Ticket Sales - what is it going to take??

[SMUfrat]

We have 8,000 season ticket holders (all of which dont necessarily show up), and a SMALL stadium that seats 32,000...

So thats 1/4th of our entire stadium. THATS BAD. Especially when TCU has 30,000 Season ticket holders...

What the h*&% is it going to take to get this going. We need to be at 20,000 season ticket holders to not be embaressed.

Beer in the stadium? Is this actually going to happen?

Say 2,000 students go (trying to be realistic), and a casual 1,000 others come to a game, we are sitting at 11,000 at a given football game. Unacceptable.

[PonySnob]

Beer in the stadium (if it happens)isn't going to add that much to attendance........

[blackoutpony]

Winning. And not some 6-6 bs. It's going to take 9-3, 10-2, and beating the Tech's, A&M's, Baylor's and TCU's of the world to get people to notice. Not beating on teams like Temple, Memphis and Tualne (seriously, how the hell did they get invited to our conference).

But it's all a perpetual cycle. You get good players, you win games. You win games, you get even better players. You get even better players, you win even more games against better opponents. You start beating the big boys, people take notice and want to watch = packed Ford

But wait.... we don't try and recruit.... damnit.....

And while beer will be nice, and I'm a big fan of having it in the stadium, it will only help a little, but at this point a we should take whatever we can get

[Treadway21]

Winning. And not some 6-6 bs. It's going to take 9-3, 10-2, and beating the Tech's, A&M's, Baylor's and TCU's of the world to get people to notice. Not beating on teams like Temple, Memphis and Tualne (seriously, how the hell did they get invited to our conference).

But it's all a perpetual cycle. You get good players, you win games. You win games, you get even better players. You get even better players, you win even more games against better opponents. You start beating the big boys, people take notice and want to watch = packed Ford

But wait.... we don't try and recruit.... damnit.....

And while beer will be nice, and I'm a big fan of having it in the stadium, it will only help a little, but at this point a we should take whatever we can get

Bingo.

Beating TCU in 2011 helped but you follow that up with embarrassing losses on TV to Baylor and Texas A and M the next year, and not closing the deal on TCU at home and you have zero momentum going into a conference schedule. Potential season ticket holders only care about how we do against our old SWC rivals. No one in Dallas gives a flip about the rest of our schedule with all due respect to the "American".

At some point we have to be competitive on the field with Baylor, Tech and TCU and not get blow out by them. It won't matter much who we beat in the "American" if we get blow out by Tech on our home field in the first game. The perception will be SMU can't compete with the big boys. Our out of conference performances has just solidified our reputation as a lightweight in Texas football in everybody's mind.

[sbsmith]

What the h*&% is it going to take to get this going. We need to be at 20,000 season ticket holders to not be embarrassed.

We're going to need multiple undefeated seasons (with multiple home wins over Texas AQ teams) and frequent marketing blitzes to get 20,000 season ticket holders. So basically we need to upgrade our schedule (2 Texas AQ teams at Ford every season), upgrade our coaching staff, and win at a rate unprecedented in our history.

[StallionsModelT]

Everytime....and I mean EVERY DAMN TIME we play a team with any kind of national brand we get donkeypunched. Going 6-6 with wins against Marshall, UTEP, and East Carolina are not going to get people to give up their Saturday of football watching when there are so many other options that are 100000x better. We have to win some of these high profile games. We have to play a fun style of football. We have to be VISIBLE. SMU is none of these.

[lwjr]

Everytime....and I mean EVERY DAMN TIME we play a team with any kind of national brand we get donkeypunched. Going 6-6 with wins against Marshall, UTEP, and East Carolina are not going to get people to give up their Saturday of football watching when there are so many other options that are 100000x better. We have to win some of these high profile games. We have to play a fun style of football. We have to be VISIBLE. SMU is none of these.

But we have been to four straight bowls!!

[East Coast Mustang]

SMT is spot on. I cant tell you how many times I've been on the Blvd with alumni friends who'd rather go watch the Texas game or the SEC Game of the Week than head into Ford and watch the SMU game. Sad, but that's what we're competing with.

I love Junesus, we're in a lot better shape as a program since he decided to come here, and I think he deserves a statue outside Ford Stadium when he retires, but our next coach needs to be a dynamic recruiter and ambassador of the program who generates excitement in the community. (hint hint Bobby Petrino) The novelty has worn off the JJ era. It peaked in '11 when we beat #15 TCU in Ft. Worth, then started going downhill the next game when NOBODY showed up for a big conference matchup against UCF at Ford. That's when JJ checked out in my opinion.

[East Coast Mustang]

Also- where the [deleted] is the marketing? No billboards on Central? I haven't seen anything advertising SMU football for 2013. There would be a big billboard on Central next to SMU with GG and Acker if I were running the show (which I should be).

[PonySnob]

Also- where the [deleted] is the marketing? No billboards on Central? I haven't seen anything advertising SMU football for 2013. There would be a big billboard on Central next to SMU with GG and Acker if I were running the show (which I should be).

Might not be much money for marketing with "The American" conference payout........

[Bergermeister]

No billboards on Central? There would be a big billboard on Central next to SMU with GG and Acker if I were running the show (which I should be).

...and one on I-30 and one or two on the Bush and one or two on I-35 and one on South Hampton (per Mayor Rawlings South Dallas push). and a big banner hanging from the Margaret Hunt Hill Boondoggle Bridge.
...you should be running the show.

[StallionsModelT]

I've heard that we will see a billboard or two next month.

[Bergermeister]

I've heard that we will see a billboard or two next month.

How about some median light pole banners - like the red and blue Bush Library banners currently displayed on Mockingbird and other parts of Dallas?

[East Coast Mustang]

Good idea, Bergermeister.

Also, on DNT the Stars and Mavs always had those LCD billboard ads that would have the countdown until the game that night or the next night. Starting on Thursdays we should do the same for weekends when SMU has a home game. Would be good for basketball, too.

There's billboards on DNT for the effing Master's in Dispute Resolution program through SMU, no reason they shouldn't be all over the Metroplex for football for a few months

[Treadway21]

My understanding from working to get the Marketing Arm to use Thad's video, is that the marketing campaign that included the billboards last year, etc, was a three year commitment (if I may use that term) - not just a one year deal. Unless something has changed, we will see the advertising we saw last year. And that did include some radio. Tho I haven't spoken to anyone in the know this year.