Sherrington: Under JJ, SMU has sights set high

[skyscraper]

An interesting read. Worth your time. Here's one part:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 7e649.html

The crowds are, indeed, better than they used to be at Ford Stadium, where you once not only had your pick of seats, you could have planted a flag and laid claim to a section. But only 17,513 showed up Saturday for the last home game of the season. Considering it was senior recognition day, it might have seemed like a good game to show up and say thanks for the memories.

Maybe the Mustangs simply haven't piled up enough to make it worth fans' while.

How long is it going to take?

"Hopefully, in three more years," senior receiver Aldrick Robinson said, "this place will be full."

With only four starters lost from this team, Robinson's prediction might come true. But whatever happens, it won't be as historic as what this team has already accomplished.

SMU has qualified for a bowl two seasons in a row, which also qualifies as a trend on the Hilltop. The last time the Mustangs went back-to-back on bowls, NCAA cops had set up a field office on Mockingbird.

Ever since pulling up stakes, the NCAA has paid scant attention to SMU, and the rest of the world followed suit.

The Mustangs haven't given fans much reason to cheer most of the last quarter-century. Fans in Dallas also have other activities to divert their attention.

Rubbernecking at car wrecks, for instance.

But SMU finally has a football team it can be proud of. Post it on Facebook. Text a friend. Tweet the masses.

Winning is back at SMU. Pass it on.

[SmooBoy]

If any genius has an idea on how to get the fans in Ford, then we would really have something. Our biggest issue will continue to be lack of name recognition for teams with no rivalry history in a podunk conference.

[03Mustang]

Next season will be worse:

Rice
Tulane
UTEP
Navy
UCF
Northwestern State

We'll be lucky to average 15,000

[SMUer]

We have an inconsistent product and I think that more than anything is keeping people at bay. Once SMU presents itself as a perennial contender, things will start to change. Look at how long it took the casual Rangers fan to jump on that bandwagon. They didn't believe until well after the Divisional banner was hung.

[Stallion]

We need to have a big increase in season ticket sales despite the weak home schedule. Very bad economy this year-but its time for our alumni, family and friends to jump on board. If they don't it will continue to hinder the development of this program.

[Fijistang]

We need a school goal of an average attendance of 25,000 for next year's games. Whatever it takes from every group associated with SMU.

[Charleston Pony]

big mistake if we don't have marketing class projects working on this attendance issue; butts in seats at whatever cost is critical to the continued success of this program. Navy game next year will draw 25k and UTEP 20k but other than that...there is a lot of work to be done

[CalallenStang]

Next season will be worse:

Rice
Tulane
UTEP
Navy
UCF
Northwestern State

We'll be lucky to average 15,000

NSU, Navy, UTEP will all be in the 20,000-25,000 range. Rice, Tulane, UCF will all be in the 15,000-20,000 range.

[davidpaul123]

They should make selling season tickes part of the class reunion plans where they hit you up for donations.

Guide them to make the donations toward the mustang club and toss in a few extra bucks for some tickets.

[Topper]

If any genius has an idea on how to get the fans in Ford, then we would really have something. Our biggest issue will continue to be lack of name recognition for teams with no rivalry history in a podunk conference.

On the nose. We are a small school with a small base of alums.Those alums who are reaching the age when they are likely to buy season tickets lived through the barren years and certainly didnt go to SMU for big-time football. I don't think many of them are showing up now either. The idea that having Ford on campus would bring in the students really hasn't panned out. Speaking as someone who grew up in the days of the Southwest Conference, even our successful seasons meant low attendance unless one of the big state schools was in town or if TCU had a good team that year.

Jerryworld has picked off the big schools that might want to play a game in the Dallas area for recruiting purposes. Even Baylor doesnt want to play in Ford because they will get a bigger payday at the State Fair.

I know nothing about marketing, but I have noticed that TCU and North Texas put butts in the seats at Ford. No other decent draws seem to want to come here. Haven't a clue what to do about it other than not worry and just win as many games as possible.

[RGV Pony]

I think Houston had a decent campaign with their billboards around Houston. Well-known UH alums and Houstonites saying "you're part of the pride"..and specifically calling to action buying season tickets.

SMU could do the same with well known SMU alums, as well as non-SMU alums who are SMU friendly. How about using the dubbya "miss me yet" billboards and add "well come join me at Ford".

[Pony_Fan]

Glad to see Kevin writing a piece like that.

Having a billboard on 75 near campus should be a permanent fixture that rotates with different sports. I am very surprised that we don't see the digital billboards in Dallas or Texas for that matter like a lot of other states. You can then rotate your message with ease.

I seem to remember a huge "June Cometh" campaign but that was definitely premature. Weren't there billboards for that?

Now is the time for those on the fence to jump aboard. Everyone should know this thing is headed in the right direction. The losing mentality is over now. The lost 20 year generation needs to pay attention. TCU game was a lot of fun. I guess it's the fact that we play nobody that anyone can relate to. Baylor would have been a fun game @home.

The bus brigade is nice but..... I wonder what the final number was for each game? I saw a few hundred kids wearing black in the stands. FCA night was great, probably a thousand or more.

SMU needs to have a marketing focus group with fans or a survey for all the Dallas alums.
Maybe sell $1 tickets to Mustang Club members only so they can give them away. The operation sellout worked out ok.

[Charleston Pony]

It's all well and good to complain about who is on the home schedule, but the bottom line is that Ford is a cozy little venue by FBS standards and we need to reach a point where there are enough SMU fans to fill the place because they want to see the home team...doesn't matter who we are playing. Games like Navy should be SRO like TCU was this year...ditto Houston, UTEP or any opponent that brings any fans at all.

We will have arrived when we can generate close to 30k regardless of who we are playing

For the time being, we need to find a way to get more people on campus for gameday and into Ford for kickoff. With all those games we already know are going to be poorly attended, it's time to pull a Russ Potts and entice people to come out.

[Bergermeister]

Next season will be worse: We'll be lucky to average 15,000

That's the spirit!!!

[RE Tycoon]

It's all well and good to complain about who is on the home schedule, but the bottom line is that Ford is a cozy little venue by FBS standards and we need to reach a point where there are enough SMU fans to fill the place because they want to see the home team...doesn't matter who we are playing. Games like Navy should be SRO like TCU was this year...ditto Houston, UTEP or any opponent that brings any fans at all.

This is a great point and gets at the heart of the matter. It's not like we're trying to fill up a 50k, 60k, 70k+ stadium. The fact that we can not consistently get 25k+ SMU FANS to Ford really is terrible.

There is no singular scapegoat, but the bulk of the blame lies on our terrible record for 25+ years and our inept marketing/athletic department. Even when we had a marketing staff, the effort was terrible. This day in age with the interweb, facebook and other social media, it is relatively cheap to get the word out. Time for the athletic department to get creative and pull out all the stops next year.

The answer is not billboards and it's not a six figure marketing campaign with commercials. I like the yard signs, banners on building, plane flying around. Unorthodox stuff like that gets attention. I even like the slogan, "Fill the Ford".

Time to build on the foundation laid this year and really creative next year. I like the idea of having a firm goal of getting at least 25k actual butts in seats for each game next year. That should be the goal and the planning should start Monday.