How do we fill our 16,000 seat Paladin stadium? Which Home Schedule is more appealing?

[Northeast Furman Fan]

I just wanted to thank those who provided some very good and thoughtful posts. I really liked the following ideas;

1) Create a low-friction, highly-energized, fan centric, destination experience
It is worth reading this article. Click the link in the post
2) Make Furman football more of a Family Day
3) Connect with the Greenville Community
4) Engage the student body
5) Have fun themes like Octoberfest (Newberry Football)
6) Support from the Administration
I am not sure of the full extent of the support. It would be nice to have a zoom "Furman Town Hall" with Jason Donnelly and Elizabeth Davis to understand their joint vision, and to get the Furman Supporters all on the same page to support the plan
7) Food Trucks
It man also be nice to have a Furman grill for easy tailgating.
8) Tickets to Schools

Thanks everyone

[Louis Tully]

#4 is comical. Furman has the least “engaged” student body in the Southeast.
Food Trucks are not a bad idea.
Free or cheap beer in addition to craft beer and a bourbon tasting area.
Free tickets to locals to hand out.
My guess is FU could give away 100,000 tickets for a game to locals in Greenville area and still not fill the stadium even for The Citadel or Wofford.
If they don’t want to give away tickets then make it easy to purchase walk up tickets on both visitors and home sides. For $5.00.

[The Jackal]

I do not know how it works out for them over the long-term, but Mercer might be an interesting test case.

Mercer has heavily focused on building an "atmosphere" around the football games - concert series, beer gardens, that sort of thing.

Before Bear jumps up in protest, this isn't a criticism of what Mercer does, just noting that they do it. Before Furman runs out a bunch of promos, maybe look at Mercer and see if the steak is worth the sizzle.

[Affirm]

I do not know how it works out for them over the long-term, but Mercer might be an interesting test case.

Mercer has heavily focused on building an "atmosphere" around the football games - concert series, beer gardens, that sort of thing.

Before Bear jumps up in protest, this isn't a criticism of what Mercer does, just noting that they do it. Before Furman runs out a bunch of promos, maybe look at Mercer and see if the steak is worth the sizzle.

Plus, even if it does work for Mercer (not saying it does), Greenville is not Macon. Macon is not Greenville. Seems like more to do in Greenville generally. And also, more college football options are close by in Greenville than in Macon, it seems.
No offense to Macon nor to Mercer. And Mercer’s stadium is significantly smaller, I believe.
10,000 vs 16,000.

[The Jackal]

I do not know how it works out for them over the long-term, but Mercer might be an interesting test case.

Mercer has heavily focused on building an "atmosphere" around the football games - concert series, beer gardens, that sort of thing.

Before Bear jumps up in protest, this isn't a criticism of what Mercer does, just noting that they do it. Before Furman runs out a bunch of promos, maybe look at Mercer and see if the steak is worth the sizzle.

Plus, even if it does work for Mercer (not saying it does), Greenville is not Macon. Macon is not Greenville. Seems like more to do in Greenville generally. And also, more college football options are close by in Greenville than in Macon, it seems.
No offense to Macon nor to Mercer. And Mercer’s stadium is significantly smaller, I believe.
10,000 vs 16,000.

I've lived in both Greenville and Macon, and this is a true statement.

[FUBeAR]

I do not know how it works out for them over the long-term, but Mercer might be an interesting test case.

Mercer has heavily focused on building an "atmosphere" around the football games - concert series, beer gardens, that sort of thing.

Before Bear jumps up in protest, this isn't a criticism of what Mercer does, just noting that they do it. Before Furman runs out a bunch of promos, maybe look at Mercer and see if the steak is worth the sizzle.

A “promo” is “sizzle.”

Creating a destination-event environment with a Football game as the centerpiece of a broadly arrayed & unique ‘experience’ has precisely nothing to do with “promos.”

When FUBeAR mentioned thinking differently earlier in this thread (#40551), this is exactly the type of ‘not thinking differently’ that he had in mind.

[purplehorse]

Not convinced anything will help in a big way. Winning is the starting point. Unless we get back on the winning track any big interest in Furman football may be a thing of the past. Time will tell.

I see no reason to tear down a portion of the visitor’s stands.

[Roundball]

If the Furman administration approved the expense to tear down part of the mountain side stands, I would be the first one in line to ask for resignations. That would be a complete waste of money, especially if the reason is so the stands would look more full to the hand full of people watching on television.

[Furmanoid]

I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over it. Apparently nobody much cares how bad it looks. The visitor’s side is a permanent monument to the managed decline that is seen by many as proof of an administration doing the best possible job.

[The Jackal]

We do not need to overthink this. I see two primary factors in declining game day attendance:

1. Two massive schools, that were both rivals and had large traveling fan bases, left the conference.

2. Online streaming has made watching football games incredibly easy.

This isn't just a SoCon phenomenon, though. College football attendance has decreased everywhere. Even the SEC and Big10 have seen a decrease in attendance over the last 20 years.

[Furmanoid]

Very true. The stadium will never be full again. But averaging half full would be a good goal. We don’t want to slip down to 1/4 full. At that point you’re getting to Newberry numbers. So a little brainstorming on this topic is not as pointless as most of the stuff we post about. It’s all just for kicks. It’s not like anybody who can actually do anything really cares what we say.

[gofurman]

Very true. The stadium will never be full again. But averaging half full would be a good goal. We don’t want to slip down to 1/4 full. At that point you’re getting to Newberry numbers. So a little brainstorming on this topic is not as pointless as most of the stuff we post about. It’s all just for kicks. It’s not like anybody who can actually do anything really cares what we say.

true. I like the Free tickets to local students (Berea /TR etc) and Food/Beer - it can only help. Even adding 200 fans changes the feel a little. I think that is doable.

I still don't see why we can't offer at least one CLP for a football game

[Furmanoid]

Very true. The stadium will never be full again. But averaging half full would be a good goal. We don’t want to slip down to 1/4 full. At that point you’re getting to Newberry numbers. So a little brainstorming on this topic is not as pointless as most of the stuff we post about. It’s all just for kicks. It’s not like anybody who can actually do anything really cares what we say.

true. I like the Free tickets to local students (Berea /TR etc) and Food/Beer - it can only help. Even adding 200 fans changes the feel a little. I think that is doable.

I still don't see why we can't offer at least one CLP for a football game

Oh that CLP idea makes so much sense there is no way it will be implemented. It would have value for those studying health sciences, sociology/anthropology, business, poly sci and education. There is a lot going on.

They could also have the staff teach a 4 hr HPE course with game attendance as a lab. They could probably pack Townes for it or maybe even use McCalister.

Lots of simple ideas to pick from.

[apaladin]

ED would never allow the CLP idea or the use of McAlister.

[Affirm]

ED would never allow the CLP idea or the use of McAlister.

If that is true, it is an argument in her favor.
Good for her.