Attendance

[A Clockwork Orange]

You realize that people living 8 + hours away are NOT who we are referring to as the culprit right? I mean you have to know that. Also, the locals DO travel to plenty of away games and bowl games ( when we get to one ). The Pinstripe bowls were basically my high school reunion and a who's who of all the tailgating lots.

One game. The Pinstripe Bowl. What about the Fiest Bowl, the Music City Bowl, the Liberty Bowl? We were passed over a few times in the '90s specifically because our fan base (local and alum) DIDN'T travel. We (I used to be a local) might travel to one game a year away from the 'Cuse. That's one, and that's awesome, but what are we really expecting of alums? Should we expect WAY more out of alums than out of locals?

Who ARE you talking about when you mention the alumni base? Within a three hour radius (gets you to Buffalo and Albany) I can see. That's where you're drawing the most people. A LOT of our alums live in NYC metro, DC metro, Boston, and Philly metro. I don't think it's feasible for a university to expect alums from those areas to be making trips up many times during the course of a season. If that's your target market, you will always struggle with attendance.

If SU focuses on the Syracuse extended metro area, there are 650,000 people. Alums within three hours are also feasible, and there should be outreach there. Anyone from further out is gravy.

Take VPI for example. Filled to the brim on most occasions. They have great local support, but the majority of their (much larger) alumni base is within three and a half hours. NoVa/DC area is teeming with Hokies. Even where I live (in the valley) VT fans outnumber UVA fans by a 5 to 1 margin. Those alums make the trip back because it's easy for them.

Guess when they don't make the trip back? When their basketball team is playing. And that is the REAL crux of all of this. Football has been mediocre for a LONG time. People will travel and root for a team that wins. Our basketball fan base takes over arenas anywhere on the East coast. We will travel to watch them play because there is an expectation of excellence every year. I'll go to the Georgetown game this year, and the ACC tourney. If I have spending money, I'm likely (as an alum and a local) to spend it watching a team that can and will win 8 times out of 10. I'll also go to the SU-UVA basketball and football games this year. Get them close to me (within three hours) and I'm there, no questions asked. If you want me traveling five, six or seven hours? I want to see a team that is competitive. Or I might just wait for basketball season. You want distant alumni buy in? Put a winning product on the field.

I just really think it's disingenuous of locals to say "it's alums fault!" I once was a local and alum. Went to every game. When you move away, you long to be there, but money and life get in the way. It's just the way it is. If you haven't lived far enough away from the 'Cuse to recognize that, then don't shout from the mountaintops about your awful alumni base. Alumni aren't awful, it's the product that has been awful. If SU pulls off a nine win season, lots more people will be in the dome, alums AND locals. That's just the way it is.

 

[Bayside44]

You realize that people living 8 + hours away are NOT who we are referring to as the culprit right? I mean you have to know that. Also, the locals DO travel to plenty of away games and bowl games ( when we get to one ). The Pinstripe bowls were basically my high school reunion and a who's who of all the tailgating lots.

What's 3 hours away from Syracuse in any direction? Buffalo? Scranton?

 

[HeaterCuse22]

Yeah, let's blame our attendance on the fans/alumni that live across the country when there is almost 650,000 people just in the Syracuse Metro area (with Rochester right down the road), and we can't fill a 49k stadium. GTFOH.

I had to defend out of towners last year in a similar thread (every year it seems). First of all, we make our money from TV, not the ticket sales from the townies that do show up. The people watching at home are valuable to the program just as much as the fans in the stands (TV contracts). Secondly, a lot of us out of town folks, go out of our way to make it to road games that are a little closer to where we live, and cost A LOT more money than going to a game at the Dome. Where are you locals at then? If it's reasonable for you to expect us to travel 9+ hours to get to the Dome, than carry your butts down here, ya hypocrites!

In all fairness us locals have to listen and read for 280 days from the local media how bad the team is. how bad the coach is. how bad we recruit. its a wonder there is no buzz locally.

 

[NineOneSeven]

One game. The Pinstripe Bowl. What about the Fiest Bowl, the Music City Bowl, the Liberty Bowl? We were passed over a few times in the '90s specifically because our fan base (local and alum) DIDN'T travel. We (I used to be a local) might travel to one game a year away from the 'Cuse. That's one, and that's awesome, but what are we really expecting of alums? Should we expect WAY more out of alums than out of locals?

Who ARE you talking about when you mention the alumni base? Within a three hour radius (gets you to Buffalo and Albany) I can see. That's where you're drawing the most people. A LOT of our alums live in NYC metro, DC metro, Boston, and Philly metro. I don't think it's feasible for a university to expect alums from those areas to be making trips up many times during the course of a season. If that's your target market, you will always struggle with attendance.

If SU focuses on the Syracuse extended metro area, there are 650,000 people. Alums within three hours are also feasible, and there should be outreach there. Anyone from further out is gravy.

Take VPI for example. Filled to the brim on most occasions. They have great local support, but the majority of their (much larger) alumni base is within three and a half hours. NoVa/DC area is teeming with Hokies. Even where I live (in the valley) VT fans outnumber UVA fans by a 5 to 1 margin. Those alums make the trip back because it's easy for them.

Guess when they don't make the trip back? When their basketball team is playing. And that is the REAL crux of all of this. Football has been mediocre for a LONG time. People will travel and root for a team that wins. Our basketball fan base takes over arenas anywhere on the East coast. We will travel to watch them play because there is an expectation of excellence every year. I'll go to the Georgetown game this year, and the ACC tourney. If I have spending money, I'm likely (as an alum and a local) to spend it watching a team that can and will win 8 times out of 10. I'll also go to the SU-UVA basketball and football games this year. Get them close to me (within three hours) and I'm there, no questions asked. If you want me traveling five, six or seven hours? I want to see a team that is competitive. Or I might just wait for basketball season. You want distant alumni buy in? Put a winning product on the field.

I just really think it's disingenuous of locals to say "it's alums fault!" I once was a local and alum. Went to every game. When you move away, you long to be there, but money and life get in the way. It's just the way it is. If you haven't lived far enough away from the 'Cuse to recognize that, then don't shout from the mountaintops about your awful alumni base. Alumni aren't awful, it's the product that has been awful. If SU pulls off a nine win season, lots more people will be in the dome, alums AND locals. That's just the way it is.

I plan to copy and paste this whenever attendance is brought up, whether it's this year, or any year in the future.

 

[KaiserUEO]

What's 3 hours away from Syracuse in any direction? Buffalo? Scranton?

the SS Edmund Fitzgerald...

and i realize a lot of you wackos are going to miss the point and go 'wrong lake'.

 

[KaiserUEO]

Not true at all. Used to be plenty of alumni.

btw bees, you lost your townie status about a week ago.

youre closer to us alumni now.

youve been Assimiliated, youre Locutus.

you may be a townie at heart, but welcome to the Borg.

 

[Scooch]

I plan to copy and paste this whenever attendance is brought up, whether it's this year, or any year in the future.

Like I said, the answer is seen every November thru March. It's so simple.

 

[HeaterCuse22]

The whole thing is just over thought.

We need to win. We need to win more and consistently. Then the people will be there.

 

[SU68]

Although attendance has been an issue for years, it has become more problematic with expansion to 12 games (6 or 7 home games). Our first game usually competes with Labor Day weekend and with the state fair. Solution: schedule a road game for that weekend. Our last game now is BC on Thanksgiving weekend when the students are on break. I don't know what the solution is for that.

We need to focus our concern on the 4 or 5 home games in between. What can be done to improve attendance for them? :noidea:

 

[Scooch]

This is the part of attendance threads where I mention that my first game as a student was in 1991 when we opened against Vanderbilt.

We were ranked #24, coming off an Aloha Bowl win season, with Marvin Graves as our returning QB.

And there was an announced crowd of 36K.

So to quote Billy Joel, "The good ol' days weren't always good."

 

[skurey]

Maybe a lot of alums can't afford travel, hotels, and tickets because they shelled out a quarter mil for a degree.

 

[CuseOnly]

In all fairness us locals have to listen and read for 280 days from the local media how bad the team is. how bad the coach is. how bad we recruit. its a wonder there is no buzz locally.

Even if they were good, they would find a way to create controversy and tear them down. You wouldn't see much of a difference in the coverage if were a perennial 10 win team. They almost have to cater to the negativity in this area.

 

[orange_in_VA]

Maybe a lot of alums can't afford travel, hotels, and tickets because they shelled out a quarter mil for a degree.

All the people in my family that got degrees from Cuse make more than that a year...

 

[mountaincuse]

Although attendance has been an issue for years, it has become more problematic with expansion to 12 games (6 or 7 home games). Our first game usually competes with Labor Day weekend and with the state fair. Solution: schedule a road game for that weekend. Our last game now is BC on Thanksgiving weekend when the students are on break. I don't know what the solution is for that.

We need to focus our concern on the 4 or 5 home games in between. What can be done to improve attendance for them? :noidea:

This year is gong to be more problematic too in that regard. Four straight weekends of home games. I live ten minutes away and I will be catching flack for that (but still going), living hours away it would be nearly impossible.

 

[rrlbees]

btw bees, you lost your townie status about a week ago. youre closer to us alumni now. youve been Assimiliated, youre Locutus. you may be a townie at heart, but welcome to the Borg.

You have a point there. I'm now vested on both sides of the coin. Athletics and academics.

 

[NineOneSeven]

All the people in my family that got degrees from Cuse make more than that a year...

Uhhhh...250k?

What are these careers?

 

[Chip]

This is the part of attendance threads where I mention that my first game as a student was in 1991 when we opened against Vanderbilt.

We were ranked #24, coming off an Aloha Bowl win season, with Marvin Graves as our returning QB.

And there was an announced crowd of 36K.

So to quote Billy Joel, "The good ol' days weren't always good."

Which brings up our secondary issue to winning. That crowd looked more normal for a team that couldn't sell out. All the seats between the 5's were filled, and all the empty spots were in the corner and end zone.

Nowadays, the middle is what makes 36k look so terrible on TV.

Hope Coyle works on that one. He'll get his first taste of it tonight.

 

[Chip]

You have a point there. I'm now vested on both sides of the coin. Athletics and academics.

This won't impact your son because I assume he's been going to games his whole life. But I assume tonight is one of those free games like Nova last year where the student section is completely full. I wonder what his new friends who didn't grow up around here think when they go to their first football game and look around at an empty Dome. Has to take some of the fun out of it.

I never had that problem, my first game was the same as Scooch, 1991 Vandy. But it was a different kind of crowd as I said above. Then, of course, my 2nd game, Dar Dar, history. Hooked.

 

[Scooch]

Which brings up our secondary issue to winning. That crowd looked more normal for a team that couldn't sell out. All the seats between the 5's were filled, and all the empty spots were in the corner and end zone.

Nowadays, the middle is what makes 36k look so terrible on TV.

Hope Coyle works on that one. He'll get his first taste of it tonight.

Agree. We have the oddest looking attendance (note that I didn't say crowd, although that might be true too).

Coyle hasn't seen it in person yet. It might take a couple games to sink in, but once it does I imagine he'll try to fix it.

 

[Scooch]

This won't impact your son because I assume he's been going to games his whole life. But I assume tonight is one of those free games like Nova last year where the student section is completely full. I wonder what his new friends who didn't grow up around here think when they go to their first football game and look around at an empty Dome. Has to take some of the fun out of it.

I never had that problem, my first game was the same as Scooch, 1991 Vandy. But it was a different kind of crowd as I said above. Then, of course, my 2nd game, Dar Dar, history. Hooked.

Our era at SU was so unique. Probation was hanging over the hoops program as we hit campus, and football had arguably its best back-to-back seasons (91 & 92) since the early 60s. Then you had the anticipation of being a pre-season top 5 team in '93, and a top 10 team into late October in 1994.

Meanwhile hoops was very good, but certainly down a notch from where it was in the late 80s, and we had the probation season of 1992-93.

We may have been part of the only class(es) at SU who could legitimately argue that football was better than hoops during their time on campus in the past 50 years.

 

[TheCusian]

Our era at SU was so unique. Probation was hanging over the hoops program as we hit campus, and football had arguably its best back-to-back seasons (91 & 92) since the early 60s. Then you had the anticipation of being a pre-season top 5 team in '93, and a top 10 team into late October in 1994. Meanwhile hoops was very good, but certainly down a notch from where it was in the late 80s. We may have been part of the only class(es) at SU who could legitimately argue that football was better than hoops during their time on campus in the past 50 years.

I dunno. My first year was McNabbs last. We were not yet quite to 2003 Carmelo year.

 

[rrlbees]

This won't impact your son because I assume he's been going to games his whole life. But I assume tonight is one of those free games like Nova last year where the student section is completely full. I wonder what his new friends who didn't grow up around here think when they go to their first football game and look around at an empty Dome. Has to take some of the fun out of it. I never had that problem, my first game was the same as Scooch, 1991 Vandy. But it was a different kind of crowd as I said above. Then, of course, my 2nd game, Dar Dar, history. Hooked.

Yea they just announced the other day that students were free tonight. He bought student seasons though. Wonder if he can get a refund for this game.

 

[Scooch]

I dunno. My first year was McNabbs last. We were not yet quite to 2003 Carmelo year.

Dunno what? So you were there 98-02? I'd say football and hoops were fairly on par during that stretch. But it's subjective obviously.

 

[orangenauburn]

All said and done, 34k announced tonight ... And the 30k that are there will be loud

Enough Attendance talk

It's game day

Go Orange!

 

[SUbear]

Cause you're one of the good fans. There's not enough of you.

I have not missed a home game since I got out of the Navy forty years ago, and frankly very few before that after I was five years old. I will be there tonight.