Importance of Attendance at Dome Moving Forward | Page 2 | Syracusefan.com
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Importance of Attendance at Dome Moving Forward

I have a friend who moved back to Syracuse (after moving away in the mid-90s) this spring. He bought Syracuse football tickets figuring he could take customers he has in the area to games, but is discovering there is not a huge amount of interest. An astounding number of people had no idea Syracuse had a good season last year - and we’re talking about people who live in the greater Syracuse area. Some of his neighbors are baffled why he’d waste money on Syracuse football tickets.

His perception is the area has radically changed from the 80s/90s - there was lots of Syracuse football talk in schools and around workplace water coolers 30-40 years ago. I think way too many fans here think a couple winning years will magically change everything, but the battle to increase the number of fans (specifically ticket-buying fans) is going to be a long and hard one.
Yeah, none of what you are saying here surprises me at all. Local interest has been flatlined, save for the occasional 'event' game (NC St when we were 5-0, ND a few yrs ago). Too many casuals have just, checked out. They may go when a game becomes an event, make a nice fall day of it. But unless we get back to severa years in a row of 'good records' as perceived by casuals, our core base of STH is gonna be it. This years sched is, as we all know, not likely to help that cause. Which is why HRE's comment rings home to us.
 
Yeah, none of what you are saying here surprises me at all. Local interest has been flatlined, save for the occasional 'event' game (NC St when we were 5-0, ND a few yrs ago). Too many casuals have just, checked out. They may go when a game becomes an event, make a nice fall day of it. But unless we get back to severa years in a row of 'good records' as perceived by casuals, our core base of STH is gonna be it. This years sched is, as we all know, not likely to help that cause. Which is why HRE's comment rings home to us.
Takes a while to reverse two decades of losing.
 
Takes a while to reverse two decades of losing.

It is too bad 2020 happened. Outside of that we are 43-33. But even with 2020 we are over .500 the last 7 years.

We really are a 5 to 7 win type of program since joining the ACC with a one in five year good season. Take away 2020 and we average 5.91 Ws per year since joining the ACC.
 
Let’s hope Fran understands this
He seems to get it based on his community involvement. He has the potential to make Syracuse football cool again to a wide audience of young fans both locally and regionally. That’s what we need. Can’t count on the middle aged crowd of locals who like to complain. Need to cultivate new fans. We should be doing everything in our power to win over the next generation.
 
I have a friend who moved back to Syracuse (after moving away in the mid-90s) this spring. He bought Syracuse football tickets figuring he could take customers he has in the area to games, but is discovering there is not a huge amount of interest. An astounding number of people had no idea Syracuse had a good season last year - and we’re talking about people who live in the greater Syracuse area. Some of his neighbors are baffled why he’d waste money on Syracuse football tickets.

His perception is the area has radically changed from the 80s/90s - there was lots of Syracuse football talk in schools and around workplace water coolers 30-40 years ago. I think way too many fans here think a couple winning years will magically change everything, but the battle to increase the number of fans (specifically ticket-buying fans) is going to be a long and hard one.

I agree with the majority of this, other than the part in bold. I mean, "an astounding number of people had no idea" now that's likely some serious hyperbole. Syracuse, being Syracuse (one trick pony where the university wears the town's name) unless these "astounding" numbers of folks are now living in apocalyptic type bunkers, it's probable that they were aware.

Now, being aware, and giving a chit, well, that's a horse of a different color for sure. And, as others have mentioned, it'll take much more than a one year very good/outlier type season, for those townies/casuals nowadays to give a darn again.
 
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Yeah, none of what you are saying here surprises me at all. Local interest has been flatlined, save for the occasional 'event' game (NC St when we were 5-0, ND a few yrs ago). Too many casuals have just, checked out. They may go when a game becomes an event, make a nice fall day of it. But unless we get back to severa years in a row of 'good records' as perceived by casuals, our core base of STH is gonna be it. This years sched is, as we all know, not likely to help that cause. Which is why HRE's comment rings home to us.
What they really need to do is have a small section, each game set aside for a small section of kids and parents from local high schools . If the young people enjoy the product then you have the opportunity for new fans.
 
Sadly I think this is completley accurate. You pretty much nailed what we have all come to know over the last couple decades of what we have been through. Your predictions on numbers, and the reasons why for each game, look and sound so familar and obvious
I think you'd be surprised. All this stuff goes in cycles and once the momentum builds things happen really quickly.

There are people that were in school and never cared because of those terrible years with GRob and Shaefer so not like they were going to make it a point to go to games the 10-15 years after they graduated.

There are also people like me and my friends that are 2-3 hours or a quick flight away plus are older and have more disposable income and time now in our 40's. We saw some of the last good football 25ish years ago but let the season tickets slide when the team slid into the abyss. The new direction of the team gives us that motivation to get back to games. Maybe not season tickets again but we're willing to pay money for good seats.

Just anecdotal but caught 3 games last year and will be trying to get to as many games as I can this year. Also the way this team plays I would even consider going to more away games, which never were very appealing in the past since it wasn't so fun watching 50-14 blowouts.
 
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I have a friend who moved back to Syracuse (after moving away in the mid-90s) this spring. He bought Syracuse football tickets figuring he could take customers he has in the area to games, but is discovering there is not a huge amount of interest. An astounding number of people had no idea Syracuse had a good season last year - and we’re talking about people who live in the greater Syracuse area. Some of his neighbors are baffled why he’d waste money on Syracuse football tickets.

His perception is the area has radically changed from the 80s/90s - there was lots of Syracuse football talk in schools and around workplace water coolers 30-40 years ago. I think way too many fans here think a couple winning years will magically change everything, but the battle to increase the number of fans (specifically ticket-buying fans) is going to be a long and hard one.

This post is spot on and what I've been saying for years. It's a great example of how oblivious and indifferent a decent chunk of the casual fanbase is. Now not realizing SU won 10 games or had a really good year last year is a bit absurd but the note about his neighbors baffled on why he would buy tickets is so spot on.
 
I know I’ve suggested this a hundred times but the most strategic way to fill the Dome is find to non conference opponents that a) have a rabid fanbase and b) are beatable.

West Virginia and Nebraska come to mind for home and homes. Especially WVU due to the historical connection. Why on Earth don’t we play them more often?
 
I know I’ve suggested this a hundred times but the most strategic way to fill the Dome is find to non conference opponents that a) have a rabid fanbase and b) are beatable.

West Virginia and Nebraska come to mind for home and homes. Especially WVU due to the historical connection. Why on Earth don’t we play them more often?

Because they're afraid of us???
 
Its going to take a decade of restored respectability and competitive seasons. GRob, Shafer and Dino really killed things. You lost nearly a whole generation of interest/pride.
 
Its going to take a decade of restored respectability and competitive seasons. GRob, Shafer and Dino really killed things. You lost nearly a whole generation of interest/pride.
Disagree, it won't take a decade. Agree on the coaches though.
 
re: attendance - we have no control over what people do. Win and they’ll come. Lose and it’s the same old same old complaints that the town doesn’t support the team.

I disagree with that. This stuff is contagious. A lot of people don’t realize what they’re missing, or don’t want to figure out the parking situation or whatever. We know how fun it is and how to bring friends and family and it can percolate out from there.

Heck, even my 72 y/o mother who is still learning all the rules loves going after I brought her. Straight out the gates she loved the band and fanfare and the chicken, and the sport is growing on her. Last hear she tugged my sleeve and said “look, Marlowe’s back!”
 
Administration is already anticipating a significant bump in attendance this season "for all games."
Hope so but Colgate alone should drag us under last year’s average.

Also BC should be the 2nd lowest attended game in the new Dome era.

That is 1/3 of our games.
 
He seems to get it based on his community involvement. He has the potential to make Syracuse football cool again to a wide audience of young fans both locally and regionally. That’s what we need. Can’t count on the middle aged crowd of locals who like to complain. Need to cultivate new fans. We should be doing everything in our power to win over the next generation.
Great post!
 
Its going to take a decade of restored respectability and competitive seasons. GRob, Shafer and Dino really killed things. You lost nearly a whole generation of interest/pride.

Agreed - because this goes deeper than winning and losing. Coach P was still the coach when Shaw told fans that wanted a new coach to get a life and Jake reminded everyone that Syracuse is a one horse town. That let everyone locally know the attitude on the hill - you will get what you get, and if it’s a crap sandwich you’ll eat it and like it. That’s probably survivable if the team returned to 9 win seasons - instead it was GRob. A fan base that was already feeling alienated by the Syracuse administration was given every reason to just walk away.

People that were in their 20s and 30s stopped following Syracuse football - so there’s a generation that has no attachment to Syracuse football now that the school needs to win over. The one positive is that enough time has passed and the people the school needs to win over weren’t around in the 90s - so they are just apathetic not antagonistic towards Syracuse football.

I suspect that Syracuse basketball didn’t lose fans because they kept winning - but Shaw and Jake successfully transformed the relationship with fans from a communal bond to an economic transactions. As long as the team wins, the fans would continue the arrangement (and I think JB helped maintain whatever shreds of community bond were left). But the window for a JB-less team to turn things around and become a consistent top 25 program before the fan bases collapses is probably very short. It might be just this year.

I don’t think the school has ever really come to terms with how badly they screwed up in PR towards the end of Coach Ps tenure. I don’t think the emotional attachment fans have to the school and teams is anywhere close to how fans felt in the 80s/90s.
 
It is too bad 2020 happened. Outside of that we are 43-33. But even with 2020 we are over .500 the last 7 years.

We really are a 5 to 7 win type of program since joining the ACC with a one in five year good season. Take away 2020 and we average 5.91 Ws per year since joining the ACC.
True
 
Agreed - because this goes deeper than winning and losing. Coach P was still the coach when Shaw told fans that wanted a new coach to get a life and Jake reminded everyone that Syracuse is a one horse town. That let everyone locally know the attitude on the hill - you will get what you get, and if it’s a crap sandwich you’ll eat it and like it. That’s probably survivable if the team returned to 9 win seasons - instead it was GRob. A fan base that was already feeling alienated by the Syracuse administration was given every reason to just walk away.

People that were in their 20s and 30s stopped following Syracuse football - so there’s a generation that has no attachment to Syracuse football now that the school needs to win over. The one positive is that enough time has passed and the people the school needs to win over weren’t around in the 90s - so they are just apathetic not antagonistic towards Syracuse football.

I suspect that Syracuse basketball didn’t lose fans because they kept winning - but Shaw and Jake successfully transformed the relationship with fans from a communal bond to an economic transactions. As long as the team wins, the fans would continue the arrangement (and I think JB helped maintain whatever shreds of community bond were left). But the window for a JB-less team to turn things around and become a consistent top 25 program before the fan bases collapses is probably very short. It might be just this year.

I don’t think the school has ever really come to terms with how badly they screwed up in PR towards the end of Coach Ps tenure. I don’t think the emotional attachment fans have to the school and teams is anywhere close to how fans felt in the 80s/90s.
My exact reasoning, thanks.
 
People that were in their 20s and 30s stopped following Syracuse football - so there’s a generation that has no attachment to Syracuse football now that the school needs to win over. The one positive is that enough time has passed and the people the school needs to win over weren’t around in the 90s - so they are just apathetic not antagonistic towards Syracuse football.
The exact thing I was trying to say above in my post but you put it better.
 
I agree with the majority of this, other than the part in bold. I mean, "an astounding number of people had no idea" now that's likely some serious hyperbole. Syracuse, being Syracuse (one trick pony where the university wears the town's name) unless these "astounding" numbers of folks are now living in apocalyptic type bunkers, it's probable that they were aware.

Now, being aware, and giving a chit, well, that's a horse of a different color for sure. And, as others have mentioned, it'll take much more than a one year very good/outlier type season, for those townies/casuals nowadays to give a darn again.

I thought it was crazy too - but attention spans in 2025 are really short. And there’s a difference between thinking Syracuse was bad and not remembering they won ten games - as someone who just this week had to look up who won the basketball championship (it was Florida) I can attest to that. And that’s a game I watched with my son. Interestingly, I did remember that Houston lost because I have a relative who went there and wanted them to win. So the point is that lots of people in Syracuse care about Syracuse football about as much as I care about Florida basketball - which is that it’s totally irrelevant to us.
 
Agreed - because this goes deeper than winning and losing. Coach P was still the coach when Shaw told fans that wanted a new coach to get a life and Jake reminded everyone that Syracuse is a one horse town. That let everyone locally know the attitude on the hill - you will get what you get, and if it’s a crap sandwich you’ll eat it and like it. That’s probably survivable if the team returned to 9 win seasons - instead it was GRob. A fan base that was already feeling alienated by the Syracuse administration was given every reason to just walk away.

People that were in their 20s and 30s stopped following Syracuse football - so there’s a generation that has no attachment to Syracuse football now that the school needs to win over. The one positive is that enough time has passed and the people the school needs to win over weren’t around in the 90s - so they are just apathetic not antagonistic towards Syracuse football.

I suspect that Syracuse basketball didn’t lose fans because they kept winning - but Shaw and Jake successfully transformed the relationship with fans from a communal bond to an economic transactions. As long as the team wins, the fans would continue the arrangement (and I think JB helped maintain whatever shreds of community bond were left). But the window for a JB-less team to turn things around and become a consistent top 25 program before the fan bases collapses is probably very short. It might be just this year.

I don’t think the school has ever really come to terms with how badly they screwed up in PR towards the end of Coach Ps tenure. I don’t think the emotional attachment fans have to the school and teams is anywhere close to how fans felt in the 80s/90s.
That whole Buzz 'get a life' and Jake's 'one horse town' chit is the gift that keeps on giving the whole year Clark. Was a pr disaster then and is still to this day. Though the younger generations dont have any idea what we talk about when we discuss it. Too far in the past. Problem is those same fans have seen what we have largely been for 2 decades. Hence our attendance issues.
 
I believe I heard SU has already sold 3000 additional season tickets for this year and that renewal rates are close to 90%.
Considering the Dome was at 91.5% capacity in 2024 it sounds like ticket sales won’t be an issue. And with Notre Dame coming in next year even if they struggle a bit on the field in the fall with a killer schedule 2026 could be even better.
 
I believe I heard SU has already sold 3000 additional season tickets for this year and that renewal rates are close to 90%.
Considering the Dome was at 91.5% capacity in 2024 it sounds like ticket sales won’t be an issue. And with Notre Dame coming in next year even if they struggle a bit on the field in the fall with a killer schedule 2026 could be even better.

We had 5 of 7 games last year under 40k, with one barely breaking 40k. If we use the 42,750 as the official capacity (Holy Cross was almost 750 above that) then 91.5% is only 39125. With only a 6 game weight the Colgate game IMO puts us under last year's average. We would need to sell out Duke (very likely) and get 40k in all the other games just to break even.

I hope I am wrong but I just don't see us getting to 40k per game this year.


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Also if you are at 25k STHs and keep 90% then add 3k you are at 25,500 STHs this year. That isn’t significant.
 

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