attendance problems

[SMU2007]

an older professor told me that even during the 80's when we were good our attendance wasn't all that great. anyone know anything about that? i'm hoping that as we get better the stadium starts to fill up more but after talking to him about that i wasn't so sure.

[Stallion]

don't listen to a thing your professors say

[mr. pony]

1981 record: 10-1, SWC Champs
home ave. attendance - 33,325
total ave. attendance - 36,593
largest home crowd - 60,777 vs. UT

1982 record: 11-0-1, SWC Champs, No. 2 nationally
home ave. attendance - 40,863
total ave. attendance - 44,273
largest home crowd - 65,101 vs. Arkansas

[Boston Pony]

SMU is a small, private university that has drawn well for our size in the past (assuming a multiple of student body & local alumni). During the late 70's through the mid 80's SMU played at both the Cotton Bowl and Texas Stadium to crowds in the 50 - 70,000s. In general, before the last 20 years of poor play, SMU could average 35 to 45,000 (which would be an 4 to 5 multiple of undergrads). If we could get back to those average attendance, we would all be happy.

[perunapower]

SMU is a small, private university that has drawn well for our size in the past (assuming a multiple of student body & local alumni). During the late 70's through the mid 80's SMU played at both the Cotton Bowl and Texas Stadium to crowds in the 50 - 70,000s. In general, before the last 20 years of poor play, SMU could average 35 to 45,000 (which would be an 4 to 5 multiple of undergrads). If we could get back to those average attendance, we would all be happy.

One minor detail to point out, SMU has 6,296 (per the university website) UGs currently. If we pull 35 K to 45 K that would be between 6 and 8 times the current UG population. No excuse for poor attendance, but UT has 39,000 UGs so comparison between the Longhorns (or anyone of similar enormous stature should be done away with). Let's compare to TCU, but not be satisfied with selling out a 32,000 seat stadium. Let's complete the bowl to increase the capacity and then sell those seats.

[Mustang98]

Hey SMU2007 - Great question you have asked and welcome to PonyFans

That's not the first time I have heard a faculty member mention that and I have also heard alums say the same thing in reference to the early to mid 1980's attendance. It always puzzles me when I hear that because I can't figure out their angle. What do they mean by "wasn't all that great"? I don't know if they are wearing "NFL attendance glasses" or "State School glasses." If they are comparing Pony Express attendance to the Dallas Cowboys that's a bad comparison because of talent level. NFL teams have better talent overall than a college program. If they are comparing Pony Express attendance to someone like Tennesse or UT, we don't churn out the number of alums they do each May. A 4 to 5 multiple of the enrollment is tremendous given SMU has to compete with local state school alums and the Cowboys. It's amazing how many Cowboy season ticket holders are in personal financial debt because they love the Cowboys. They could save money and see the Mustangs for less, but I digress.

After working the Morgan Campaign I have found that a lot of our Mustang Club members from 1978 to 1986 who never attended SMU as a student were "winner" affliated. More simply put, people want to be a part of a winner. SMU gave people an affordable way to be a part of a winning form of entertainment. Remember all those burnt orange shirts after the Rose Bowl? Hell, one of my tile setters was wearing a UT shirt and we all know he didn't step foot on campus in Austin. TCU has a bunch of Ft Worth fans who went to other colleges, but they chose to join a winner. Trust me, if we start winning, the fans will come and so will the attendance. The attendance will go as high as an entertainment savy city like Dallas will let it which is about 4 to 5 times the enrollment. Go Mustangs!

[FordtoTolbert]

Boston Pony...regular crowds of 50 - 70,000 in the late 70's - early 80's???????

A couple of times, thanks in large part to Russ Potts giving away tickets and Texas and A&M coming to town a few times, otherwise..........we never played before more than 65m at home...Hogs in 82 and Cotton Bowl, same year, Baylor in '79....late 70's , early 80's was pretty much a 30m to 40m thing, with Potts' inflated #'s in the late 70's....check your handy dandy media guide...I always wanted to know how many were in the Stadium Club v. stadium seats....long live Lance Pederson.

[Treadway21]

In my day (83-87) we had 35k regularly and up to 50k or so for the big guns. I think we remember it not being so great because we played in Texas Stadium and there were always plenty of empty seats. 35 K didn't look like a lot in a 65k stadium.

[FordtoTolbert]

83 - 87 you had 4 crowds larger than 50,000...2 were UT. 13 home crowds of 30,000 or less.

[ThadFilms]

an older professor told me that even during the 80's when we were good our attendance wasn't all that great. anyone know anything about that? i'm hoping that as we get better the stadium starts to fill up more but after talking to him about that i wasn't so sure.

Mid 80s had decent crowds but not consistently large. Only great crowds of my lifetime were all up until I was 5 (Mustang Mania era). SMU students did the same "leave at halftime" thing from what I have been disappointingly told from alums of the era.

[SMU2007]

sounds like we've had some good sized crowds in the past. especially considering our size--that's definitely good to hear. i know interest in smu football has been quite low for a while now but i'm still hoping that with our program's improvement that smu spirit will increase. go ponies!

[RGV Pony]

sounds like we've had some good sized crowds in the past. especially considering our size--that's definitely good to hear. i know interest in smu football has been quite low for a while now but i'm still hoping that with our program's improvement that smu spirit will increase. go ponies!

are there more like you? If so run and get them! Bring them along!

[Treadway21]

83 - 87 you had 4 crowds larger than 50,000...2 were UT. 13 home crowds of 30,000 or less.

I am not sure how that contradicts what I said as far as my recolection goes, but thanks for the reseacrh into some actual numbers.

[EastStang]

In the mid seventies, we usually had pretty good crowds for SWC games (except amazingly TCU), but horrific crowds for OOC games. I remember one game against Oregon State during the Fair at the Cotton Bowl where the Stadium was pretty empty and there were probably 100,000 just outside of the stadium.

[Boston Pony]

SMU from 78 - 85 had a number of games over 50k (14) with UT mixed with alot of others including UNT outdrawing UT in '79. It looked like we averaged between 35 & 40K if you throw out Mustang Mania (78 & 79) where we averaged over 50k. While I would love to force the build out of Ford, we could average 30 to 35k with marketing & winning, which would be a great thing based on our school size.