Colleges with primarily WASP fans

[couch 'em]

For you more well-traveled folks out there, is there any school with respectable attendance that only markets to the $200k+ crowd? I've never seen a wisp of SMU trying to attract anyone from the demographic that seems to me makes up the bulk of any football game crowd - the lower middle class family and the single male age 18-35. Not a coincidence a ton of football talent comes from these ranks. If we're going to "market Dallas" and "become Dallas' team" we're going to have to invite some folks into the stadium that the blue-hairs and the parkies may not like to share a ....... stadium with.

I grew up in such a demographic walking distance from 635 and I couldn't tell you where SMU was other than generally in the North Texas region until I started looking for colleges to go to. I doubt much has changed.

[PonyKai]

]I doubt much has changed.

Wrong. We now have 5x the amount of fountains on camps.

[San Antonio Mustang]

Just one more reason we have a hard time recruiting Texas.

[middleclassponyfan]

Couch I think you are exactly right. Not only do we not market to the middle and lower class but there really isnt a place for them to fit in at the games or the boulevard. I did not attend SMU but a close family member did and we have season tickets. If it wasnt for my family member who is an alum I would feel out of place at the games and tailgating. The SMU crowd isnt the most inviting bunch of people. The fans who are not in a certain clique just wander around at the vard with really no place to go and the majority of our players families are middle and lower class families so they feel somewhat left out (trust me I have had a family tell me that). Im not against people that make more money than I do, I dont want to tax you more, but we need to find a way to market to and make the everyday college football fan have fun at our games. We need fans who arent wearing polos and ties to a football game. We need fans who yell loud paint their face and get SMU shaved in their head, maybe even throw in a mohawk here and there. Personally the people i do know from ponyfans are more than accepting so I am not speaking to anyone in particular on this site. But the atmosphere for the generic football fan has to change in order for us to grow.

[Mexmustang]

First, the so-called middle class is a very broad category. I would bet everyone that posts here considers themselves middle class. Our student body is represented by some very wealthy children and many of our alumns have been successful. But, over 70% of our students are on some form of financial aid-scholarship, loans and grants. The great myth of this university is that everyone is rich! a silly notion, not backed up by facts. Tuition and fees are high, but so are the total expenses of some of our state universities. We are a small school that recruits accross the nation, meaning we have even a smaller proportion of students from Dallas then most people think. What I am saying if we seem to have be a "club" or small segment of Dallas society we are! They aren't many of us in our own home town and DFW is large population base.
We try to recruit from less advantaged high schools in Dallas, we have a very successful minority propram. But, again our total annual number of Dallas graduates is in the low hundred's--not thousands.

Our biggest enemy is our reputation that many of us have perpetuated as students like--"UT, a place our maids graduate from or TTU a great place to recruit employees for our drive-ins".

I am sorry that people, especially mothers and fathers of our athletes feel out of place on the BLVD, but I have never seen a tent turn down food or drink to anyone from even a rival school, much less someone wearing one of our player's jersey.

I don't know how to make them feel more comfortable. Maybe we identify them better with special name tags, open up the Mustang Club tent to them, the Athletic Director's tent? Maybe they just don't realize that the Cox party is open to everyone that signs in? But, putting up billboards in South Dallas isn't going to change anything. I guess those of us that bring the food and drink need to be more welcoming?

[SMU 86]

Couch I think you are exactly right. Not only do we not market to the middle and lower class but there really isnt a place for them to fit in at the games or the boulevard. I did not attend SMU but a close family member did and we have season tickets. If it wasnt for my family member who is an alum I would feel out of place at the games and tailgating. The SMU crowd isnt the most inviting bunch of people. The fans who are not in a certain clique just wander around at the vard with really no place to go and the majority of our players families are middle and lower class families so they feel somewhat left out (trust me I have had a family tell me that). Im not against people that make more money than I do, I dont want to tax you more, but we need to find a way to market to and make the everyday college football fan have fun at our games. We need fans who arent wearing polos and ties to a football game. We need fans who yell loud paint their face and get SMU shaved in their head, maybe even throw in a mohawk here and there. Personally the people i do know from ponyfans are more than accepting so I am not speaking to anyone in particular on this site. But the atmosphere for the generic football fan has to change in order for us to grow.

Welcome to the board and thanks for your post.

[Topper]

Stanford has a total of around 20K students. Their stadium holds 50k, their average announced attendance is about 40K, and the actual crowd average is around 25-30k. That would just about fill up Ford. Do they market differently than us? How about TCU? Admittedly, both programs have a recent winning history. Is that the difference?

I can't really think of another small private school with a similar enrollment to ours that is really filling up the seats. Baylor might come to mind, but they get to play the big state schools every year at home which really increases attendance. We survived on Arkansas, UT, A&M, and to a lesser extent Tech coming here to play in the Cotton Bowl for many years. Their fans usually outnumbered ours. But they bought tickets. The CUSA crowd just doesnt travel well. And I don't remember casual football fans buying many tickets here in Dallas for our games since my parents time. Certainly not during my lifetime.

[Mexmustang]

Agree, welcome to the board, and welcome to the BLVD. If you have any ideas how to change the perception, share them.

But, even our BLVD is something we tend to brag about. "we don't tailgate, we BLVD" or
"we don't grill on pavement, we 'style' on the BLVD". Even our slogans and promotions seem elitist!

[One Trick Pony]

Middle Class you have got to get out there and say hello. Come bye tailgate 33 or special delivery. Corner of binkley & Bishop. You will find all of us with open arms and welcoming.

I came to this campus 4 years ago with out one friend. Now I can't get them to stop texting me lol.

[WorldStang]

Prospective Student Tent that reaches out to DFW students?
* Have prospective student fill out a questionaire online.. at home or at school
* Get a $10 ticket (donated by alum) for them and parents with a free meal prior to game at the Tent on the Boulevard. Current students with various majors in tent answering questions
* Maybe have a video going on in the tent that talks about SMU.. welcoming to the Boulevard, traditions
* Have the band stop by and play
* Peruna comes by
* Maybe have a well-known area alum make some comments

For that matter.. have a FIRST TIME VISITORS Tent.. where they can register name/address for reaching out to them. Get a free t-shirt, brochure on SMU, offer some free stuff to make them feel welcomed..

[middleclassponyfan]

I appreciate the invite OTP maybe i will stop by. I have plenty of friends on the "VARD" mainly because of my family member who is in the mustang club, but the perception i think from outsiders is that they dont fit in. I am not saying that one tent would deny anybody anything and i would assume that every tent would welcome anyone from any walk of life, it just doesnt have that feeling.

[middleclassponyfan]

I am not claiming to have an answer to filling the stadium, I am just calling it how i see it and hear it. I never said but a billboard in South Dallas, but why not, dont limit yourself by assuming a billboard in South Dallas wont work. And you are right on Mex about the talk on here of UT grads are maids of SMU grads. Did anyone ever think that possibly our players moms are maids or even a poster on this board has someone he is close to thats a maid. And the UH grad work at 7-11, i can almost assure you that there is a players family member that works at a gas station. Im not suggesting not trash talk other schools, i do everyday with an A&M coworker, but making fun of someone because they clean houses or work at wal mart is petty and weak.

[couch 'em]

The fans who are not in a certain clique just wander around at the vard with really no place to go

This hits on what I think is the one major flaw with the Boulevard experience. Most people simply aren't going to wander up to random people's tents and worm in on their beer. Yes, pretty much everyone is inviting, but basic human nature says that most won't do this, especially if the people in the tent are clearly of a different social class. I know this from my experience of bringing friends to games. They feel out of place, even when there is no need to be.

If you are random dude from DFW with no connection to SMU and you hear about the Boulevard experience, it typically goes like this:

1. I heard tailgating at SMU is great.
2. I hear you can't tailgate your car, it's all in a grassy area.
3. Well do we just wander in and grab a spot?
4. I don't know. There are tents. Maybe you can rent one?
5. What do we do with our stuff during the game? Drag it back to the DART station to our car or something?
6. I don't know. Oh well, forget it.

I'm not sure what to do about it. I just know it's not casual fan friendly after the novelty of walking around check out fine, fine coed posterior has worn off somewhat.

[One Trick Pony]

I appreciate the invite OTP maybe i will stop by. I have plenty of friends on the "VARD" mainly because of my family member who is in the mustang club, but the perception i think from outsiders is that they dont fit in. I am not saying that one tent would deny anybody anything and i would assume that every tent would welcome anyone from any walk of life, it just doesnt have that feeling.

Let me put it to you this way.

[PK]

It is really tough for anyone on the Blvd who doesn't actually have a designated tail gate spot to feel like part of the group. I know a few who have a spot and I stop by to say hello, but often feel like I am sponging off of them and thus don't stay long. So for some folks who really don't know anyone there, they are going to feel left out. Some people are really good at walking up to strangers and starting conversations, but not everyone is. We need more than one or two tents were anyone can walk up and buy a burger or hot dog and a drink. Then with a little food and drink in your hand you can walk around and enjoy the atmosphere without feeling totally left out and not feel like you are sponging off of someone if you stop to chat at their tent/spot.