases a ticket to the remaining home games vs. UCF and/or Tulsa gets 2 free tickets for every ticket purchased. Non-alums should get 1 free ticket for every ticket purchased. Giving Alums & Non-Alums value & access to seeing a Nationally Ranked #16 team @ a reduced cost should help in filling the stadium. If allowable by NCAA compliance rules, also pick 2 area high school football teams every week, announce the selected schools weekly in the Dallas Morning News and/or Ft. Worth Star Telegram, & give their players, coaches, parents, cheerleaders, & bands an allotted # of free tickets to a game & recognize them during the game thereby tying into our Born & Raised campaign which should apply to not only our current players, but future players, & future SMU students. All of this should be the status quo going forward until sellouts become the norm. The school will lose $ in the short term but increased attendance & enrollment will help get the school into a Power 5 Conference such as the PAC 12 in the long term by showing the steady rise in actual attendance & team support which will add to SMU's persuasive presentation...

[SMUstang]

Some very good suggestions. I too think it would pay in the long run to just give away tickets. Giving them to high school students who might actually show up is a great idea. There are not very many casual fans who have taken courses at SMU who would support us due to the extremely high tuition. You have to be rich or on scholarship to attend SMU. Thus not many ordinary fans can identify with us, and our alumni base is small. The "Born and Raised" campaign is great but I'm afraid it's limited.

[stlpony]

I agree that for television purposes the cameras should only show the South endzone w/ the SMU students & kids filled to capacity on the hill, the home side stands which are usually at least 75% full, & the Suites which are always full. Regarding increasing actual attendance, the school should focus on getting butts in the seats for increased fan support & the optics of it by doing a marketing blitz campaign such as "Stampede to a Conference Championship" where every SMU alum who purchases a ticket to the remaining home games vs. UCF and/or Tulsa gets 2 free tickets for every ticket purchased. Non-alums should get 1 free ticket for every ticket purchased. Giving Alums & Non-Alums value & access to seeing a Nationally Ranked #16 team @ a reduced cost should help in filling the stadium. If allowable by NCAA compliance rules, also pick 2 area high school football teams every week, announce the selected schools weekly in the Dallas Morning News and/or Ft. Worth Star Telegram, & give their players, coaches, parents, cheerleaders, & bands an allotted # of free tickets to a game & recognize them during the game thereby tying into our Born & Raised campaign which should apply to not only our current players, but future players, & future SMU students. All of this should be the status quo going forward until sellouts become the norm. The school will lose $ in the short term but increased attendance & enrollment will help get the school into a Power 5 Conference such as the PAC 12 in the long term by showing the steady rise in actual attendance & team support which will add to SMU's persuasive presentation...

When June was here, free tickets to local schools was the norm. For a variety of reasons, I don't think it was deemed to be successful. Even now, we offer game packages to identified SMU fans for next to nothing. I think when free tickets are always available, it dilutes the desirability to attend the game and also impacts the renewal of season ticket holders. I don't have any good ideas, but there are plenty of sports fans in the immediate area to fill the stadium if the entertainment/comfort value is high. Almost everyone in my group is from Big10 country, are transplants to Dallas, and didn't go to SMU...they still go to almost every game as the tailgates are fun, it provides a good excuse to catch-up, and nobody has to drive to Arlington, fight traffic, etc.

[JBigginsSMU94grad]

July, 2021 article supporting SMU in the PAC 12:


https://lastwordonsports.com/collegefoo ... leftovers/

[SMU_Alum11]

July, 2021 article supporting SMU in the PAC 12:


https://lastwordonsports.com/collegefoo ... leftovers/

Nice article but I don't think it'll happen. I think they would have a monumental effort to add Rice who hasn't shown any form of competition of late. Houston is locked into the Big 12 so I don't see that working either. This kind of writing those does make one think why Bowlsby might consider SMU as a defensive tactic. If the ACC or PAC want to enter this market, they would go for SMU who has no loyalty to the AAC especially the new one. Whereas TCU might feel like they're taking a gamble as both the ACC and PAC12 are always at the bottom of the P5.

[Charleston Pony]

July, 2021 article supporting SMU in the PAC 12:


https://lastwordonsports.com/collegefoo ... leftovers/

That's the only scenario that I would like to see if SMU was to be invited to the PAC, i.e., coming with TCU, Houston & Rice to make a 16 member conference with the 4 Texas schools joining Arizona, ASU, Colorado & Utah in the "eastern" division. Would help to have 6-8 games in central time zone as going Pacific & Mountain time for most games is like going to the wilderness from an eastern time zone fan's perspective.

[SMUstang]

Ironically, those are the same 4 that were left behind when the original Big XII was formed.

[EastStang]

Some very good suggestions. I too think it would pay in the long run to just give away tickets. Giving them to high school students who might actually show up is a great idea. There are not very many casual fans who have taken courses at SMU who would support us due to the extremely high tuition. You have to be rich or on scholarship to attend SMU. Thus not many ordinary fans can identify with us, and our alumni base is small. The "Born and Raised" campaign is great but I'm afraid it's limited.

Georgetown is a lot like us and for years just about every low income kid in DC wore Georgetown hats. Don't know if they just gave away a bunch of hats. I think the "Born and Raised" campaign may work some magic. Perhaps we should give away a bunch of hats in SOC.

[max the wonder dog]

That was because of Georgetown's basketball program and coaching icon John Thompson.

[redpony]

for those with long memories we also used to have a coaching icon- LB. unlike GWU our ad ran him off.