FREE TICKETS?

[MrMustang1965]

A buddy of mine who lives in Mobile, AL recently told me that UAB has difficulty getting people to come out to their games, too. Seems that the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) and Auburn are of more interest to the folks in Birmingham than the 'hometown team'.

The UAB athletic marketing department has worked out an arrangement with The Birmingham News to distribute FREE TICKETS to all UAB home games. A free ticket to a UAB home game is placed in each edition of The Birmingham News.

Wonder if The Dallas Morning News would consider a similar arrangement with the SMU athletic marketing department?

[Stallion]

how does that increase revenues when the idea of playing Powder Puff Tech., WhatsamatterU. and Cream-Puff St. was to allow for a winning record so that attendance would build as SMU made a run for a Bowl Game or conference championship. I am one of the biggest supporters of Mustang Mania because I saw it first-hand. Your idea makes absolutely no marketing sense. Who in the hell would buy a ticket the rest of the year when you could get them for free.

[BRStang]

how does that increase revenues when the idea of playing Powder Puff Tech., WhatsamatterU. and Cream-Puff St. was to allow for a winning record so that attendance would build as SMU made a run for a Bowl Game or conference championship. I am one of the biggest supporters of Mustang Mania because I saw it first-hand. Your idea makes absolutely no marketing sense. Who in the hell would buy a ticket the rest of the year when you could get them for free.

Hahaha. Didn't we lose to WhatsamatterU this season or was that Cream-Puff St.?

[MrMustang1965]

how does that increase revenues when the idea of playing Powder Puff Tech., WhatsamatterU. and Cream-Puff St. was to allow for a winning record so that attendance would build as SMU made a run for a Bowl Game or conference championship. I am one of the biggest supporters of Mustang Mania because I saw it first-hand. Your idea makes absolutely no marketing sense. Who in the hell would buy a ticket the rest of the year when you could get them for free.

It's not my idea. I'm just putting it out there for discussion. Your input is appreciated.

To respond to your post: It obviously would not increase revenues for the remainder of the year. However, it would - hopefully - get more people in Ford Stadium to see SMU win more football games this year and build upon that interest for the 2007 season. A full Ford Stadium for the remainder of this year would definitely be a sight for sore eyes. And a full Ford Stadium would appeal to any bowl committee members who might happen along.

I saw Mustang Mania first-hand, too. I continue to hope that we'll soon see Mustang Mania II.

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

Come on Stallion you know Mustang65
and anybody with a brain would not expect this
type of promotion to be permanent. It is called
a "loss leader" and is meant to promote a product
in hopes the consumer will have such a good
experience that they will be willing to pay for
the same product in the future. Are you saying that
if you got a free meal coupon from a restaurant
and had a wonderful experience you would never
return until another free coupon may or may not
arrive at some future date?

[J.T.supporta]

Thats a very good marketing tool.

[mustangfan01]

Personally, I feel that giving out free tickets in the endzone of our stadium every week sounds like a serious idea. The people that do come on a free ticket, although keeping ticket sales revenue the same, would increase concessions revenue and possibly some merchandise sales.

So, we are filling empty endzone seats, increasing revenue in other areas, hopefully attracting new fans, creating a better atmosphere and appealing to the Dallas masses to spend their Saturday at a free college ball game.

[ALEX LIFESON]

It feels weird to agree with someone called Insane Pony Posse, but in this case I do. Good point IPP.

[Stallion]

you don't give away tickets to the games you expect to have the best attendance-assuming that the PattyCake theory was correct in the first place. SMU never seriously promoted the UT or A&M game. It was the TCU Jerry Lewis Bowl(we had beaten them about 10 straight years at that time. It was the Rice 6,000 to 60,000 Promotion. It was the NTSU game you promote. SMU is going to run a pretty serious deficit this year if you shut down ticket sales right now.

[Charleston Pony]

there's an effective way of giving out free tickets and if Orsini knows the Cowboys' history, he might consider using this tactic at SMU.

When the Cowboys 1st arived in Dallas and played losing football in front of 25-30,000 fans in the Cotton Bowl, they offered "end zone packages" where an adult could pay $5 for a ticket and bring up to 5 kids free. As one of 5 boys in my family, this was a perfect way for my Dad to round up the boys and get us our of my mother's hair for an afternoon.

With the Boulevard and endzone playzone activities, it's a place to start for SMU. Our biggest challenge is to build interest in SMU in the Dallas community. Let's face it...the casual sports fan with no affiliation to any school just doesn't relate to SMU and hasn't been attracted by the product we've put on the field/court in recent years. Now that we are playing more competitively, we just need to look for ways to get people out.

[MrMustang1965]

CP: I also recall the days when a company would 'buy out' the remaining tickets to a Dallas Cowboys game in order for it to be a 'sell out' and then have the 'black out' lifted so that the game could be locally televised. It sure beat driving down to Waco on Sundays to my grandmother's house to watch the games on TV there. (Although it was always great to see my grandmother! )

But back to my original post: the idea is to get MORE BUTTS INTO FORD STADIUM to see what kind of product SMU is putting on the field these days. I can't count the number of people I've spoken to who still have the same ol' opinion of SMU football and it drives me nuts!

Instead of the usual number of 12,000 fans (give or take a thousand) SMU gets in the stadium each home game, wouldn't it be great to see 20,000 or more filling it for the remainder of the year? Once those folks come to a game on a 'freebie' then you start marketing to them to return NEXT year as a 'paying customer'.

By putting the 'free tickets' into The Dallas Morning News, you're reaching a wide audience and some folks who have never even considered attending an SMU football game. But now, with a 'free ticket', they might do so. Or they'll give that 'free ticket' to their neighbor, a relative or someone else who will be interested.

It's also a chance for The Dallas Morning News to show its support for 'the hometown team'!

[Eddie P]

I think I'm going to copy this post and put it in my computer so I can repost it in about 18 months.

SMU offers free tickets to multitudes of organizations for all of these "problem" games and pretty much most other games as well. Its getting people to use the tickets that is the problem. You can't do it because of NCAA regs, but if we sent a free ticket to every high school student in the city and surrounding cities, 99.9% would not go. That is the simple fact of the matter. I have sat in too many meeting with former marketing officials of this university's athletic department and one of their consistent laments was: "Do people realize how many free tickets we give out and people just wont use them? Do they think its that simple to get people here?"

I like the free discussion that goes on in this forum, but I wish people would realize that giving out free tickets is not a novel idea There is probably not an organization in the city that, if they asked SMU for tickets to a football game, they could get not them.

And call me young and foolish, but I'm tired of hearing about Mustang Mania...its an apples an oranges comparison because of the different city/market/society we live in nowadays. No, its an apples and ribeye comparison. If we're going to make comparisons to succesfull marketing campaigns, lets at least pick one within the last 25 years please.

And I'll say this again...Stallions right on this one. This was the year Copeland worried about attendance-wise. This was the year that we would be winning football games and that would spur attendance because "the only thing keeping people from the stadium was a losing football team." So, at years end we will see if a winning football team will impact our attendance, praying that we continue to win.

Lastly, it would be hideously expensive to put a free ticket promotion in the DMN. Hideously expensive.

[Stallion]

and comparing the commitment of the present SMU administration and AD in 2006 to the commitment in 1976 is comparing apples to oranges too. SMU has no real preseason plan or unifying theme of promotion and has gutted the entire promotion department-which is fine if they get some one who really knows what they are doing. You can't just offer free tickets and call that a promotion. You got to promote the campaign by spending money on hundreds of thousands of Mustang Mania stickers, TV ads, streeet signs, T-Shirts, hats first. You've got to have an idea guy like Brad Thomas who makes the apathetic fan chuckle and say Hey that sounds like fun. The Jerry Lewis Bowl-hell I could care less about SMU but I want to help.

Every game must be promoted as an Event not just a football game. You are right that the atmoshere has changed mainly because SMU is not playing in the SWC. But SMU drew 6,000 fans to the Cotton Bowl for RICE(the worst Football program in America) the year before Potts. 60,000 in the next meeting against Rice. That's a 600% increse and it was because of Russ Potts and Brad Thomas doing what you say is impossible.

In some ways SMU has MORE to sell at least to the SMU ccommunity in 2006 because of Ford and Boulevard. SMU gets an F for selling what they do have. The family experience on the Boulevard not SMU's Football Team should be the main selling point. You think Russ Potts would be sitting on his [deleted] in promoting a Nationally Televised Halloween Game. Do you think that Russ Potts and Brad Thomas wouldn't have the entire Metroplex at least aware of what a great game day experience the Boulevard is. Hell Brad Thomas would turn the Craig James Homecoming alone into a Circus. Under Brad Thomas and Russ Potts you wouldn't hear a crybaby Athletic Director blaming Craig James and Eric Dickerson or the Dallas Morning News for his own ineptitude. The Boulevard itself would be Circus every week under Potts/Thomas. Potts/Thomas would command attention from Belo because Mustang Mania was INTERESTING.

Russ Potts and Brad Thomas given the resources availiable to them in 1976 would parley the Boulevard and Ford by themselves into sellouts every single week. What grade does SMU get for promting Ford and the Boulevard-an F. The grade for Imagination is an F too while for Potts/Thomas it was an A+.. Hell if they can't come up with any new ideas just steal the old ones. Mustang Mania should ride again with the resources of the university thrown behind it.

[MrMustang1965]

Just out of curiosity: where are Russ Potts and Brad Thomas these days? Isn't Russ Potts running for governor of Virginia (as an independent) or something? Or did he get defeated in the primary? And where's Thomas?

[Eddie P]

I think Russ Potts lost his race. Thomas is working somewhere, but I'm at a loss to know where.