Tired of Student excuses!...DID YOU KNOW...

[rrlbees]

According to the media guide

1. Miami Ohio Dome Opener 1980 50,564
2. Navy 1980 50, 350
3. Pitt 1980 50,243
4. PSU 1981 50,037
5. PSU 1985 50,021
6. PSU 1987 50,011
7. PSU 1983 50,010
8. BC 1987 49,892
9. PSU 1989 49.876
10. WV 1987 49,866

Good catch. I forgot about Pitt and Navy that first season and had thought it was only PSU games and Miami OH.

 

[OttoMets]

So I guess it's possible that there has only been one "sellout." They sold all tickets for the Miami game in 1980 and didn't match that figure again as long as the capacity was 50,564. In the late '80s, they trimmed out 600 seats but never sold all 49,900 available for a game. In the late '90s, they lost another 700 seats and have yet to meet the new 49,200 figure.

 

[Boston Tiger]

Syracuse football hasn't been fun for any upperclassmen. We're also not a huge undergraduate school (14,000). Additionally, the lack of any sort of pre-game events or incentives does not help. The marketing effort is non-existent for students. There are very few things catered to students, and charging students does not help. I understand being upset that student turnout isn't better, but having a lack of perspective does not help.

I think you have hit the nail on the head here, since marketing is needed to get some new student butts in the seats. My freshman daughter has been to all the games this year, but that's because she is a member of the SUMB. I really doubt whether she would have gone to the games otherwise unless the school/athletic department had made a hard push to draw the students in, since she is indifferent about football.

One of the toughest parts about rebuilding a program is restoring and/or building the fanatic support from the student section, because it takes a long time and a lot of work to change the perception of a program. I was at LSU when Dale Brown first went through that process for Tiger basketball, and it took him a good four years of winning and becoming more competitive before the student section fully bought into the idea that you had to go to the games. (It's too bad that he stayed around too long and sowed the seeds of the destruction of the program he built.) The SU football program is in the early steps of rebuilding, and I'm hoping that they can continue to improve over time. I can tell you from experience that seeing your program rise from the ashes is a very rewarding experience, and I hope that the long-suffering SU fans get to share in that during the next few years.

 

[rrlbees]

So I guess it's possible that there has only been one "sellout." They sold all tickets for the Miami game in 1980 and didn't match that figure again as long as the capacity was 50,564. In the late '80s, they trimmed out 600 seats but never sold all 49,900 available for a game. In the late '90s, they lost another 700 seats and have yet to meet the new 49,200 figure.

Could be but, someone with a better memory will have to help, I think they had some SRO in the early days. So it is possible some games were sellouts (they would only consider all seats being sold) but the numbers being a bit different.

 

[OttoMets]

Could be but, someone with a better memory will have to help, I think they had some SRO in the early days. So it is possible some games were sellouts (they would only consider all seats being sold) but the numbers being a bit different.

Good point.