Someone Had To Do It: Miami Attendance

[StLouisCuse]

It's not a matter of buying it. It is a fact. And the shame of people not running to see UConn play. The Red Sox stopped spending and stopped winning and guess what, people stopped going. We haven't even had the first part yet. Our fans have had the ball pulled away every time we get up for a game the last 20 years. And almost every time, we have been smoked. It takes time to bring the casual fan back.

I see both sides of this debate. The good news here is we're just a few thousand shy of selling out a couple games this year. If we stay on the trajectory we're on, those will turn into sell-outs in the near future.

 

[dasher]

I see both sides of this debate. The good news here is we're just a few thousand shy of selling out a couple games this year. If we stay on the trajectory we're on, those will turn into sell-outs in the near future.

hope so. I'm on the side that wants 42000 at every game. But to do that you need band wagon fans. And we just haven't given them a reason for a long time. God willing, we will on Saturday.

 

[VTAaron]

hope so. I'm on the side that wants 42000 at every game. But to do that you need band wagon fans. And we just haven't given them a reason for a long time. God willing, we will on Saturday.

On this we agree.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

hope so. I'm on the side that wants 42000 at every game. But to do that you need band wagon fans. And we just haven't given them a reason for a long time. God willing, we will on Saturday.

After this year I think our non student fanbase is around 32k. Those are the fans who are willing to watch SU whether rain or shine, noon 330 or night, and despite opponent. The problem is we need about 5k more fans for a sellout. Those people need an event, good opponent, good game time, convenient weekend, decent weather but not too good.

Before this season I thought that number was more like 35k which makes sellouts a lot easier. Makes even more sense now to have reduced capacity.

 

[Trueblue25]

RDGL320'ers

Said no one ever. Loeb always gave the head nod to 316

 

[Offthedome]

Until something changes, I am very skeptical we will ever sell out the tickets AND have a capacity crowd at a football game again. There's many possible factors, but #1 is the pricing and availability of tickets.

The overall game experience and tickets are severely overpriced, and the tickets are digital, so until that changes we won't have a capacity crowd ever again. The Holy Cross "sell out" (where we had ~36,000 people in attendance) was so ridiculous to me.

The concession prices are solely the university's fault- the 16oz beer cans are $16 and mixed drinks are $23. I asked for a cup with my beer and they told me an empty cup would be an additional $23 because of how they operate. Who would want to deal with all that BS unless they are a die hard Cuse football fan??

But to me, the digital ticketing price bubble is really the major issue- our fans are getting raked over the coals. Most people don't know Seatgeek prices are vastly higher than ticketmaster's prices, especially casual fans that we want to bring into the fold with us. Ticketmaster's prices are marked up 20% or more form what the seller designates. The digital ticketing system is truly a complete nightmare. They are causing the tickets sold online to be priced at ~150% of the asking price.

***If I put a football ticket on sale for $44, it will be on ticketmaster for approximately $70, and seatgeek for approximately $100. Although I receive $39 when the tickets sells, a buyer may pay over $100 for that same ticket on Seatgeek (maybe $80 on TM) and yet I collect $39 on that sale.

Also, we no longer have flippers outside the Dome buying and selling the last few hundreds/thousand tickets that were unspoken for. If i want to simply give my tickets away, I need to get someone's email address, log into a digital ticket system, "send" them the ticket, and then have them create an account and password, etc, and sign up for the stupid app, just so someone can use the ticket. It is an incredibly dumb system that will continue to suppress attendance.

My tickets don't always get used because of this bad system, and even with the shrunken dome, it will be borderline impossible for us to find 44,000 upstate New Yorkers that are okay with spending a 50% premium on digital tickets, that will download the digital ticket app, pay $30 to park and then pay $16 for a can of beer.

Older fans also absolutely hate this app/digital ticket process. It is really a mix of foolish and inconsiderate that they did this and left fans with no ability to get printed tickets or to print out PDFs of their tickets. Raiders season ticket holders or SU LAX fans, etc, don't get hassled in this manner.

Regarding charging $23 for an empty cup. A few years ago I was at Yankee Stadium with some friends and we figured out that the beer concession in the concourse counts cups for sales figures. We gave a nudge nudge wink wink to the kid behind the tap and just kept bringing back our empty cups for a fraction of the billion dollars they charge for a beer down there. Ethical? No. Streetwise? Yup.

 

[hoopsupstate]

We have one of the best quarterbacks in the country and an offense that throws it all over the field. Fans have been clamoring for this for years and yet, fans don’t want to show up. We keep hearing the same old excuses. We have a passionate but also a pathetic fan base. It’s never going to change.

 

[TexanMark]

After this year I think our non student fanbase is around 32k. Those are the fans who are willing to watch SU whether rain or shine, noon 330 or night, and despite opponent. The problem is we need about 5k more fans for a sellout. Those people need an event, good opponent, good game time, convenient weekend, decent weather but not too good.

Before this season I thought that number was more like 35k which makes sellouts a lot easier. Makes even more sense now to have reduced capacity.

True

The unfortunate thing is this is why Cuse will never be in the P2.

I'm actually ok in the M2, Cuse can't compete with the Top 20 CFB fan bases

 

[TexanMark]

Doesn’t work with WV fans though b/c they don’t even know what a sink is.

They do love the circular urinal though

 

[richmondcuse03]

No. Syracuse fans have been more than patient for basically 20 years of suck. Going to games and not getting much back from the team. Every time we have had a big game, like this weekend, we have been blown out for 20 years. And while this year has been fun, we aren't 10-1. We are 8-3. Before Fran can complain about fans or lack of support, win a game like Saturday. Or win a game or two on the road against the stiff competition that we will be playing next year. Until then, save the blast on our fans. They don't deserve it yet.

agree. Fran is also smart enough to not criticize fans. He'll win over folks.

 

[TexanMark]

Virginia Tech used to travel so well on that trek up I-81. This year, that section was full of tumbleweed and crickets.

We were a bigger program than they were in the 80s and 90s...We had a full Dome back then.

Now they have much closer games and we are no longer a hated rival standing above them.

 

[richmondcuse03]

True

The unfortunate thing is this is why Cuse will never be in the P2.

I'm actually ok in the M2, Cuse can't compete with the Top 20 CFB fan bases

Right, unless we see a population reversal in the area*, it'll be hard to do. We don't have the alumni support for FB like other schools do. We don't have a big enough student body. And we don't have enough local support. The only way we can improve those things is basically by winning.

*Eventually, the loss of fresh water in other parts of country will bring the folks back to the Great Lakes regions (buy land with water access).

 

[TexanMark]

The area's population is projected to grow 100K in the next 15yrs. That should help.

I wish SUNY and SU can allow Syracuse to incorporate ESF and Upstate Medical back under SU as state supported schools like what Cornell has. The only way to get AAU cert back.

 

[Chip]

We were a bigger program than they were in the 80s and 90s...We had a full Dome back then.

Now they have much closer games and we are no longer a hated rival standing above them.

We were a bigger program up thru 1992 for sure. But after that, we were even at best. The games were always great though. Home team always won except for the 2000/2001 flip.

They are also not nearly as good. Go to Lane Stadium, sure, that's fun for them. Travel anywhere outside 2 hours? Not for Brent Pry's edition. Nor the guy before him.

 

[dollarbill44]

Lastly while Miami moves the needle for us diehards, SU has played Miami once the last two decades and not at home in more then two decades. The casual fan probably doesn't even realize a playoff bid is on the line for Miami much less our history.

This last part is spot-on. We really only played them for a short period (11 or 12 years).

 

[storange]

Think we’re going to have biggest crowd of season ( more then the Pseudo HC sellout ) . It will be a huge win for -
-Getting us into the top 25 for the bowl season
-Ending season with huge lift
-Setting up for increase in seasons for next season . That is what we really need , getting that # up will lead to a sold out building if Fran can keep the momentum going .
.

 

[IDOC]

Where I live 4 hours away on Friday - Saturday we are expected to have 10 to 12” of white stuff Sold my tickets so the seats will not be empty.
It is fine to whine about attendance but think about this. If we have the same coaching staff and similar players as the last several years where would our attendance be????
Dino was and is a first class guy but most likely not a Div One head coach.
Happy Thanksgiving