Board Administrator Email To The Athletic Department

[IthacaMatt]

While I have never, EVER had difficulty parking for a game at the dome, I do think that is because I have become an "educated" fan over many many years. I know where I will be able to park, and where I won't. I haven't had a parking pass for football since 1981.

I do however think that parking and accessibility keeps some fans away...enough to be significant.

I have no answers for that. I love the Dome where it is, and believe college football should be played on campus. In a perfect scenario, there would be a shuttle train/monorail from Destiny to campus and back. Maybe from Armory as well. But things happen S L O W L Y in Syracuse, and it probably won't happen in my lifetime. The really unfortunate part is, the tracks/infrastructure are essentially there. All that remains is for someone to demonstrate a financial incentive to invest and develop.

So, you have some secret parking location? Care to share? LOL

 

[xc84]

I think the answer to parking is the Oakwood Cemetery property. Is it still being used?

I think the dead are still using it.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Tom, you make a critical point. Your solution, though, is the subject of some fairly intense debate in my field of employment.

It's not debatable that the in-home sports-viewing experience is now utterly fabulous. And fans consistently state these days that they prefer home viewing to the in-stadium experience. So the question is: do you try and make the in-stadium experience more like home, or do you accentuate the unique difference of it?

I think there are a few simple areas to improve:

1. Better parking or public transit options. (Nobody knows about the buses, Jake. They're too unreliable.) Parking at SkyTop takes forever to get to the stadium with the shuttle buses because Colvin St. is only 1 lane in each direction. I've been late to games the few times I parked there.

2. Get rid of the bleachers and give us an individual seat. Makes a big difference.

3. Even out the pricing between season tickets and single game seats. Lower the single game price by $20 and raise the season ticket price a bit to make up for it.

 

[City of Cuse]

4. Paint the seats/bleachers Orange - this will make the place look more full even with 35,000.

That one is huge, this past Saturday the visitor side looked much better where the seats had orange covers.

I have been talking with friends about having some kind of tie-in with student football/basketball (maybe there already is). It would be great to have some sort of rule that students have to go to the football games to get basketball tickets. It's so frustrating to see SU kids walking around before games with no idea there is a game going on.

 

[OttoForLife]

If anyone pays attention to my posts :crickets:, they know I LOVE brainstorming list of marketing fixes for SU. But jeez, how the hell would you feel if you got an email from a customer telling you how to do you job. Yeah...you'll send a "thanks for your concern" email, but I'm pretty sure Gross & co don't give a rat's ass about these ideas. Nothing here is new - if they cared, I bet they'd be doing them already.

 

[lincolncuse]

1. Don't shut the beer taps off until the game is over.
2. Get more craft beer options/locations.
3. Open a Chipotle or 2 inside the Dome. Remove the one off of Marshall.
4. Paint the seats/bleachers Orange - this will make the place look more full even with 35,000.
5. Move the Dome, so we're not tailgating on the side of a hill.
6. Maintain an open invite to the Fine Mess Tailgate. Highlight the quality, spread and comraderie of that incredible gathering.
7. Multiple "Bring your leaves to the Dome Day". Huge, Billy... youuuuge.
8. Hire 3 syracusefan.com members to the SUAD marketing staff.
9. Give 1,000 tickets to Ft Drum families to every game for 1 season. Might just garner a few more season tix fans. ?


Just a start, but I'm pretty that's bullet proof.

there were plenty of leaves in the back of the Fine lot Saturday. I should have brought a few rakes to the tailgate

 

[Cheriehoop]

Nice suggestions.
I will go off the beaten path and compliment SU for doing a much better job this season of showing instant replays of close plays on the scoreboards. They don't do it all the time but they are doing a much better job on this front. Was really disappointed over the past couple of years after we got the new boards and they were just left blank or showed an ad right after a controversial play.--

Funny you mention that. I actually thought Saturday that the lack of replays on controversial plays subtracted from the game atmosphere. I had 2 "casual fans" next to me sitting between the 30's who hadn't attended a game for 7 years. After finding out this fact about these 2 guys, I really paid attention to their observations.

One of their biggest complaints were the lack of replays for the controversial calls. In fact one guy asked if they only do replays on our good plays? He said its pretty bad when people watching on tv know more and can see the action better since they get replays as opposed to fans sitting right there at the game We also discussed the lack of out of town scores throughout the game. They also asked if people always arrive late and are constantly leaving their seats during the game making everyone stand up to let them in and out. I kidded that we should collect a toll of $1 that we could donate to a charity when row mates arrived late and anytime they leave their seats more than once during the game. They did really seem to enjoy the 2nd half of the game and I was happy to see them stay till the very end. I asked them at the end of the game if they would consider season tickets. The guy next to me said he enjoyed the game much more than he thought he would and would consider them maybe for next year but he missed seeing replays on tv , didn't like the lack of parking, the seat sizes (we seemed squished for some reason) and not seeing other scores during the game. Surprisingly they never mentioned pricing at all. That guy said he was going to check if the seats next to us were available for another game this season though so he must have had a decent time. Just thought it was rather interesting what these 2 casual fans were thinking about the game experience

 

[bnoro]

Clearly tongue-in-cheek. Surprised you didn't get my sarcasm throughout that entire list. Was trying to lay it on pretty thick.

It's been a long ass day...

 

[sufandu]

While I have never, EVER had difficulty parking for a game at the dome, I do think that is because I have become an "educated" fan over many many years. I know where I will be able to park, and where I won't. I haven't had a parking pass for football since 1981.

I do however think that parking and accessibility keeps some fans away...enough to be significant.

I have no answers for that. I love the Dome where it is, and believe college football should be played on campus. In a perfect scenario, there would be a shuttle train/monorail from Destiny to campus and back. Maybe from Armory as well. But things happen S L O W L Y in Syracuse, and it probably won't happen in my lifetime. The really unfortunate part is, the tracks/infrastructure are essentially there. All that remains is for someone to demonstrate a financial incentive to invest and develop.

I'm surprised they don't have a shuttle from Destiny. When I lived in the area and had season tickets they had a shuttle from Great Northern, and I used it every week. A shuttle from Destiny just makes sense.

 

[KaiserUEO]

It's been a long ass day...

im with bnoro on this.

the only ones where i thought you were joking were 5, 6 & 7.

while the rest is pretty much the standard board insanity, i just figured you were one of the insane ones.

 

[FAL]

there were plenty of leaves in the back of the Fine lot Saturday. I should have brought a few rakes to the tailgate

Lots of empty beer containers, too. (Of course not provided by SyrFan.com tailgaters--other inconsiderate tailgaters, not our guy/gals.)

 

[Ozcuse]

I think that if they want to continue to call themselves "NY's COLLEGE TEAM" they should probably try to get students at the other NY colleges to become fans. Have student ticket deals that include a bus ride there and back from all of the SUNY campuses between Buffalo and Albany and give them special t-shirts like Cortland St. is ORANGE, Oswego State is ORANGE, etc. to make these kids feel included. Most of these SUNY schools play D3 sports so it would be special for these students to see big time college sports and possibly become lifetime fans.

It would be good marketing for the school as well since it would probably sway a decent amount of kids in their key demographic to transfer or continue graduate degrees at SU.

 

[All4SU]

So, you have some secret parking location? Care to share? LOL

Yes...and no.

 

[All4SU]

Tom, you make a critical point. Your solution, though, is the subject of some fairly intense debate in my field of employment.

It's not debatable that the in-home sports-viewing experience is now utterly fabulous. And fans consistently state these days that they prefer home viewing to the in-stadium experience. So the question is: do you try and make the in-stadium experience more like home, or do you accentuate the unique difference of it?

At the moment my opinion is falling towards the latter, although I'd reconsider that with more data to evaluate. Case in point is the out-of-town scoreboard -- what games are the CNY fan following exactly? -- this isn't the NFL where people are obsessed with fantasy and gambling. 90% of the crowd has a smartphone in their pocket anyway, so just make sure there is high-quality WiFi available.

Good food and beverages are fine, but to me what people really want are cheap food and beverages. I've never heard of someone not going to a game because the hot dogs are mediocre, but I hear a LOT of people bitch and moan about the high cost of a beer.

I'm just not sure it's worth trying to match the in-home experience, because I'm not sure that's possible. Instead focus on the uniqueness of the in-stadium experience. There's a reason why despite 30 years of being able to watch movies in your home that people still go to see releases in a theater. Why despite having access to the entirety of the world's pop music output on a device the size of a deck of cards that people still go see concerts. There's value in the live, communal experience.

But mostly, win. That's really it. We're talking about solutions at the margin ultimately. If SU fixed their stupid pricing structure and made improvements to the gameday experience, you might see a couple thousand more people show up. Might. Win games regularly against good opponents and we'll get back to 90s-era attendance.

Agree. SU fans will venture out in a blizzard to the basketball team when they could enjoy it in their warm, comfy home because (a) the team wins, and (b) they can experience the excitement of a big crowd in the dome. Can't get that at home.

 

[KaiserUEO]

Agree. SU fans will venture out in a blizzard to the basketball team when they could enjoy it in their warm, comfy home because (a) the team wins, and (b) they can experience the excitement of a big crowd in the dome. Can't get that at home.

blackout.

90 mile radius.

 

[All4SU]

blackout.

90 mile radius.

For basketball, I don't think that's necessary. For football, it just might keep people from being interested in SU at all.

 

[mvorange]

Family Day - kids under ? get in free. Gives a break to families that might be struggling or wouldn't go due to budgeting problems. Might just make a lifetime fan of a few of those kids.

 

[RandygoCuse]

I think that referees (at least in basketball) object to having replays shown of controversial calls.

Thanks, for a second I thought it was the players quoting Shafer or someone saying something like "there's leaves in the barn." Then I remembered they were talking about hay in the barn. Which I still don't fully understand.

 

[sufandu]

Getting good single game tickets for a group of 4 or more does give you some sticker shock compared to buying season tickets. Season tickets are a SO much better deal than individual game tickets.

This isn't true. Read sutomcat's comment about what friends tell him. If people find the inevitable last minute deals they can go far cheaper than buying season tickets, especially if they only plan on going to one or two games. If SU wants to fill the stands, they need to lower ticket prices across the board. Worry about getting butts in the seats and reestablishing the local fanbase. Then they can slowly raise ticket prices if demand allows for it.

 

[Geode]

I think that if they want to continue to call themselves "NY's COLLEGE TEAM" they should probably try to get students at the other NY colleges to become fans. Have student ticket deals that include a bus ride there and back from all of the SUNY campuses between Buffalo and Albany and give them special t-shirts like Cortland St. is ORANGE, Oswego State is ORANGE, etc. to make these kids feel included. Most of these SUNY schools play D3 sports so it would be special for these students to see big time college sports and possibly become lifetime fans.

It would be good marketing for the school as well since it would probably sway a decent amount of kids in their key demographic to transfer or continue graduate degrees at SU.

This is a great idea and something I would have done when I was in school! The fact that SU is really the only D1 athletic program of relevance outside of NYC is something to capitalize on. As much as Buffalo (UB) wants to rebrand itself it will never come close to rivaling SU in athletic brand awareness. SUNY de-emphasized athletics to the point of irrelevance decades ago (Yeah, I know you Oswego St. hockey fans and Cornell Lax fans beg to differ ) but that does't meany people don't to root for a good team. And, those of that have migrated from CNY still have a common bond with SU sports where ever we are. I like the grad school angle as well.

 

[upperdeck]

If anyone pays attention to my posts :crickets:, they know I LOVE brainstorming list of marketing fixes for SU. But jeez, how the hell would you feel if you got an email from a customer telling you how to do you job. Yeah...you'll send a "thanks for your concern" email, but I'm pretty sure Gross & co don't give a rat's ass about these ideas. Nothing here is new - if they cared, I bet they'd be doing them already.

Dr Gross has made a point in public of trying to make it a better fan experience. If he doesnt want to hear from the fans dont publish your email address.. if the ath dept was doing its job they would be contacting the various fan boards and try to find out what the disconnect is. If they are asleep at the wheel, which they clearly are, how else do they get put on notice.. the paper/TV people could do it but they are asleep too..

 

[Scooch]

I think the dead are still using it.

I tell ya, golf courses and cemeteries are the biggest wastes of prime real estate. Lotta dead people.

 

[Scooch]

blackout.

90 mile radius.

Blackouts were a great idea... in 1979.

 

[sufandu]

If anyone pays attention to my posts :crickets:, they know I LOVE brainstorming list of marketing fixes for SU. But jeez, how the hell would you feel if you got an email from a customer telling you how to do you job. Yeah...you'll send a "thanks for your concern" email, but I'm pretty sure Gross & co don't give a rat's ass about these ideas. Nothing here is new - if they cared, I bet they'd be doing them already.

Companies get emails like that all of the time. It's why companies have customer relation departments. We are the consumers. It's their job to keep us happy if they want our business. They should not only expect but welcome emails telling them how to improve their product/our customer experience, especially when it's coming from people that have a vested interest in their success and already support them financially. We're trying to help them gain business and our advice is free. Companies pay marketing consultants to survey customers in order to get this same kind of feedback.

 

[sufandu]

For basketball, I don't think that's necessary. For football, it just might keep people from being interested in SU at all.

Yeah, a blackout would be a great way to alienate an already shaky local fanbase. You can't force someone to like your product, you have to make it appealing.