Babers/Dome attendance

[Scooch]

What happened in 91 and 95?

'91 seemed to have a loss of momentum stemming from the 7-4-2 season that preceded it. Mac's departure may have played a role as well. That was my freshman year and there were only 36K in the Dome for the season opener against Vanderbilt.

1991 Syracuse Orangemen football team - Wikipedia

'95 was coming off two non-bowl years. Attendance was weak early on but built as the year progressed (and McNabb was revealed to be a generational talent).

1995 Syracuse Orangemen football team - Wikipedia

 

[CuseOnly]

Dome dog sales were good 1987! Record high number of Hoffmans out the door!

Yep...soggy buns and all...

 

[Ish88888]

I mentioned this a couple of months back. I still think it’s incredibly important.

One issue that I hope the University continues to look at is getting people in the seats before the opening kickoff. I loved the food/beverage discount card that was handed out this year. Really cool idea and shows that they recognize the issue and are trying to address it.

I think traffic is one reason for the late arrivals. Wonder if the University would consider a parking discount for vehicles that arrive at least an hour before kickoff? Hope they continue to try and address this.

Love your passion and you make alot of valid points. THAT said, the traffic in and around the Cuse area is never an acceptable or reasonable citation for attendance issues.

 

[Cusefan0307]

If you’re sitting in traffic on 81 in Syracuse before a football or basketball game you clearly don’t know your way around downtown Syracuse.

 

[Cheriehoop]

If you’re sitting in traffic on 81 in Syracuse before a football or basketball game you clearly don’t know your way around downtown Syracuse.

Or you leave way too late to make kickoff. I know people who live about 15- 20 miles away from the dome yet leave 45 to 60 minutes before kickoff and are ticked off constantly complaining about the traffic.

 

[dan7800]

Are you able to elaborate? I’ve been drumming the we need more fans from Rochester drum pretty hard.

I cannot go into more details.

The Rochester market is pretty flooded by the Bills. I think that UB even has more of a foothold in Rochester.

 

[OttoMets]

Gotcha.

If the "sell out" classification has a strict meaning that every single person in the venue had to have purchased their ticket and no more could possibly have been sold then I don't think it's a particularly useful term.

...

Well to contrast the football situation, I remember for the Notre Dame Saturday night basketball game in 2005, the box office was closed and had signs on the windows saying "sold out." And I think the same was the case for Georgetown in 2013, Duke in 2014, and so on.

Maybe that happened for Miami in 1980, but it seems like it's happened rarely (or never?) for football games since then. A minor difference, maybe, but a simple and objective one nonetheless.

 

[OttoMets]

What happened in 91 and 95?

Dunno about '91, but during the prime Big East years we'd sometimes see a dip when Miami and VPI were away. That happened in 1995, and there wasn't the buzz or non-conference appeal to overcome that.

 

[RF2044]

I really don't care too much about "sell outs" but would like to back to this type of average:
View attachment 148954

Spot on. Need to coax our average attendance over the 40K level, and the ship will right itself on many fronts.

 

[OrangeDW]

Gotcha.

If the "sell out" classification has a strict meaning that every single person in the venue had to have purchased their ticket and no more could possibly have been sold then I don't think it's a particularly useful term.

My impression has been that when people have said there's never been a sell out in the Dome the intent is to illustrate a lack of fan support. But if there are dozens of games that have drawn 49K+ and we're just debating the definition of "sell out" the overall point is pretty different. IMHO.

Agreed. I never heard anybody talk about attendance in a negative way when we were good. The Dome was always packed anytime we played a team with a pulse, and it was considered one of the loudest venues in the country. It was considered a fun atmosphere and a great place to watch a football game.

With our program trending the way it is, attendance increasing and the Dome upgrades coming, I’m excited that the Dome will again be packed and a great place to watch a football game.

 

[Trueblue25]

Besides the obvious absence of Nike mega dollars, is the Oregon of the East coast Syracuse’s upside? Or whats a good comparison? I like the comparison for atmosphere/on field style

 

[JeffCuse]

'91 seemed to have a loss of momentum stemming from the 7-4-2 season that preceded it. Mac's departure may have played a role as well. That was my freshman year and there were only 36K in the Dome for the season opener against Vanderbilt.

1991 Syracuse Orangemen football team - Wikipedia

'95 was coming off two non-bowl years. Attendance was weak early on but built as the year progressed (and McNabb was revealed to be a generational talent).

1995 Syracuse Orangemen football team - Wikipedia

Yup. As someone who was a freshman in October 1995, I also think that one of those two weekends was fall break for students FWIW.

 

[TexanMark]

Only rochester? or is that just the main target?

Pretty sure want want to target several cities in Upstate NY. They know how many STH'ers are in each county and the county's population. So they can do analysis on where their attention to go to. BTW, Binghamton is a very strong secondary market for them.

 

[TexanMark]

I cannot go into more details.

The Rochester market is pretty flooded by the Bills. I think that UB even has more of a foothold in Rochester.

Cuse needs to concentrate on the upscale eastern suburbs of Rochester. (Webster down and around to Henrietta) Those folks can make the trip in under 75-80 mins.

 

[TexanMark]

Spot on. Need to coax our average attendance over the 40K level, and the ship will right itself on many fronts.

This...you hit a point where folks start worrying about ticket scarcity...and that drives more attendance. 40K is trending in the right direction...43-45K and folks become a lot more proactive.

 

[reedny]

More advertising is coming, especially for the Rochester area.

And not a moment too soon. The new AD gets it, and is paying more attention to Rochester - and other regional markets. But as T-Mark notes, it's a pretty quick hike from the East side to the 'Cuse - and plenty of college grads with disposable incomes.

 

[rrlbees]

Cuse needs to concentrate on the upscale eastern suburbs of Rochester. (Webster down and around to Henrietta) Those folks can make the trip in under 75-80 mins.

Yep. Takes me 75 mins to get to Pittsford

 

[310Pigpen]

Yep. Takes me 75 mins to get to Pittsford

It’s a very easy drive. Hop right on 490 to 91 and set the cruise.

 

[FAL]

It’s a very easy drive. Hop right on 490 to 91 and set the cruise.

Easily the same to Binghamton.
Dare we dip as far as Scranton? Easier drive than to State College for PedState. Can ya help us out, GMac?’

 

[TexanMark]

Easily the same to Binghamton.
Dare we dip as far as Scranton? Easier drive than to State College for PedState. Can ya help us out, GMac?’

They are solid Ped State. Better to go the opposite direction and spend marketing money on NNY.

 

[storange]

They are solid Ped State. Better to go the opposite direction and spend marketing money on NNY.

Unless we can recruit an Irish Point Guard er..... I mean QB star from Greater Scranton

 

[FrancoPizza]

If you’re sitting in traffic on 81 in Syracuse before a football or basketball game you clearly don’t know your way around downtown Syracuse.

Well pretty soon we won’t have to worry about that excuse.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Unless we can recruit an Irish Point Guard er... I mean QB star from Greater Scranton

Lackawanna Jr College in Scranton has a pretty good football team and has a number of P5 recruits each year. I do think some are there because of marginal academics like former recruit Jo-El Shaw. Pitt, Maryland, West Virginia etc have recruited players from there. Their coach is a Maryland grad, former NFL and Terp player.