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CA Mustang wrote:

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.

Note: I am not blaming the NFL for SMU's woes. I said that ECU and USM have an advantage in attracting fans to their FB games. There really is nothing else for people to do.

SMU's attendance problems go back decades. Simply put, SMU has never convinced the average Dallas-area resident that SMU is "his" or "her" team. Even during the Mustang Mania days, our big crowds were often the result of UT/Aggie/Arkansas fans buying huge numbers of tickets.

To get decent attendance: SMU must get its alums involved and SMU must get the average Dallas football fan adopt SMU as his/her college team.

CA Mustang wrote:

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.

When the Cowboys and the Texans came to town the bottom dropped out of our attendance. It has never really recovered. It is clear that with few exceptions small private schools in NFL cities don't draw well. UW is the big state univeristy. It is more appropriate to compare us to Tulane, Rice, Vanderbilt, Stanford and Miami. Stanford and Miami draw reasonably well when they are winning and playing top flight opponents. I think we need to look at their models. Of course TCU draws when they win, but if they have a few bad seasons they will play in front of more empty seats than we do.

Digetydog wrote:SMU's attendance problems go back decades. Simply put, SMU has never convinced the average Dallas-area resident that SMU is "his" or "her" team.

Good point. I remember hearing a commercial for St. Louis University's basketball team while driving through that city that ended with the following slogan: "This is our town, we are your team." They get pretty good attendance at their basketball games, despite being similar to SMU (small, private university in a city with major sports teams...no NBA in St. Louis but the Blues are a big deal there).

But the problem is larger than that. SMU isn't connecting with its own ALUMNI, much less the average Dallas-area person. Walk through the west stands and take notice of the disproportinate amount of people who are 40 years old plus over there. We haven't capitalized on our recent graduates and it's led to a huge amount of the SMU alumni under 40 feeling little personal connection to SMU sports.

You guys are overcomplicating everything and reaching for excuses. Win games and the fans will come out of the woodwork. This is true for any high school, college, or professional team.

CoxBizGrad wrote:You guys are overcomplicating everything and reaching for excuses. Win games and the fans will come out of the woodwork. This is true for any high school, college, or professional team.

It wasn't true for us in the 80s. Do take a look at our attendance back then.

We love to punish the fans. No deal for recent grads, no reentry, no tickets for grad students, no beer...

CalallenStang wrote:

CoxBizGrad wrote:You guys are overcomplicating everything and reaching for excuses. Win games and the fans will come out of the woodwork. This is true for any high school, college, or professional team.

It wasn't true for us in the 80s. Do take a look at our attendance back then.

Shortly before David Stanley went on Channel 8, we had a "big" home game against the Aggies at Texas Stadium.

While it didn't sell out, it was a pretty large crowd. I would guestimate the crowd was 70-80 Aggie fans. It was probably our last home game with a huge crowd. The season ending home game against Arkansas was a ghost town.

Digetydog wrote:

CalallenStang wrote:

CoxBizGrad wrote:You guys are overcomplicating everything and reaching for excuses. Win games and the fans will come out of the woodwork. This is true for any high school, college, or professional team.

It wasn't true for us in the 80s. Do take a look at our attendance back then.

Shortly before David Stanley went on Channel 8, we had a "big" home game against the Aggies at Texas Stadium.

While it didn't sell out, it was a pretty large crowd. I would guestimate the crowd was 70-80 Aggie fans. It was probably our last home game with a huge crowd. The season ending home game against Arkansas was a ghost town.

Yeah, we could sell seats for the games against UT and A&M, but check our home gate for games against Tech, Houston, Rice, etc.

they were pretty good actually for a 6k school. On par with TCU now.

a little marketing goes a long way.

gostangs wrote:they were pretty good actually for a 6k school. On par with TCU now.

The overall season averages were but they were helped by the big crowds for UT/A&M when we could put 65,000 people in Texas Stadium. We had several games where we didn't have 30k attendance.

Topper wrote:It is clear that with few exceptions small private schools in NFL cities don't draw well. ... It is more appropriate to compare us to Tulane, Rice, Vanderbilt, Stanford and Miami. Stanford and Miami draw reasonably well when they are winning and playing top flight opponents.

The only "small" private school that draws well is ND. BYU and USC draw well, but they aren't small by any standards. Rice and Tulane haven't drawn well since the 60's.

A better comparison may be BC, which competes in a much tougher sports market than DFW. Even with challenges on and off the field, they average in the mid-30's and fear it may fall this season. (http://www.bcinterruption.com/2011/12/1 ... attendance)

BigT3x wrote:We love to punish the fans. No deal for recent grads, no reentry, no tickets for grad students, no beer...

This. Unless you're a high and/or longtime donor, the carrot that SMU waives to recent grads isn't that appealing. SMU/MC needs to develop a multi-tier approach. Prices/incentives geared toward each stage of a graduate's career growth.

CalallenStang wrote:But the problem is larger than that. SMU isn't connecting with its own ALUMNI, much less the average Dallas-area person.

That's the key phrase. Until that is addressed, blaming the opponents, NFL, etc. is futile.

BigT3x wrote:We love to punish the fans. ...no reentry .. no beer....

Really, is that what is holding back SMU football attendance? Who decides NOT to go to a game because there is no reentry? Who passes because beer isn't being sold?

Have you cruised the boulevard during a game? Leave early, once. We only bring about two-thirds of the boulevard in, the rest stay at their spots, drink and watch prime time games...it's really bizarre.