Brent's Survey on Why People Stopped Attending SU Games | Syracusefan.com

Brent's Survey on Why People Stopped Attending SU Games

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OrangeinBoston

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Reading the comments below his article leads to one conclusion: A lot of these people are idiots and good riddance to them: You have to walk up hill, tickets are too expensive ($29 tickets on Ticketmaster right now), people stand up so you can't see, the dome is in a bad location (Really? I mean really?) Just bozos...
 
OrangeinBoston said:
Reading the comments below his article leads to one conclusion: A lot of these people are idiots and good riddance to them: You have to walk up hill, tickets are too expensive ($29 tickets on Ticketmaster right now), people stand up so you can't see, the dome is in a bad location (Really? I mean really?) Just bozos...
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Shame on you for clicking on the article ;-)
 
OrangeinBoston said:
Reading the comments below his article leads to one conclusion: A lot of these people are idiots and good riddance to them: You have to walk up hill, tickets are too expensive ($29 tickets on Ticketmaster right now), people stand up so you can't see, the dome is in a bad location (Really? I mean really?) Just bozos...
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They basically explained that they are not willing to do a little tiny bit of work to have a good time. Miserable people.
 
Heres the deal with attendance. Its really not hard Im 44. I was 10 when the dome opened and like to think i lived in the "glory years" of attendance. Post 1986 it was packed for many games. Why has that changed. Here are my reasons Older people who attended games regularly (in their 50's and 60's) are either too old now or dead unfortunately. Both my grandfathers used to attend every game. Now they are in their 80's and 90's. Many many people fall into this category.

Kids dont grow up living in syracuse anymore. Out of the 15 real close high school friends that i have there are only 2 of us who still live in the area. Everyone else (who used to attend games) dont anymore. They add up to a big number. This means less and less people who were su diehards are bringing their families to the games. I have friends who grew up here and were hige fans who live in other states where their kids want to root for notre dame or ohio state because its where they live.

The product has suffered for the past dozen plus years. Any young children who are growing up syracuse fans (i have one) its hard to convince them that we WERE a prominent program at one time. My son who ia 15 only knows syracuse football as being terrible. Its hard to spin it. Ask a 12 year old if he would rather watch su play central michigan or go hang out with buddies on a 75 degree day. No brainer.

Stop scheduling home games in september. Whether people want to believe it or not there are many alternatives to spending a 75 degree day in mid to late aeptember than watching su football in the dome. Id rather see games in october when the weather turns crappy. It would make a difference.

Television. Being able to watch a game on. 60 inch tv in high def with beer and food readily available in a comfortable recliner is an attractive option. Especially if its crappy outside

We have become a gimmicky football program. Trying to put lipstick on a pig for the most part. Yes the IPF will help but for gods sake until we invest real money into this program what do people expect? This town will NEVER get a sold out stadium every game again. Not going to happen. Accept it for what it is. I have and will just hope for the best.
 
Last edited:
Marsh01 said:
Heres the deal with attendance. Its really not hard Im 44. I was 10 when the dome opened and like to think i lived in the "glory years" of attendance. Post 1986 it was packed for many games. Why has that changed. Here are my reasons Older people who attended games regularly (in their 50's and 60's) are either too old now or dead unfortunately. Both my grandfathers used to attend every game. Now they are in their 80's and 90's. Many many people fall into this category.

Kids dont grow up living in syracuse anymore. Out of the 15 real close high school friends that i have there are only 2 of us who still live in the area. Everyone else (who used to attend games) dont anymore. They add up to a big number. This means less and less people who were su diehards are bringing their families to the games. I have friends who grew up here and were hige fans who live in other states where their kids want to root for notre dame or ohio state because its where they live.

The product has suffered for the past dozen plus years. Any young children who are growing up syracuse fans (i have one) its hard to convince them that we WERE a prominent program at one time. My son who ia 15 only knows syracuse football as being terrible. Its hard to spin it. Ask a 12 year old if he would rather watch su play central michigan or go hang out with buddies on a 75 degree day. No brainer.

Stop scheduling home games in september. Whether people want to believe it or not there are many alternatives to spending a 75 degree day in mid to late aeptember than watching su football in the dome. Id rather see games in october when the weather turns crappy. It would make a difference.

We have become a gimmicky football program. Trying to put lipstick on a pig for the most part. Yes the IPF will help but for gods sake until we invest real money into this program what do people expect? This town will NEVER get a sold out stadium every game again. Not going to happen. Accept it for what it is. I have and will just hope for the best.
Expand...

I think realistic is one game a year at 45,000+, another two to three in the 40-45,000 range. The lower ACC/MAC/FCS should be in 30-40,000 depending on the year. I think that's reasonable and in line with our peers.
 
Marsh01 said:
Stop scheduling home games in september. Whether people want to believe it or not there are many alternatives to spending a 75 degree day in mid to late aeptember than watching su football in the dome. Id rather see games in october when the weather turns crappy. It would make a difference.

Television. Being able to watch a game on. 60 inch tv in high def with beer and food readily available in a comfortable recliner is an attractive option. Especially if its crappy outside
Expand...

I like and agree with a lot of what you're saying, but this is just too contradictory not to point out. This is why people think any 'ole excuse is a good excuse for those not attending.
 
Marsh01 said:
Heres the deal with attendance. Its really not hard Im 44. I was 10 when the dome opened and like to think i lived in the "glory years" of attendance. Post 1986 it was packed for many games. Why has that changed. Here are my reasons Older people who attended games regularly (in their 50's and 60's) are either too old now or dead unfortunately. Both my grandfathers used to attend every game. Now they are in their 80's and 90's. Many many people fall into this category.

Kids dont grow up living in syracuse anymore. Out of the 15 real close high school friends that i have there are only 2 of us who still live in the area. Everyone else (who used to attend games) dont anymore. They add up to a big number. This means less and less people who were su diehards are bringing their families to the games. I have friends who grew up here and were hige fans who live in other states where their kids want to root for notre dame or ohio state because its where they live.

The product has suffered for the past dozen plus years. Any young children who are growing up syracuse fans (i have one) its hard to convince them that we WERE a prominent program at one time. My son who ia 15 only knows syracuse football as being terrible. Its hard to spin it. Ask a 12 year old if he would rather watch su play central michigan or go hang out with buddies on a 75 degree day. No brainer.

Stop scheduling home games in september. Whether people want to believe it or not there are many alternatives to spending a 75 degree day in mid to late aeptember than watching su football in the dome. Id rather see games in october when the weather turns crappy. It would make a difference.

Television. Being able to watch a game on. 60 inch tv in high def with beer and food readily available in a comfortable recliner is an attractive option. Especially if its crappy outside

We have become a gimmicky football program. Trying to put lipstick on a pig for the most part. Yes the IPF will help but for gods sake until we invest real money into this program what do people expect? This town will NEVER get a sold out stadium every game again. Not going to happen. Accept it for what it is. I have and will just hope for the best.
Expand...


It is only 6 or 7 days a year if you are a STH. And 3 days a year if you get a ticket package. Also you still have Sunday to enjoy the weather. Unless someone is going away for an entire weekend, the weather is a ridiculous excuse. Do they not have good weather outside of CNY? Also you can enjoy the weather during and after the game while tailgating. I cannot believe someone actually wrote "Stop scheduling home games in september." That might be an all time low for our fan base.

Part of the football experience is the tailgate and the camaraderie with fellow fans. You can never get that sitting at home watching on TV. Shouldn't you be teaching that to your son and trying to get his friends to join as well? What kid doesn't like throwing a football in a parking lot while eating hotdogs and hamburgers?

In addition by being at the games you can help your team win. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that? You can give your team a home field advantage being there. You cannot do that from your couch.

I get that the product has sucked. I cannot blame people for not going because of that. All these other reasons our fan base comes up with are all hogwash.
 
Marsh01 said:
Heres the deal with attendance. Its really not hard Im 44. I was 10 when the dome opened and like to think i lived in the "glory years" of attendance. Post 1986 it was packed for many games. Why has that changed. Here are my reasons Older people who attended games regularly (in their 50's and 60's) are either too old now or dead unfortunately. Both my grandfathers used to attend every game. Now they are in their 80's and 90's. Many many people fall into this category.

Kids dont grow up living in syracuse anymore. Out of the 15 real close high school friends that i have there are only 2 of us who still live in the area. Everyone else (who used to attend games) dont anymore. They add up to a big number. This means less and less people who were su diehards are bringing their families to the games. I have friends who grew up here and were hige fans who live in other states where their kids want to root for notre dame or ohio state because its where they live.

The product has suffered for the past dozen plus years. Any young children who are growing up syracuse fans (i have one) its hard to convince them that we WERE a prominent program at one time. My son who ia 15 only knows syracuse football as being terrible. Its hard to spin it. Ask a 12 year old if he would rather watch su play central michigan or go hang out with buddies on a 75 degree day. No brainer.

Stop scheduling home games in september. Whether people want to believe it or not there are many alternatives to spending a 75 degree day in mid to late aeptember than watching su football in the dome. Id rather see games in october when the weather turns crappy. It would make a difference.

Television. Being able to watch a game on. 60 inch tv in high def with beer and food readily available in a comfortable recliner is an attractive option. Especially if its crappy outside

We have become a gimmicky football program. Trying to put lipstick on a pig for the most part. Yes the IPF will help but for gods sake until we invest real money into this program what do people expect? This town will NEVER get a sold out stadium every game again. Not going to happen. Accept it for what it is. I have and will just hope for the best.
Expand...

Good post. I worry about the population base of Syracuse and upstate NY as a whole. People are leaving the region in droves. The easy answer seems to be, establish a winning program and people will support it like the basketball team. I agree with that, but the scarier thought is, what if in 30 years there just aren't enough people left in Cuse to support big time college football regardless of how we're performing?
 
I think you need to schedule your cupcake home games in September. You can come up with better match-ups than CMU and Rhode Island, however. Take one of a FCS grouping of Albany, Colgate, Lehigh, Lafayette, Villanova or Holy Cross. Take one of a Lower G5 grouping of Buffalo, Army, Massachusetts, Ohio and Old Dominion. Take one of an Upper G5 or crappy P5 from a grouping of UCONN, Temple, Navy, Rutgers and Maryland.

Try to bring in cupcakes with some historical relevance, who some people might care about, and those that might travel in at least some numbers to experience the (renovated) Dome.

I know that ain't much but it's all I got. Except for the fact that next year I'll have my daughters' college expenses paid off and I'll be retired so I will be buying seasons tickets for the first time since I moved out of CNY 35 years ago.
 
K Otto XLIV said:
It is only 6 or 7 days a year if you are a STH. And 3 days a year if you get a ticket package. Also you still have Sunday to enjoy the weather. Unless someone is going away for an entire weekend, the weather is a ridiculous excuse. Do they not have good weather outside of CNY? Also you can enjoy the weather during and after the game while tailgating. I cannot believe someone actually wrote "Stop scheduling home games in september." That might be an all time low for our fan base. Part of the football experience is the tailgate and the camaraderie with fellow fans. You can never get that sitting at home watching on TV. Shouldn't you be teaching that to your son and trying to get his friends to join as well? What kid doesn't like throwing a football in a parking lot while eating hotdogs and hamburgers? In addition by being at the games you can help your team win. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that? You can give your team a home field advantage being there. You cannot do that from your couch. I get that the product has sucked. I cannot blame people for not going because of that. All these other reasons our fan base comes up with are all hogwash.
Expand...

Its a different world today brother. Kids are way busier than they were 20 years ago. Travel leagues didnt exist back then and throw two kids in that category and it results in a person who went to every game not being able too. They are not excuses they are reality whether or not you want to believe it or deny it.
 
K Otto XLIV said:
It is only 6 or 7 days a year if you are a STH. And 3 days a year if you get a ticket package. Also you still have Sunday to enjoy the weather. Unless someone is going away for an entire weekend, the weather is a ridiculous excuse. Do they not have good weather outside of CNY? Also you can enjoy the weather during and after the game while tailgating. I cannot believe someone actually wrote "Stop scheduling home games in september." That might be an all time low for our fan base.

Part of the football experience is the tailgate and the camaraderie with fellow fans. You can never get that sitting at home watching on TV. Shouldn't you be teaching that to your son and trying to get his friends to join as well? What kid doesn't like throwing a football in a parking lot while eating hotdogs and hamburgers?

In addition by being at the games you can help your team win. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that? You can give your team a home field advantage being there. You cannot do that from your couch.

I get that the product has sucked. I cannot blame people for not going because of that. All these other reasons our fan base comes up with are all hogwash.
Expand...

Jaysus KO, could you be more sanctimonious with this post? Not everyone values what you do.
 
Marsh01 said:
Its a different world today brother. Kids are way busier than they were 20 years ago. Travel leagues didnt exist back then and throw two kids in that category and it results in a person who went to every game not being able too. They are not excuses they are reality whether or not you want to believe it or deny it.
Expand...

I have two kids. and agree totally. Again I said in the other thread. These noon games are killing me - I am missing my sons soccer games these weeks to be there. The casual fan just isn't gonna do that. Bottomline.
 
Scooch said:
Jaysus KO, could you be more sanctimonious with this post? Not everyone values what you do.
Expand...

Oops Sunday is out for me to "enjoy" the weather as my kid has double header fall ball baseball on Sundays.
 
And that's not even counting that every and I mean every POP warner organization in Syracuse (and surrounding areas) and Multiple HS football teams (including modifieds) Play on Saturdays during the day which I presume detracts from a large section of "TARGET" audience. i.e. football fans.
 
Scooch said:
Jaysus KO, could you be more sanctimonious with this post? Not everyone values what you do.
Expand...

People can have different priorities that is fine. Someone can enjoy fishing more than football. No big deal. But if you are a passionate football fan you are not coming up with minor excuses not to attend. These minor issues our fans bring to light happen all over the country. If you have the financial means to go to games and do not have family obligations, and you do not go to an SU game then you cannot call yourself a passionate fan. That is fine there is nothing wrong with that. "Sacrificing" 2-3 nice weather days a year for football should not be an issue. There are 30 other Saturdays with nice weather to enjoy. Sitting on the couch by yourself when you could be helping the team win is selfish.
 
Marsh01 said:
Heres the deal with attendance. Its really not hard Im 44. I was 10 when the dome opened and like to think i lived in the "glory years" of attendance. Post 1986 it was packed for many games. Why has that changed. Here are my reasons Older people who attended games regularly (in their 50's and 60's) are either too old now or dead unfortunately. Both my grandfathers used to attend every game. Now they are in their 80's and 90's. Many many people fall into this category.

Kids dont grow up living in syracuse anymore. Out of the 15 real close high school friends that i have there are only 2 of us who still live in the area. Everyone else (who used to attend games) dont anymore. They add up to a big number. This means less and less people who were su diehards are bringing their families to the games. I have friends who grew up here and were hige fans who live in other states where their kids want to root for notre dame or ohio state because its where they live.

The product has suffered for the past dozen plus years. Any young children who are growing up syracuse fans (i have one) its hard to convince them that we WERE a prominent program at one time. My son who ia 15 only knows syracuse football as being terrible. Its hard to spin it. Ask a 12 year old if he would rather watch su play central michigan or go hang out with buddies on a 75 degree day. No brainer.

Stop scheduling home games in september. Whether people want to believe it or not there are many alternatives to spending a 75 degree day in mid to late aeptember than watching su football in the dome. Id rather see games in october when the weather turns crappy. It would make a difference.

Television. Being able to watch a game on. 60 inch tv in high def with beer and food readily available in a comfortable recliner is an attractive option. Especially if its crappy outside

We have become a gimmicky football program. Trying to put lipstick on a pig for the most part. Yes the IPF will help but for gods sake until we invest real money into this program what do people expect? This town will NEVER get a sold out stadium every game again. Not going to happen. Accept it for what it is. I have and will just hope for the best.
Expand...

Outside of the 15 million IPF, new turf, plans for a dome renovation you mean? I think if we have a decent season this year, our coaches will see some more $.

So don't schedule games in Sept because it's too nice outside, but hey - 60 inch TV and beer and food is an attractive option if it's crappy outside? So you want one home game in mid-Oct where it's nice, but not too nice - but not too bad because it's fun to drink beer at home?

It's 80% perception (WINS and local marketing), 20% making it more of an event (better team + better day game experience).

People leave! So what. Need to reel in new fans, there are plenty of people in upstate NY. Winning will help that organically.

Young people will make it a priority if the AD makes them a priority. Winning + better game day experience for all.
 
K Otto XLIV said:
People can have different priorities that is fine. Someone can enjoy fishing more than football. No big deal. But if you are a passionate football fan you are not coming up with minor excuses not to attend. These minor issues our fans bring to light happen all over the country. If you have the financial means to go to games and do not have family obligations, and you do not go to an SU game then you cannot call yourself a passionate fan. That is fine there is nothing wrong with that. "Sacrificing" 2-3 nice weather days a year for football should not be an issue. There are 30 other Saturdays with nice weather to enjoy. Sitting on the couch by yourself when you could be helping the team win is selfish.
Expand...
all these things you mention can be overlooked and overcome with a sense of "connection" with the university in general and program specifically. That's where the work needs be done and I'll post on later when I have time. As I've heard from people around here over the years (and still recently believe it or not) many feel the opposite has occured for so many years. For right or for wrong. I'm thinking the new admins up there will do what need be done to get people on board once more. Or one can hope.
 
Something I found interesting while watching the Washington St./Rutgers game was when the announcer said that despite Washington St's rather poor record since Leach has taken over, they are still putting butts in the seat because of Leach's fun offense. I guess this is only further evidence to OttoinGrotto's point that offense sells. I find myself agreeing more and more with this idea. Obviously I want Shafer and Lester to succeed, and hopefully this isn't for a very long time, but if the choice ever presents itself again I would really want to see us go after a OC, or HC that uses the "Air Raid" or someone from that tree. I mean it's not like we don't have the built in advantages that could support it better then any other program in the country.
 
anomander said:
Something I found interesting while watching the Washington St./Rutgers game was when the announcer said that despite Washington St's rather poor record since Leach has taken over, they are still putting butts in the seat because of Leach's fun offense. I guess this is only further evidence to OttoinGrotto's point that offense sells. I find myself agreeing more and more with this idea. Obviously I want Shafer and Lester to succeed, and hopefully this isn't for a very long time, but if the choice ever presents itself again I would really want to see us go after a OC, or HC that uses the "Air Raid" or someone from that tree. I mean it's not like we don't have the built in advantages that could support it better then any other program in the country.
Expand...

I agree. I want Shafer to work out and be here for the long haul, but I've also thought about who we could bring in in the scenario where he gets let go.
The only issue is I was trying to think of someone who would be a culture fit in the Northeast. Best spread offense guru I could think of with northern roots is Bobby Wilder from ODU. Not exactly an "Air-raid" guy, but his record with offenses is amazing. He also has guys on his staff that do a great job recruiting NY and NJ. Just my two cents without really researching possible candidates.
 
omg how hard is it to understand that if you win (marquee teams) they will come. syracuse fans come out for a winner
 
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