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#Post#: 23205--------------------------------------------------
Re: Will the Villanova Game Sell Out the Stadium?
By: Hammertime Date: September 24, 2018, 2:08 pm
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[quote author=Chairman of the Board
link=topic=707.msg23204#msg23204 date=1537813701]
i think youre right. fact is there is a balance between
academics and spirit, and so many other schools have managed it.
and have created the classic university atmosphere. SB goes
the other way and stifles it, whether indifference or just
ignoring it.
the real pain here is that if we don't get this right in the
next few years- we lose our status, and lose it to ualbany. in
fact, i might even argue it's already happened in the last 10-12
years.
administration: better pull the finger out and get on it!!!
[/quote]
6500 was the attendance at this past game. 6450 were
non-students. It really is embarrassing that SB cant figures a
way to keep, let's say, 2000 students on Campus and to watch the
game... Maybe a little persuasion might help, like one free beer
per student who attends the game, at the beer garden. Over 21 of
course! lol
#Post#: 23209--------------------------------------------------
Re: Will the Villanova Game Sell Out the Stadium?
By: NoVA_Seawolf Date: September 24, 2018, 2:46 pm
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The LIRR train package is a good idea. I'd definitely take that
and run with it if it's feasible on both sides.
A bigger issue is simply the demographics of the campus. Sure we
have a lot of international students who may or may not be
ambivalent towards football/athletics, but the bigger issue is
our commuter population. They're on campus during the day, but
gone during the weekends. That's part of why I think being in a
conference like the MAC, or otherwise playing more weeknight
games might not be the worst thing in the world. Thursday night
games have IIRC been well attended here in the past. It's
something to think about which brings me to my next point...
FCS football. Like it or not, for better or for worse. FCS
programs in large markets are invisible. If you hope to gain any
sort of local fan following in a large city, you need to be FBS
and at the top level. It simply is what it is. Look no further
than schools like NIU and Georgia State as examples. GSU is on
the rise and NIU made a BCS bowl and has a nice fan following
despite being in the Chicago market. I'm a broken record on
this, but being FBS would go a long way in helping our
attendance woes. Combined with the midweek games you see in the
MAC, I think it may be more beneficial to us than it is to other
MAC schools who have larger resident student populations. Just
look at ODU's upset of VA Tech this weekend at home. That never
could have happened if they were still in the CAA/FCS. The
possibility of home games against Army, Syracuse, BC, Temple,
and others is awfully enticing.
As far as Albany and losing our status, I'm not sure what you're
referring to. Albany is several spots below us academically
despite being a fellow SUNY research center. They're also behind
us in football since it took them a whole decade longer than us
to get a new stadium, and several years longer to leave the NEC,
add scholarships, and start investing in football. Albany does
better on the field and on the court relative to us than I would
like, but the academic gulf is large enough that I wouldn't
worry. When Albany gains acceptance into the AAU, and surpasses
us academically will I start to worry about them. Keep in mind
they have to compete with UB and Binghamton for students
up-state. SBU is the only show in town for the Tri-State kids
who want to stay relatively close. There's advantages in being
close to the people.
#Post#: 23210--------------------------------------------------
Re: Will the Villanova Game Sell Out the Stadium?
By: Chairman of the Board Date: September 24, 2018, 2:47 pm
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i happen to think that if they resolve the student life problem,
nearly everything else will likely fall into place. game
attendance, student happiness, improved food, school spirit,
more applications, better students, increased alumni giving,
stimulate local economy, and university perception.
this is an area that ualbany continues to dominate us. and we
lose students. it's only a matter of time before... they get
the better athletes, coaches, professors, flagship status, and
then.... the state $$$.
#Post#: 23211--------------------------------------------------
Re: Will the Villanova Game Sell Out the Stadium?
By: Chairman of the Board Date: September 24, 2018, 2:51 pm
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[quote]A bigger issue is simply the demographics of the campus.
Sure we have a lot of international students who may or may not
be ambivalent towards football/athletics, but the bigger issue
is our commuter population. They're on campus during the day,
but gone during the weekends.[/quote]
agreed on demographics- i look at it this way:
too many students are in the LI/NYC area, making it too easy to
get home
because of instate tuition, it's not workable to have a
significant # of out of state students
therefore, look upstate
but upstate kids are different than LI/NYC kids; we're just more
difficult and clique-y (sorry, it's just true)
and so they don't want to face traffic to go to LI when they can
just go to geneseo, bingo, or ualbany
when they do enroll, the spend a month or even a semester being
bored in silence from thursday to monday. and then transfer.
you can get a good academic program elsewhere and not be
miserable.
and there it is. we dont have the appeal. and it's going to
get worse.
#Post#: 23212--------------------------------------------------
Re: Will the Villanova Game Sell Out the Stadium?
By: Chairman of the Board Date: September 24, 2018, 2:56 pm
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[quote]As far as Albany and losing our status, I'm not sure what
you're referring to. Albany is several spots below us
academically despite being a fellow SUNY research center.
They're also behind us in football since it took them a whole
decade longer than us to get a new stadium, and several years
longer to leave the NEC, add scholarships, and start investing
in football. Albany does better on the field and on the court
relative to us than I would like, but the academic gulf is large
enough that I wouldn't worry. When Albany gains acceptance into
the AAU, and surpasses us academically will I start to worry
about them. Keep in mind they have to compete with UB and
Binghamton for students up-state. SBU is the only show in town
for the Tri-State kids who want to stay relatively close.
There's advantages in being close to the people.[/quote]
sorry wanted to respond to this- ualbany has a fine academic
reputation. sure, maybe not SB in the grand scheme. but, the
campus has come a long way, it has a college town, and a BIG
social scene. i remember during my years it was something like
NUMBER TWO nationally. contrast with SB, which has to the
inverse (second to last?) in that category. military-esque, if
you will. (actually worse, because at least those kids are on
campus and go to games)
normal kids visit schools and go based on feel. a degree is a
degree. spending a weekend in silence, when you're expecting a
large state school atmosphere, makes one forget about the minor
differences in rankings.
and so we get students that were denied everywhere else. and
that's not what we want.
no strawberry-fest in the world will keep kids on campus every
weekend.
#Post#: 23215--------------------------------------------------
Re: Will the Villanova Game Sell Out the Stadium?
By: Moveitfred Date: September 24, 2018, 3:41 pm
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Full disclosure: I'm not really a football fan, however I did go
to the game this past weekend and enjoyed the experience. But I
do think of myself as, in general, a sports fan, and most
specifically a college sports fan.
When I moved here about 20 years ago from an area of the country
that had rabid college sports fans (because, frankly, there were
no other sports options) a colleague told me that the NY metro
area has always been a "pro sports town" with little to no
interest in college sports.
So I'm just asking the question to those of you who I can tell
are much more knowledgeable about sports in the area and with
SBU football specifically: Are you fighting a battle (ie, trying
to promote and expand SBU football) that cannot be won?
Of course I know anything is possible and maybe enthusiasm can
grow over time, but I sometimes wonder if all the promotion and
money and quality college sports product in the world will never
have much clout in this area. And believe me, I would like to
see SBU sports gain popularity, I just wonder if they can.
#Post#: 23216--------------------------------------------------
Re: Will the Villanova Game Sell Out the Stadium?
By: Wolffan Date: September 24, 2018, 4:01 pm
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Moveitfred:
I think trying to fill the (12K) stadium for a very good
matchup between a local team and a team with many alums in the
area is a fair and reasonable goal.
You have a point that college football is not very big in the
NYC area (outside of West Point). It is a pro sports town IMHO.
#Post#: 23218--------------------------------------------------
Re: Will the Villanova Game Sell Out the Stadium?
By: Chairman of the Board Date: September 24, 2018, 4:20 pm
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HTML http://sbufan.createaforum.com/around-stony-brook/making-sb-better-idea-thread/msg10362/#msg10362
HTML http://sbufan.createaforum.com/around-stony-brook/making-sb-better-idea-thread/msg10494/#msg10494<br
/>
#Post#: 23219--------------------------------------------------
Re: Will the Villanova Game Sell Out the Stadium?
By: Chairman of the Board Date: September 24, 2018, 4:28 pm
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to me, the issue isnt whether it's a pro sports town (it is),
the issue is we struggle to fill stadiums, when not even
leveraging our 30k population of students/faculty.
it's a shame, really, all those people in a few square miles
that are associated with the U, and we get how many, 2% (assumes
600 total) to LaValle?
#Post#: 23220--------------------------------------------------
Re: Will the Villanova Game Sell Out the Stadium?
By: ecasadoSBU Date: September 24, 2018, 5:45 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=VA_Seawolf link=topic=707.msg23209#msg23209
date=1537818394]
The LIRR train package is a good idea. I'd definitely take that
and run with it if it's feasible on both sides.
A bigger issue is simply the demographics of the campus. Sure we
have a lot of international students who may or may not be
ambivalent towards football/athletics, but the bigger issue is
our commuter population. They're on campus during the day, but
gone during the weekends. That's part of why I think being in a
conference like the MAC, or otherwise playing more weeknight
games might not be the worst thing in the world. Thursday night
games have IIRC been well attended here in the past. It's
something to think about which brings me to my next point...
FCS football. Like it or not, for better or for worse. FCS
programs in large markets are invisible. If you hope to gain any
sort of local fan following in a large city, you need to be FBS
and at the top level. It simply is what it is. Look no further
than schools like NIU and Georgia State as examples. GSU is on
the rise and NIU made a BCS bowl and has a nice fan following
despite being in the Chicago market. I'm a broken record on
this, but being FBS would go a long way in helping our
attendance woes. Combined with the midweek games you see in the
MAC, I think it may be more beneficial to us than it is to other
MAC schools who have larger resident student populations. Just
look at ODU's upset of VA Tech this weekend at home. That never
could have happened if they were still in the CAA/FCS. The
possibility of home games against Army, Syracuse, BC, Temple,
and others is awfully enticing.
As far as Albany and losing our status, I'm not sure what you're
referring to. Albany is several spots below us academically
despite being a fellow SUNY research center. They're also behind
us in football since it took them a whole decade longer than us
to get a new stadium, and several years longer to leave the NEC,
add scholarships, and start investing in football. Albany does
better on the field and on the court relative to us than I would
like, but the academic gulf is large enough that I wouldn't
worry. When Albany gains acceptance into the AAU, and surpasses
us academically will I start to worry about them. Keep in mind
they have to compete with UB and Binghamton for students
up-state. SBU is the only show in town for the Tri-State kids
who want to stay relatively close. There's advantages in being
close to the people.
[/quote]
I honestly don't see FBS on its own as being the attendance
solution. Especially nowadays that the FBS has been degraded to
"near-FCS" quality and following. With the consolidation of the
P5, the rest of the FBS has essentially become the FCS with 25
additional scholarships (except maybe the MW, and the American).
The MAC has been suffering from attendance woes for years, the
American Athletic has been struggling with attendance here in
the Northeast despite a better product. UMass learned the
hardway when it rushed reclassification and fell on its face.
What I see is a regional environment that has little pulse for
college football.
But even with that reality, I still think we should be capable
of getting 10k-12k butts in the seat if we market the product
right to our students and make it fun for them. There MUST be a
real disconnect between administrators and the students when it
comes to athletics. I remember back a few years ago when I was a
senior (2012) that SBU was a little more flexible on the
students allowing them to tailgate, frats brought DJs, some
outdoor games, drinking, etc and all of it sudden you had the
MAIN parking lot packed. At that point, I thought we had
arrived. It was a great scene.
Yet, inexplicably, the following year, the administrators
thought it was a great idea to charge over $100 bucks for season
gameday parking, to kill the partying, and to end the
frat-sponsored tailgating. There went the students. They didn't
come back.
...and Stony Brook admins continue making the same mistakes
today. Why not allow students to leave and return to the game
after halftime? I don't mind if you do that with the adult crowd
from the community which may be used to that in other sports
environments. But don't do it to the students who want to go out
at halftime and eat in the dining halls, sip a few drinks, etc.
The bottom line is that IMHO athletic administrators at SBU have
yet to strike the balance between the needs of the student "fan"
vs. the needs of the families, alumni, and other community
members that attend our games. Both are extremely important and
need to be taken care of.
Lastly, I know everyone says that Stony Brook is a commuter
school and this and that... that students go away for weekends.
But even on the worst weekend I'm absolutely sure that there has
to be at least 4 to 5k students across campus. I'm telling you.
Only about 50% (probably even less) of residents may go home on
weekend. So we still have a solid 5K students to work with and
draw them in. The campus being emtpy is a myth... I know it. I
lived there for four years and you would always see kids during
the weekend in the library, dorms playing videogame, dining
halls, quad while there was a game at LaValle. Obviously, campus
looks empty because they aren't out and about walking to class
so you can't notice them... But they are in campus!
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