Interesting article in the Daily Campus

[mrydel]

Do a ticket swap with one that has a baseball team and then the SMU fans craving baseball will have a place to go cheer.

[lwjr]

If the school is really serious about butts in the seats, they have to build a 9, 10 wins a year program and come up with some type outside the box marketing plan

[blackoutpony]

If the school is really serious about butts in the seats, they have to build a 9, 10 wins a year program and come up with some type outside the box marketing plan

That's the perfect way to sum it up. Short, simple and 100% accurate. Bussing in students from UTA isn't going to fix our attendence problems, winning will. It's the only thing that will

[ponyboy]

And not just winning. Most fans don't want to sip mint juleps at their pregame festivities. We've got to continue to be more inviting to the tshirt fans.

[couch 'em]

Even winning is not purely enough. We need relevancy to locals who aren't alums. Only way to counteract snob reputation is to get middle and especially lower class in the stadium. Let's market south Dallas where sports are loved but college degrees and associated alligiances are less common. Let's tap into the huge Hispanic community that is big in soccer. The pros are way in Frisco. No reason we can't be the local team.

[MV pony]

Even in the early 80s when SMU was winning (and playing good teams in cowboy stadium with beer sold at games), SMU attendance was mediocre.

[blackoutpony]

And not just winning. Most fans don't want to sip mint juleps at their pregame festivities. We've got to continue to be more inviting to the tshirt fans.

couldn't agree more. The blvd is great for people that have a place to go, but if you don't, a lot of people don't feel welcome. I do think the Coral was a very good first step to try and combat this. I'm curious to see what else they will hopefully come up with

[StallionsModelT]

The Corral is a great idea, but why not set up the Corrall at the very front of The Boulevard? Its a much shorter walk to the stadium and all the people at The Corrall can see the line of folks headed to Ford. Just a thought.

[ponyboy]

And a real good thought. It does seem as though we've placed a group of "others" away from the rich folks. Put it front and center -- or how about on the field at the track?

[CalallenStang]

The Corral is a great idea, but why not set up the Corrall at the very front of The Boulevard? Its a much shorter walk to the stadium and all the people at The Corrall can see the line of folks headed to Ford. Just a thought.

Aren't they supposed to shut the Corral 30 minutes before kickoff? I think that was the plan and that the other 'Varders would see the Corral folks headed to Ford.

[Grant Carter]

And a real good thought. It does seem as though we've placed a group of "others" away from the rich folks. Put it front and center -- or how about on the field at the track?

The field at the track seems much more isolated than where it is now.

[ponyboy]

That's true

[lwjr]

If the school is really serious about butts in the seats, they have to build a 9, 10 wins a year program and come up with some type outside the box marketing plan

That's the perfect way to sum it up. Short, simple and 100% accurate. Busing in students from UTA isn't going to fix our attendance problems, winning will. It's the only thing that will

I hear what you are saying about UTA students and other type of non football schools, blackoutpony. But there are kids at these schools who do enjoy college football and they do not have a home team to cheer for. I guess this is my feeble attempt at outside the box type of marketing.
SMU needs to win 9, 10 games a year and become relevant in college football. But as it has been mentioned many times before when the Pony Express was a Top 10 program in the early 80's SMU still struggled to get people to come to the games unless the opponent was one of the state schools.
What is the right answer to the problem? It depends on which question you want to answer first.

[sbsmith]

If the school is really serious about butts in the seats, they have to build a 9, 10 wins a year program and come up with some type outside the box marketing plan

That's the perfect way to sum it up. Short, simple and 100% accurate. Busing in students from UTA isn't going to fix our attendance problems, winning will. It's the only thing that will

But there are kids at these schools who do enjoy college football and they do not have a home team to cheer for.

Not having a home team to root for probably isn't that big of a deal since they chose to attend schools without football teams. Odds are they root for one of the major conference schools in the state and spend their Saturdays during football season watching/attending those games. In any case winning is something we would have to do to get their attention since casual fans don't tend to root for irrelevant teams.

[lwjr]

sbsmith you are probably correct. I still believe it is worth a try. I see it as no different than trying to reach out to the folks in Dallas and get them interested in SMU athletics. I think it might be easier to convince college age kids than adults. I have nothing to support that, it is just my opinion.