oleschoolaggie
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Post by oleschoolaggie on Dec 12, 2011 10:22:13 GMT -5
i think the only way for us to average more than 20k per game is for us to have a season like wssu just had a couple of years in a row and perhaps win a national championship game. i disagree with those who say even if we have a winning team, our attendance won't increase that much.
i've been following aggie sports for a long time and those who have been around since the late 70's can back me up on this. we have a "rabid" fanbase whenever our teams win on a "consistent basis". we have had "standing room only" soldout games against famu and howard when we were consistent championship contenders. homecoming use to "always" be a sellout, no exceptions. and like i previously stated, in the late 70's and 80's, scsu would draw almost as many fans as wssu and nccu. that's a "fact", i've seen it with my own eyes. back then, we always marked the nccu, wssu, and scsu games on our calendar.
of course, we'd never outdraw app state unless we won national championships like they have. if we went on an amanti edwards type app state run, upset a top ranked bcs school, and win consecutive national championships, we'd "easily" average more than 20k per game. our fans come out of the wood works when we win big. we just need a consistent winner...
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Post by Aggie Monster on Dec 12, 2011 10:47:18 GMT -5
of course, we'd never outdraw app state unless we won national championships like they have. if we went on an amanti edwards type app state run, upset a top ranked bcs school, and win consecutive national championships, we'd "easily" average more than 20k per game. our fans come out of the wood works when we win big. we just need a consistent winner... I agree with most of your post. I wasn't around in the 70s or 80s. I can only speak for the 90s and later. Even during our winning years in the early 90s we didn't average 18K. The stadium was bigger than it was in the 70s and 80s. Prior to 1995 it only had 16,500 permanent seats, so of course the stadium would have appeared to have more people in it. I felt like I was in a sardine can when we played Howard for homecoming in 93(felt like 30K, but was more like 23K), but those same amount of people would fit in there comfortably now. If we can get 17K against Elon(at night) in 1995 I think we could average 18K over a season with a winning team. Pushing to over 20K will need a major culture change though. I think we are heading that way, but it will take about 4-5 years. It will take a very nice scheduling effort as well. More night games also.
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Post by marchingband1969 on Dec 12, 2011 11:45:12 GMT -5
Winning consistently, for A&T and any football program is a must if you are going to have fans come to your games. And we have not won consistently in a long time. I think we have a good "base" of loyal fans that will show up if we play hard like we did this year and win more. What I think we need is the "non-fan" to take an interest in A&T football and start showing up. I define "non-fan" as someone that likes college football or just likes hanging out in a college football enviroment. We need to do a better job marketing A&T football games as a "destination- a great place to be on Saturdays!" Hey, we've got to convience the "non-fan" that they can have fun and excitement even if they are not graduates of A&T. That will take special marketing promotions, ad campaigns and a change in how we serve fans now. By the way, one of our first marketing effort to the "non-fan" is having professional radio announcers broadcasting the games. Also do more promoting the team and games on WNAA.
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oleschoolaggie
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Posts: 24,212
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Post by oleschoolaggie on Dec 12, 2011 11:52:53 GMT -5
of course, we'd never outdraw app state unless we won national championships like they have. if we went on an amanti edwards type app state run, upset a top ranked bcs school, and win consecutive national championships, we'd "easily" average more than 20k per game. our fans come out of the wood works when we win big. we just need a consistent winner... I agree with most of your post. I wasn't around in the 70s or 80s. I can only speak for the 90s and later. Even during our winning years in the early 90s we didn't average 18K. The stadium was bigger than it was in the 70s and 80s. Prior to 1995 it only had 16,500 permanent seats, so of course the stadium would have appeared to have more people in it. I felt like I was in a sardine can when we played Howard for homecoming in 93(felt like 30K, but was more like 23K), but those same amount of people would fit in there comfortably now. If we can get 17K against Elon(at night) in 1995 I think we could average 18K over a season with a winning team. Pushing to over 20K will need a major culture change though. I think we are heading that way, but it will take about 4-5 years. It will take a very nice scheduling effort as well. More night games also. i don't remember the exact year we put down the new track at aggie stadium, but prior to that, we'd bring in extra bleachers for big games. we've exceeded 27k (almost 28k) in attendance at aggie stadium before we put the new track down. even the first year aggie stadium opened (1981) against wssu, we had over 23k in attendance and that was before we had the horseshoe configuration we have now. our present capacity (when the new press box is finished) will be 21.5k capacity. so no, our numbers were actually bigger back in the day because we could bring in extra bleachers for big games. also, before we opened aggie stadium, we played at war memorial stadium where we could also bring in extra bleachers for big games. we've had overflow crowds at war memorial when we played scsu. i think our rivalry against scsu reached its peak when we upset them in the 70's in greensboro and went on to win an meac championship. scsu felt the refs cheated them in that game and commenced to whup up on us the same way we whupped up on nccu for about 10 years. its an understatement to say they were highly pissed with us! i don't know about averaging 18k or not. but i do know that when we win on a consistent basis, few hbcu's can match our attendance figures. jackson state, famu, and maybe southern can. scsu and nsu are pretty good too. but we're usually top 5 to top 10 in the country when we win consistently...
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Post by The Professor on Dec 12, 2011 18:41:07 GMT -5
The good thing is that we are at the top of the pack as far as HBCU and in-state attendance in the midst of a rebuilding year. We have a method and model that alot of schools are watching. Even though we aren't where we think we should be, there is obviously something to be desired among our finicky fan base. We need to capitalize on our positioning. Excellent time for Phil to be talking to some sponsors. We should be able to garner at least 3 slots on the scoreboard with this bit of attendance analysis. Phil talking to sponsors ..... Doubt that ever happens
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Post by The Professor on Dec 12, 2011 18:42:28 GMT -5
of course, we'd never outdraw app state unless we won national championships like they have. if we went on an amanti edwards type app state run, upset a top ranked bcs school, and win consecutive national championships, we'd "easily" average more than 20k per game. our fans come out of the wood works when we win big. we just need a consistent winner... I agree with most of your post. I wasn't around in the 70s or 80s. I can only speak for the 90s and later. Even during our winning years in the early 90s we didn't average 18K. The stadium was bigger than it was in the 70s and 80s. Prior to 1995 it only had 16,500 permanent seats, so of course the stadium would have appeared to have more people in it. I felt like I was in a sardine can when we played Howard for homecoming in 93(felt like 30K, but was more like 23K), but those same amount of people would fit in there comfortably now. If we can get 17K against Elon(at night) in 1995 I think we could average 18K over a season with a winning team. Pushing to over 20K will need a major culture change though. I think we are heading that way, but it will take about 4-5 years. It will take a very nice scheduling effort as well. More night games also. We started playing Elon in 1999 and got lights in either 2000 or 2001
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Post by aggie2ru on Dec 12, 2011 18:55:49 GMT -5
aggiebred09......Phil McAlpin talking to sponsors (socializing)-yes. Phil McAlpin GETTING sponsors-NO! That is just one of our "marketing" positions that needs an IMMEDIATE overhaull!!!!
LAMO!........ I'm with u on that one professor.
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Post by The Professor on Dec 12, 2011 19:00:52 GMT -5
20th in attendance, last in sponsorships...... Damn Shame
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Post by Aggie Monster on Dec 12, 2011 19:21:03 GMT -5
I agree with most of your post. I wasn't around in the 70s or 80s. I can only speak for the 90s and later. Even during our winning years in the early 90s we didn't average 18K. The stadium was bigger than it was in the 70s and 80s. Prior to 1995 it only had 16,500 permanent seats, so of course the stadium would have appeared to have more people in it. I felt like I was in a sardine can when we played Howard for homecoming in 93(felt like 30K, but was more like 23K), but those same amount of people would fit in there comfortably now. If we can get 17K against Elon(at night) in 1995 I think we could average 18K over a season with a winning team. Pushing to over 20K will need a major culture change though. I think we are heading that way, but it will take about 4-5 years. It will take a very nice scheduling effort as well. More night games also. We started playing Elon in 1999 and got lights in eithe. 2000 or 2001 yeah, my bad. 1995 was the enclosing of the "U". 2000 was the first time we played Elon under the lights. My point was not about the year, but to say that if we could get 17K vs Elon then we should be able to average 18K with a winning squad. Averaging over 20K just seems like a massive feat with our current way of doing things. Some may say "2K, that aint much of a difference to make up!", but 2K per game is not easy for us. At 18K you already have the diehards, socialites, and bandwagoners. The only people left to pull in are the non-alumni and out of town alumni that only come for homecoming. Bringing in 2000 more of them will be tough. Cause you cant squeeze any more people into homecoming, so it has to be done for the "other" games.
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Post by aggiebred09 on Dec 13, 2011 9:06:28 GMT -5
With proper marketing we should sell out every game no matter what. The A&T name is worth alot more than what some of you realize. There is no reason why we cant sell out every single game next season and whoever thinks otherwise shouldn't be working in Athletics.
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Post by Aggie Monster on Dec 13, 2011 9:21:06 GMT -5
With proper marketing we should sell out every game no matter what. The A&T name is worth alot more than what some of you realize. There is no reason why we cant sell out every single game next season and whoever thinks otherwise shouldn't be working in Athletics. I love that you've been drinking the Aggie juice this morning, but lets be real. EVERY game a sellout? All paying fans? Next Season!!? If that's the case they better start convincing these co-programs over at UNCG that this is their footballl team also. Same thing for Bennett. We need all we can get. Every game next season! I'm still chuckling at that. I aint saying it wouldn't ever be possible, but next year?
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Post by aggiebred09 on Dec 13, 2011 10:13:52 GMT -5
With proper marketing we should sell out every game no matter what. The A&T name is worth alot more than what some of you realize. There is no reason why we cant sell out every single game next season and whoever thinks otherwise shouldn't be working in Athletics. I love that you've been drinking the Aggie juice this morning, but lets be real. EVERY game a sellout? All paying fans? Next Season!!? If that's the case they better start convincing these co-programs over at UNCG that this is their footballl team also. Same thing for Bennett. We need all we can get. Every game next season! I'm still chuckling at that. I aint saying it wouldn't ever be possible, but next year? There is no reason why we couldn't. Yeah it may seem wild but is it that unrealistic? Is it not possible to offer Spartans and Belles a discounted ticket price? Is it not possible to offer a faculty & staff free games? Butts in every seat should be the marketing motto and it wont take a phd to think of some creative approaches to making games more appealing. In business there is something called "sunk cost". That means if you buy a ticket to a concert regardless if it sucks or not the money is already spent and they cant stop the show just because it stinks. All those empty seats on game days are "sunk costs". We still have to field a game regardless of attendance, we still have to stock concessions, we still have to pay security, so we should do everything in our power not to waste a single seat in the Stadium or the Gym. We have a product that we dont know how to use. We should be the biggest revenue generating commodity in Greensboro. This is a college town and A&T is scared to take its place at the top.
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DECKS
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Post by DECKS on Dec 13, 2011 11:29:21 GMT -5
It is an unrealistic expectation at this point. It will take more than creative marketing for that happen. Maybe a realistic goal ten years down the road. It even took App State a few FCS championships and a victory over Michigan before they consistently started drawing large numbers and we don't have half the true football fans they have. Unless you're planning on having a band competition, step show, fashion show and halftime concert featuring Rick Ross every game I don't see it happening in the forseeable future.
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Post by captaggie on Dec 13, 2011 12:17:56 GMT -5
I ... Unless you're planning on having a band competition, step show, fashion show and halftime concert featuring Rick Ross every game I don't see it happening in the forseeable future.
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Post by The Professor on Dec 13, 2011 13:32:04 GMT -5
I love that you've been drinking the Aggie juice this morning, but lets be real. EVERY game a sellout? All paying fans? Next Season!!? If that's the case they better start convincing these co-programs over at UNCG that this is their footballl team also. Same thing for Bennett. We need all we can get. Every game next season! I'm still chuckling at that. I aint saying it wouldn't ever be possible, but next year? There is no reason why we couldn't. Yeah it may seem wild but is it that unrealistic? Is it not possible to offer Spartans and Belles a discounted ticket price? Is it not possible to offer a faculty & staff free games? Butts in every seat should be the marketing motto and it wont take a phd to think of some creative approaches to making games more appealing. In business there is something called "sunk cost". That means if you buy a ticket to a concert regardless if it sucks or not the money is already spent and they cant stop the show just because it stinks. All those empty seats on game days are "sunk costs". We still have to field a game regardless of attendance, we still have to stock concessions, we still have to pay security, so we should do everything in our power not to waste a single seat in the Stadium or the Gym. We have a product that we dont know how to use. We should be the biggest revenue generating commodity in Greensboro. This is a college town and A&T is scared to take its place at the top. Great thinking outside the box. Those thoughts however will get you picked on and laughed at. Hopefully one day , A&T hires someone that has a vision like yours. I personally appreciate it
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