Front Page ESPN...SMU expresses interest in Big 12

[SoCal_Pony]

Regarding attendance,

Assume for a moment that SMU currently averages 23,000 fans, of which 3,000 are visitors and 20,000 are SMU supporters.

IF SMU had BCS membership, recruiting would jump exponentially. For the first time in 20+ years, we could offer an entertaining non-conferene schedule (why wouldn't a Georgia or UCLA not want to play in Dallas) Earmark BCS $$$ towards marketing, expand the Blvd concept, FINALLY have meaningful games and I could easily see SMU supporter attendance average 30,000.

Assume that opponent average attendance is 13,000 (Dallas is a perfect destination point for out-of-town visitors) and suddenly SMU is now averaging 43,000 fans per game. I think this is a very doable number.

I use this number because as I posted earlier, there are currently 30 BCS teams that on average have attendance of 43,000.

Those 30 schools are Arizona, Arizona St, Baylor, Boston College, Cincinnati, Colorado, Connecticut, Duke, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa St, Kansas, Kansas St, Louisville, Maryland, Miami, Minnesota, Mississippi St, Northwestern, Oklahoma St, Oregon St, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rutgers, South Florida, Stanford, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Washington St.

In other words, give us BCS membership and attendance is as good as half the current BCS teams average attendance.

[SMU89]

seriously, who gives a crap about BYU

About two bagillion super breeding Mormons.

Good to hear...I plan on selling them way over-priced stadium club seats to the armed forces bowl.

Guess I'll have to sell the free iced tea, coffee and lemonade vs bar.

[NickSMU17]

seriously, who gives a crap about BYU

About two bagillion super breeding Mormons.

Good to hear...I plan on selling them way over-priced stadium club seats to the armed forces bowl.

Guess I'll have to sell the free iced tea, coffee and lemonade vs bar.

X2

[One Trick Pony]

X2.5

[RyanSMU98]

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/colleges/post/_/id/4673354/smu-smart-to-make-its-case-now

From this morning. Sorry if it has already been posted on another thread.

[Charleston Pony]

sorry to those who project attendance windfalls if/when SMU regains AQ conference status...at least as to the number of SMU fans bolstering our attendance figures. Look it up. Our attendance, even in the days when we fielded a Top 25 program that was regularly competing for SWC championships, was abysmal.

SMU was left behind when the TV networks drove the breakup of the SWC because we had such a small following. I will readily concede our uncompetitive programs of the late 80's and 90's made matters worse, but don't kid yourselves into thinking that with BCS status, we will suddenly find 30k plus loyal supporters to come out and watch SMU play Northwestern Louisiana

Now, more than ever, SMU needs 2 things: 1) make a statement with this season's performance on the field. Beat A&M or TCU, win CUSA, beat a SEC team in the Liberty Bowl...something to show we have arrived and 2) pack Ford and Moody. The latter may be more difficult to accomplish than the former. How do we fill Ford for NW LA? I've long advocated the expansion Dallas Cowboys' marketing plan when they allowed "Dad" to buy an endzone cheap seat and bring up to 5 kids free. That's how you build a fan base when your existing fan base can't even fill half your stadium's seats.

Russ Potts boosted attendance by giving away tickets. We've shown in our recent past we have difficulties giving tickets away. Win 1st, but do something to entice those who might now be getting curious about the product. As the product improves, hopefully demand will as well...but we 1st have to recognize how critical it is to fill our venues and to at least create the illusion of a huge interest in SMU athletics...until it exists in reality.

It is now or never if we really want to continue competing at the highest level. Clearly our wealthiest alumni have shown, by their generous donations, that they want to do just that. We just need to find more "average Joes" and get them interested. Starts with our mostly apathetic alumni. We all know some of those.

[leopold]

With that logic then think of all the possibilities one state over from Missou, Kansas, Iowa, Okla

Hell, why not Louisville, or Cincy!

Seriously, the WCC / IND think is perfect and they are going to make a whole lot more than $2m per year on that. Can you imagine women's crew trekking their equipment from UTAH to Lake Austin? Nice!

Get real. They aren't even being considered. They aren't even "good enough" for the Pac10...

http://www.statesman.com/sports/college ... 35754.html
The Big 12 school official said the league would consider Notre Dame, Brigham Young and Air Force.

Dodds said he thinks the Big 12 can survive with as few as nine teams but added that his staff has aggressively begun to research as many as 20 teams as possible replacements for A&M.

20 schools. So yeah, pretty much everybody is getting a look, but the Big 12 official specifically mentioned BYU as a candidate after Notre Dame. And yes, Cincy and Louisville, for those very same reasons, will get a look.
But BYU has always been mentioned as a possible addition to the Big 8/12, even before TTU and BU. They are a big football school, large TV market, national brand, strong overall athletic department, decent (if not known for it) academics, and the Morman culture, which kept them out of the PAC 10, will fit fine in Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Missouri. I'm not trying to argue with you, and maybe they do turn the Big XII down, but they will get a phone call. I'm not trying to argue, I'm just telling you the truth.

[leopold]

seriously, who gives a crap about BYU

About two bagillion super breeding Mormons.

Good to hear...I plan on selling them way over-priced stadium club seats to the armed forces bowl.

Guess I'll have to sell the free iced tea, coffee and lemonade vs bar.

Then you're gonna lose money.

Mormans can't have caffeine, either.

[GiddyUp]

sorry to those who project attendance windfalls if/when SMU regains AQ conference status...at least as to the number of SMU fans bolstering our attendance figures. Look it up. Our attendance, even in the days when we fielded a Top 25 program that was regularly competing for SWC championships, was abysmal.

SMU was left behind when the TV networks drove the breakup of the SWC because we had such a small following. I will readily concede our uncompetitive programs of the late 80's and 90's made matters worse, but don't kid yourselves into thinking that with BCS status, we will suddenly find 30k plus loyal supporters to come out and watch SMU play Northwestern Louisiana

Now, more than ever, SMU needs 2 things: 1) make a statement with this season's performance on the field. Beat A&M or TCU, win CUSA, beat a SEC team in the Liberty Bowl...something to show we have arrived and 2) pack Ford and Moody. The latter may be more difficult to accomplish than the former. How do we fill Ford for NW LA? I've long advocated the expansion Dallas Cowboys' marketing plan when they allowed "Dad" to buy an endzone cheap seat and bring up to 5 kids free. That's how you build a fan base when your existing fan base can't even fill half your stadium's seats.

Russ Potts boosted attendance by giving away tickets. We've shown in our recent past we have difficulties giving tickets away. Win 1st, but do something to entice those who might now be getting curious about the product. As the product improves, hopefully demand will as well...but we 1st have to recognize how critical it is to fill our venues and to at least create the illusion of a huge interest in SMU athletics...until it exists in reality.

It is now or never if we really want to continue competing at the highest level. Clearly our wealthiest alumni have shown, by their generous donations, that they want to do just that. We just need to find more "average Joes" and get them interested. Starts with our mostly apathetic alumni. We all know some of those.

You can't just give tickets away anymore. There has to be accountability and minimum paid attendance requirements. The only way we can do this is by Operation Sellout where people buy tickets that we give away. Getting people to use them is the issue.

[SMU89]

sorry to those who project attendance windfalls if/when SMU regains AQ conference status...at least as to the number of SMU fans bolstering our attendance figures. Look it up. Our attendance, even in the days when we fielded a Top 25 program that was regularly competing for SWC championships, was abysmal.

SMU was left behind when the TV networks drove the breakup of the SWC because we had such a small following. I will readily concede our uncompetitive programs of the late 80's and 90's made matters worse, but don't kid yourselves into thinking that with BCS status, we will suddenly find 30k plus loyal supporters to come out and watch SMU play Northwestern Louisiana

Now, more than ever, SMU needs 2 things: 1) make a statement with this season's performance on the field. Beat A&M or TCU, win CUSA, beat a SEC team in the Liberty Bowl...something to show we have arrived and 2) pack Ford and Moody. The latter may be more difficult to accomplish than the former. How do we fill Ford for NW LA? I've long advocated the expansion Dallas Cowboys' marketing plan when they allowed "Dad" to buy an endzone cheap seat and bring up to 5 kids free. That's how you build a fan base when your existing fan base can't even fill half your stadium's seats.

Russ Potts boosted attendance by giving away tickets. We've shown in our recent past we have difficulties giving tickets away. Win 1st, but do something to entice those who might now be getting curious about the product. As the product improves, hopefully demand will as well...but we 1st have to recognize how critical it is to fill our venues and to at least create the illusion of a huge interest in SMU athletics...until it exists in reality.

It is now or never if we really want to continue competing at the highest level. Clearly our wealthiest alumni have shown, by their generous donations, that they want to do just that. We just need to find more "average Joes" and get them interested. Starts with our mostly apathetic alumni. We all know some of those.

You can't just give tickets away anymore. There has to be accountability and minimum paid attendance requirements. The only way we can do this is by Operation Sellout where people buy tickets that we give away. Getting people to use them is the issue.

Blvd, blvd, blvd

Those w tailgate spots should buy or have access to purchased tickets to provide to friends, neighbors ,etc. Meet me or come with me to my spot. Have a good time, see a good game. Feel free to come back (next time preferably on their own).

Provide the free tickets to the tailgate spot owner via ticket master account, tickets could be emailed to the guest so SMU would be able to email about future games and track usage.

[One Trick Pony]

Sometimes I think I've made a mistake lol

[planoponyfan]

When I first heard that Orsini had gone public with the school's desire to be in the Big 12, I thought it was a big mistake. It seemed a bit desperate to me. But then I got to talking with a sportscater friend of mine and he thought it was a good idea.

Like me, he thinks there's little chance SMU will get into the Big 12. In fact, he suggested that if the Big 12 did take SMU, it would likely cause UT to leave. He believes this whole realignment issue is boiling down into one thing: TV markets.

He thinks we're headed for a system with 8 big super conferences, a few small sun-belt type conferences, and one true national championship game. It might be under the BCS, might not. Those conferences will be looking to secure top teams in top TV markets to make the TV deal more attractive.

SMU would clearly like to play in a conference with more teams that are nearby than in a conference with teams in the Carolinas and Florida. Closer schools would mean better rivalries and more attendance. I agree. But the TV aspect of this is what caught his attention. He thinks SMU is in great position to pitch itself to a conference that's looking to have a strong presence in the DFW TV market. UT has a strong following here, but so do TCU and SMU. Well, UT and TCU are already spoken for among BCS conferences. SMU is making the case that either the Big 12 or someone else would be wise to pick them up if they want a foothold in this market. With a renewed commitment to the athletics department and a football program that's finally coming back to life, SMU could be attractive to someone. The question is, who?

I think UT would throw a fit if the Big 12 accepted SMU. So, it seems unlikely that would happen UNLESS, the Big 12 was just desperate and UT really didn't want to leave the conference. I think a possible scenario would be for the Big 12 to merge with something like the Mountain West to create a mega conference and solidify itself as a BCS conference. That could open the door to someone like SMU. I think the Big 12 has a serious problem if it just replaces A&M with just one team. They'll be down this road again in a few years if they do that.

[gostangs]

for those stuck in 1982 - please remember that our area is about twice as large as it was back then - so having meaningful college games would draw quite a bit more fans then SMU did back in the day. If it was only 10,000 - (not that big a number if you assume we would sell 3-5k more season tickets and visitors actually bring 3-5k) - that is a big difference and would result in several sell outs. You think those big 12 fans wouldnt poor in here to the boulevard to visit Dallas ? - it would be their must-go destination of the year.

If there is one thing that gets Dallas fans jacked up - its telling them that a ticket is hard to get.

The Big 12 or any BCS affiliation would change everything overnight.

[RednBlue11]

besides, if the choice is between texas tech and dallas for an away game for any big 12 fan that only wants to go on the road once to see their team...which do you think is getting the business?

[redpony]

I'm not so sure UT would throw a fit and block us from the b12. We don't and wouldn't be competing for the same recruits, we would be an 'easy' game for them etc. Plus it is an easy trip for Austin people to get to Dallas and vice-versa. In addition, there would be no network conflicts.
If you had a BYU or ND then whose network gets to show the games between UT-ND or UT-BYU or ND-BYU? How many b12 fans would travel to Utah? How many BYU fans would travel to Norman or Austin?
Can you imagine ND with a schedule that included UT, OU, Okie St in addition to USC, Michigan and Navy? Not sure ND would want that type of competition.
I would think that UT would have as many if not more issues with a UH or TCU getting into the b12 tthan they would with us.
Even though Ark has not had a lot of success in the SEC would they really want to 'downgrade' their status to that of the b12? Besides, Ark doesn't really bring much to the table when it comes to 'new' TV coverage.

We can only hope that one of the AQ conferences sees the benefits of adding us. A strong showing this FB season will certainly help our cause.

GO PONIES!!!