Question:New Fans

[Pony_Law]

Yea right now I say we have attracted a lot of "trendy" fans. These are fans that like watching a good team in a good stadium but aren't true SMU fans and they quickly lose interest when distracted by something like a post season ban. Where we are building fans are the kids of this generation and the current SMU community. If you were a freshman when LB arrived and into basketball you are probably a die hard SMU fan now and likely will be for the rest of your life. If you have 8-12 years old those kids will grow up as SMU fans. This will pay dividends that SMU will benefit more from in the next 10-20 years (assuming we can maintain a top 25 level team).

[Ponycam12]

I can say that I am one of the new fans. Though I may have a bit of bias on the subject being the photographer for this lovely site (Pat Kleineberg). I have spent all of my 27 years living in the metroplex and never would have called myself a fan of SMU. My dad took me to a few football games when I was younger and my brother got his post grad at SMU-COX (I know-that's how you spell boss). Other than that, I have never had affiliation to the university. However, shooting for PonyFans and spending time around the university has swayed me significantly. Obviously, football still has a long way to go, but seeing the difference in product they put on the field this year was a thousand times better than the debacle of a season in 2014.

My first game shooting in Moody was the first game in "New Moody" against UCONN-I was hooked after that. Being a lover of photography and sport, shooting in Moody is something I really look forward to every game. I'm the only photographer on the floor that you'll see yelling or gesturing during the games. It's easy to become a fan of the basketball team because of the record in the past 3 seasons. Which makes me wonder if I'm an abundance of luck for the program. I've only been around for these historic three seasons, but most of what has made me grow to be a fan is the way that the university has supported the basketball team through all of the adversity. These kids have been through so much in their time here, but it has been pretty unreal to see the way the university has rallied behind them. It really is something special that we are all witnessing. I attribute it to some good kids and a great university. I'm a "new fan" for now, but plan to be an "old fan" in days ahead.

-PK


http://pivotalculture.com/moody

[2ndandlong]

cool site Ponycam. Enjoyed the picture of Nic Moore with me in the background going bat-s crazy.

[indianmustang]

so now we have 1500+1 new fan

[NewAgeMustange]

I have had a decent amount of Non-traditional fans reach out to me. Actually, the best was the cinci game this past week being on espn2 (or ocho) got swamped in hs buddies that went to hs asking about the team and the ban. Said that we had a pretty "sick" team and its too bad we can't go on this season. Even they saw bs, but they were really impressed by the lack of man power on the bench that night.

Also guys at work (sec, acc) do nothing but talk about smu ball the day after a game. Nice to overhear them talking about how skilled of a team we have.

[indianmustang]

love hearing the pub,i guess now that we will be 16-0 more followers for us

[Charleston Pony]

so now we have 1500+1 new fan

hardly qualifies to be mentioned among the 1500. For those who weren't around in the early days when Mustang Maniacs was the popular fan site rather than Ponyfans, the (now deceased "Old Mustang" who was a good friend and fraternity brother of mine) coined that phrase back in the early 90's. The 1500 was that base group of fans that supported SMU athletics by purchasing "cornerstone" packages to help renovate Ownby and support our return from the death penalty. That very special group had season tickets for both football and bball and traveled to many a road game to support the Mustangs. They could be counted on to be in attendance even during the worst of times. The 1500 are probably among the most hard core fans any school in the country has ever had. That's why I speak of them with the utmost appreciation and we can all only hope that number someday grows.

[indianmustang]

so now we have 1500+1 new fan

hardly qualifies to be mentioned among the 1500. For those who weren't around in the early days when Mustang Maniacs was the popular fan site rather than Ponyfans, the (now deceased "Old Mustang" who was a good friend and fraternity brother of mine) coined that phrase back in the early 90's. The 1500 was that base group of fans that supported SMU athletics by purchasing "cornerstone" packages to help renovate Ownby and support our return from the death penalty. That very special group had season tickets for both football and bball and traveled to many a road game to support the Mustangs. They could be counted on to be in attendance even during the worst of times. The 1500 are probably among the most hard core fans any school in the country has ever had. That's why I speak of them with the utmost appreciation and we can all only hope that number someday grows.

good to know the story,i thought it was to attendance reference in basketball during 2001 to 2003

[indianmustang]

winning is making more people follow smu basketball
http://www.socialbakers.com/statistics/ ... basketball

[sadderbudweiser]

I'm going to the Temple game with five random guys who have no association to SMU other than either knowing or being related to me. Are they jumping on the bandwagon? Of course they are.

So what? They are all college hoops fans who will always have an interest in how SMU is doing.

Not every Kanas or Duke fan actually went there. The gravitational pull iscsomething new for us.

[CoxMustangFan]

One thing not mentioned - we are locking in the current undergrads who previously drift off after graduation. This is no small potatoes and will pay dividends down the road.

This.

[sadderbudweiser]

I'm going to the Temple game with five random guys who have no association to SMU other than either knowing or being related to me. Are they jumping on the bandwagon? Of course they are.

So what? They are all college hoops fans who will always have an interest in how SMU is doing.

Not every Kanas or Duke fan actually went there. This gravitational pull is something new for us.

[Junior]

I'm going to the Temple game with five random guys

Like on a date or something?

[ebrooks11]

I'm going to the Temple game with five random guys

Like on a date or something?

Grinder hook up??

[Dutch]

the people that sat next to me were alumni and long time (15+ years) basketball ticketholders. they left after last season b/c of the price gouge. they were replaced by a family that bought 2 by me and 2 in whatever the club is behind the east baseline - they have no affiliation with SMU, the guy just likes basketball and they live near campus.

so we're losing some and gaining others. the problem i see with this is that when you run off your long time fans/alumni, and are filling the gap with 'bandwagon' fans, when the on-court play declines (which it will - sports are cyclical), you're left with an empty arena.