Just got interviewed by Nate Mink

[mountaincuse]

Got this today, seems like a type of promotion that would get non typical attendees to games.

 

[storange]

Tickets being dirt cheap is a misconception. If you're someone that doesn't want to sit in the end zones an individual ticket can range from $80-$140. Go to the ticket site for any of the remaining games. Even if we sold every single cheap seat the place would look empty. And all those empty sideline seats are what gets on TV.

I agree, Those uppedeck midfield seats at 115 are not going to sell, charge the larger amounts for the lower deck between the 20s. everything else should be affordable. WE do not have the $$$$ in Onondaga Conty for a Dad to take his family of 5 and have to spend 600.00 for tickets.

 

[DPCuse]

There aren't many college football fans in CNY. And the ones that exist are usually involved with high school or Pop Warner football on Friday nights and Saturday mornings. You also have young parents going to their kids soccer and hockey games Saturday afternoons and people enjoying the last bit of summer and early fall weather. Try and convince the ACC to move your home games to Saturday evenings (6-7pm). Invite all those youth football players and their families to the games at reduced prices. You will increase attendance short term and start cultivating your next generation of football season ticket holders. The night games also become a date night for couples looking to do something on a Saturday night. And for the tailgaters, you have all day to enjoy yourself. And the college kids can sleep in, have lunch, make the game and still get to the bars at a reasonable hour on Saturday night after the game. Easier said than done. The conference and TV pretty much controls your start times. And that money is more lucrative than a few extra thousand tickets.

 

[syracuse95]

Yeah - I agree that the map is cool. I got there from Cuse.com.

My point was that it's too many clicks. Ticketmaster should have an api that allows apps or websites do all of that. So you open up the Cuse football app (doesn't exist, but stay with me). I'm already logged in. I click the game I want it gives me the map. I pick seats. It says "For this game you can bring the kids! How many?" I tap 2. I hit the purchase button. It sends me an email receipt and instructions for Sat.

Done. Painless.

Even better - use app + beacons at game to welcome me and my family on phone when I walk within 200 ft of the dome. Offer special promo and map to seat. Upon leaving send me another message about upcoming games and promotions. "Tweet about Cuse football and get 5% off the LSU game!"

Etc, etc.

Whoa. What is this sorcery you speak of?

 

[gmoney44]

I was out till 4 or 5 and up at 8 or 9 for noon games. suck it up.

Exactly, I'm sick of hearing this candy @$$ excuse. Get up and have a couple beers to kill the hanger and you'll be fine.

 

[TheCusian]

Whoa. What is this sorcery you speak of?

Technology.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[AZOrange]

Exactly, I'm sick of hearing this candy @$$ excuse. Get up and have a couple beers to kill the hanger and you'll be fine.

ok so many moons ago I lived in a house down the street from campus. I don't recall the name. One Friday night we spent far too many hours down on Marshall st. I assume at Harry's. I recall nothing of the events of that night. What I do recall was waking up on the porch of my house on Saturday, to the echoes of huge cheers coming from campus. I had overslept. So I quickly grabbed a cold one, leapt off the porch and headed to see The cuse. we lost that day to mike Vick but I'll never forget the electricity. And the worst play Troy nunes ever made

 

[Toga]

I think, quite simply, it's hard to compete against someone's living room.

My recollection is that some home games in the 80s and 90s were not televised (in part due to blackouts). This (and winning) are ultimately the two biggest factors.

 

[Consigliere]

One thing to think about, and I'm just spit balling here. What reason would you give to a neighbor, or friend whom hasn't going to a game in a while (or at all) on why they should attend a game?
I'm an alumni, grew up in the Finger Lakes during the 90's and got hooked on the JWallace / Moten/ McNabb years and knew I was going to Syracuse even during High School. I got lucky enough to enjoy the national championship year my senior year, so I'm hooked for life.
I had relatives that hooked up my family with tickets to games during the 90's and had a blast. I was there for the 2 VaTech last minutes wins, even ran onto the field and almost tackled Troy Nunes! Maybe the 2000's / GROB era and beyond (football wise) has just made it too tough to root for Cuse?
Like others have mentioned, just win, and the crowds will be rocking again. You don't need a sell out crowd to make a ton of noise, I was honestly impressed with listening to the game this weekend.
It sounded really loud during the second half, so much that I could barely hear Matt Park at some points.

Great question. I sell the social aspect as well as the on field product and attractive price point. Sounds silly, but I've managed to build a group of 14 from my original 2 and in more than one case I've use our tailgates to not only get them in the door for the first time, but to eventually flip them to STHers. In fact, and I won't mention him by name or handle since he posts on the board, but I had the wife of a friend ask if they needed season tickets if they just come to the tailgate every week. And these are folks that make a 3 hour round trip most every game.

I think your story is typical for non-alums. Come to a game, have a great time and build on it.

 

[CusefanATL]

There aren't many college football fans in CNY. And the ones that exist are usually involved with high school or Pop Warner football on Friday nights and Saturday mornings. You also have young parents going to their kids soccer and hockey games Saturday afternoons and people enjoying the last bit of summer and early fall weather. Try and convince the ACC to move your home games to Saturday evenings (6-7pm). Invite all those youth football players and their families to the games at reduced prices. You will increase attendance short term and start cultivating your next generation of football season ticket holders. The night games also become a date night for couples looking to do something on a Saturday night. And for the tailgaters, you have all day to enjoy yourself. And the college kids can sleep in, have lunch, make the game and still get to the bars at a reasonable hour on Saturday night after the game. Easier said than done. The conference and TV pretty much controls your start times. And that money is more lucrative than a few extra thousand tickets.

Just out of curiosity, what do you think parents do in Georgia, Texas, Ohio, Florida, Alabama, Michigan?

Do you think they all hate their children and refuse to go to their games?

 

[DPCuse]

Just out of curiosity, what do you think parents do in Georgia, Texas, Ohio, Florida, Alabama, Michigan?

Do you think they all hate their children and refuse to go to their games?

No, but they have a loyal following so losing those families doesn't impact them as much. In CNY, they are looking to build a fan base.

 

[Upstate]

Got this today, seems like a type of promotion that would get non typical attendees to games.

Especially since it's for single-game ticket buyers.

 

[bevosu]

I may be wrong...but.

I believe that the vast majority of k-12 kids don't participate in organized sports. I know there are a lot of soccer, LL baseball, Pop Warner ..along with high school sports kids who do.

I can't believe they are even close to the majority of kids...even in the burbs.

 

[MaxwellCuse]

I may be wrong...but.

I believe that the vast majority of k-12 kids don't participate in organized sports. I know there are a lot of soccer, LL baseball, Pop Warner ..along with high school sports kids who do.

I can't believe they are even close to the majority of kids...even in the burbs.

At our suburban/rural high school 40 -- 43% of the kids participate in varsity athletics. It's a little lower at the middle school level because there are fewer modified teams. Youth soccer and baseball/softball are huge here.

At least in my part of NYS the majority of kids don't participate in organized sports but I don't know that I would say it is "vast."

 

[OrangeTarheel]

What do mean specifically?

I mean the Dome is a destination -- out of owners looking for things to do in central NY should have this as a prominent option. Ladies, drop your husbands at the Dome and go drop a wad at the mall or the Finger Lakes. Whatever, but use it as a tourism driver ... it is a huge local asset for tourism but is not treated as such.

 

[SWC75]

I mean the Dome is a destination -- out of owners looking for things to do in central NY should have this as a prominent option. Ladies, drop your husbands at the Dome and go drop a wad at the mall or the Finger Lakes. Whatever, but use it as a tourism driver ... it is a huge local asset for tourism but is not treated as such.

They should have bus shuttles from Destiny, if they don't already.

 

[Ottoble]

we have a billion inch tv in the dome and it gets used to show tweets.. make the game an experience so its worth getting off the couch. fill the dead time with more than lame music, use the replay board to show replays not commercials or weather thats not current. reward people who show up. perhaps the more seasons you go the cheaper your ticket gets

Ive always said they should have highlights from our game and thrn ESPN goalline (that you would pay extra for at home) on during commercials. That is added value and football fans want to see other games.

 

[OrangeTarheel]

They should have bus shuttles from Destiny, if they don't already.

Which is great, but is anyone packaging and selling this to out of towners?

 

[Crusty]

I mean the Dome is a destination -- out of owners looking for things to do in central NY should have this as a prominent option. Ladies, drop your husbands at the Dome and go drop a wad at the mall or the Finger Lakes. Whatever, but use it as a tourism driver ... it is a huge local asset for tourism but is not treated as such.

What is it you are looking for them to do? I ask because everyone complains, but other than giving away free things, I never hear specific suggestions.

CFB attendance is declining all over the country and is not a problem exclusive to the dome. Just giving away free things is a loser.

One of the problems that is not mentioned often enough is the issue of making students pay for attending athletic events. It seem to me that if students are not fans when attending college they are not very likely to become fans after graduation. They should all be let in free. The seats are empty anyway so it is the best investment in the future the school could possibly make.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Pony rides, cotton candy, and risckshaw rides up the hill for every fat CNY'er to get up the hill. What.

 

[TheCusian]

Coach Shafer's job: win and recruit
AD Coyle's job: fix marketing and game day experience
Fans job: support the team

 

[bballbeadle]

Long time lurker here, thought I'd finallly post. After growing up in Syracuse, I've been living down in the Atlanta area for the past 20 years. There is such a different mindset down south when it comes to college football. It is a religion. Up north, pro football is king. I've been to Georgia, GA-Tech (still trying to erase the memory of that last Tech-SU game) and Bama games (wife is a grad). I can tell you that a lot of the fans at these games are not alumni, just locals who are uber passionate about their team. There is no off-season for them, they breathe college fotball. The north (with a few exceptions) just does not have that culture. I think college football is a distant interest for most northern fans (pro-football, baseball rule). You need to breed that culture at SU like what has been done with basketball over the years. Unfortunately, as mentioned several times above, that only comes with consistent winning.

Such a good point! Football is definitely religion in the south, and basketball is not even on the radar. One exception might be North Carolina. They are a college basketball state, but the rest of the south is ALL IN for football. I lived in NC for 12 years and no one talked about football, professional or college (Charlotte got its football franchise after I left). It was ACC basketball all the time. My director even bought a tv into work so we could all watch the ACC tournament. He didn't care that many of us somehow didn't have clients scheduled during the big game.

I also went to Wisconsin and football was ginormous for the Big 10. I never once went to a Badger basketball game. Football is still king there, but bball is catching up in terms of interest. Why? Winning.

 

[Crusty]

I appreciate your post but i can't stand the north south discussion. The die hards in the Dome are just as die hard as those in the South. The difference is the AMOUNT of die-hards at Syracuse isn't as large because of alot of factors.

But, that is the whole point - everybody down South follows football - everybody!

 

[Crusty]

Long time lurker here, thought I'd finallly post. After growing up in Syracuse, I've been living down in the Atlanta area for the past 20 years. There is such a different mindset down south when it comes to college football. It is a religion. Up north, pro football is king. I've been to Georgia, GA-Tech (still trying to erase the memory of that last Tech-SU game) and Bama games (wife is a grad). I can tell you that a lot of the fans at these games are not alumni, just locals who are uber passionate about their team. There is no off-season for them, they breathe college fotball. The north (with a few exceptions) just does not have that culture. I think college football is a distant interest for most northern fans (pro-football, baseball rule). You need to breed that culture at SU like what has been done with basketball over the years. Unfortunately, as mentioned several times above, that only comes with consistent winning.

Good post. Very true with respect to the South however, that is not the case everywhere and some schools still maintain excellence. In LA USC and UCLA have maintained excellence and interest over the years. All the professional sports and in the state and the variety of HS sports with growing participation do not seem to diminish interest in CFB. I come to the conclusion that most obvious is the correct answer - a combination of winning and culture.