6, 311....pathetic

[SactoHornetAlum]

Actually, the student involvement has increased ever since the creation of the Green Army. I think that's being promoted by the athletic dept. There were at least 3-4K students at the first football game, about 2,500 for the Weber game, but kinda dropped for MSU (prob cause of the heat). If you start them as a students, they will more than likely to buy season tickets as alums in the future. But it is not enough. I agree that there needs to be a complete marketing blitz on the airwaves (both radio and TV). That's the quickest way to reach the masses. Gotta spend money to make money.

 

[DrMike]

actually, with the age of the internet, maybe the most cost-effective way of getting word out to the intended audience is email. at davis, we get a bi-weekly email from the 'Grid Club', which is an association of former players (but also mails to financial supporter, parents, etc). they send information about upcoming games, information about away games and the like. in the one i got monday, they were listing some of the upcoming events. we have homecoming this week, with a special 'Young Alumni' gathering (in conjunction with the Alum group). We have parent's weekend after that. And we have a 'Aggie All-sport Alumni' gathering before the Southern Utah game. With a thorough address book and working with other campus organizations, you can get the word out to the people most likely to be interested. that's got to be more effective than ads on local TV (which we all TIVO through) or local radio.

if you get 200-300 former athletes to decide to come up, with friends or family, that helps fill the house, and brings some energy to the games. give them a good product and they might be back.

we had close to 10,000 at Berkeley (we outdrew the Colorado game by about 8k), and that was generated also all through alum groups, frats and soriority gatherings.

if you guys go on the road and sweep NAU and EWU, and THEN don't draw? that's a problem.

 

[Tim]

I have been a season seat holder for the past few years, tailgate ahead of time, etc and agree that the marketing and outreach to the community is pretty weak. I for one have never receieved an invite or information about the Monday coach's lunch and recently I tried to buy a ticket to the pre-game BBQ at the alumni center only to be told it was for Stinger Foundation members only. The sea of empty chairs/tables left me wondering why they wouldn't promote this event like they did in years past and try and get as many people to attend as they can. The gal at the front table was pretty rude about it and the whole experience was off-putting.

I also think a 6pm start time is the way to go. The heat isn't appealing to a lot of folks and night games give families a chance to do what they need to do with their kids during the day (e.g. soccer, etc). Hopefully someone in the athletic dept. reads these posts....

Tim

 

[the Rat]

meanwhile,

Ticketed for success?

The Old Dominion University athletic department is buzzing, talking about its second-year football program in pinch-me-please terms. Tickets are selling on Craigslist for $200, eight times face value. A moratorium was placed on students camping out for ducats simply because crowds became too large. Fans watch from a parking garage because they can’t get into 19,782-seat Foreman Field.


http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/football/articles/2010/10/06/ticketed_for_success/?page=1

 

[DrMike]

Rat...i posted this a few days ago about South Alabama, who plays Davis in two weeks. 2nd year of organized football, last year they played JC's and prep schools. this year they are playing 3 FCS teams. their first 3 games at home...check these numbers:

vs. Pikeville (Ky) 22376
vs.Nichols State 23174
vs Kentucky Wesleyan 18416

i've heard of Nichols; Wesleyan used to send me stuff when i did well on the PSAT, but that's D3 football....2000+ folks in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL to see less than FCS football. Davis goes there next year, and they might see 25,000 to 30,000. its different down there.

that being said....i really don't see why SAC won't be able to consistently draw >15,000 if they continue to build on the current success. big campus, big sports-minded community.