Attendance idea

[LakeHighlandsPony]

When we have games against teams that don't bring thier bands why can't we invite guests like The Allen Eagle Band, Plano Band or Highland Park Belles etc... They have to bring parents which helps sell tickets. This also exposes new audiences to the SMU experience.

[RGV Pony]

theres a hundered ideas that would work. As I mentioned on another thread, you can even get most of the people in the AD to listen intently and for the most part agree with you. And they'll all say the same thing..gotta convince the guy with the red blazer.

SMU is going to have to do something on its own. As in, from within. Hire someone, get it done. Have a vision, make it happen. SMU targeted UCF and UTEP for "operation sellout." At least for UCF, didnt work. Time for a new plan. SMU, get it done. Those that threw $ at operation sellout, billboards, video, or all three..thanks, and great, but needs to come from SMU. Have a damn vision and a plan for realizing it.

[LakeHighlandsPony]

They are smoking crack if they think they can sell out against a team from Orlando. How many Alums do they have in the area? There are not 35,000 SMU fans to make up an opposing team not bringing fans.

[Dutch]

otter has a plan. posters. and calendars. door to door. get it done.

[Otter]

Hey Dutch -- You just don't get it. You are truly a moron. My point regarding the posters is that SMU Athletics doesn't even have the smarts to take the old ones down from two years ago. And for the most part, posters has pretty much the extent of the SID's plan (along with the SMU Cox Marketing guy Orsini hired who got caught buying crack in Highland Park last year).

Heck - Highland Park does a better job than us on this stuff. I cannot think of a D-1 school in America that is worse at this than us!

You can be as defensive as you want to be, but you must admit it when you are dead wrong.

I hope that you have a better plan for your pub than they do in Orsini's office for Mustang Athletics or Mustang Football.

ORSINI'S PLAN .... LET'S HIT UP THE SAME DONORS - AGAIN - AND AGAIN!!!

And don't worry about attendance. It will be just fine when we win 2-3 national championships.

Orsini's blazer is red -- the same color as the empty seats he cannot fill.

DO YOUR [deleted] JOB STEVE ORSINI.

[Charleston Pony]

I've preached for years that SMU should follow the "expansion" Dallas Cowboys' plan from 1960...get Dad to buy an end zone seat for $10-$15 that allows him to bring 3 kids free (the Cowboys allowed 5 kids free with that endzone ticket)...but we have to make the Blvd part of the experience...stuff for the kids to do and soda/hot dogs, etc...available in an area that appeals to the general public. Get the word out through the schools and have to include info to let everyone know the logistics of attending a game...including the option of riding DART to a shuttle bus, map of campus, etc...

It's amazing to me how many longtime Dallasites have never stepped foot on the SMU campus.

stroll up and down the Blvd as an outsider and aside from enjoying the scenery, John Q. Public realizes that SMU is an "exclusive" club. That's our challenge and has been forever...that Dallas just doesn't identify with SMU. The product on the field/court is improving and with Big east membership, we might lure some of those transplanted Yankees to campus. Years and years ago my Dad was one of those who had moved from Massachusetts to Dallas and took advantage of those cheap seats to introduce me and my brothers (and friends) to the NFL

[FriscoChuck]

We just need to keep winning. Attendance is fixed by making SMU Mustang fans. All SMU has done this year and previous years are short term efforts to Fill Ford. Creating fans could take 5 or more years of good football. The lost generation of SMU fans is real. From 1989 to 2008, SMU lost the fans that would fill the stadium every game. During those years SMU had a large percentage of students that could care less about football. None of these folks attend games no matter the gimmick. Even now, even after recent success, my 5th grader is told by her classmates "SMU sucks". SMU just needs to keep winning to change this attitude. A win over TCU is great but we need to have big wins, be rated and consistently go to bowls. Oh ya, BE competition or other BCS competition helps. Go Mustangs!

[FIVE-O-FAN]

I wasn't able to go to the game because I got called in to work so my wife went with my young daughter and my daughters friend. The two 8 year old girls had an absolute blast at the game! Game experience is not the problem. Parking is rough but cannot be helped. The problem, as has been stated many times, is apathy. People do not believe yet. Students and alumni have to start showing more interest before we can expect the community to rally behind the program.

There are enough alumni in the area to fill the stands but the don't come out. If you know an alum, give them @&$@ if they aren't going to the games. Game experience and winning will lead to return visits and increased season ticket sales. This is an exciting time to be an SMU fan. I know I'm having a great time with it. In order to continue the ascent we have to increase attendance though.

[2ndandlong]

CMF,

How can you say you have evidence that winning doesn't help attendance? WE ARE NOT WINNING YET. We have one bowl win to show for two barely .500 or better seasons. Just because it looks like we may have a shot at an 11-1 schedule, outsiders think we still have just as good of a shot at a 5-7 record.

Winning isn't one season. Winning isn't one game. Winning is a culture that has been gone from the hilltop for generations. It will take generations of winning to recover.

If you think otherwise, find me one program in the country that did it faster than a decade and sustains it (I'm not saying there absolutely isn't one, but I certainly can't recall it). That time frame is more representative of how it has been for TCU and Boise State. We're in year freaking 3. Compare us to those two schools in 2002-2004.

[GiddyUp]

Sounds like we lost a new diehard fan already..

2nd and Long, what do you think the difference was b/wn UTEP and UCF in terms of operation sellout? The same donors don't want to contribute for two games or what? I thought UTEP was pretty good.

I think the Rangers made a little difference in that people can't take in two games on one day for the general public that may have come.

I do like the band idea and think we should have some sort of band competition on the boulevard or something. Jack Ingram after the game would be pretty good too. Lots of ideas, they just need to be implemented and not enough man power.

[Comet]

Sounds like we lost a new diehard fan already..

2nd and Long, what do you think the difference was b/wn UTEP and UCF in terms of operation sellout? The same donors don't want to contribute for two games or what? I thought UTEP was pretty good.

I think the Rangers made a little difference in that people can't take in two games on one day for the general public that may have come.

I do like the band idea and think we should have some sort of band competition on the boulevard or something. Jack Ingram after the game would be pretty good too. Lots of ideas, they just need to be implemented and not enough man power.

1. Time slot
2. UTEP travels well
3. First home game
4. No game with World Series implications

[mrydel]

I do not want to gt involved in an attendance war but fwiw I think the State Fair may have had more of an impact than the Ranger game,

[SMUer]

Make having a game ticket or a student ID a prerequisite for entering the Blvd. More food vendors for people who don't have tents. Encourage beer generosity to wrist banded guests. Install a PA system on the Blvd to announces the Mustang Walk and encourages people to pack up, get tickets 30 minutes before game...a PA or bullhorn countdown. Open turnstall policy for ticket holders. Transition the Greek tents from Dallas lawn to area next to Doak statue. Better gameday presentation (improving). Designated beer patio, like Rice has.

[2ndandlong]

Sounds like we lost a new diehard fan already..

2nd and Long, what do you think the difference was b/wn UTEP and UCF in terms of operation sellout? The same donors don't want to contribute for two games or what? I thought UTEP was pretty good.

I think the Rangers made a little difference in that people can't take in two games on one day for the general public that may have come.

I do like the band idea and think we should have some sort of band competition on the boulevard or something. Jack Ingram after the game would be pretty good too. Lots of ideas, they just need to be implemented and not enough man power.

Differences:
1) Operation Sellout sold 5,000 fewer tickets than hoped for this game. With a moderate success rate, that probably counts for 1,000-2,500 down in attendance.
2) ALCS - the world series was on the line last night. This was our biggest downfall. we were playing a mid-season game against a team that could hardly be considered a rival beyond the last couple years. DFW Sports fans were all eyes on baseball. I talked to one of the other investors in 1st and 10, not Dutch, and we had about 90 people at our Plano location at 2 o'clock to watch the Rangers. They watched football as a way to pass the time. Baseball does not draw people to sports bars in DFW. Certainly not in our experience, but, holy crap, they were going yesterday. This seriously cost us 5,000 people, maybe 10,000 after half time.
3) State Fair on a Saturday draws a lot more would be T-Shirt fans than I think people are giving it credit for. maybe a few hundred
4) Cattle Barons ball drew a lot of people. Our tailgate was down 4-6 "every game fans" because of this. maybe a few hundred
5) UTEP travels well. This is their chance to go to Dallas for a weekend and a lot of them do. I think they even have the best presence at Moody for basketball games. UCF's poor attendance (this may be the future with the Big East) may have cost us 1,000.

I really think we were missing potential for 7,500-8,000 people, but these things are always going to be there. Some [deleted] will choose to get married in FB season. the fair isn't going away. we are in a major metropolitan area, and everyone's competing for people. Once we win for a 5-7 year period, we'll move up on the priority list. Winning starts this year. We haven't been much better than .500 in 25 years.

[2ndandlong]

Make having a game ticket or a student ID a prerequisite for entering the Blvd. More food vendors for people who don't have tents. Encourage beer generosity to wrist banded guests. Install a PA system on the Blvd to announces the Mustang Walk and encourages people to pack up, get tickets 30 minutes before game...a PA or bullhorn countdown. Open turnstall policy for ticket holders. Transition the Greek tents from Dallas lawn to area next to Doak statue. Better gameday presentation (improving). Designated beer patio, like Rice has.

I like the PA system idea if done correctly. Push people in the stadium.

I don't want to turn anyone away from the boulevard though. We've had several people that have come to our tailgate only for years. This year, they're going to games. This is working, but it takes time.