Attendance - My Attempt at Explaining it

[OrangeinBoston]

Real butts in the seats last week were estimated to be around 20,000; 20,000 in a Dome that seats roughly 49,500. So, how do you get from 20,000 diehards to a full Dome?

What if SU was 10 -1 instead of 5 - 6? I believe that the coming BC game would be a near sell-out. CNY would be abuzz with SU football talk. Shafer would be the talk of the town, with every reporter hanging on his every word. Nobody would be bitching about parking spots taken up by tailgaters, limited choices at the concession stands, uncomfortable aluminum bench seats, pee troughs, or the lack of out-of-town scores streamed up to the minute. Rather, people would be all over Ticketmaster trying to get tickets, or plotting how to get to their favorite scalper early Saturday morning.

So, what is the difference between 20,000 diehards and a near-full Dome? 5 wins. A record of 10 -1 instead of 5 - 6. Just win, and everything takes care of itself.

 

[OrangePA]

Real butts in the seats last week were estimated to be around 20,000; 20,000 in a Dome that seats roughly 49,500. So, how do you get from 20,000 diehards to a full Dome?

What if SU was 10 -1 instead of 5 - 6? I believe that the coming BC game would be a near sell-out. CNY would be abuzz with SU football talk. Shafer would be the talk of the town, with every reporter hanging on his every word. Nobody would be bitching about parking spots taken up by tailgaters, limited choices at the concession stands, uncomfortable aluminum bench seats, pee troughs, or the lack of out-of-town scores streamed up to the minute. Rather, people would be all over Ticketmaster trying to get tickets, or plotting how to get to their favorite scalper early Saturday morning.

So, what is the difference between 20,000 diehards and a near-full Dome? 5 wins. A record of 10 -1 instead of 5 - 6. Just win, and everything takes care of itself.

Agreed.

Just win.

 

[cuseguy]

You take a lot of people out of the equation on Thanksgiving weekend: many out of towners and most of the students.

 

[billorange44]

Real butts in the seats last week were estimated to be around 20,000; 20,000 in a Dome that seats roughly 49,500. So, how do you get from 20,000 diehards to a full Dome?

What if SU was 10 -1 instead of 5 - 6? I believe that the coming BC game would be a near sell-out. CNY would be abuzz with SU football talk. Shafer would be the talk of the town, with every reporter hanging on his every word. Nobody would be bitching about parking spots taken up by tailgaters, limited choices at the concession stands, uncomfortable aluminum bench seats, pee troughs, or the lack of out-of-town scores streamed up to the minute. Rather, people would be all over Ticketmaster trying to get tickets, or plotting how to get to their favorite scalper early Saturday morning.

So, what is the difference between 20,000 diehards and a near-full Dome? 5 wins. A record of 10 -1 instead of 5 - 6. Just win, and everything takes care of itself.

We are back to Archbold attendance of the 70's. I have always said you have around 19-20, 000 fans who will show up at every game. To get back close to 50, 000, it will take winning and then the band wagon will fill up. It's just the way it is. They are saying high temperatures in the teens for Saturday so look for around 20, 000 actual attendance.

 

[MaxwellCuse]

We are back to Archbold attendance of the 70's. I have always said you have around 19-20, 000 fans who will show up at every game. To get back close to 50, 000, it will take winning and then the band wagon will fill up. It's just the way it is. They are saying high temperatures in the teens for Saturday so look for around 20, 000 actual attendance.

With highs in the teens be glad we have a Dome. Back in the 70s I attended many games in the bitter cold at Archbold. I doubt we'd pull as many fans in the cold today as we did back then if we still had an outdoor stadium. Different times, different local economy, different student body.

 

[FAL]

We are back to Archbold attendance of the 70's. I have always said you have around 19-20, 000 fans who will show up at every game. To get back close to 50, 000, it will take winning and then the band wagon will fill up. It's just the way it is. They are saying high temperatures in the teens for Saturday so look for around 20, 000 actual attendance.

I still think the posters who clamor for individual seating have the right idea: if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. If you can't fill the seats, then make the seats bigger so it at least appears that there are more people there than actually are. Or, just bring a non-paying date:

 

[Chip]

Some of it has to do with opponent. Pitt may be our longest running "rival" but I sense little to no excitement from the general fan bases of either school. An unfortunate product of neither team being good at the same time. Two 5-5 teams clawing for a low level bowl berth just wasn't going to appeal to the masses, no matter how much it appealed to some of us die hards.

Hoops built a nice rivalry with Pitt that came out of nowhere. Because we both were good. Who knows if football ever can. Part of the reason I think it's tough for SU and Pitt to succeed at the same time is that they directly recruit from a fairly limited talent pool. One gets more (SU in the 90s, Pitt in the 00s), and has a much better team. They split them, and you see what you saw on Saturday. That theory doesn't explain everything, but I do think there's something to it.

BC and West Virginia, there was more to those. WVU had some good years at the same time. As did BC. There were events that made them more interesting (2 point conversion, Marvin Graves, Diamond Ferri, etc.). Pitt series seems to have none of that.

It's unfortunate, but what can you do. I don't think it's as much of a marketing problem as was discussed last week. If we splashed $79 ticket deal all over town (which I think we should have), how many more people are in that building on Saturday? 2,000? Pitt traveling about 100 fans to the game doesn't help either, just shows how little they care about the series as well.

 

[Pat Kelly]

Real butts in the seats last week were estimated to be around 20,000; 20,000 in a Dome that seats roughly 49,500. So, how do you get from 20,000 diehards to a full Dome?

What if SU was 10 -1 instead of 5 - 6? I believe that the coming BC game would be a near sell-out. CNY would be abuzz with SU football talk. Shafer would be the talk of the town, with every reporter hanging on his every word. Nobody would be bitching about parking spots taken up by tailgaters, limited choices at the concession stands, uncomfortable aluminum bench seats, pee troughs, or the lack of out-of-town scores streamed up to the minute. Rather, people would be all over Ticketmaster trying to get tickets, or plotting how to get to their favorite scalper early Saturday morning.

So, what is the difference between 20,000 diehards and a near-full Dome? 5 wins. A record of 10 -1 instead of 5 - 6. Just win, and everything takes care of itself.

Isn't this obvious?

 

[OrangeinBoston]

Isn't this obvious?

Apparently not. We get a never ending series of posts about how attendance would go up if only SU had more parking, , or if the Dome served sushi, or if they only the streamed out-of-town scores more rapidly (I kid you not). My point is that these "window dressing" issues are just that.

Then we get a series of posts imploring the community to come out and support the team like they do in Alabama, regardless of their record. My point is that this isn't Alabama.

As Al Davis would have said, "Just win baby."

 

[JeremyCuse]

Apparently not. We get a never ending series of posts about how attendance would go up if only SU had more parking, , or if the Dome served sushi, or if they only the streamed out-of-town scores more rapidly (I kid you not). My point is that these "window dressing" issues are just that.

Then we get a series of posts imploring the community to come out and support the team like they do in Alabama, regardless of their record. My point is that this isn't Alabama.

As Al Davis would have said, "Just win baby."

The window dressing issues were mentioned because they would help increase attendance for a middle of the road team which is what Syracuse is so it needs to offer some additional things to draw the casual fan. If your idea is just win 10+ games to increase attendance, good luck with that.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

The window dressing issues were mentioned because they would help increase attendance for a middle of the road team which is what Syracuse is so it needs to offer some additional things to draw the casual fan. If your idea is just win 10+ games to increase attendance, good luck with that.

You could put the biggest damn replay board in the Dome and you still would have 20k there for BC on Saturday.

OK, 8 wins - 3 losses. The Dome would have 40k.

 

[Pat Kelly]

Apparently not. We get a never ending series of posts about how attendance would go up if only SU had more parking, , or if the Dome served sushi, or if they only the streamed out-of-town scores more rapidly (I kid you not). My point is that these "window dressing" issues are just that.

Then we get a series of posts imploring the community to come out and support the team like they do in Alabama, regardless of their record. My point is that this isn't Alabama.

As Al Davis would have said, "Just win baby."

As it is in Boston, attendance fluctuates based on how the team is doing. Maybe these are people who aren't used to living close to a sports team or in a big sports city, I don't know, but it is just winning.

 

[BomberOrange]

You take a lot of people out of the equation on Thanksgiving weekend: many out of towners and most of the students.

Taking the students out of the equation changes the attendance by about 500.

 

[MarcusPitt]

Winning does truly fix everything. I've lived in Pittsburgh for 15 years and the Pirates were barely talked about. This year,pnc park was packed nightly. They routinely sold standing room only tickets. 20 years of losing was wiped out of everyone's mouth,and the fans came back. It's not the Dome. The Dome is a great venue for football. Your practically on the field if your in the lower bowl. They sell craft beer (saranac),have ample concessions,and merchant booths everywhere. I went to the Maryland game. That is one crappy stadium,with about 4 food choices that all sold out. I don't remember seeing any merch stores. As far as bleachers go,that's college football. I went to a Florida gators home game,yup all bleachers,and that's big time sec football. I will say this though,$150 to sit in the 300 level on the 50 is absurd. Syracuse should look at their ticket prices a little better. Just win and the buzz will start,and then people will come back. Considering the injuries,acc move,new staff etc,I'm glad the last game of the year is still relevant. So relevant,that I'll be driving 7 hours to the game Saturday. Go Orange!

 

[Rocco]

Winning does truly fix everything. I've lived in Pittsburgh for 15 years and the Pirates were barely talked about. This year,pnc park was packed nightly. They routinely sold standing room only tickets. 20 years of losing was wiped out of everyone's mouth,and the fans came back. It's not the Dome. The Dome is a great venue for football. Your practically on the field if your in the lower bowl. They sell craft beer (saranac),have ample concessions,and merchant booths everywhere. I went to the Maryland game. That is one crappy stadium,with about 4 food choices that all sold out. I don't remember seeing any merch stores. As far as bleachers go,that's college football. I went to a Florida gators home game,yup all bleachers,and that's big time sec football. I will say this though,$150 to sit in the 300 level on the 50 is absurd. Syracuse should look at their ticket prices a little better. Just win and the buzz will start,and then people will come back. Considering the injuries,acc move,new staff etc,I'm glad the last game of the year is still relevant. So relevant,that I'll be driving 7 hours to the game Saturday. Go Orange!

$150 for what 300 level??? You can't be talking about single-game tix... I sit on the 50 yard line in 301 on the aisle and my 4 tix are each $125/season, which includes the Stadium Lot parking pass. No individual game goes for that, including the Clemson game in October.

 

[CanadianSU]

You have a good point however, 5-6 is not 0-11 there still should be more people in the dome. I cannot wait for the day we have a 25. Beside our name..that will definitely help attendance. Once we get ranked CNY will come flooding to the door but they need to stop bandwagon ing. When I went to su I would go to every football game..I'm sure there are others who never attended su and are fans that would have died to be a student and support their favourite team, it is a shame our students come out in numbers for basketball but they do not support football which really is the more popular sport in NA...

 

[MarcusPitt]

$150 for what 300 level??? You can't be talking about single-game tix... I sit on the 50 yard line in 301 on the aisle and my 4 tix are each $125/season, which includes the Stadium Lot parking pass. No individual game goes for that, including the Clemson game in October.

Yes! Look at this weekends game. Sec 301 row l comes up at $151.40 per seat on ticketmaster. The casual fan that doesn't know how to find the deals will run right into this if they use ticketmaster. Has to deter the casual fan...

 

[Scooch]

48,000 for a game last month.

Just win more freakin' games, it could not be simpler.

 

[Dcuse]

Real butts in the seats last week were estimated to be around 20,000; 20,000 in a Dome that seats roughly 49,500. So, how do you get from 20,000 diehards to a full Dome?

What if SU was 10 -1 instead of 5 - 6? I believe that the coming BC game would be a near sell-out. CNY would be abuzz with SU football talk. Shafer would be the talk of the town, with every reporter hanging on his every word. Nobody would be bitching about parking spots taken up by tailgaters, limited choices at the concession stands, uncomfortable aluminum bench seats, pee troughs, or the lack of out-of-town scores streamed up to the minute. Rather, people would be all over Ticketmaster trying to get tickets, or plotting how to get to their favorite scalper early Saturday morning.

So, what is the difference between 20,000 diehards and a near-full Dome? 5 wins. A record of 10 -1 instead of 5 - 6. Just win, and everything takes care of itself.

Nuff said.

 

[rrlbees]

$150 for what 300 level??? You can't be talking about single-game tix... I sit on the 50 yard line in 301 on the aisle and my 4 tix are each $125/season, which includes the Stadium Lot parking pass. No individual game goes for that, including the Clemson game in October.

Yes $150. Section 301 runs $51 - $151. You must sit in the nose bleed of 301 where there is no donation. Not sure how you paid $125 either since non-preferred was $250 each for the season on the sidelines.

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[rrlbees]

Real butts in the seats last week were estimated to be around 20,000; 20,000 in a Dome that seats roughly 49,500. So, how do you get from 20,000 diehards to a full Dome? What if SU was 10 -1 instead of 5 - 6? I believe that the coming BC game would be a near sell-out. CNY would be abuzz with SU football talk. Shafer would be the talk of the town, with every reporter hanging on his every word. Nobody would be bitching about parking spots taken up by tailgaters, limited choices at the concession stands, uncomfortable aluminum bench seats, pee troughs, or the lack of out-of-town scores streamed up to the minute. Rather, people would be all over Ticketmaster trying to get tickets, or plotting how to get to their favorite scalper early Saturday morning. So, what is the difference between 20,000 diehards and a near-full Dome? 5 wins. A record of 10 -1 instead of 5 - 6. Just win, and everything takes care of itself.

It doesn't change the point you are trying to make, but while the Pitt attendance was lame, there weren't 15,000 no shows.

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[RF2044]

This post reminds me of the old Steve Martin routine about how to be a millionaire and never pay taxes.

Step one: get a million dollars...

 

[Rocco]

Yes $150. Section 301 runs $51 - $151. You must sit in the nose bleed of 301 where there is no donation. Not sure how you paid $125 either since non-preferred was $250 each for the season on the sidelines.

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My seats were $250/apiece which includes the price of the Stadium Lot parking pass (4 tix & parking pass averages out to $250/seat). Sorry I misspoke. I am row P, so a little past half-way up.

Cannot believe tix are on there for $151. That is baffling. I could've laid down last game and had room to roll around several times.

Yes! Look at this weekends game. Sec 301 row l comes up at $151.40 per seat on ticketmaster. The casual fan that doesn't know how to find the deals will run right into this if they use ticketmaster. Has to deter the casual fan...

Those have to be season ticket holders posting those, so it's not really SU's pricing fault...

 

[SmilinBob]

Join the NFC east and bring in the Giants, Cowboys, Eagles and Redskins to the Dome each year.

Yep, I'm down with the winning thing but you need recruits and they like seeing big active crowds so to win you need them but to first you have to win but to win you need big crowds to attract the recruits but to attract the recruits you have to win and by winning you can attract the recruits but recruits like big crowds so if we have a big crowd SU will attract recruits....

so basically, either the coaches coach the heck out of this team or McDonald and the rest of the staff recruit like no other SU football team has been able to in a long time. Obviously I'd like the staff to coach and recruit well and they have to for this team to hit those 8+ win totals until they can really get this ball rolling.

 

[rrlbees]

My seats were $250/apiece which includes the price of the Stadium Lot parking pass (4 tix & parking pass averages out to $250/seat). Sorry I misspoke. I am row P, so a little past half-way up. Cannot believe tix are on there for $151. That is baffling. I could've laid down last game and had room to roll around several times. Those have to be season ticket holders posting those, so it's not really SU's pricing fault...

The 150 is SU price. They are A level seats. Lowest in 301 is 51 which is non preferred like yours. Then the lower in the section, the higher the cost up to the lowest rows in 301 which are the 150. What SU does, and it's fair for the donors, is to charge the cost of the ticket plus a prorated cost of the donation for a single game.

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