If I were the Big XII

[dr rc]

I'm with you, I question the official attendance numbers too. If the stadium holds 32,000, it looks more like 2/3 empty rather than 2/3 full.

Attendance numbers at sporting events are almost always based on tickets sold. Sometimes they also add staff in the stadium as well but usually that's when a team is either trying to boost terrible numbers or is trying to eek out a highest attendance record for the venue.

[SMU_Alum11]

That crowd against Tulane was embarrassing

It felt pretty good for a Thursday night game. Sadly we had a lot more families attend than t-shirt fans as I heard alot of people say that they had to leave to get ready for work the following day. I get that App St. had a full crowd Wednesday but it's a college town whereas our alums and fans have the jobs that can't just take the following day off.

That is an AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL excuse. Like just terrible to the point that it's insulting to everyone you said it to.

Didn't say it was a good one but it's definitely a cultural difference. I think most people coming out of SMU are getting consulting jobs where they're on flights Monday through Thursday (can't be at a game Thursday night in that case) and working insane hours while also surrounded by the same like minded body. Whereas small college town doesn't have that.

I just hope we will get more fans from the blue collar side who are, on average, more dependable, more rowdy and just in general a more fun crowd than the tea sipping spectators that we normally have. Sadly beggars can't be choosers.

Back to the validity of the excuse, is there an excuse that's logical when your team has been consistently ranked in the top 25 playing a fun brand of football?

[DiamondM75]

Is our attendance really that bad? Take at look at OU/Kansas Big XXII game on Saturday!

.... in front of an announced crowd of 26,321, in a college town just 4 hours from Norman.

[EastStang]

Ever been to Boone, NC. I have. There's nothing there except Appy State which has a relatively large student body. Students go to games because there's nothing else to do there. Locals go to games because there's nothing else to do there. They have a Walmart and a Food Lion. A lot of hiking trails in the mountains and some good fishing lakes. That's it.

[dr rc]

Didn't say it was a good one but it's definitely a cultural difference. I think most people coming out of SMU are getting consulting jobs where they're on flights Monday through Thursday (can't be at a game Thursday night in that case) and working insane hours while also surrounded by the same like minded body. Whereas small college town doesn't have that.

I just hope we will get more fans from the blue collar side who are, on average, more dependable, more rowdy and just in general a more fun crowd than the tea sipping spectators that we normally have. Sadly beggars can't be choosers.

Back to the validity of the excuse, is there an excuse that's logical when your team has been consistently ranked in the top 25 playing a fun brand of football?

Due to SMU's reputation for being snootier than that snootiest snoots I doubt there is going to be a blue collar fanbase anytime soon. That will take TON of work.

As for the second highlighted bit, yeah, there really isn't s good excuse. For years people would say "Well we suck why would I go" so now when the team is really good there just isn't a good reason.

[dr rc]

Is our attendance really that bad? Take at look at OU/Kansas Big XXII game on Saturday!

.... in front of an announced crowd of 26,321, in a college town just 4 hours from Norman.

To be fair, you can't use Kansas as a barometer for judging attendance. They would struggle to get an American invite had they not been grandfathered into the Big 12. No chance in hell they'd ever get picked up for another P5 at this point.

[SMUstang]

Maybe it's college football in general I have a problem with. Unless you live in Columbus, OH, Athens, GA.,Tuscaloosa, AL, Fayetteville, AR, or some other small town that has no pro football presence, you can't draw flies.

[Caballo]

Look at attendance for Vandy, who competes with a professional team.

East Tennessee State, 22,029
Stanford, 21,124
Georgia, 32,178 (probably 70% wearing red)
UConn, 21,218

And Vanderbilt being in the SEC pays them an exorbitant amount of cash yearly.

[SMU_Alum11]

Look at attendance for Vandy, who competes with a professional team.

East Tennessee State, 22,029
Stanford, 21,124
Georgia, 32,178 (probably 70% wearing red)
UConn, 21,218

And Vanderbilt being in the SEC pays them an exorbitant amount of cash yearly.

Just think Tulane probably wants to shoot themselves for voluntarily leaving the conference...

[Charleston Pony]

Look at attendance for Vandy, who competes with a professional team.

East Tennessee State, 22,029
Stanford, 21,124
Georgia, 32,178 (probably 70% wearing red)
UConn, 21,218

And Vanderbilt being in the SEC pays them an exorbitant amount of cash yearly.

Vanderbilt is a good comparison school wise (small private school about the same size as SMU) and they are usually a doormat in SEC football so that clearly hurts their attendance.

Miami is the model we should be chasing. I think they were similar in size to SMU back in the 70's and probably averaged 20k for football games until they became a powerhouse. That school is now 50% larger than SMU and a little less costly but still an expensive private school that is more ethnically diverse and they easily average 40-50k attendance annually. The city of Miami, while a "professional" sports city, clearly identifies more closely with that school than Dallas does with SMU.

[Glenn Sosbee]

We need a Russ Potts Mustang Mania sort of deal where we play some home games at Jerry World or the Cotton Bowl and start giving away tickets again. I know, dream on.

[Arkpony]

Russ Potts gave away tickets but he filled Texas Stadium

[MV pony]

If anyone brings in the casual fan, it will be North Texas.

[MV pony]

Frankly, I can't understand why any post-death penalty student that really cares about football would choose SMU. A basketball fan during the LB years, yes. Football, no. The conference alone would turn me off.

[PonyTime]

I think most people coming out of SMU are getting consulting jobs where they're on flights Monday through Thursday (can't be at a game Thursday night in that case) and working insane hours while also surrounded by the same like minded body.

This is way off base. I would be surprised if even 10% of SMU grads fall into this category.