SoCal_Pony wrote:Tell CofC next time they pony up $2M+ for a HC they should also set aside a nice chunk of change for a true marketing campaign.
Not saying it would have made a tremendous difference given JJ's lazy recruiting style, but a real Mustang Mania campaign after our 1st Hawaii bowl victory 'might' have made a difference.
ANY student of SMU football knows we have long history of attendance issues that will not be solved by beating lower tier CUSA/AAC teammates.
I am not necessarily disagreeing with your idea that the program needs better marketing, but all of those fans that Russ Potts brought into the stands during Mustang Mania didn't bring in that much revenue. When the Bob Hitch regime hit town they studied the books and determined that one paying customer brought in more revenue than three non-paying or discounted fan's seats. Mustang Mania disappeared and we focused on selling season ticket packages to more discreetly identifiable alums, corporate sponsors, and local businessmen.
We got more positive publicity and media attention when we beat TCU at Fort Worth a couple of years ago than $1 M in advertising could have brought. Yet the next week when we played a re-match of the CUSA championship game at home on a beautiful day, our fans stayed home in droves. Before we can get casual fans to buy tickets we have to get our alums and students in the stands and I for one don't know how to do it.
And yes, you are absolutely right, the long term solution to our attendance will only become realistic when we play in a top conference against opponents that our own fans want to see us play. Dallas is a picky city and will not get excited about anything but first rate competition.