Something very disturbing...

[planoponyfan]

This is going to take time. We can say that over and over again, but it's still true. Here's another truth: announced was over 22,000.. a few years ago we'd be lucky to have an announced crowd that large. It is getting better. It is a tough nut to crack. It is made all the more difficult when you do have a number of fans who have to choose between going to the Mustangs game or the Rangers game. Some will look at TCU and see large crowds there and wonder how they did it. Just remember, they've been playing at a very high level for a decade now and still average somewhere around 35,000 playing a lot of odd-ball teams from the MWC. Give us a decade of playing in bowls and for conference championships and we'll get there.

[SMUer]

Until then we need to cheer as loud as two fans...held up, RBA scarves act has visual space-fillers

[IndyPony]

My wife and I, both SMU alums, returned to north Texas last year and settled in Ft Worth. We are 07-08 alum and have steadily gotten other friends in our yrs to become season ticket fans.

Being in Ft Worth has shed new light on the situation discussed on this thread. Here in Ft Worth, everyone seems to be a Frog Fan. As many on this board know, the former mayor of Ft Worth pushed for the residents to become fans etc. Not to make this too long and drawn out but to give a few examples:

-The Kroger near TCU has a purple uniform; all of the time.
-The lights on the top of the Chesapeake Energy building glows purple on Friday and Saturday Nights. (And it annoys me that I can see them from my balcony even when the Mustangs stomp them for over 3 quarters of football)
-The local shopping/entertainment districts at Sundance Square and West 7th Street, have Purple signs up everywhere
-Local companies, have "purple fridays" and encourage employees to wear purple on pre-game fridays
-Every time I go into a local grocery store or pharmacy there is TCU apparel on an end cap

Point is- TCU has done a great job marketing TCU Football to the locals. The "snobbish kids" argument mentioned previously has no less meaning to the kids at TCU than it dose for the kids at SMU but the Ft Worth community has embraced them anyway.

If we want to get the Impact mentioned here then we need to both win games and win fans. I think that similar to the SMU2BCS group, there should be a fan driven DALLAS LOOK AT SMU group. MAybe they could help push the city, and surrounding citizens into getting behind the home team. Just MHO

[IndyPony]

One more quick rant that goes along with OC's tagline:

Can someone please explain why ESPN lists SMU as "Southern Methodist Mustangs" ? This really annoys me. Similar to the issue over the last few years of our actual school colors and the colors on the Cheerleader's uniforms as well as various flags in our stadium not matching. This is a branding issue and it matters. It matters because we are winning, we are trying to move up in to an AQ conference and we are trying to build the SMU brand. So why are we allowing that brand to be diminished? What would A&M do if ESPN was calling them the Agriculture and Mechanical Aggies? Have you ever seen a longhorn cheerleader wear a uniform that was kind of burnt-orange but was really OSU orange? Can someone at the University please look into this? Brand Matters: to the football program, to the school, and to the alum.

[IndyPony]

The school needs to decide what our colors will be, and they need to stick with those colors...forever

[Mustang2011]

My wife and I, both SMU alums, returned to north Texas last year and settled in Ft Worth. We are 07-08 alum and have steadily gotten other friends in our yrs to become season ticket fans.

Being in Ft Worth has shed new light on the situation discussed on this thread. Here in Ft Worth, everyone seems to be a Frog Fan. As many on this board know, the former mayor of Ft Worth pushed for the residents to become fans etc. Not to make this too long and drawn out but to give a few examples:

-The Kroger near TCU has a purple uniform; all of the time.
-The lights on the top of the Chesapeake Energy building glows purple on Friday and Saturday Nights. (And it annoys me that I can see them from my balcony even when the Mustangs stomp them for over 3 quarters of football)
-The local shopping/entertainment districts at Sundance Square and West 7th Street, have Purple signs up everywhere
-Local companies, have "purple fridays" and encourage employees to wear purple on pre-game fridays
-Every time I go into a local grocery store or pharmacy there is TCU apparel on an end cap

Point is- TCU has done a great job marketing TCU Football to the locals. The "snobbish kids" argument mentioned previously has no less meaning to the kids at TCU than it dose for the kids at SMU but the Ft Worth community has embraced them anyway.

If we want to get the Impact mentioned here then we need to both win games and win fans. I think that similar to the SMU2BCS group, there should be a fan driven DALLAS LOOK AT SMU group. MAybe they could help push the city, and surrounding citizens into getting behind the home team. Just MHO

Not going to work. Fort Worth doesn't have any major sports programs, so TCU could position themselves as "Fort Worth's Team". Do you think SMU even has a tiny shot at becoming "Dallas' Team"? No way in hell.

[kent dorfman]

I do not worry about the lack of game attendance that much, although I will say that there some measures that can be taken to increase attendance which will yield more immediate results.

I will also point out that it is very encouraging to me to see that our student section remains full for the DURATION of home games.

But as far as getting more people out to games, I have been hearing that students from other schools such as Dallas Baptist are following the Ponies. I am all for them coming out to our games in order to bolster attendance on a short term basis.

Also, I think that giving tickets to organizations such as Boys and Girls clubs, etc is good policy. Not only would it boost our attendance but it is also good publicity. It paints us in a positive light and it exposes SMU to more youths the DFW area. I believe that exposing young kids in such groups to a place like SMU would be a positive thing for them. SMU is certainly something to aspire to.

Additionally, the student population at SMU is quite diverse. It attracts students from around the country and the world. Yet many of these students return home after they graduate. Obviously, luring these alumni back to Dallas for a weekend to play Rice, Marshall, or even UCF is problematic. SMU alumni tend do some really cool things after they graduate. It is awesome to think about the many successful people that the school produces, yet many of these people take on time consuming, albeit lucrative, employment opportunities that are far away from the DFW area or even Texas.

One thing we must not lose sight of is that our student body is an uncommonly driven and passionate lot whose lives take them in numerous directions upon graduation.

This does not mean that they do not love their school and the football team. It just means that it is not always feasible for much of our alumni base to return for a mid-season game against a conference opponent, even if that conference opponent is UCF.

Keep the faith and keep loving the Ponies. There are countless people who attend the games in spirit, folks.

[IndyPony]

Kent your words are true. We left for a while as well.

Mustang2011: Although I graduated in 08' I am old enough to remember when SMU WAS Dallas's team. Back then the Cowboys were Americas team. As well, Ft Worth residents would prob say that the Rangers, the Cowboys, and the Mavs are their teams too; and so they should. Dallas and the so rounding area has plenty of people that could call SMU their home team.

[Otter]

Attendance at games is just fine. Not an issue ... right???? Right Dutch??? Right 2ndandlong? .....

Attendance was [deleted] embarrassing - maybe 12,500. Just admit it. And more more [deleted] Operation Sellouts until we get an AD who values customers.

[jpe747]

I to was disappointed at the turnout. I think Dr Death is 'right on.' We gotta put butts in seats. Like Wash says, "You will or you won't. You do or you don't." There are on excuses. We have to figure out how to bring another 10,000 people to Mustang games and turn them into fans. Though the Boulevard is cool it could be a lot better for bringing in new fans. It is geared to greeting alumni and current students, etc. All good, but if the goal is bring in new people it could be a much better tool. Also, 10,000 empty seats costs SMU money. How about some fan recruiting - if a person has purchased 2 tickets or more they can purchase one for a friend for $1. When the regular tickets start selling then cut back on dollar tickets. If you don't like these ideas, fine. Let's have a bull session and start thinking of ways we can sell our program to new people. 10,000 seats is nothing in an area of 2-3 million people.

[Comet]

I to was disappointed at the turnout. I think Dr Death is 'right on.' We gotta put butts in seats. Like Wash says, "You will or you won't. You do or you don't." There are on excuses. We have to figure out how to bring another 10,000 people to Mustang games and turn them into fans. Though the Boulevard is cool it could be a lot better for bringing in new fans. It is geared to greeting alumni and current students, etc. All good, but if the goal is bring in new people it could be a much better tool. Also, 10,000 empty seats costs SMU money. How about some fan recruiting - if a person has purchased 2 tickets or more they can purchase one for a friend for $1. When the regular tickets start selling then cut back on dollar tickets. If you don't like these ideas, fine. Let's have a bull session and start thinking of ways we can sell our program to new people. 10,000 seats is nothing in an area of 2-3 million people.

I just want to say that Wash stole that from Yoda. Got to give credit where credit is due.

[PK]

OK, this is a fine idea, invite your friends and relatives to the game, but unless you buy your tickets one game at a time, you have tickets in a particular place with other ticket holders sitting around you. So what are you going to do...invite friends to the game and say..."Oh by the way, you won't be sitting with us. Your seats are way over there." I don't have a solution, but I see this as a real problem in trying to get friends to come to the game.

[goldenstang]

OK, this is a fine idea, invite your friends and relatives to the game, but unless you buy your tickets one game at a time, you have tickets in a particular place with other ticket holders sitting around you. So what are you going to do...invite friends to the game and say..."Oh by the way, you won't be sitting with us. Your seats are way over there." I don't have a solution, but I see this as a real problem in trying to get friends to come to the game.

Go sit with them somewhere in the thousands of empty seats.

[Big Hoss]

I've said it before and will say it again, SMU will never fill the stadium will alums. You have to get guys like Mestengo and our crew at Special Delivery. No excuse for the embarrassing, pathetic attendance today. This team deserves better support.

Bingo! This is the #1 thing that will push our attendance anywhere close to 32k a game.

[facultydrcoog]

You guys need to realize that one good season isnt going to translate into a sold out stadium. If this were true we would of had a full house watch us get beat by ULaLa back in 2006 after we beat Okie State. Its taken 5-6 years of consistent winning seasons (no football was played in 2010) for us to get 30k+ in Robertson consistently. Frankly, I'm disappointed we havent sold out once this year but by the end of the year we will probably have the highest average attendance we've had since the Jenkins era in the Dome. It has also taken an innovative marketing program and quadrupling the amount of dorms and apartments on campus, which were both problems specific to U of H. Also you guys have a much smaller alumni pool to draw from to get new season ticket holders

SMU fell way harder than U of H did, but you had incompetent leadership for much longer. I'm pretty toasted so I may not make alot of sense but you guys have a great man in June Jones and I really do look forward to having a quality opponent in yall and developing a great rivalry between our schools. I pray you'll never beat us though.