Sherrington: Under JJ, SMU has sights set high

[San Antonio Mustang]

Our biggest problem with getting fans in the stand is our Dallas location. Dallas is a great city full of people who want to be doing the "in" thing. SMU student body is full of kids who want to do the "in" thing. SMU sports are not "in." I don't know how to change that perception, but until we do, we have to depend on our alums who for the most part don't care. The Sherrington article was great because at least he is telling his readers it's OK to go to an SMU football game.

[Pony_Fan]

I still think the students are showing more enthusiasm than past years. It may not be the "in" thing, but it appears more cool than before. I think the 25-45 age group is the big alumni problem.

[Stallion]

Yep the students that do go have been great this year-that is really a pretty important foundation to build on.

[BIGHORSE]

We could pass out free Mustang shirts to Plano, Garland and Mesquite school

districts, and tell them if they wear the shirts to the game they get in free.

[mustang1108]

I know everyone talks about the poor attendance at ford, but im curious what was the average attendance when we played at the cotton bowl in the 90s? I went to games there when i was younger, but as a little kid who pays attention to the attendance

[Pony_Fan]

I know everyone talks about the poor attendance at ford, but im curious what was the average attendance when we played at the cotton bowl in the 90s? I went to games there when i was younger, but as a little kid who pays attention to the attendance

It was not good. Maybe 12-15K?...

EDIT: ok, so I was wrong - we played some big schools. I seem to remember a lot of empty seats..

[RGV Pony]

1995 (1-10)
9/2 Arkansas 29,107 W 17-14
9/9 Navy 20,302 L 2-33
9/30 Texas [21/NR] 26,921 L 10-35
10/28 Rice 11,524 L 24-34
11/11 Baylor 15,941 L 7-48
11/18 Texas Tech 11,738 L 14-45
* Home games played at Cotton Bowl
Total Avg: 32,599 - Home Avg: 19,256

1996 (5-6)
8/31 Tulsa 12,177 W 17-10
9/14 Utah 22,614 L 17-21
10/5 Missouri 23,132 L 26-27
10/26 New Mexico 24,024 W 52-31
11/21 TCU 21,141 W 27-24
* Home games played at Cotton Bowl
Total Avg: 26,280 - Home Avg: 20,618

1997 (6-5)
9/13 ^vs. Arkansas 23,500 W 31-9
9/20 Navy 20,011 L 16-46
9/27 BYU [23/NR] 23,701 L(OT) 16-19
10/25 Wyoming 22,403 W 22-17
11/1 Rice 20,024 W 24-6
11/8 UTEP 21,280 W 28-14
^ At Independence Stadium (Shreveport, La.)
* Home games played at Cotton Bowl
Total Avg: 23,773 - Home Avg: 21,484

1998 (1-1
)

9/12 Tulane 12,316 #L 21-31
9/26 Mississippi 22,281 #L(OT) 41-48
10/17 TCU 26,360 #W 10-6
10/24 UNLV 16,073 #W 10-7
11/7 Tulsa 11,143 #W 33-3
11/14 Colorado St. 21,133 L 10-32
# 10 games vacated due to use of ineligible player
* Home games played at Cotton Bowl

1999 (4-6)
9/4 Arkansas 51,019 L 0-26
9/25 Hawaii 15,131 L 0-20
10/14 Fresno St. 8,211 W 24-14
10/30 Rice 16,272 W 27-2
11/13 Cal St. Northridge 7,494 W 58-16

* Last season at the Cotton Bowl
Total Avg: 22,111 - Home Avg: 19,625

[03Mustang]

As one of those 25-45 year old alums, I fully agree that they are the problem, particularly those that graduated from 1990 to 2005 or so,

I can't tell you how many people I know have an SMU degree but call some other school "their" team - it makes me sick. I think that consistent winning is the only way to pull these guys back in...then they will come back and act like longtime fans, much like with the Rangers.

It's the best we can hope for right now. I have a lot of faith in the current students as I am impressed with what I have seen from them this year and last.

[Longtime]

It takes years of consistent winning to build a fan base in this environment. And even then, consistent winning doesn't automatically translate into explosive growth in attendance.

Look at TCU, a school of similar size and history and that shares the same sports and media market with SMU. The Frogs' revival began in 1998 when they beat USC in the Sun Bowl and started going to bowl games every year. In 2008, 11 years later, their average attendance was only 30,000.

The Big 12 averaged double that last year - Baylor had the lowest Big 12 average of 34,000. K-State was next-lowest at 45,000. ( http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/ ... attendance )

During the 1998-2008 run of success the Frogs have done everything possible to market their program, from grass-roots efforts to businessmen's groups, billboards, commercials, etc. And Fort Worth is much more receptive to TCU than Dallas is SMU.

It's only been in the last two years, when TCU achieved BCS bowl contention, that the Frogs' attendance has averaged closer to 40,000.

Here's an excerpt from an ESPN-Dallas story about TCU's stadium renovation:

Now that funding is complete and construction approved, the question is will people come to the new stadium? TCU football, even in this current heyday, has not been an easy sell in Fort Worth, which is home to far more Longhorns, Aggies and Red Raiders than Horned Frogs.

TCU's enrollment in 2009 was 8,865 and athletic director Chris Del Conte estimated that the number of TCU alums in the Dallas-Fort Worth region is only about 23,000.

"We need this to be Fort Worth's team," Del Conte said. "We actually have more Texas Tech and more Texas alumni in the region, so we have to really focus and say this is your hometown team."

Raising interest in their backyard and subsequently attendance has been a slow burn. In 2008, attendance jumped to 30,388 and last year it rose to 38,186, boosted by a single-season attendance record of 50,307 against Utah on Nov. 14. Two weeks later, 41,738 saw TCU end the regular season undefeated against New Mexico. Those games were the only two of six home dates to draw at least 38,000.

The momentum has carried over heading into the 2010 season, Patterson's 10th as head coach. TCU has already set a school record for season-ticket sales and is closing in on 17,000 with less than three weeks until the start of the season (Sept. 4 against Oregon State at Cowboys Stadium) and nearly a month before TCU's home opener against Tennessee Tech on Sept. 11.

"I know my job now," Patterson said, "is to keep winning games."

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/ne ... id=5468732

[Stallion]

fact is that in TCU's 2nd year of its rebuilding program they were averaging 30-40% more in attendance than SMU is today. The "real numbers" of SMU's "real fans" not younger than 10 or wearing Purple at the TCU game is much lower. TCU's attendance in those following years years that TCU was "struggling" in attendance was larger than the capacity of SMU's stadium.

People we have a problem
it is our problem
TCU has never had this great a problem
and it really does not do us any good to try ignore it.

[PonySnob]

Sell beer at the stadium.............

[Mitch McConnell]

OK, all I've read is, "We have a problem. We have a problem.''

Where are the solutions?

I think SMU is beginning to address it by being more aggressive with its marketing campaign. Calling for a Red Out vs. TCU, a Blue Out vs. Houston and a White Out vs. Marshall. They had plane flyover and the signs for the TCU and Marshall games.

Season tickets moved from about 4,000-7,000 or something like that.

We just have to keep on keeping on and being as aggressive as we can to create awareness. I believe the dynamics in Fort Worth are different from Dallas because Fort Worth still has more of a community feel and Dallas is too cosmopolitan.

Of course, it helps TCU when the city council and mayor get on board and color the trinity river purple and call for purple Fridays. There's a good relationship between that school and City Hall.

Is SMU going to be able to do that with the dysfunctional Dallas City Council and get them to color the Trinity Red or Blue?

Does SMU have any kind of credible relationship with the City of Dallas?

I think TCU's path to support was "easier" than it ever will be for SMU. We just have to continue to carve our own niche.

[PK]

There was a time when Dallas supported SMU football...during the Doak Walker days. No pro sports to compete with back then. It's not just pro football we are competing with...it's BB and hockey and baseball early in the season. There is only so much entertainment money and time to go around. We will eventually do better if we keep winning, but it will be a challenge to fill Ford unless we can get schools with lots of fans in DFW to come play us here (UT, A&M, Arkansas, etc.)

[redpony]

Does anyone know how many alumni live in the greater DFW area? That might be the first area to target as far as getting more people to the game.

GO PONIES!!!

[RGV Pony]

Does anyone know how many alumni live in the greater DFW area? That might be the first area to target as far as getting more people to the game.

GO PONIES!!!

60,000 in Texas

40,000 in DFW