Ticket/Attendance Madness

[PhatOrange]

parking at sky top and taking a shuttle is a hassle to a lot of people.

And to the comment about parking at other stadiums, we're talking about the casual Syracuse football fan. How many college stadiums do you think they've been to? And talking about the casual syr fan and Fenway or the Bronx you're talking about a weekend trip, people don't give a about that parking when they go to one game a year.

 

[IthacaMatt]

That would be nice. I hope everything falls in place and the fans respond as you describe. It is a lot more fun to watch games in a crowded Dome.

I just don't see it happening this year.

The fans in CNY are some of the best in the country. I know IthacaBarrel and others are overstating with their anit-CNY propaganda statements to get a rise out of some but attendance in basketball shows that if you put a quality product out on the floor on a consistent basis, people will come to watch. I think it will literally take several years of solid winning seasons before people really come back in the large numbers we all want.

I agree, that the long recovery period for getting fans back could be reduced somewhat by addressing the long standing problems with ticket pricing. It could also be reduced by bringing in some big name programs to the Dome. I am not talking about NC State, UNC, Clemson, Wake, UMd, UVa, BC, Pitt and the rest of the ACC schools. They aren't going to generate much in the way of excitement, at least not for football (basketball with Duke and UNC is a different story).

Over the past 10 or 15 years, a lot of casual fans have come to the Dome and consistently seen an awful program that has rarely been able to beat good teams, struggled to beat bad teams and has featured an almost unwatchable ugly offensive scheme. Having your offense and defense ranked 100-120th each season, subjecting your fans to extremely low quality product year after year after year has alienated all but the extreme hard core fans.

It is going to take a while to get the casual fans back again.

Again, I could be wrong. I hope I am.

I disagree about the attractiveness of ACC opponents, especially when held up against the Big East, as we've come to know it. Top to bottom, it will be a significantly more attractive line up of teams.

 

[IthacaMatt]

My position is that we have great fans for basketball and they would be great fans for football too, if not for how awful the program has bad for such an extended period.

Syracuse gets 22 or 23K for basketball each season despite playing regularly games in awful weather, often on weekday nights. It is something no one in South Carolina ever has to contend with. I don't think the fanbase for any major basketball program in the country has to deal with this. We have had 28K show up for a weekday evening game in the middle of a blizzard. No other fanbase does this.

We also travel to away venues for basketball extremely well. We are surely one of the top ten programs in the country doing this.

Why are we great supporting basketball and bad supporting football? Is it because people in CNY love basketball that much more than football? I have lived here my whole life, I am surrounded by the fanbase every day and I just don't buy that.

When given a quality product to watch (that means a consistent top 25 caliber team), the fans will come. As discussed in this thread, we have averaged over 48K before when in that position before. I believe we will again if we can ever get consistently good at football again.

There is also the issue, with hoops, of (a) early season game fatigue, and (b) really, really crappy opponents. You get so many games piling up on top of each other from November to mid-December, usually 2 and even 3 a week, and then suddenly when the Big East rolls around, it's mid-January and you only have 7 or 8 home games for the next 2 months.

 

[dollarbill44]

There are varying degrees of "want to", 100% agree with that. I know too many people that hem and haw. But there are also varying degrees of "can" oe "able".

The Carrier Dome does try to accommodate those folks who need special arrangements (at least they used to). I used to get a handicap pass so we could drive up to gate A when my cancer-stricken grandfather - who was going through chemo - went to a couple of games when I was a student.

Where there is a will, there is a way. Some people have lost the will. That happens to us all at the end. It ain't the walk, imo, even if it is the stated reason. It may well be a factor in the lack of will to attend.

 

[rrlbees]

The Carrier Dome does try to accommodate those folks who need special arrangements (at least they used to). I used to get a handicap pass so we could drive up to gate A when my cancer-stricken grandfather - who was going through chemo - went to a couple of games when I was a student.

Where there is a will, there is a way. Some people have lost the will. That happens to us all at the end. It ain't the walk, imo, even if it is the stated reason. It may well be a factor in the lack of will to attend.

Again, not talking about the truly handicapped.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

SU has the absolute worst fans when it comes to punctuality. I have never seen another big-time football program who has a majority of fans that miss the opening kickoff. Case in point: the USC fans were nearly all in their seats for when their team came out of the tunnel. I don't think SU fans (as a whole) understand the emotional lift the team gets from coming out to a huge ovation. This is a large part of the college gameday experience.

I don't know when this started. Maybe it was a gradual thing, but it really needs to be reversed.

Unfamiliarity with a new stadium, and metal detectors at all the gates. People underestimated how long it would take them to get from their tailgate to their seats at MetLife.

 

[dollarbill44]

Parking is not a minor concern. Lots on Irving were charging $20 a game last hoops season, and one place only lowered it to $15 toward the end of the season when people made other arrangements. That is not cheap.

Parking is atrocious at every sporting event and it's always been a source of complaints.I remember my father balking at $5 parking for Baltimore Orioles games in 1979. Some people were charging $10 for parking off-campus when I was a student at SU ('87-'91). I think it was $5 at Skytop back then and I paid $15 last year.
Parking for Jets games is $50.

 

[dollarbill44]

Again, not talking about the truly handicapped.

All I did was stop in at the Dome office and explain the situation. I didn't need a doctor's note and he didn't have a handicap parking tag. It was just for dropoff and pickup and not parking.

 

[dollarbill44]

Unfamiliarity with a new stadium, and metal detectors at all the gates. People underestimated how long it would take them to get from their tailgate to their seats at MetLife.

What's the excuse at the Dome then? Btw, the USC fans aren't regulars at MetLife, yet most of them were in their seats.

If you've been to a sporting event since 9/11, you should know what to expect at stadium entrances. It took me and my group all of about 1 minute to get through security about 30 minutes before kickoff.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

What's the excuse at the Dome then? Btw, the USC fans aren't regulars at MetLife, yet most of them were in their seats.

People keep getting fatter, or the hill keeps getting steeper.

 

[rrlbees]

All I did was stop in at the Dome office and explain the situation. I didn't need a doctor's note and he didn't have a handicap parking tag. It was just for dropoff and pickup and not parking.

yep, did that for my dad. dropoff was ok, pick up not so much. works far better for bball than fball where tailgating might come into play for the driver.

 

[CuseCrew08]

My ideas to boost attendance:
1. Big party on the quad before and after the game for afternoon games (sort of do this now pregame but beef it up somehow)
2. Schedule bus trips sponsored by SU from Albany and Buffalo and maybe even from Binghamton and Watertown. As many buses as you need from each point. Stop in Utica, Rochester, Cortland, wherever. $30-40 includes ticket and transportation. Make it work. People can tailgate and not worry about DWI. And they are forced to stay to the end.
3. Let kids run on field after the game.
4. Schedule HS football games either before or after the SU game. That alone might add a thousand and might help recruiting.
5. TV hurts and I wouldn't suggest not having it but maybe show Time Warner games on tape delay. I think a lot of people stay home and turn it off if it gets lopsided.

I'm sure there are more options but those are a few that come to mind.

What if we blacked out the games unless a certain % of the tickets were sold? Would it just further alienate the fanbase or would it get the fans on the fence of going to the games to get off their butts?

 

[GoSU96]

I know plenty of lazy people in there 20s 30s 40s who don't like to walk either. Doesn't matter if in shape either people are just lazy, why bother with the hassle if u can just watch on tv.

We're not talking die hard fans here, we're talking the casual fan.

This, football is a commodity. If it's not going to kill you to miss it, or you're too beat, you can always opt to watch it on TV.

 

[rrlbees]

What if we blacked out the games unless a certain % of the tickets were sold? Would it just further alienate the fanbase or would it get the fans on the fence of going to the games to get off their butts?

Jake used to struggle with that decision all the time.

 

[rrlbees]

All this discussion about the local fanbase and why they dont go and what has to happen to bring them back. Why don't students and alumni go and how can we bring them into the fold?

 

[xc84]

All this discussion about the local fanbase and why they dont go and what has to happen to bring them back. Why don't students and alumni go and how can we bring them into the fold?

I know I am a broken record on this ...but they will go if we start winning. The trick will be to convert them to loyal fans instead of fair weather fans. They both got sick of going to games (alumni traveling) where a loss was almost certain. Hell, I got sick of it too...but have stuck it out. Students want to align themselves with a winning team...which is why hoops is so well-attended.

 

[sutomcat]

What if we blacked out the games unless a certain % of the tickets were sold? Would it just further alienate the fanbase or would it get the fans on the fence of going to the games to get off their butts?

I believe the contracts the Big East and ACC have with ESPN preclude schools from implementing blackouts...

 

[KaiserUEO]

All this discussion about the local fanbase and why they dont go and what has to happen to bring them back. Why don't students and alumni go and how can we bring them into the fold?

no excuse for the students.

they need to make it a big fraternity and dorm focus. get blocks of tickets and give them out to fraternitys/sororitys & dorm floors so everyone can sit together. get a couple of flatbead trucks pumping out tunes with a keg onboard and have them drive up and down comstock, waverly, Mt Olympus & Marshall St, whatever...and have them pick people up and drop them off at the Dome. do this for the 90mins prior to the game.

as far as alumni go...play more often in Giants Stadium, with a better product on display.

 

[rrlbees]

no excuse for the students.

they need to make it a big fraternity and dorm focus. get blocks of tickets and give them out to fraternitys/sororitys & dorm floors so everyone can sit together. get a couple of flatbead trucks pumping out tunes with a keg onboard and have them drive up and down comstock, waverly, Mt Olympus & Marshall St, whatever...and have them pick people up and drop them off at the Dome. do this for the 90mins prior to the game.

as far as alumni go...play more often in Giants Stadium, with a better product on display.

If he hasn't done it already, Marrone could also try what JB did. Go into the dorms and meet with the students. I have no idea what Jb said to them or what they discussed, but it worked. After that, student attendance spiked and has remained at a high level. The student section chants his name and shows him more love than the rest of the crowd. I think he may have been the first, or one of the first, big head cutouts too. There is a real bond there now. Of course it helps that JB wins, but he won before he did this also.

 

[PhatOrange]

The student showing is atrocious. Downright embarrassing. While people pile on the casual fan out in Cicero who doesn't go what's the student body's excuse for not going?

 

[dollarbill44]

The student showing is atrocious. Downright embarrassing. While people pile on the casual fan out in Cicero who doesn't go what's the student body's excuse for not going?

I think the students have done a decent job the last 2 seasons with showing up. It's the staying past halftime thing they have trouble with.

 

[Scooch]

All this discussion about the local fanbase and why they dont go and what has to happen to bring them back. Why don't students and alumni go and how can we bring them into the fold?

CNYers outnumber alumni and students at least 5-to-1.

 

[dollarbill44]

CNYers outnumber alumni and students at least 5-to-1.

Well, there is significant crossover in CNYers and alumni. I'm not sure the non-alum CNYers are 5:1.

 

[Scooch]

Well, there is significant crossover in CNYers and alumni. I'm not sure the non-alum CNYers are 5:1.

Not really. There are roughly 35-40K alums in NY outside of the metro area, and there are upwards of 1 million people living within 90 minutes of the Dome in any direction.

 

[PhatOrange]

The student section behind the endzone on Saturday was completely empty.