One Reason ECU is able to build a large fanbase of alumni

CalallenStang · Post by **CalallenStang** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 2:44 pm

Found this on the CUSA board:

[quote='NoQuarter08' pid='7627773' dateline='1330710557']
Somehow I'm still in the young graduate plan even though it's been longer than 3 years ago. Anyone graduating soon needs to get on this deal. Can't beat these seats for $150 + $50 PC donation. You'll find my old man and one of his buddies here since I'm rarely able to make it. Being this close to the student section is awesome. One day I'll be back in NC.

http://www.seats3d.com/ncaa/east_caroli ... /#/p_19_2/
[/quote]

http://csnbbs.com/showthread.php?tid=55 ... pid7627773

We ought to have a similar program for our recent graduates to keep them coming to games. How many season ticket holders do we have who have graduated in the past three years? My guess is that it's less than 50. And that's ridiculous.

East Coast Mustang · Post by **East Coast Mustang** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 6:27 pm

Another reason- their undergraduate enrollment is over 20,000

East Coast Mustang · Post by **East Coast Mustang** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 6:28 pm

And they're a state school, so many of their alumni stay within driving distance after graduation. Lots of SMU alums go back to CA or the East Coast after graduating

CalallenStang · Post by **CalallenStang** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 6:29 pm

East Coast Mustang wrote:And they're a state school, so many of their alumni stay within driving distance after graduation. Lots of SMU alums go back to CA or the East Coast after graduating

SMU has 40,000 alumni in the Dallas area. There is no excuse for our pathetic season ticket base, other than that we haven't been converting recent graduates into season ticket buyers.

East Coast Mustang · Post by **East Coast Mustang** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 6:35 pm

CalallenStang wrote:
East Coast Mustang wrote:And they're a state school, so many of their alumni stay within driving distance after graduation. Lots of SMU alums go back to CA or the East Coast after graduating

SMU has 40,000 alumni in the Dallas area. There is no excuse for our pathetic season ticket base, other than that we haven't been converting recent graduates into season ticket buyers.

I don't disagree. But fact is, you can walk up to Ford about 10 minutes before kickoff and buy a ticket, and that's a lot easier for many alums than paying in advance for six or seven games- especially if there's a Thanksgiving game and/or other games they'll be out of town for. It's not like you can re-sell your Rice Thanksgiving ticket for anything on StubHub...

CalallenStang · Post by **CalallenStang** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 6:40 pm

East Coast Mustang wrote:
CalallenStang wrote:
East Coast Mustang wrote:And they're a state school, so many of their alumni stay within driving distance after graduation. Lots of SMU alums go back to CA or the East Coast after graduating

SMU has 40,000 alumni in the Dallas area. There is no excuse for our pathetic season ticket base, other than that we haven't been converting recent graduates into season ticket buyers.

I don't disagree. But fact is, you can walk up to Ford about 10 minutes before kickoff and buy a ticket, and that's a lot easier for many alums than paying in advance for six or seven games- especially if there's a Thanksgiving game and/or other games they'll be out of town for. It's not like you can re-sell your Rice Thanksgiving ticket for anything on StubHub...

There has to be significant incentive to buying a season ticket, for sure. Which is why we shouldn't offer single-game tickets to the A&M or TCU games. Make people buy season tickets. If we do that, we could potentially sell 32,000 season tickets just from all the Aggies who will buy season tickets just to see A&M-SMU

smubrooks · Post by **smubrooks** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 8:23 pm

They used to sell season tickets at half price if you graduated within 5yrs. Once JJ was hired they dropped that program.

Topper · Post by **Topper** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 8:55 pm

smubrooks wrote:They used to sell season tickets at half price if you graduated within 5yrs. Once JJ was hired they dropped that program.

why?

SMUer · Post by **SMUer** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:04 pm

RBA! RBA!

CalallenStang · Post by **CalallenStang** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:16 pm

SMUer wrote:RBA! RBA!

Yeah, the RBA is pretty much the closest we have to it. Too bad the school doesn't advertise it...at all.

SMUer · Post by **SMUer** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:18 pm

They could really help it grow if they wanted to...maybe it'll show them the value of adding incentives to young alumni...

Digetydog · Post by **Digetydog** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:48 am

East Coast Mustang wrote:Another reason- their undergraduate enrollment is over 20,000

Another "advantage" they have from an attendance standpoint is location. Simply put, they are in the middle of nowhere with no competition from the NFL. Charlotte is a 4.5 drive from there. For people who live in the surrounding area, ECU is THE sports option. As a result, they draw a significant number of people to games who are not ECU grads. The same thing happens at Southern Miss. Of course, the reason they didn't get BE invites is their entire TV market fits inside their stadiums.

Frankly, lack of competition from the NFL is one of the reasons the SEC has such enormous crowds. UTenn, Bama, Clemson, Miss, Miss St. are all in markets without competition from the NFL.

If SMU wants to grow its attendance, it needs to find a way to attract people to games who are not SMU alums. That will take success on the field and convincing Dallas area residents that SMU is "their" team. If TCU can do it, so can SMU b/c SMU is twice the University that it is.

Grant Carter · Post by **Grant Carter** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 10:29 am

I went to the SMU game there over thanksgiving weekend a couple of years ago. I remember seeing a poster in the place we ate lunch near campus advertising the 2 hour pre game and 3 hour post game shows on the radio. I was impressed.

CA Mustang · Post by **CA Mustang** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 10:55 am

Digetydog wrote:Simply put, they are in the middle of nowhere with no competition from the NFL. Charlotte is a 4.5 drive from there. ... Frankly, lack of competition from the NFL is one of the reasons the SEC has such enormous crowds.

Let's be realistic, should we really be blaming the NFL for SMU's attendance problems? How many people in the DFW area have to decide between attending SMU games versus Cowboys games? It is different dates, different price points, etc. I'd even argue that the two don't even draw from the same demographic groups. UW's attendance didn't collapse when the Seahawks arrived. SMU fans need to stop blaming the NFL and accept responsibility for current situation.

SMUer · Post by **SMUer** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 12:26 pm

Winning over non-SMU fans is easy. Give them an exciting team to watch and shower them with lots of free merch and include them in our traditions. Always be competitive against and occasionally beat teams you shouldn't.

The key is it has got to be rewarding to be at and cheer for SMU. Most of us admit there were times we wanted to claw our eyes out during games this season. That's not going to cut it. While we are waiting for our offense to wake up to its potential, SMU might as well set up open open seating areas on the blvd, offer cash beer bars, concerts, and invite food trucks to the blvd or in front of Ford. SMU should revive the MustangManiacs or promote groups like Red And Blue Army, give discounted tickets and merchendise to them and help them advertise to recent graduates and Dallas in general. Use these groups and their benefits to attract fringe fans and teach them our traditions and how to be an active SMU fan. Non-alumnus need an entrance pass to SMU, something that says they deserve to be there.