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CAA is a higher league. That is why some would want it. I don't see the benefit myself. It's an increase in expense and the basketball is not so much better that it would help us draw more fans. It got off topic around page 15 or 16 when moving to the CAA was brought up, and trying to get 10,000 rabid fans. My whole argument was that a move to another mid-major conference would not do that for us. People in this area do not seem to get excited or attend things that aren't TOP level. Unless UA has ambition to move to the BCS level for football and basketball I see no point in moving up a league or 2. It's just not worth it. I think I said go big or dont go at all.

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There's only one thing that matters when it comes to attendance and revenue...winning. More importantly, winning over an extended period of time. Big wins get you notoriety (albeit limited). King Rice is 58-80 over his career at Monmouth, and no one cares about that right now... they've had as good of an OOC stretch as you could expect (even for a high major). If they don't win their conference they'll end up a nice little side note.

 

Talking about a conference switch is pretty pointless right now IMO. We're a (relatively speaking) young program who has had up years with some down years sandwiched in-between. A revitalized SEFCU/whatever it will be called will certainly help with attendance, and IMO is the most important next step for the program.

 

Not sure it would be fair to our kids to throw them out against 3-4 top 50 schools year after year in OOC. Those games are nice when you win, but more times than not you're losing by 15 plus. The goal of the team every year should simply be to use OOC play to prepare for the conference slate. Most people in here consider the MAAC a better league than America East...well they're also a one bid league. Considering we play in an "inferior" conference our team should have one goal and one goal only... win the league.

 

Now if someone has 10-20 million dollars they'd like to fork over to the MBB team we can skip the long game...

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CAA is the next logical move for an america east team based on previous history. It's a 10 team league and the America east hasnt had that many in ten years. They recruit better athletes and facilities are nicer than most america east teams. Who knows what they will become though when and if JMU leaves.

 

Also cbssports.com just released their bracketology with Albany a 16 seed against kansas. You would figure Albany a 3 time defending america east champ would be slotted a little higher with an rpi slightly above 100, but no. Despite the top three or so teams, the rest of the America east is just dreadful.

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llko FYI I live 1.5 hrs away and hold Football season tickets and would do season tickets for basketball but far to many weekday games would get me home around 11.

 

You want to increase attendance two simple additions will do it.

 

1. Seat backs for both sidelines.

 

2. New Scoreboard, love the video board but need to see the fouls and other stats.

 

 

 

 

I wasn't saying it was impressive for similar schools. Never thought I even hinted at that. What I was saying is that it is impressive for a town the size of Syracuse that is located in the northeast which as an area is not known for supporting football. Highschool or college level. The Albany MSA is larger population wise and disposable income wise (based on the MSA study posted in the Albany Business Review a few years ago) and I don't see our population giving that type of support.

 

He does have a point.

 

We don't live in Texas where HS teams have 20k fans. In NY, 30k is a LOT of fans for a non-NFL team. There are schools in TX (HS) that have better stadiums than BoFo. They make BoFo look like University Field.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Stadium_(Allen,_Texas)

 

AllenEagles_1.jpg

 

As was stated, we have the teams/programs competing at high levels. We now need to market the crap out of them (Benson has already done some good things) so that we build fans. This will in turn create an environment where the best players want to play, so we'll STAY at a high competition level instead of having years where we win 8-9 games (in BB for example). THEN, you move up to CAA (or whatever), and go forward. At least that's how I see it happening...

98% of our fans are within a 25 mile radius of Albany I would guesstimate. We don't have fans driving 1.5hrs for a FB or BBall game on a weekend. We have the occasional alums (people mostly on this board) who would be willing to 'come home' for a game at least once a year, but not much more than that. How many people drive 2-3hrs to see their favorite NFL team 2-3x a year?

We have a 100 mile radius of being the only big time D1 sports school. We need to carve out a market for ourselves where every gas station from here to Utica has UA gear, etc. just like it is in Kentucky where you can find Wildcats gear in mom and pop shops.

 

I wasn't saying it was impressive for similar schools. Never thought I even hinted at that. What I was saying is that it is impressive for a town the size of Syracuse that is located in the northeast which as an area is not known for supporting football. Highschool or college level. The Albany MSA is larger population wise and disposable income wise (based on the MSA study posted in the Albany Business Review a few years ago) and I don't see our population giving that type of support.

 

He does have a point.

 

We don't live in Texas where HS teams have 20k fans. In NY, 30k is a LOT of fans for a non-NFL team. There are schools in TX (HS) that have better stadiums than BoFo. They make BoFo look like University Field.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Stadium_(Allen,_Texas)

 

AllenEagles_1.jpg

 

As was stated, we have the teams/programs competing at high levels. We now need to market the crap out of them (Benson has already done some good things) so that we build fans. This will in turn create an environment where the best players want to play, so we'll STAY at a high competition level instead of having years where we win 8-9 games (in BB for example). THEN, you move up to CAA (or whatever), and go forward. At least that's how I see it happening...

98% of our fans are within a 25 mile radius of Albany I would guesstimate. We don't have fans driving 1.5hrs for a FB or BBall game on a weekend. We have the occasional alums (people mostly on this board) who would be willing to 'come home' for a game at least once a year, but not much more than that. How many people drive 2-3hrs to see their favorite NFL team 2-3x a year?

We have a 100 mile radius of being the only big time D1 sports school. We need to carve out a market for ourselves where every gas station from here to Utica has UA gear, etc. just like it is in Kentucky where you can find Wildcats gear in mom and pop shops.

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There's only one thing that matters when it comes to attendance and revenue...winning. More importantly, winning over an extended period of time. Big wins get you notoriety (albeit limited). King Rice is 58-80 over his career at Monmouth, and no one cares about that right now... they've had as good of an OOC stretch as you could expect (even for a high major). If they don't win their conference they'll end up a nice little side note.

 

Talking about a conference switch is pretty pointless right now IMO. We're a (relatively speaking) young program who has had up years with some down years sandwiched in-between. A revitalized SEFCU/whatever it will be called will certainly help with attendance, and IMO is the most important next step for the program.

 

Not sure it would be fair to our kids to throw them out against 3-4 top 50 schools year after year in OOC. Those games are nice when you win, but more times than not you're losing by 15 plus. The goal of the team every year should simply be to use OOC play to prepare for the conference slate. Most people in here consider the MAAC a better league than America East...well they're also a one bid league. Considering we play in an "inferior" conference our team should have one goal and one goal only... win the league.

 

Now if someone has 10-20 million dollars they'd like to fork over to the MBB team we can skip the long game...

No one, at least not me, is advocating a jump. I'm just backing up GDG99's point that the NE in general isn't that big on sports. We're not the south. The south is insane about sports. HS sports down there are run like pro sports teams...

 

I'm more than fine staying in the AE with WB as coach and winning 10 more titles over the next 25 years. All I want is more fans at games and a slightly more modern arena to fit those fans, and we have plenty of potential for that in 518 alone. That's it.

 

llko FYI I live 1.5 hrs away and hold Football season tickets and would do season tickets for basketball but far to many weekday games would get me home around 11.

 

You want to increase attendance two simple additions will do it.

 

1. Seat backs for both sidelines.

 

2. New Scoreboard, love the video board but need to see the fouls and other stats.

 

 

You're an exception, not a rule I'm afraid.

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30000 is not much for that level of football and is 60% of capacity isn't people going .

They are now a basketball school more than ever . Basketball fills that place and drives the donations . Football is an afterthought and currently an incredible easy (cheap on the secondary market ) ticket

 

 

 

Football attendance numbers aren't easy to find. But looking at the numbers on the wikipedia page for the 2013 team, they maxed out at almost 49,000 for the Clemson game, and had a minimum of 33,000 for Wagner that season at home. I agree basketball is what drives that place, but they still get a lot of people to go to a sporting event in Syracuse, which is a smaller MSA than Albany, even when the team isn't good.

 

I know it wont happen anytime soon - if ever - for either $iena or Albany to make a big conference jump - but lets say hypothetically that there was news conference tomorrow that said that UA had signed an agreement to move it's games to the TUC and in conjunction with that it will start competing next year in the ACC. The home schedule would include Syracuse, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Florida State, etc. I am pretty positive that season tickets would sell out on day 1, and the arena would be packed for every single game. Even if people thought that UA would go 0-30 on the season.

 

I guess what I am saying is that, in my opinion, a move to another - albeit higher - mid major conference like the CAA probably won't help our numbers that much. Helping those numbers will be based on marketing and continued success. If you want major area buy-in and the students to be excited - you have to go big or don't go at all.

 

 

 

Really

I looked up this years in a matter of minutes this morning for syracuse

Rhode island 30112

Wake Forest 26671

Central Michigan 27943

LSU 43101

Pitt 29832 (the game I went to this season)

Clemson 36736

Boston College 30317

 

Again that doesn't quite fit your narrative in downgrade of Albany.

 

I will also add your your previous point that Albany area goes to "bigger" events.. Who doesn't get more fans for bigger events.Just look at the demand for Duke, North Carolina or Georgetown in the past for Syracuse basketball. Also For your Syracuse baseball games you mentioned before, when Strasburg pitched I found a parking lot I did not know existed before because that was their first sold out game in their history and they used an overflow lot that was not needed for a typical 1/3 to 1/.2 filled game. Maybe a little more on fireworks, 4th of july etc.

 

As far as Albany, we lead the conference in attendance so in spite of a lot of the grass is always greener elsewhere to some , they are doing some things right.

 

 

I disagree with your statement that because we have better attendance than those in our conference, that translates to our school doing some things right. It's like having the nicest house in the projects, as the expression goes. You're comparing attendance with schools like Vermont, UNH, Maine, UMBC, Hartford, etc. These are not locations where collegiate sports are big, sans hockey, or another random sport. And for the football example above, except for LSU, you're not naming schools that are known for being popular in football, or having a massive following - at least not in the same breath as Ohio St., Bama, Georgia, etc. A lot of other schools have CRAZY attendance. In fact, you can almost increase general attendance around the area by 50% of stadium capacity, as so many people cannot get into the games due to lack of tickets, but still come and tailgate.

 

We've won 3 straight AE chips in a row - all of which were very good games. Within roughly 9 years, we've been in the dance 5 times. We are coming off arguably the biggest shot in school history to get there, and also had insane press coverage on the team. Hooley was on SC for days - how we have not capitalized more is crazy. We had an INCREDIBLE lax trio, and arguably the greatest lax player(s) of all-time as well. Certainly Lyle, and definitely a case can be made for Miles to be in that convo. They have their OWN SNEAKER, and are in Nike ads with some of the greatest athletes of the world. There should just be lifesize cutouts of these guys all around campus, with TVs showing highlight reels (sorta kidding.. sorta serious)

 

Schools like ours have a very finite time to catapult themselves to the next level. Look at VCU, for example. It's not enough to be satisfied with mediocre improvements.

 

The product is there. We may not be Gonzaga, but our athletic teams are very competitive. It's time for the appropriate amount of resources and expertise to be dedicated to marketing the programs.

 

 

 

 

As far as what I named about, I didn't make the Syracuse schedule, I was only disagreeing with his assertion that their attendance is impressive compared to similar schools

 

I also Disagree with your assertion that they have limited time to capitalize and that apparently it is easy to get to level of schools with 100 years of tradition. It will take time, but they have done well considering they weren't even division 1 in the late 90's. I expect they will continue to make progress . Obviously not as fast as some of you want.

 

 

Mid-Majors have a very difficult time making a jump to a higher "tier" so to speak. Look at the list for most of these schools in the Mid-Major top 25. They do have limited Windows. Aside from Gonzaga, most of these have/will be "mid-majors" for a LONG time. How many can you name that have made a successful jump to prominence/notoriety?

http://www.collegeinsider.com/mens-mid-major-top-25.php

 

I would also argue that most of those schools on that list do not have as competitive across the board sports as we do - M/W bball, lax, football (we suck right now), track, softball, volleyball, baseball etc.

 

We've been to 5 NCAA tournaments in 9 years. We played every game, with the exception of the UVA game in the NCAA tournament very tough. We've had a NCAA bball win. We had the faces of lacrosse for years. Our women's bball team is going to have a player drafted top 20 in the WNBA. We had Hooley plastered on SC and ESPN for days. We have had a LOT of success and very LITTLE to show for it. Sure, an upset win in the big dance would help, but do you think that's going to ensure we sell out every game the following year? Of course not.

 

Even if our attendance grew by friggin' 40% in 10 years, that is minimal considering the increase when it is compounded. It's like a 3-5% growth rate in attendance. It's like an extra 30-50 fans per game. We're not talking about 40k to 65k etc.

 

When you are a program of our size you need to distinguish yourself. Whether it's clever marketing tactics, or other catchy things that get attention, it's necessary - use Boise State's blue field as an example.

 

I don't think they have done well. I would assume you would probably have the stance that the growth has been slow but steady? Well, when our team wasn't at the top of the AE for a few years, our attendance dropped significantly. My point is, the growth isn't sustainable if it is purely based on product. No team can consistently dominate, especially at our level where there is so much parity. You need to instill a sports culture. Otherwise, you're only as good as the wins you put up at the moment.

 

Go poll 500 students at Albany, and guaranteed no one knows Lyle has his own NIKE SNEAKER. None would know about Richards going to the WNBA, or that we've had a few NFL players to date.

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As far as what I named about, I didn't make the Syracuse schedule, I was only disagreeing with his assertion that their attendance is impressive compared to similar schools

 

I also Disagree with your assertion that they have limited time to capitalize and that apparently it is easy to get to level of schools with 100 years of tradition. It will take time, but they have done well considering they weren't even division 1 in the late 90's. I expect they will continue to make progress . Obviously not as fast as some of you want.

 

 

Mid-Majors have a very difficult time making a jump to a higher "tier" so to speak. Look at the list for most of these schools in the Mid-Major top 25. They do have limited Windows. Aside from Gonzaga, most of these have/will be "mid-majors" for a LONG time. How many can you name that have made a successful jump to prominence/notoriety?

http://www.collegeinsider.com/mens-mid-major-top-25.php

 

I would also argue that most of those schools on that list do not have as competitive across the board sports as we do - M/W bball, lax, football (we suck right now), track, softball, volleyball, baseball etc.

 

We've been to 5 NCAA tournaments in 9 years. We played every game, with the exception of the UVA game in the NCAA tournament very tough. We've had a NCAA bball win. We had the faces of lacrosse for years. Our women's bball team is going to have a player drafted top 20 in the WNBA. We had Hooley plastered on SC and ESPN for days. We have had a LOT of success and very LITTLE to show for it. Sure, an upset win in the big dance would help, but do you think that's going to ensure we sell out every game the following year? Of course not.

 

Even if our attendance grew by friggin' 40% in 10 years, that is minimal considering the increase when it is compounded. It's like a 3-5% growth rate in attendance. It's like an extra 30-50 fans per game. We're not talking about 40k to 65k etc.

 

When you are a program of our size you need to distinguish yourself. Whether it's clever marketing tactics, or other catchy things that get attention, it's necessary - use Boise State's blue field as an example.

 

I don't think they have done well. I would assume you would probably have the stance that the growth has been slow but steady? Well, when our team wasn't at the top of the AE for a few years, our attendance dropped significantly. My point is, the growth isn't sustainable if it is purely based on product. No team can consistently dominate, especially at our level where there is so much parity. You need to instill a sports culture. Otherwise, you're only as good as the wins you put up at the moment.

 

Go poll 500 students at Albany, and guaranteed no one knows Lyle has his own NIKE SNEAKER. None would know about Richards going to the WNBA, or that we've had a few NFL players to date.

 

 

DP should split this thread, we've gone way off topic.

 

But this post is nail on head. Our issue isn't the product, it's lack of enthusiasm. Click and I (not sure if you were recently a student Drastik) have stated many times that the campus LC and other classrooms have virtually ZERO marketing material plastered on walls. If a student didn't see the fields or stadiums, you'd probably think this school was sportless. Benson is slowly changing that, but the top needs to give him the tools and funding to go hard. TV ads, CDTA paint schemes or wraps or whatever, etc. Just billboards and emails to students isn't going to cut it.

Edited by Ilko
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There's only one thing that matters when it comes to attendance and revenue...winning. More importantly, winning over an extended period of time. Big wins get you notoriety (albeit limited). King Rice is 58-80 over his career at Monmouth, and no one cares about that right now... they've had as good of an OOC stretch as you could expect (even for a high major). If they don't win their conference they'll end up a nice little side note.

 

Talking about a conference switch is pretty pointless right now IMO. We're a (relatively speaking) young program who has had up years with some down years sandwiched in-between. A revitalized SEFCU/whatever it will be called will certainly help with attendance, and IMO is the most important next step for the program.

 

Not sure it would be fair to our kids to throw them out against 3-4 top 50 schools year after year in OOC. Those games are nice when you win, but more times than not you're losing by 15 plus. The goal of the team every year should simply be to use OOC play to prepare for the conference slate. Most people in here consider the MAAC a better league than America East...well they're also a one bid league. Considering we play in an "inferior" conference our team should have one goal and one goal only... win the league.

 

Now if someone has 10-20 million dollars they'd like to fork over to the MBB team we can skip the long game...

I don't think most of

 

 

 

 

As far as what I named about, I didn't make the Syracuse schedule, I was only disagreeing with his assertion that their attendance is impressive compared to similar schools

 

I also Disagree with your assertion that they have limited time to capitalize and that apparently it is easy to get to level of schools with 100 years of tradition. It will take time, but they have done well considering they weren't even division 1 in the late 90's. I expect they will continue to make progress . Obviously not as fast as some of you want.

 

 

Mid-Majors have a very difficult time making a jump to a higher "tier" so to speak. Look at the list for most of these schools in the Mid-Major top 25. They do have limited Windows. Aside from Gonzaga, most of these have/will be "mid-majors" for a LONG time. How many can you name that have made a successful jump to prominence/notoriety?

http://www.collegeinsider.com/mens-mid-major-top-25.php

 

I would also argue that most of those schools on that list do not have as competitive across the board sports as we do - M/W bball, lax, football (we suck right now), track, softball, volleyball, baseball etc.

 

We've been to 5 NCAA tournaments in 9 years. We played every game, with the exception of the UVA game in the NCAA tournament very tough. We've had a NCAA bball win. We had the faces of lacrosse for years. Our women's bball team is going to have a player drafted top 20 in the WNBA. We had Hooley plastered on SC and ESPN for days. We have had a LOT of success and very LITTLE to show for it. Sure, an upset win in the big dance would help, but do you think that's going to ensure we sell out every game the following year? Of course not.

 

Even if our attendance grew by friggin' 40% in 10 years, that is minimal considering the increase when it is compounded. It's like a 3-5% growth rate in attendance. It's like an extra 30-50 fans per game. We're not talking about 40k to 65k etc.

 

When you are a program of our size you need to distinguish yourself. Whether it's clever marketing tactics, or other catchy things that get attention, it's necessary - use Boise State's blue field as an example.

 

I don't think they have done well. I would assume you would probably have the stance that the growth has been slow but steady? Well, when our team wasn't at the top of the AE for a few years, our attendance dropped significantly. My point is, the growth isn't sustainable if it is purely based on product. No team can consistently dominate, especially at our level where there is so much parity. You need to instill a sports culture. Otherwise, you're only as good as the wins you put up at the moment.

 

Go poll 500 students at Albany, and guaranteed no one knows Lyle has his own NIKE SNEAKER. None would know about Richards going to the WNBA, or that we've had a few NFL players to date.

 

 

DP should split this thread, we've gone way off topic.

 

But this post is nail on head. Our issue isn't the product, it's lack of enthusiasm. Click and I (not sure if you were recently a student Drastik) have stated many times that the campus LC and other classrooms have virtually ZERO marketing material plastered on walls. If a student didn't see the fields or stadiums, you'd probably think this school was sportless. Benson is slowly changing that, but the top needs to give him the tools and funding to go hard. TV ads, CDTA paint schemes or wraps or whatever, etc. Just billboards and emails to students isn't going to cut it.

 

 

I graduated in 2006. Have been to campus several times since. They have done a lot aesthetically to improve the campus, but the sports marketing is in the dumps. It starts day one with freshmen. Push athletics during orientation. Come up with a way to reward athletic event attendance. This is what I think most of us have complained about for 5+ years now. Push the school colors too. Many more things should be purple and yellow/gold. There's just so much more that could be done. CB and the team have done their part. It's time the higher ups within the athletics department and/or school administration hire the right people/resources to really get the train rolling.

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The support is there. Come March all the alumni come out of the woodwork on fb and social media. As much as we disagree on things or how crazy we are, this board probably has the most loyal fans that follow year round.

 

Now the question is how do you get the phonies to support the Danes year round instead of a couple weeks.

Edited by UA'08
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CAA is a higher league. That is why some would want it. I don't see the benefit myself. It's an increase in expense and the basketball is not so much better that it would help us draw more fans. It got off topic around page 15 or 16 when moving to the CAA was brought up, and trying to get 10,000 rabid fans. My whole argument was that a move to another mid-major conference would not do that for us. People in this area do not seem to get excited or attend things that aren't TOP level. Unless UA has ambition to move to the BCS level for football and basketball I see no point in moving up a league or 2. It's just not worth it. I think I said go big or dont go at all.

Don't kid yourself... Basketball is WAY better.. Mook at how many top 100 teams they have. They have a TV deal for goodness sake. I know, it was inked before vcu left but still.

 

With the proper resource in hand, I'd give my left nut to get there.

Edited by Clickclack
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There's only one thing that matters when it comes to attendance and revenue...winning. More importantly, winning over an extended period of time. Big wins get you notoriety (albeit limited). King Rice is 58-80 over his career at Monmouth, and no one cares about that right now... they've had as good of an OOC stretch as you could expect (even for a high major). If they don't win their conference they'll end up a nice little side note.

 

Talking about a conference switch is pretty pointless right now IMO. We're a (relatively speaking) young program who has had up years with some down years sandwiched in-between. A revitalized SEFCU/whatever it will be called will certainly help with attendance, and IMO is the most important next step for the program.

 

Not sure it would be fair to our kids to throw them out against 3-4 top 50 schools year after year in OOC. Those games are nice when you win, but more times than not you're losing by 15 plus. The goal of the team every year should simply be to use OOC play to prepare for the conference slate. Most people in here consider the MAAC a better league than America East...well they're also a one bid league. Considering we play in an "inferior" conference our team should have one goal and one goal only... win the league.

 

Now if someone has 10-20 million dollars they'd like to fork over to the MBB team we can skip the long game...

I don't think most of

 

 

 

 

 

As far as what I named about, I didn't make the Syracuse schedule, I was only disagreeing with his assertion that their attendance is impressive compared to similar schools

 

I also Disagree with your assertion that they have limited time to capitalize and that apparently it is easy to get to level of schools with 100 years of tradition. It will take time, but they have done well considering they weren't even division 1 in the late 90's. I expect they will continue to make progress . Obviously not as fast as some of you want.

 

Mid-Majors have a very difficult time making a jump to a higher "tier" so to speak. Look at the list for most of these schools in the Mid-Major top 25. They do have limited Windows. Aside from Gonzaga, most of these have/will be "mid-majors" for a LONG time. How many can you name that have made a successful jump to prominence/notoriety?

http://www.collegeinsider.com/mens-mid-major-top-25.php

 

I would also argue that most of those schools on that list do not have as competitive across the board sports as we do - M/W bball, lax, football (we suck right now), track, softball, volleyball, baseball etc.

 

We've been to 5 NCAA tournaments in 9 years. We played every game, with the exception of the UVA game in the NCAA tournament very tough. We've had a NCAA bball win. We had the faces of lacrosse for years. Our women's bball team is going to have a player drafted top 20 in the WNBA. We had Hooley plastered on SC and ESPN for days. We have had a LOT of success and very LITTLE to show for it. Sure, an upset win in the big dance would help, but do you think that's going to ensure we sell out every game the following year? Of course not.

 

Even if our attendance grew by friggin' 40% in 10 years, that is minimal considering the increase when it is compounded. It's like a 3-5% growth rate in attendance. It's like an extra 30-50 fans per game. We're not talking about 40k to 65k etc.

 

When you are a program of our size you need to distinguish yourself. Whether it's clever marketing tactics, or other catchy things that get attention, it's necessary - use Boise State's blue field as an example.

 

I don't think they have done well. I would assume you would probably have the stance that the growth has been slow but steady? Well, when our team wasn't at the top of the AE for a few years, our attendance dropped significantly. My point is, the growth isn't sustainable if it is purely based on product. No team can consistently dominate, especially at our level where there is so much parity. You need to instill a sports culture. Otherwise, you're only as good as the wins you put up at the moment.

 

Go poll 500 students at Albany, and guaranteed no one knows Lyle has his own NIKE SNEAKER. None would know about Richards going to the WNBA, or that we've had a few NFL players to date.

DP should split this thread, we've gone way off topic.

 

But this post is nail on head. Our issue isn't the product, it's lack of enthusiasm. Click and I (not sure if you were recently a student Drastik) have stated many times that the campus LC and other classrooms have virtually ZERO marketing material plastered on walls. If a student didn't see the fields or stadiums, you'd probably think this school was sportless. Benson is slowly changing that, but the top needs to give him the tools and funding to go hard. TV ads, CDTA paint schemes or wraps or whatever, etc. Just billboards and emails to students isn't going to cut it.

I graduated in 2006. Have been to campus several times since. They have done a lot aesthetically to improve the campus, but the sports marketing is in the dumps. It starts day one with freshmen. Push athletics during orientation. Come up with a way to reward athletic event attendance. This is what I think most of us have complained about for 5+ years now. Push the school colors too. Many more things should be purple and yellow/gold. There's just so much more that could be done. CB and the team have done their part. It's time the higher ups within the athletics department and/or school administration hire the right people/resources to really get the train rolling.

I think you are starting to see it... Who can forget this year incoming freshman class, class picture on bofo, sefcu etc. I'm a believer that we are headed in the right direction. I'm 35...i got time to see this thing grow.

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