Attendance this weekend

[All4SU]

I gotta believe it would've sold out in the Dome. People in Cuse like a show. But maybe I'm overestimating the townie fan.

This game would have sold out the Dome.

 

[Scooch]

This game would have sold out the Dome.

No chance.

We haven't sold out the Dome in 14 years.

I suspect we'd be in the 45-47K range. Good thing would have been that there would actually have been that many people there - as opposed to our patented 10K person gap between announced attendance and real human beings in the building.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I think it's a shot about where this game is being played. Might have some parking lot leveled for academic building mixed in as well, not sure.

Hopefully after this week all the locals will get over the NYC thing. Because it may not come up in this way ever again (regardless of what TGD said about a NYC long term deal back when we thought we were still stuck in the bottom feeding, completely uninteresting, Big East).

The PSU series is still on, but it's fair. How one feels about playing the Peds is a completely separate topic.

The ND series is still on, but that was always about whether or not we wanted to play ND at all, not about moving Dome games.

Beyond that, as an ACC team, I would expect more deals like PSU if we continue the NYC route. We're in a league of grown ups starting next year.

Oh, and I think improved play and an ACC schedule will bring the fans back, even if many are replacements for those who walked away. Just need 45k average or upward, doesn't matter who they are or if they were there before.

I read an article just the other day that said they have a 10 game contract with the Meadowlands for games running into the 2020's. ND, Penn State, USC and several to be determined. So look for the best home game of the year to be moved to NJ for the next 10 years or so.

 

[All4SU]

I think TGD has a very unique situation which not many other universities have to deal with. We aren't a state school. We don't have state wide support. We are a private school with a very good local support in CNY (great for bball) and a sizable chunk of his alumni base in the metro area, 4 hours away from campus. He's clearly trying to appease/keep a connection with some of those alums through games like these. As an alum, I appreciate that and maybe it adds a bit more to my yearly donation. I get what he's doing and clearly it's not going to make the locals happy, but I get what he's doing.

I have no problem with it as long as he doesn't start taking conference games off campus (which I don't foresee). The good folks in CNY are going to see a major schedule upgrade beginning next year, which hopefully will keep the complaining to a minimum for those games we do play at Met Life.

I have no problem with SU having an annual game down there -- as long as the NYC alumni turn out for the game! THis is their chance.

 

[IthacaMatt]

To whom? You? Me? Other fans? I assume he gets his budget approved by the BOT, so they would be the ones to ask for justification - not the fans.

If his quote to the newspaper is accurate, he makes way more money in NYC from games than he does from the Dome. That's the bottom line. We need money for upgrades to the program.

 

[All4SU]

No chance.

We haven't sold out the Dome in 14 years.

I suspect we'd be in the 45-47K range. Good thing would have been that there would actually have been that many people there - as opposed to our patented 10K person gap between announced attendance and real human beings in the building.

You may be right. But if it was on the schedule, and part of a 6-game home ticket package, I believe more people would have been buying tickets. Then add the "buzz" locally after the Northwestern game -- I know it was a loss, but locals seem genuinely more interested/aware this week. Add in the USC name and I think you would have gotten more folks to show who are neither SU fans or USC fans, just to see the game -- especially more from Rochester, Binghamton, Utica, and the North Country.

 

[Cuseman78]

Its not pathetic that the NYC fan base who has been clamoring for years that they come out better then the locals and has constantly ripped them on this board cant even get a dome sized crowd for there first NYC area game in a decade against the #2 team in the country??? Talk about pathetic.

Keep patting yourself on the back for the tremendous attendance at the Dome. As for the reasons why games are being played in NYC area, refer to my post in response to Bees earlier in the thread. That's my official stance.

 

[kingottoiii]

I have no problem with SU having an annual game down there -- as long as the NYC alumni turn out for the game! THis is their chance.

Um how many NYC area SU alumni do people think there are? Getting 25k out of whatever that number happens to be is pretty high.

 

[All4SU]

Um how many NYC area SU alumni do people think there are? Getting 25k out of whatever that number happens to be is pretty high.

Someone on here has a chart, so we should be able to answer that question.

 

[All4SU]

Someone on here has a chart, so we should be able to answer that question.

The numbers are not NYC, or tri-state area specific. But I think you could draw some conclusions.
http://www.syr.edu/alumni/pdf/2010 alumni map.pdf

 

[dollarbill44]

Um how many NYC area SU alumni do people think there are? Getting 25k out of whatever that number happens to be is pretty high.

You get more than the metro NYC alums at MetLife. You also get Philly/Baltimore/DC alums along with probably a decent slug from Boston. How many that turns out to be, I don't know. We have had good turnouts in the past for the old Kickoff Classics.

 

[PhatOrange]

I read an article just the other day that said they have a 10 game contract with the Meadowlands for games running into the 2020's. ND, Penn State, USC and several to be determined. So look for the best home game of the year to be moved to NJ for the next 10 years or so.

Maybe the best OOC home games but the ACC slate is going to be awesome and in the Dome so who cares. Gross would face serious backlash if he moved conference games with FSU, VT or Miami to the Meadowlands. Plus Clemson and GT in the Dome. .

 

[kingottoiii]

You get more than the metro NYC alums at MetLife. You also get Philly/Baltimore/DC alums along with probably a decent slug from Boston. How many that turns out to be, I don't know. We have had good turnouts in the past for the old Kickoff Classics.

I believe SU has less than 250k living alumni in general. Which is well under the amount of people in CNY. So it should not be a surprise if only 25k show up to Metlife compared to 40k in the Dome. Percentage of available "fans" attending will be higher in Metlife.

 

[xc84]

Um how many NYC area SU alumni do people think there are? Getting 25k out of whatever that number happens to be is pretty high.

I's not just about alums. When hoops plays in MSG, we know they are the "home" team with lots of fans. Are they all alums?

 

[dollarbill44]

I believe SU has less than 250k living alumni in general. Which is well under the amount of people in CNY. So it should not be a surprise if only 25k show up to Metlife compared to 40k in the Dome. Percentage of available "fans" attending will be higher in Metlife.

25k SU fans is probably a good estimate for tomorrow, which is about the size of the SU crowd at the Pinstripe Bowl. I think there will be a lot of the same people attending who went to that game.

 

[Scooch]

I's not just about alums. When hoops plays in MSG, we know they are the "home" team with lots of fans. Are they all alums?

The majority are, yes. Those that aren't typically either have ties to CNY or family ties to SU. The # of totally unaffiliated SU fans (meaning no ties to the region or school) is driven by the success of the team. How successful has the SU football team been lately?

 

[Scooch]

I believe SU has less than 250k living alumni in general. Which is well under the amount of people in CNY. So it should not be a surprise if only 25k show up to Metlife compared to 40k in the Dome. Percentage of available "fans" attending will be higher in Metlife.

I believe SU has less than 250k living alumni in general. Which is well under the amount of people in CNY. So it should not be a surprise if only 25k show up to Metlife compared to 40k in the Dome. Percentage of available "fans" attending will be higher in Metlife.

Exactly. Using All's chart, there are roughly 154K alums spanning New England, NY, NJ and PA. Meanwhile the Syracuse MSA has a population of 662K.

If we're only drawing 40K a game at the Dome, largely pulling from that 662K, why on earth would we expect to draw a similar amount tomorrow when working off a base that's significantly smaller?

 

[IthacaMatt]

Maybe the best OOC home games but the ACC slate is going to be awesome and in the Dome so who cares. Gross would face serious backlash if he moved conference games with FSU, VT or Miami to the Meadowlands. Plus Clemson and GT in the Dome. .

He already talked about doing that for ACC hoops games against Duke or Carolina, moving them to the Garden. That would SUCK. You don't give up home court / home field advantage for CONFERENCE games.

 

[OttoForLife]

I believe SU has less than 250k living alumni in general. Which is well under the amount of people in CNY. So it should not be a surprise if only 25k show up to Metlife compared to 40k in the Dome. Percentage of available "fans" attending will be higher in Metlife.

SU has roughly 45-50k alums living in the NYC Metro region (give or take based on how current the school's data on everyone is).

 

[xc84]

The majority are, yes. Those that aren't typically either have ties to CNY or family ties to SU. The # of totally unaffiliated SU fans (meaning no ties to the region or school) is driven by the success of the team. How successful has the SU football team been lately?

That's why you have both...NYC exposure, and hopefully, wins. This is a strategy. Part of the strategy is winning. If we don't get wins, it won't work. If we don't market NYC, we won't get as many NYC fans. It's pretty simple. We win and market there, and the strategy pays off. If not, it was wasted money. I think the basketball team is a great example of what can be done to create a NYC fanbase.

 

[xc84]

Exactly. Using All's chart, there are roughly 154K alums spanning New England, NY, NJ and PA. Meanwhile the Syracuse MSA has a population of 662K.

If we're only drawing 40K a game at the Dome, largely pulling from that 662K, why on earth would we expect to draw a similar amount tomorrow when working off a base that's significantly smaller?

Um... because the 154k went to SU. Most of the 662k didn't. Their only tie is living there. And many who lived there and went to college didn't go to SU. The alumni have a built-in connection.

 

[kingottoiii]

Um... because the 154k went to SU. Most of the 662k didn't. Their only tie is living there. And many who lived there and went to college didn't go to SU. The alumni have a built-in connection.

That 662k is just the metro area and not all of upstate NY. There are a lot of SU fans outside that 662k. If we are including all of New England as a pool for a game in NJ then you have to include all of upstate NY.

In both cases the number of SU FB fans will be much lower than the total amount. Not everyone who went to SU is a sports fan just like not everyone in upstate NY likes SU FB.

When you take the number of SU FB fans in upstate NY (also adding in family and friends that they drag along to games who aren't really fans) and you compare that to the number of SU alumni within driving distance to MetLife (again including fam and friends dragging along) it will easily be over 2 to 1. We all know that if USC were playing in the Dome instead there would not be over 50k there (and it isn't because the Dome's capacity).

Comparing 45k CNY fans to 25k alumni fans is like an RU fan comparing their 11 W 2006 season to our 1998 season. Not apples and apples.

 

[Bayside44]

I read an article just the other day that said they have a 10 game contract with the Meadowlands for games running into the 2020's. ND, Penn State, USC and several to be determined. So look for the best home game of the year to be moved to NJ for the next 10 years or so.

2038, PSU being a 1-1-1. Honestly in 2038 I just want to be alive.

 

[xc84]

That 662k is just the metro area and not all of upstate NY. There are a lot of SU fans outside that 662k. If we are including all of New England as a pool for a game in NJ then you have to include all of upstate NY.

In both cases the number of SU FB fans will be much lower than the total amount. Not everyone who went to SU is a sports fan just like not everyone in upstate NY likes SU FB.

When you take the number of SU FB fans in upstate NY (also adding in family and friends that they drag along to games who aren't really fans) and you compare that to the number of SU alumni within driving distance to MetLife (again including fam and friends dragging along) it will easily be over 2 to 1. We all know that if USC were playing in the Dome instead there would not be over 50k there (and it isn't because the Dome's capacity).

Comparing 45k CNY fans to 25k alumni fans is like an RU fan comparing their 11 W 2006 season to our 1998 season. Not apples and apples.

The game in NYC will draw many CNYers and the hope is (some day) that games in the dome will draw more NYCers. We need both...right now the CNYers carry the attendance. We need good support from both locals and alum. The game in Metlife is NOT about getting more NYC fans to go to games in NYC. It's about getting more NYC fans to go to games. As for "Not everyone who went to SU is a sports fan" ... that's the whole point... to go to an SU game...to be an SU fan...an alum does not have to be a "sports fan". They will be SU fans just because they went there.

 

[Scooch]

The game in NYC will draw many CNYers and the hope is (some day) that games in the dome will draw more NYCers. We need both...right now the CNYers carry the attendance. We need good support from both locals and alum. The game in Metlife is NOT about getting more NYC fans to go to games in NYC. It's about getting more NYC fans to go to games. As for "Not everyone who went to SU is a sports fan" ... that's the whole point... to go to an SU game...to be an SU fan...an alum does not have to be a "sports fan". They will be SU fans just because they went there.

Let's be real, the game tomorrow was scheduled to:

1) Secure a lucrative guaranteed payday for an athletic department that was stuck in the revenue graveyard known as the Big East Conference.

2) Serve as a mechanism to schmooze with NYC alums and pry some donation dollars from their wallets.

3) Give Doc Gross a chance to see 'Book of Mormom' again.

OK, one of those might be made up.