Dino Babers hopes fans will support Syracuse football; will you go to the games? (poll)

[Trueblue25]

Some Bama player tweeted a picture of the Penn State white-out from Saturday night with the caption "it must be nice to have fans that show up."

Because an 11 am kickoff against Louisiana-Lafayette is the same as Penn State's biggest home game of the decade in primetime.

He’s paid to play football, not think

 

[PhatOrange]

Marketing aimed at 'young families and young professionals'

You realize that the biggest problem most industries have faced is how to market to these people? You know, the ones that are digitally saturated and have absolutely zero attention span. How are you going to market to them?

Digitally? I have 3 adblockers, I haven't seen an ad on my computer in years.
Billboards? Come on, what a waste of money
TV ads? I'm changing the channel or I already cut the cord and stream everything without local ads
Print? LOLOL

Organic buzz and winning is how the dome will get filled. Blaming marketing is such a cliche in every industry.

Seems like you need 2 strategies then. A millennial 21-35 strategy and a traditional strategy 35-70. I'm no marketing expert but from a real world standpoint I'd target the 35 to 70 age group with a traditional strategy. TV and Radio (and yes maybe even an info billboard on 690; Heisman hopeful 4-1 $20 tickets etc). I know subscriber counts and I know how many people are watching traditional TV.

For strategy #1, IDK, hire marketing professionals in that age group who know the demographic and get creative. Maybe the marketing dept should hire a couple of 'new age' professionals AND 'traditional' professionals. Obviously it's not one size fits all anymore.

Whatever they're doing now isn't creative and isn't working. My Sat radio subscription ran out a few weeks ago and I don't feel like signing back up so I've been listening to regular radio. An occasional Syracuse football commercial on the morning drive (Albany DMA) might help. Also, might not help attendance but you've gotta make an effort - are they?

 

[ForCuseSake]

Everyone my age is on tipp or in armory, on the other side of the city from east side lawns. If coleman’s announced something outside in their concert/lot, hundreds/thousands come..

I would certainly emphasize Armory (which SU might already do in other ways). It’s been a few years since i was considered a young professional so I’m sure you’d know better.

I loathe Coleman’s and feel obliged to trash it whenever someone mentions it.

 

[PhatOrange]

I've got an idea for the younger generation. A ticket stub gets you free V-Bucks. ;-)

 

[SmilinBob]

Have SU walk around and actually ask those targeted people at the Tip what they think would get them there. There is enough free help at SU for them to send 3-5 people out there and do this.

 

[Trueblue25]

I would certainly emphasize Armory (which SU might already do in other ways). It’s been a few years since i was considered a young professional so I’m sure you’d know better.

I loathe Coleman’s and feel obliged to trash it whenever someone mentions it.

That’s fair and I’m not about to say you’re wrong for that.

Fact of the matter is, every Friday night hundreds of people flock to colemans. Every time they open up their outdoor portion, the whole west side and armory is down there


Its less about the bar, and more about them having more space to throw larger rally oriented events. That block party and concert could fit right in their lot.

 

[SkyTopBus44]

4-8 is still possible. Not to be a negative nelly as I support the team but for the causals they have seen close calls before and big wins only to have the team fizzle. I am often mocked for saying SU football is back only to lose the remaining games. Sadly it will take a little time to get the bulk of the fans back. To be fair I think those that do attend are very loud and passionate.

 

[upperdeck]

what has killed tickets more than anything is the ease of the rebuy.. ticket exchange and stub hub probably cause a drop of 1-3K per game.

but static marketing is a tough sell. they need to be more dynamic. set up at destiny, go to HS fball games (if thats allowed) every big event. its tough work.. will they have anyone at the apple festival this weekend, things like that? they show up at the state fair but other than the cheerleaders spinning a wheel its not really a marketing effort.

just because people have dumbed down life to skip ads, dont read/watch real news doesnt mean its till not an easy way to find people. local radio still does stuff.

I get emails from our college all the time for events.. can colleges work together to cross promote? See a colgate game get a discount for an SU game? Buy a fball ticket get a free bball ticket? etc etc

 

[JeffCuse]

For years I've proposed embedding a student ticket into tuition as an activity fee and give them something real for showing up. Possibly a free meal or something. Wouldnt fix the whole problem, but would certainly increase sales and probably help attendance significantly too. Possibly even giving students best choice of basketball seats based on how many football games they attend.

 

[Trueblue25]

Attendance through 3 home games since Dino started:

2016 average: 31,936
2017 average: 31,003
2018 average: 34,495

Thats nearly an 8% increase since 2016. From my understanding the national trend is down, and we’re adding arguably significant fannies to the seats.

I think Dino needs to keep winning before he can hold the fans commitment accountable.

Coming off HCSS, then losing the next year to MTSU killed attendance. Now we’re winning again and outperforming national trends. Keep winning and more will come, I agree with the posters who’ve already stated this.

 

[sufandu]

Thanks for fact checking the attendance figures. I said Temple & Rutgers when I meant them as general examples of traditionally bad programs/brands.

Look at our attendance figures in that period for national powerhouses like East Carolina (albeit a loss), Eastern Michigan, etc.

Our undefeated 1987 season we opened with 35k against Maryland and had 33k against Miami (OH) a few weeks later.

Of course attendance sucked at the beginning of '87, we had a portion of the fanbase sign a petition to fire coach Mac the uear before. '87 is a perfect example of how attendance lags behind success. It could be even slower this go round since the lack of success has been even more drawn out. We had winning records 83-85, including the Cherry Bowl in '85.

A strong finish to this year and a good start next year will lead to a jump in attendance, especially if we have a strong game against Clemson at home.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Saban calls out Tide students for not showing up

Even the other half has its problems...

 

[ForCuseSake]

Of course attendance sucked at the beginning of '87, we had a portion of the fanbase sign a petition to fire coach Mac the uear before. '87 is a perfect example of how attendance lags behind success. It could be even slower this go round since the lack of success has been even more drawn out. We had winning records 83-85, including the Cherry Bowl in '85.

A strong finish to this year and a good start next year will lead to a jump in attendance, especially if we have a strong game against Clemson at home.

I agree that attendance lags after team success. I would kill for our current attendance to be in the vicinity of that golden era (Dino probably would too). What I did a poor job of saying, and maybe this is parsing attendance figures, is that even in years attendance hovered at full capacity we still had a a 5-7k drop off (or less than 40k) for crappy opponents:

1990 - Temple 38,925
1991 - Vanderbilt 35,541
1991 - East Carolina 37,767
1992 - All home games around 49k (hosted Texas, #21 Ohio State, Rutgers, Pitt, VaTech, & #1 Miami)
1993 - Ball State 45,090 - every other game (including Temple & Cincy) over 48k
1994 - Rutgers 44,925 - all other games over 47k
1995 - East Carolina 39,547
1995 - Eastern Michigan 38,902
1996 - Pitt 45,103 (Pitt was 4-7 that year. 2-4 heading into that game
1997 - NC State 42,742
1997 - Tulane 42,246
1998 - Rutgers 42,716
1999 - Central Michigan 45,563

Even as Frank Beamer built the Chokies national rep on cream puffs, Jake still scheduled behemoths. It became a huge obstacle as the program declined but he knew it impacted attendance.

 

[cuse10]

Saban calls out Tide students for not showing up

Even the other half has its problems...

He's been calling them out for years. The problem is that they are scheduling the Louisiana Lafayette's of the world throughout their non-conference. Pay a P5 team that doesn't have national championship aspirations to come to Bryant-Denny Stadium and people will come to the games.

 

[JRHEETER]

Look, the seats that aren’t selling are pretty simple. The seats in the upper deck at $110+fees a pop and the 200 section.

Not sure what they are doing with Reno for 200 section but they should make those all suites on the opposite side of the basketball court.

If those $110+fees seats were say $75 people would be a lot more interested in them. No one wants to spend $110 to sit in the upper deck. You can go to the LARGE schools with prominent teams that have been winning for years such as Penn State and pay $130+fees for a seat 13 rows from the field. The tickets in the dome for an area of people who are budget conscious are a little steep.

If we were in the top 10 annually I could justify this price tag but reality is we haven’t. Cut the prices get people in there and show them why they should love Orange Football again!!!

 

[JeffCuse]

Attendance through 3 home games since Dino started:

2016 average: 31,936
2017 average: 31,003
2018 average: 34,495

Thats nearly an 8% increase since 2016. From my understanding the national trend is down, and we’re adding arguably significant fannies to the seats.

I think Dino needs to keep winning before he can hold the fans commitment accountable.

Coming off HCSS, then losing the next year to MTSU killed attendance. Now we’re winning again and outperforming national trends. Keep winning and more will come, I agree with the posters who’ve already stated this.

What is the number we realistically need to hit to not look "empty" in areas up top, especially in the corners? 44K? 46K?

 

[Trueblue25]

What is the number we realistically need to hit to not look "empty" in areas up top, especially in the corners? 44K? 46K?

Above 40, probably 42,500 to stop seeing so much silver.

 

[Trueblue25]

The fact that we pulled 36,000 for an absolutely terrible Uconn team is encouraging.

The UNC attendance will be telling. Winning at Pitt is absolutely crucial, dino’s not off the hook for providing “evidence” just yet. The “belief” is clearly there, as our numbers are trending up despite uninspiring quality in recent home opponents.

 

[JeffCuse]

The fact that we pulled 36,000 for an absolutely terrible Uconn team is encouraging.

The UNC attendance will be telling. Winning at Pitt is absolutely crucial, dino’s not off the hook for providing “evidence” just yet. The “belief” is clearly there, as our numbers are trending up despite uninspiring quality in recent home opponents.

I agree. Beat Pitt, and have UNC, a major (albeit down) ACC team to become bowl eligible? I would love to see 40+ there...then, if we win both and are likely looking at 2 top 25 teams facing off in NC State, I'd be making the push for a sellout (which we may not get but we will really, for the first time in a while, be in a position to push for, as opposed to the pushes in past years to sell out vs an elite team we may or may not be truly competitive with).

 

[Trueblue25]

I agree. Beat Pitt, and have UNC, a major (albeit down) ACC team to become bowl eligible? I would love to see 40+ there...then, if we win both and are likely looking at 2 top 25 teams facing off in NC State, I'd be making the push for a sellout (which we probably wont get but we will really, for the first time in a while, be in a position to push for).

I think, for the UNC game if we beat pitt, a realistic goal is 40,000. Ideally a 5-1 syracuse team about to potentially lock a bowl should sell out or come close. We don’t yet have the luxury to have an idealistic mindframe.

We bring 40,000 to unc and win, I doubt we see less than 42,000 for the rest of the year.

At worst that is an average of 39,624. That’s an outstanding improvement and clear evidence that the fan base is turning around, rapidly, despite national trends.

 

[310Pigpen]

I’d love to see a Syracuse football billboard on 490 in Rochester. Only cause it would make me smile and forget about the dipshit in front of me doing 60 mph in the left lane.

 

[sufandu]

I agree. Beat Pitt, and have UNC, a major (albeit down) ACC team to become bowl eligible? I would love to see 40+ there...then, if we win both and are likely looking at 2 top 25 teams facing off in NC State, I'd be making the push for a sellout (which we may not get but we will really, for the first time in a while, be in a position to push for, as opposed to the pushes in past years to sell out vs an elite team we may or may not be truly competitive with).

I don't think a sellout is realistic for any game the rest of the year. Anything over 40,000 would be good. Anything approaching 45,000 would be considered amazing and is unlikely.

 

[JeffCuse]

I don't think a sellout is realistic for any game the rest of the year. Anything over 40,000 would be good. Anything approaching 45,000 would be considered amazing and is unlikely.

Im not sure if it is or not...but the marketing push will be there, and a push for a sellout between 2 top 20 teams at least feels sincere.

 

[OttoMets]

I agree that attendance lags after team success. I would kill for our current attendance to be in the vicinity of that golden era (Dino probably would too). What I did a poor job of saying, and maybe this is parsing attendance figures, is that even in years attendance hovered at full capacity we still had a a 5-7k drop off (or less than 40k) for crappy opponents:

1990 - Temple 38,925
1991 - Vanderbilt 35,541
1991 - East Carolina 37,767
1992 - All home games around 49k (hosted Texas, #21 Ohio State, Rutgers, Pitt, VaTech, & #1 Miami)
1993 - Ball State 45,090 - every other game (including Temple & Cincy) over 48k
1994 - Rutgers 44,925 - all other games over 47k
1995 - East Carolina 39,547
1995 - Eastern Michigan 38,902
1996 - Pitt 45,103 (Pitt was 4-7 that year. 2-4 heading into that game
1997 - NC State 42,742
1997 - Tulane 42,246
1998 - Rutgers 42,716
1999 - Central Michigan 45,563

Even as Frank Beamer built the Chokies national rep on cream puffs, Jake still scheduled behemoths. It became a huge obstacle as the program declined but he knew it impacted attendance.

I'll add that CMU in 1999 was only that high because you couldn't buy a Michigan single-game ticket for the following week without buying one for the CMU opener as well. SU packaged the tickets in response to the thousands of Tennessee fans who bought up all the single-game tickets the previous year.

 

[qdawgg]

What is the number we realistically need to hit to not look "empty" in areas up top, especially in the corners? 44K? 46K?

Don't even need 44K. Anything over 40K starts to look respectable.