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I don't know why people are so upset with the attendance. Yes, it 's pathetic. What do we expect? In the early 80's when SMU was a powerhouse we drew between 38,000 to 40,000 playing in the SWC with big name players. In C-USA with no big time programs I think 20,000 is the best we can ever hope for. What do you guys think????????

we built a stadium to seat 32,000 and that wasn't for dates with Texa$ or A$M. The goal has to be to fill Ford (and Moody) several times a year and to ALWAYS have at least 20,000 in Ford

How to accomplish that is the magic question

..when does the NCAA "butts in the seats" policy kick in?

FordtoTolbert wrote:..when does the NCAA "butts in the seats" policy kick in?

That appears to be dead. They went from an actual rule of 15K minimum ACTUAL attendance, with auditing procedures and everything, which was immediately suspended, and later amended it to allow that number to count tickets sold (or maybe even distributed, I'd have to go back and look). So now effectively there is a minimum attendance rule in the bylaws for d-1 eligibility in football which DOES NOT REQUIRE ACTUAL ATTENDANCE. The wisdom of the NCAA never ceases to amaze me.

Anybody else find it funny, now that the rule has been loosened, SMU's announced attendance has regularly fallen below 15k, with impunity this year. And the numbers in the stadium look about the same to me as last year, when we magically averaged just over 15k.

jtstang wrote:

FordtoTolbert wrote:..when does the NCAA "butts in the seats" policy kick in?

That appears to be dead. They went from an actual rule of 15K minimum ACTUAL attendance, with auditing procedures and everything, which was immediately suspended, and later amended it to allow that number to count tickets sold (or maybe even distributed, I'd have to go back and look). So now effectively there is a minimum attendance rule in the bylaws for d-1 eligibility in football which DOES NOT REQUIRE ACTUAL ATTENDANCE. The wisdom of the NCAA never ceases to amaze me.

Anybody else find it funny, now that the rule has been loosened, SMU's announced attendance has regularly fallen below 15k, with impunity this year. And the numbers in the stadium look about the same to me as last year, when we magically averaged just over 15k.

It's a miracle I tell ya.

I've still yet to figure out how whining about this dead horse helps put butts in seats. Continue winning and we'll be fine.

ponyboy wrote:I've still yet to figure out how whining about this dead horse helps put butts in seats. Continue winning and we'll be fine.

Nobody's whining about anything except you whining about our posts. Somebody asked a question about the rule and I answered it. The rest was an observation of a truth that sunshiners like you would rather ignore. You just keep giving your heart to SMU and we'll be fine.

I was curious what Miami's attendence was, since Miami has roughly the same amout of pro sports teams as dallas. When I started looking at attendence records for Miami, I google "miami football attendence" and I got this link

http://hurricanesports.cstv.com/genrel/101406aaa.html

I thought it was appropriate. Miami averages around 45,000 a game by the way.

It HELPS to play Big 12 schools at least once at home a year. The reason we pulled in 38-40,000 fans in the 80's was the other teams fans were from state schools that had a big presence int the Dallas area. Also we had a lot of fans come from south Dallas when we played Grambling one year. Maybe we should put them back on the schedule?

mrydel wrote:

jtstang wrote:

FordtoTolbert wrote:..when does the NCAA "butts in the seats" policy kick in?

That appears to be dead. They went from an actual rule of 15K minimum ACTUAL attendance, with auditing procedures and everything, which was immediately suspended, and later amended it to allow that number to count tickets sold (or maybe even distributed, I'd have to go back and look). So now effectively there is a minimum attendance rule in the bylaws for d-1 eligibility in football which DOES NOT REQUIRE ACTUAL ATTENDANCE. The wisdom of the NCAA never ceases to amaze me.

Anybody else find it funny, now that the rule has been loosened, SMU's announced attendance has regularly fallen below 15k, with impunity this year. And the numbers in the stadium look about the same to me as last year, when we magically averaged just over 15k.

It's a miracle I tell ya.

Praise Jeebus!

Miami had under 30k against UNC, btw.

SMU Football Blog wrote:Miami had under 30k against UNC, btw.

Miami also has has traditionally low attendance numbers even when their team is in the hunt for the national title.

jtstang wrote: Somebody asked a question about the rule and I answered it. The rest was an observation of a truth that sunshiners like you would rather ignore. .

Huh? Where did that come from? I wasn't even talking to you.

The only thing I said was that the whining about attendance doesn't help solve the problem.

Play somebody at home instead of Arkansas State and SHSU. Then people will come.

ponyboy wrote:

jtstang wrote: Somebody asked a question about the rule and I answered it. The rest was an observation of a truth that sunshiners like you would rather ignore. .

Huh? Where did that come from? I wasn't even talking to you.

The only thing I said was that the whining about attendance doesn't help solve the problem.

Oh. Sorry, my mistake.