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Post by SamGrad19 on Jul 12, 2023 14:22:33 GMT -5
The thread about best home atmosphere got me thinking… what does Samford have to do to get more people in the community to come to games? I know we won’t compete with Aub/Bama but is it possible to steal some of their fair-weather fans? Would alcohol sales change anything?
P.s. this is a genuine question/interest of mine and yes, I prefer to hope for the day that Samford allows alcohol
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Post by SamGrad19 on Jul 12, 2023 14:25:27 GMT -5
And I guess I should clarify, I’m referring to football and sorta basketball. Given the recent success in nearly every sport, it’s just disappointing to see the lack of support from students and the community alike
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Post by Smurf on Jul 12, 2023 15:14:41 GMT -5
In football I think it boils down to alumni support. I think the students give a good account of themselves in showing up, but you aren't gonna reach much of the general public. They are too tied into the SEC/Alabama/Auburn, etc., and I suspect few of them know much of anything about FCS/SoCon/Samford football. Sure, it is a great place to watch a game, but I'd suspect the vast majority of folks who attend Samford football games are students, a few non athletic department employees, players families, a few visiting fans, and a minuscule number of alumni (relative to the number of SU graduates who are in the Birmingham area). Winning will help, but it would take winning 10 or 11 on a consistent basis before we start really seeing a significant bump up in attendance figures. It doesn't help either that we don't receive much media support. Maybe that changes a bit if we continue to be successful.
No qualms about student support for basketball. As sudog03 alluded to recently, folks in the deep south don't care much about basketball. Making it to the NCAA tournament and perhaps having a one shinning moment as a Cinderella would be a huge boost as well.
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Post by Cujo on Jul 12, 2023 15:38:45 GMT -5
I always was always in favor of a bourbon and cigar bar, but . . . I don’t drink like I used to since we won a game in the playoffs.
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Post by SU DOG on Jul 12, 2023 16:01:10 GMT -5
Winning must help for sure. Look at Basketball this past year, and please let's not argue that figures are inflated because ours isn't more so than others. The last 2 games we drew just over 3,000 per and Furman drew less than 2000.
In Football this past season's average attendance for a 5 game regular season schedule (Playoff game not included) was greater than anything seen since the days of App State and Georgia Southern competing in the SoCon. Attendance is still not where it should be - granted, but let's be positive in thinking that strides have been made.
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Post by 77SU on Jul 12, 2023 18:50:54 GMT -5
@recentgrad, this question is almost as old as SU Dog, and is certainly as old as I am.
Unless it is Family Weekend or Homecoming, there's no real crowd to plan for in Seibert Stadium unless the winning continues. It may help to have another year of record enrollment and based on what we heard today, students would much rather live on campus than in Homewood, Vestavia, or Mt Brook because of the cost of housing. Then it becomes how to get them out of those dorm rooms and into a stadium or an arena? In one sense the Samford student recruiting profile is self-defeating. The University is attractive to students (and parents) who want a protective environment. I don't think I've ever seen Samford listed in the Top 10 Party schools of Colleges and Universities. We seem to attract students that prefer studying and whose priorities do not include athletic events, unless attendance is required by their Greek organization. If students are really interested in football, they were indocrinated at birth and baptized in the waters of AU or UA, and even if they are in school at SU, they are probably on a road trip most Saturdays to their favorite SEC stadium.
Generally, soccer games are well attended because of the quality of our team and the quality of competition that visits Yelton Field. Amazing how that has worked over the years.
There is a possibility that the new construction activities could help the football experience for all concerned, but again we will have to wait and see how it is marketed and what the response will be. In the meantime, is it possible to win more than 11 conference titles this year? We're looking at you WBB!
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Post by sudog03 on Jul 13, 2023 7:09:33 GMT -5
Why have we apparently moved all of our Saturday home games to noon??? Kills the crowd, kills the good work that's been done to enhance the quad experience.
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Post by 77SU on Jul 13, 2023 7:53:04 GMT -5
Why have we apparently moved all of our Saturday home games to noon??? Kills the crowd, kills the good work that's been done to enhance the quad experience. Really good question? I thought the BSOB Marketing folks taught better than that! Who in the Hanna had this bright idea or agreed to bending over and being abused by the SoCon? The one game last season that was a forced noon start because of "national" TV was a display of empty bleachers. Even Samford students have trouble getting out of bed on Saturday mornings and being ready for a kickoff at noon. They certainly didn't make time for showing up on the quad 90 minutes before. Just from a personal perspective, families with young children can be on flag football fields until 11am or noon. They won't just pile into the SUV and drive directly to Lakeshore. If they should happen to be members of the Bulldog Club, they wont get on campus and parked in time to eat. Maybe thats Athletics idea of how to restrict the number of folks using BDC Hospitality. Athletics Dept wants to grow support but this is just causing more competition for diminishing free time. To me, it sounds as if the lunatics have taken over the asylum (both SU and SoCon).
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Post by SamGrad19 on Jul 13, 2023 15:34:06 GMT -5
Why have we apparently moved all of our Saturday home games to noon??? Kills the crowd, kills the good work that's been done to enhance the quad experience. Noon kickoff sucks, no doubt. BUT!! I see it as the only possible way to compete against our two big brothers (Aub/Bama) in terms of getting attention. If Bama plays the 6:30 game then someone is way more likely to go to/watch the noon kickoff Samford game
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Post by 77SU on Jul 13, 2023 16:10:00 GMT -5
Why have we apparently moved all of our Saturday home games to noon??? Kills the crowd, kills the good work that's been done to enhance the quad experience. Noon kickoff sucks, no doubt. BUT!! I see it as the only possible way to compete against our two big brothers (Aub/Bama) in terms of getting attention. If Bama plays the 6:30 game then someone is way more likely to go to/watch the noon kickoff Samford game Except when they have the 11am, 2:30pm, or 6pm starts on SECN, ABC, FOX or ESPN, or the 2:30pm (+11am on double-header Saturdays) start on CBS. The only way Samford football wins the competition to have more fans is when AU/UA/UAB are all three playing away games or have a bye weekend and then some folks have the audacity to schedule a wedding for those Saturdays. Mrs77 just chimed in wondering if the noon kickoff is so our HC can go to that 6:30pm start in Tuscaloosa, so he can lobby for a position down there in their program for wayward coaches. Her memory of him wandering around downtown Louisville and the bat factory prior to the game up there hasn't dimmed over the years.
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