Game Day Experience

[Dutch]

Shutting down the Boulevard before kickoff is going to be necessary...it will [deleted] people off initially, but most of the people it will anger are part of the problem anyway (showing up to tailgate and then leaving). They'll get mad, protest, and then either get over it or stop coming out...either way it will have no impact on the game. I really see no downside to shutting down the tailgating a few minutes before the game as it relates to attendance.

Second, get some halftime entertainment that will appeal to the masses - bring in a major musical act or something...give the Dallas area non-fan a reason to come out to the game.

Third, market the hell out of the game via not only social media but television, internet banner ads (notice how we occasionally see TCU ones on our site), billboards (10+ all over DFW), radio (not just the sports stations...get ads on K104, The Edge, KZPS, etc), and random events/giveaways on campus that will appeal to the masses. We need to make people in Dallas feel COMFORTABLE on campus and they'll be much, much more likely to come out to the games. Many people outside the SMU community are very apprehensive to come into the "rich" part of town for one reason or another....we need to get past that.

Finally, create some value in the ticket...sorry, but I don't believe that giving them away or selling them at deep discounts to youth leagues is helping...if anything, it's actually destroying the value. I think we should RAISE ticket prices to $20 at a minimum, and going much higher. We need to let people know that if they get ahold of a ticket they should USE it, not feel like it's a throwaway. Again, it may turn some people off initially, but those people are probably not the fans that are showing up and staying through the game anyway...they're the ones showing up with their 5 kids and then leaving mid-2nd quarter.

Also...let's ditch the "mini-mustangs" and other high school-like things that we do during the game...we're a D-IA AQ school. Time to act like it.

I KNOW we can get better, and there are a lot of things we can do that we've just never done before...some will be painful or awkward at first, but they are necessary. Get people to see SMU as a school that's serious about its gameday experience and they'll come.

Basketball....that one needs even more help and I can't even begin to say what we need to do there.

please suggest how to enforce shutting down the boulevard?

[huskerpony]

mustard gas?

[03Mustang]

please suggest how to enforce shutting down the boulevard?

1. Start strictly enforcing alcohol rules at that point - send SMU police or UP police to ask nicely that people put the alcohol away

2. Put up a few loudspeakers throughout the campus and start making annoying announcements every 90 seconds or so that the Boulevard is closing and that it's game time.

Those two things will run the useless fans that have no intention of heading into the stadium off and push the rest of us into the stadium. Of course people will protest and refuse to attend the game at first, but like I said they'll either get over it or start showing up. The ones that just want to show up with their dogs and then leave are never going to be interested in the game unless we change some things radically.

[East Coast Mustang]

I dont want to discourage hot broads from going to tailgate

[03Mustang]

Sorry, but we need people to see the tailgate as a sideshow to the game...right now it's the other way.

[peruna11]

1)Shutting down the Boulevard before kickoff

2) get some halftime entertainment that will appeal to the masses - bring in a major musical act or something...give the Dallas area non-fan a reason to come out to the game.

3) Third, market the hell out of the game

4) Finally, create some value in the ticket...sorry, but I don't believe that giving them away or selling them at deep discounts to youth leagues is helping...if anything, it's actually destroying the value.

5) Also...let's ditch the "mini-mustangs" and other high school-like things that we do during the game...we're a D-IA AQ school. Time to act like it.

1) This is truly off the mark. Shutting down the blvd would do nothing to boost attendance. Admittedly, there are tons of folks who come to the blvd & not the game. Also, I think the elaborate tailgates are part of what makes the blvd special - these are the only folks who would be punished by a "curfew". I will make the assumption you do not host a tailgate, but closing the blvd even a half hour before kickoff would mean some of SMU's most staunch supporters have to stop entertaining and start cleaning up as much as 2 hours before kickoff, which as you probably know is about when the blvd really gets fun & full.

2 & 3) I totally agree with this. Even the grass roots stuff goes a long way. I feel like the yard signs make a huge difference. For last years TCU game, I was stopped by 2 o 3 neighbors to ask about the game, getting tickets, etc. I hope to see marketing come back in a BIG way for the BE, if not before.

4) I feel like I disagree, but I don't know enough about ticket-sale science. My gut tells me to reflect on economics 101. There is an asinine level of supply & no demand. So far, any time I bring outsiders to games, I have to provide the ticket. I have made a point to ask them if they would even consider paying $20-25 for a ticket, even if I was still going to the game with them, and the answer is always, "Seriously? No."

5) It may look childish and bush league, but selling the park cities on the family atmosphere is a great move. Someone with better knowledge of that program can chime in, but I'm pretty sure the families of the mini-mustangs have to buy season tickets to get their kiddos on the field. I'd venture to guess the mini-mustang program brings about 2-300 extra people to each game, so I'm ok with it.

[Pony ^]

Dont the frats/sorotities compete for overall "points" or something like that? have attendace count towards points. But instead of just scanning in have them scan out as well. that way they arent chking in at the begining and leaving. If you dont scan out you dont count and if you arent there for a predetermined amount of time you dont count either...

Selling booze will never happen, but it is the best way to create a "rowdy" energetic crowd. My buddies and I smuggle in airline bottles to keep the good times rolling!!

And the cops near the student section need to take a hike. I guarantee there is a large amount of students that believe they will be harrassed if they show up.

the only people who give a damn about points are the sororities & lambda chis.

+1
Add the sigeps and you are gold.

I like the scanning/money idea

[peruna11]

And the cops near the student section need to take a hike. I guarantee there is a large amount of students that believe they will be harrassed if they show up.

+1

I don't know what LA style riot they are expecting, but their presence is a bit much. We moved over to the student section at Homecoming & I was nervous about the number of cops (granted i had a traveler of Beam in my trousers, but still).

[Pony ^]

And the cops near the student section need to take a hike. I guarantee there is a large amount of students that believe they will be harrassed if they show up.

+1

I don't know what LA style riot they are expecting, but their presence is a bit much. We moved over to the student section at Homecoming & I was nervous about the number of cops (granted i had a traveler of Beam in my trousers, but still).

Agreed. I've had personal experience and got interrogated because "I looked drunk"...which I was, but still. I'm sure several students don't go because of the cops...actually I know this for a fact

[03Mustang]

1)Shutting down the Boulevard before kickoff

2) get some halftime entertainment that will appeal to the masses - bring in a major musical act or something...give the Dallas area non-fan a reason to come out to the game.

3) Third, market the hell out of the game

4) Finally, create some value in the ticket...sorry, but I don't believe that giving them away or selling them at deep discounts to youth leagues is helping...if anything, it's actually destroying the value.

5) Also...let's ditch the "mini-mustangs" and other high school-like things that we do during the game...we're a D-IA AQ school. Time to act like it.

1) This is truly off the mark. Shutting down the blvd would do nothing to boost attendance. Admittedly, there are tons of folks who come to the blvd & not the game. Also, I think the elaborate tailgates are part of what makes the blvd special - these are the only folks who would be punished by a "curfew". I will make the assumption you do not host a tailgate, but closing the blvd even a half hour before kickoff would mean some of SMU's most staunch supporters have to stop entertaining and start cleaning up as much as 2 hours before kickoff, which as you probably know is about when the blvd really gets fun & full.

2 & 3) I totally agree with this. Even the grass roots stuff goes a long way. I feel like the yard signs make a huge difference. For last years TCU game, I was stopped by 2 o 3 neighbors to ask about the game, getting tickets, etc. I hope to see marketing come back in a BIG way for the BE, if not before.

4) I feel like I disagree, but I don't know enough about ticket-sale science. My gut tells me to reflect on economics 101. There is an asinine level of supply & no demand. So far, any time I bring outsiders to games, I have to provide the ticket. I have made a point to ask them if they would even consider paying $20-25 for a ticket, even if I was still going to the game with them, and the answer is always, "Seriously? No."

5) It may look childish and bush league, but selling the park cities on the family atmosphere is a great move. Someone with better knowledge of that program can chime in, but I'm pretty sure the families of the mini-mustangs have to buy season tickets to get their kiddos on the field. I'd venture to guess the mini-mustang program brings about 2-300 extra people to each game, so I'm ok with it.

1. Look past your love of the Boulevard and think logically - do we want fans on the Boulevard or in the stands? Do we want them to remain in the stands? As long as the Boulevard is the main attraction the game will never be full unless we're making a run like UH did this year. Right now our tailgating is too much of a good thing, and it's keeping people from ever making it into the game

4. Asking people if they'd pay that and actually putting them for sale at that amount are two different things. You should think back to your marketing classes, not economics.

5. If we don't want to be bush-league then we need to ditch the bush-league stuff, and that includes the mini-mustangs and the kids sliding down the grass hill all game. There's really no halfway on this - are we a D-IA football program, or a weekend activity for the Dallas elite? Let's put on a show worthy of a top-tier football program and the rest will fall into place. The community is MORE likely to want to be a part of our game when we have real crowds and real interest for those 6 Saturdays in the fall.

[smusic 00]

Remember when they used to kick us off the boulevard at kickoff? Yeah, that really boosted our attendance. In fact, it discouraged people from attending both the tailgate and the game. Hence, the removal of that policy.

[03Mustang]

Like I said, it's going to [deleted] people off in the short-term, but long-term it's the right move.

[smusic 00]

Well, I disagree.

I have a legit question. Do you own a blvd spot?

[03Mustang]

No, I do not own a spot, but I "make the rounds" before every game with friends and usually hit the Cox tailgate (yes, I am a Cox alum).

[SMU2007]

more people at the boulevard will eventually translate to more people in the stadium. pushing people away from the boulevard does nothing to help our attendence problem.