The Meadowlands Game - Success or Failure?

[Bayside44]

Instead of Giants Stadium play one in CitiField. Yesterday's crowd would'be been rip-roaring there (and Lord knows that place could use some excitement).

 

[rrlbees]

Playing a "home" game 3.5 hours away would be difficult on the team but IMO we would get better talent by doing so. Which makes up for that difficulty. I rather have better tired players than fresher mediocre ones. The core fan base is tiny and can be replaced by a new core with deeper pockets. Win win.

You'd probably get less talent. If all they want is location of home games they could go to rutgirls.

NYC alumni are going to fill the void as the new locals? Sure. Are there even that many alumni in NYC that even follow football? And they'll pony up more money? Nice alumni. Bring the games to me ams I'll give more money. If they support the program they should be making donations regardless.of where they live. Deep pockets or not.

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[GoSU96]

Sorry but this isn't about you. It is about the greater good. What is the best thing for SU FB? That is what SU should do not what is best for you. How selfish.

Who do you think you are, Jonathan Swift?

 

[kingottoiii]

You'd probably get less talent. If all they want is location of home games they could go to rutgirls.

NYC alumni are going to fill the void as the new locals? Sure. Are there even that many alumni in NYC that even follow football? And they'll pony up more money? Nice alumni. Bring the games to me ams I'll give more money. If they support the program they should be making donations regardless.of where they live. Deep pockets or not.

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Um the only reason most of the players go to RU is because of location. RU being mediocre has hurt SU's recruiting. Their skill position talent is a better than ours. Take away their one advantage and what happens? In addition there is a wow factor for local recruits playing where the Giants and Jets play. Ask Pitt how that has helped them recruit. As a facility MetLife is top of the line. The Dome isn't. The locker rooms alone are night and day. Not having to raise millions for a locker room renovation alone is a big deal. If you really think that facilities do not matter to kids then I don't know what to say. It will make things easier for us.

You act like there are many locals to replace. We are talking maybe 25k that need to be replaced. Between Boston and DC I think we could get 25k (alumni plus family and friends not just alumni) to show up who would not show up in CNY. Alumni lose a connection to the FB program as they don't get a chance to see many games live. Put games in their backyard and that changes a lot. The more connected they are the more money they will give. In addition the number of casula fans that show up to games would easily be 2 to 1 in favor of MetLife, as I described earlier in stealing Rutgers STHs.

SU FB exists to make money and to promote the university. Not to provide entertainment for CNY. The best way to make money and promote SU is by playing at MetLife.

 

[xc84]

I went to the game. I had a great time and great tailgate (despite some wind rain). I liken it to going to a b-ball game at MSG. It was an easy drive for me and all-in-all, had a great time.

 

[GoSU96]

Um the only reason most of the players go to RU is because of location. RU being mediocre has hurt SU's recruiting. Their skill position talent is a better than ours. Take away their one advantage and what happens? In addition there is a wow factor for local recruits playing where the Giants and Jets play. Ask Pitt how that has helped them recruit. As a facility MetLife is top of the line. The Dome isn't. The locker rooms alone are night and day. Not having to raise millions for a locker room renovation alone is a big deal. If you really think that facilities do not matter to kids then I don't know what to say. It will make things easier for us.

You act like there are many locals to replace. We are talking maybe 25k that need to be replaced. Between Boston and DC I think we could get 25k (alumni plus family and friends not just alumni) to show up who would not show up in CNY. Alumni lose a connection to the FB program as they don't get a chance to see many games live. Put games in their backyard and that changes a lot. The more connected they are the more money they will give. In addition the number of casula fans that show up to games would easily be 2 to 1 in favor of MetLife, as I described earlier in stealing Rutgers STHs.

SU FB exists to make money and to promote the university. Not to provide entertainment for CNY. The best way to make money and promote SU is by playing at MetLife.

I pretty sure you're just being absurd to make some kind of point, what it is I haven't the fainest idea.

If you are being serious, please leave now and never come back, because there is no reason for anyone to ever take you seriously ever again.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Now that it's over, how does everyone feel about this game? With the amount of controversy that led up to this game, I'm curious to see if you all think moving this game was a success or not.

I was a proponent of having this game in the Meadowlands. But now that its over, I'm not so sure the benefit was worth giving up the game. It was clear that the Meadowlands were only 1/2 full and that the crowd was split 50/50 at that.

The press that we'd received going into the game was due to us playing USC...and not because we were playing in the Meadowlands. I feel we would've had the same press whether it was at the dome or in Jersey...

there never was a home game against USC to give up. never wpuld have happened

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[OrangeXtreme]

Next week he'll want MetLife Stadium to remove 30,000 seats.

 

[Ozcuse]

I still think it is in the program's best interests to play every home game at Metlife. The added travel would suck for the team. The loss of a significant home field advantage would suck. However in terms of $, exposure, and recruiting it would be significantly better.

To be a successful program you need $. There is a lot more money to be made playing at Metlife. The game day revenue would be greater. And more importantly the FB donations would likely go up by quite a bit being that alumni will be more involved with the program.

Exposure playing there is self explanatory. Recruiting in NJ, Eastern PA, and NYC/LI would be a lot easier. If you are a kid in NJ would you rather play at Metlife against the ACC or in Piscataway against CUSA? You can "stay home" to play FB by going to school 3.5 hours away. Not to mention the increased $ will allow us to buy nicer things for recruits as well.

In terms of fanbase I think we could easily average as much at MetLife as we can at the Dome. If we are a Top 15 type of team we would average 48k in the Dome but could get even more than that at MetLife. Huge bandwagon factor in NJ. While we are mediocre, I certainly think we could average 40k playing 6 home games a year with the move to the ACC. I think we could get 20-25k SU fans every game. It is only 6 games a year and tailgating makes up for just being mediocre. I think we could easily steal 10k fans from Rutgers. A lot of people who get season tickets for Rutgers don't really care about Rutgers. They go to tailgate and watch FB. Well if your choices are season tickets for RU in Piscataway or for SU in MetLife where do you think they go? Especially since we play real teams every week. Then you have the road teams who will all bring a lot more people than they currently do. NYC area vs CNY area is a huge difference.

Having less of the crowd actually care about SU will suck. It takes away from the home field advantage. But all the other positives certainly outweigh the negatives. Plus we can then replace the Doem with academic buildings and add an awesome BBall arena on South. It really is in the school's bets interest to play all of our games at MetLife.

I hope this was tongue in cheek but I'm guessing with the thought you put into this, it's not.

Name another team anywhere that does this. I'll save you time because there isn't one- and the reason is not because it's too "innovative" it's because it's *cking stupid.

We couldn't even break 40k for a gimmick game playing the #2 team in the country in the largest metro in the U.S. Think about that for a second. A team from 3,000 miles away almost outdrew us at our "home game".

Also, how would you build a fan base if you don't have any home games on campus where your STUDENTS are? You think all those students are going to go to games 4 hours away and kill their entire weekend of hooking up with randoms and going to Marshall St? They would rather watch the game at the bar while hooking up on Marshall St. You plan on busing all the students to NYC each home game? Or is Phase II of your plan to just move Syracuse University to outside MetLife Stadium?

 

[kingottoiii]

I hope this was tongue in cheek but I'm guessing with the thought you put into this, it's not.

Name another team anywhere that does this. I'll save you time because there isn't one- and the reason is not because it's too "innovative" it's because it's *cking stupid.

We couldn't even break 40k for a gimmick game playing the #2 team in the country in the largest metro in the U.S. Think about that for a second. A team from 3,000 miles away almost outdrew us at our "home game".

Also, how would you build a fan base if you don't have any home games on campus where your STUDENTS are? You think all those students are going to go to games 4 hours away and kill their entire weekend of hooking up with randoms and going to Marshall St? They would rather watch the game at the bar while hooking up on Marshall St. You plan on busing all the students to NYC each home game? Or is Phase II of your plan to just move Syracuse University to outside MetLife Stadium?

We have a unique situation where we have very few alumni within a 4 hour drive of campus. Name me another school that plays BCS FB and can say that. You cannot. Which is why we need to adjust while other schools do not.

We cannot break 40k at the Dome either. So isn't it better to not break 40k when it brings in greater benefits? Those benefits certainly outweigh the negatives of moving every game to NJ.

 

[cuseincincy]

No way is this game a National TV game if it was played in Syracuse. Regional coverage at best, if on tv at all. That is why it was important to recruiting. This team was exposed to a national audience today, and they played well. That will help recruiting in the areas further away from NY. Yes we have other nationl tv games scheduled for the dome, but none of this magnitude. Why did Notre Dame play in Dublin, and why did Michigan and Alabama play at Cowboy stadium? Because those games build hype from a tv perspective, and it is exciting for the players to play in famous venues and stadiums. This is becoming the new thing in college football, and lots of high school players saw us on national tv today, and know we played in the stadium that the NY Giants, and NY Jets play in. That has a huge allure to today's young players.

Technically it wasn't a national TV game. It was a regional split game with Michigan - Air Force. In fact, I'm not sure I would have gotten it if i didn't have DirecTV. we got the MI-AF game on ABC and ESPN2 was blacked out for some reason. I got the game on a ESPN HD channel. But where the game was played had nothing to do with the TV coverage. Nothing.

 

[chakka3421]

We have a unique situation where we have very few alumni within a 4 hour drive of campus. Name me another school that plays BCS FB and can say that. You cannot. Which is why we need to adjust while other schools do not.

We cannot break 40k at the Dome either. So isn't it better to not break 40k when it brings in greater benefits? Those benefits certainly outweigh the negatives of moving every game to NJ.

I would be ok with it if Met Life paid SU $5 million every game for 6 games = cool $30 million = the doctor could even upgrade his office with money like that.

Ain't going to happen - nuff said on this topic...

 

[cuseincincy]

I've got no problem with a once in a while Kickoff Classic type game. 10 games over the 10-15 yer4ars or whatever would only be OK if they are being schedueld as neutral site games not relocated "home" games. All this discussion of alumni location is silly. Yes Syracuse is a private school and does not have the luxury of being a large state school with a large number of alumni still within driving distance. But reality it is similar to a large state school because of the large local fan base. I'm just guessing but I'd guess at least 75% of those attending Dome games are not SU students or SU alumni. And like it or not they are the core of the SU fanbase and always will be. The Dome would have been sold out yesterday for a #2 ranked USC team. To say USC would never have played in the Dome just shows your youth and I'll excuse you for not being familiar with a successful SU program. But the Dome has hosted many top programs over the years; Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Florida State, Florida, Texas, BYU, Auburn, Iowa are some of the non-conference games we have hosted. And I believe Notre Dame was the only 2-1 in the bunch. No reason at all that USC wouldn't play in the Dome. It was the good Dr's idea to move it and they jumped at it.

 

[Fjoinkay]

I've got no problem with a once in a while Kickoff Classic type game. 10 games over the 10-15 yer4ars or whatever would only be OK if they are being schedueld as neutral site games not relocated "home" games. All this discussion of alumni location is silly. Yes Syracuse is a private school and does not have the luxury of being a large state school with a large number of alumni still within driving distance. But reality it is similar to a large state school because of the large local fan base. I'm just guessing but I'd guess at least 75% of those attending Dome games are not SU students or SU alumni. And like it or not they are the core of the SU fanbase and always will be. The Dome would have been sold out yesterday for a #2 ranked USC team. To say USC would never have played in the Dome just shows your youth and I'll excuse you for not being familiar with a successful SU program. But the Dome has hosted many top programs over the years; Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Florida State, Florida, Texas, BYU, Auburn, Iowa are some of the non-conference games we have hosted. And I believe Notre Dame was the only 2-1 in the bunch. No reason at all that USC wouldn't play in the Dome. It was the good Dr's idea to move it and they jumped at it.

And moving the game to MetLife was a great move for everyone concerned including USC.

 

[lincolncuse]

The Dome would have been sold out yesterday for a #2 ranked USC team.

not a chance

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[rrlbees]

there never was a home game against USC to give up. never wpuld have happened

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For about the 10th time. Incorrect unless USC was going to buy it out.

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[OrangeXtreme]

The Dome would have been sold out yesterday for a #2 ranked USC team. To say USC would never have played in the Dome just shows your youth and I'll excuse you for not being familiar with a successful SU program. But the Dome has hosted many top programs over the years; Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Florida State, Florida, Texas, BYU, Auburn, Iowa are some of the non-conference games we have hosted. And I believe Notre Dame was the only 2-1 in the bunch. No reason at all that USC wouldn't play in the Dome. It was the good Dr's idea to move it and they jumped at it.

1991: Florida ... 49,823
1992: Texas ... 49,238
1992: Ohio State ... 46,629
1994: Oklahoma ... 48,420
1998: Tennessee ... 49.550
2000: BYU ... 43,090
2001: Auburn ... 43,403
2003: Notre Dame ... 48,170
2004: Florida State ... 40,539
2006: Iowa ... 37,199
2008: Penn State .. .45,795

The Dome hasn't really sold out since the Miami & Va Tech games in 2000.

If USC demanded a % of the gate, how many tickets would SU need to sell to keep USC interested?

If USC demanded a flat appearance fee, would SU be able to sell enough tickets to break even?

The original home and home with USC was announced in 2007. The change to NYC came in 2009.

Maybe USC saw the PSU attendance and threatened to cancel the series. Maybe Gross saw the PSU attendance and knew that he'd never be able to sell enough tickets to afford USC.

We'll never know.

 

[Crusty]

If SU was in some rural backwater Southern town, they would have better attendance. CNY has over 1 million inhabitants and can't draw 40,000 to Div 1 football games. CNY just does not care about SU football. Dr. Gross has a big problem and he knows it. He is playing the few cards he has to try and broaden the fan base and everybody bitches and moans about the loss of one frickin home game. If the CNY fans showed up he would not have to try anything. One of the most storied football programs in the country and CNY won't fill a 49,000 seat stadium.- lucky to draw 39,000.

Ann Arbor has a pop of 113,000 and the SMA about 344,000. Syracuse is about 145,000 and 662 respectively.
Auburn, AL has a pop of about 50,000 and MSA of 456,000.
Oxford MS has a pop of 18,000 and MSA of uh 18,000.

Compared to any of SU's peers we must be last in fan support.

 

[Fjoinkay]

Dr. Gross is the reason USC agreed to play SU in the dome, and then they jumped at the opportunity to play in MetLife which was a good deal for everyone. Without Dr. Gross, and possibly even GRob and his relationship with Pete Carroll, the USC games probably never would have happened.

Thank you Dr. Gross!

 

[Scooch]

Interesting factoid... there are actually more S.U. alumni in the NYC metro area than there are in all of Upstate NY combined. I was shocked when I learned that, but when I actually thought about it it's not terribly surprising.

Realky? According to a chart All4SU posted the other day, there are 70K alumni in NY, 13K in NJ and 6K in CT. For what you're saying to be true then a good 35K of those NY state alums would need to be metro area, and that's assuming all 19K NJ/CT alums are metro area.

Seems unlikely that there are only 35K alums in Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, etc.

 

[Upstate]

You know what would be so much easier, especially for fans? Playing at Yankee Stadium every handful of years in November instead of Metlife. Yankee Stadium is a million times more accessible (Metro North, subway), and probably cuts your trip from upstate by atleast an hour if you're using the Metro North, yet is still easy to get to for those living in the city. Plus, I'd say Yankee Stadium is much more prestigious than MetLife, even to the players

 

[44PRIDE]

You know what would be so much easier, especially for fans? Playing at Yankee Stadium every handful of years in November instead of Metlife. Yankee Stadium is a million times more accessible (Metro North, subway), and probably cuts your trip from upstate by atleast an hour if you're using the Metro North, yet is still easy to get to for those living in the city. Plus, I'd say Yankee Stadium is much more prestigious than MetLife, even to the players

Playing in a converted baseball field sucks...no matter how prestigious.

And I'd be willing to bet a steak dinner that if you polled 100 football players, over 80% would rather play in an NFL quality football stadium than on a baseball field.

 

[Moontan]

KingOtto...you would suck the life outta the team playing 12 games a year on the road along with killing your core fan base.

Nah... set up a satellite campus near/in NYC. The players would only need to go to Syracuse for summer camp and commencement.

 

[Moontan]

Compared to any of SU's peers we must be last in fan support.

Large state schools are not true peers. I suggest that you do your comparisons with Evanston, IL; Durham, NC; Chestnut Hill, MA; Winston-Salem, NC... there are some peers that have other benefits which make for a lopsided comparison... those would include Miami, FL (which doesn't draw well if they're not winning); South Bend, IN; Los Angeles, CA; Stanford, CA; and even Provo, UT. One who has leveraged recent success is in Ft. Worth, TX... it is in a large DMA, but does need to compete with other local interests.

 

[Cusefan78]

Su did no get 5 million or anywhere close to that so lets stop using that as an excuse. USC was booked for the dome so let's put that to rest. Now as for the dome. The product on the field the past ten years has been awful. Why would a causal fan want to waste a day watching Syracuse lose badly. The home games that have been played in Syracuse have been bad. Other than a knowledgable fan who honestly gets excited to play Cincinnati, lousiville, USf, Rutgers... These teams offer nothing for the casual fan to relate to or get excited for. When the acc comes up to the hill in another year I will bet anything the casual fans will be back. Syracuse is heading in the right direction on the field and that is going to translate into more attendance, bring in named teams like Miami, Clemson, va tech and the loud house will be back. Joey bag of Syracuse will not bring his family to the dome, spend a few hundred dollars to watch su lose to cincinnati and I don't blame him. Playing one game every few years in the at MetLife not a big deal and frankly I'm cool with that and I think it is good for the university. But taking games away from your students, your local community, and the fans that have endured hell for the last ten years is crazy. Playing in a half empty stadium that is pro USC, and getting blasted by the announcers is not good for anyone. That game should have been played in the dome. Screw nys team. We are Syracuse and we are Syracuses college team.