It is heartening to see the responses here. There are some good individual suggestions. It is clear that many people responding understand the equation between winning (including getting out of the gate fast) and the size of the crowd. For us, there is little we can do about the winning part. I know there are some wannabe coaches on the forum. I'm not aware we have anyone who is actually on the staff right now providing input.
What we should be focused on is generating discussion about the larger strategy. Gman pointed out that the game-day experience is terrible. I agree. There is no organized effort to consider every aspect that can generate some enthusiasm. There are a few individual pieces in place, but it is clear that there is no strategic thought on how to engage people who otherwise aren't connected to Furman through the game day experience. It feels like there are a lot of disparate pieces thrown together without any consideration on how they fit. The band, the cheerleaders, the dancers, the promotional giveaways all have the feel that they are out there on their own. There is no central strategy on how to engage the crowd.
Here are a couple of examples I've noticed of fairly simple things that just don't get done anymore. The cheerleaders and dancers are parked down there side-by-side the whole game. They used to change ends of the home side by quarter. Does it matter? If you can generate some enthusiasm on both ends of the stadium, yeah, it matters. People in the crowd need cues on when to respond. "Another Farm Bureau insurance FIRST DOWN." Sounds straightforward. Obviously requires some leadership. Has anyone told the cheerleaders, dancers, or band their role is to lead that effort? Doesn't appear so. When the old t-shirt toss used to occur, it was done with what I suppose you call an air cannon. Now it is done by cheerleaders who can't get the shirts five rows up. Simple stuff that shouldn't cost much. Furman, for some reason, finds it distasteful to do the FU 1 time cheer. I've noticed that there are a band of renegades who have started it back. Good for them. All those things make a difference in the game-day experience. The only thing out of the three that is now happening is because somebody said, "We're gonna do the FU 1 time" cheer. It's planning and leadership that pays attention to those details. I don't see that happening. I will leave the complete lack of continuity with the DJ out of this. I bet a group of ten people could sit down and make a lengthy list of things that could be done that provide direction to the crowd on how to be engaged. It might be as simple, as my son pointed out, of surveying season ticket holders to understand what they see and experience.
I don't believe tv is the culprit. It keeps some people home, but I dare say, those people aren't staying home to watch Furman. They are staying home to watch FBS games. If the experience is good, people will come. In terms of revenue, it is clear there is an asset sitting empty across the way because Furman's opponents these days don't travel well, unless the bellhops get bussed in. That being the case, discount tickets on the visitor's side to youth groups. In fact, if the cost of getting a family in is an issue, charge full price for adults and let kids in for $5 each. When I was in high school, you could drive to Clemson and sit on the bank for $5 with a "high-school ticket." It wasn't very valuable real estate back then. When the value of something goes up, increase the price, but until it does, use group sales and the same tactics minor league sports use to fill the seats. When demand goes up, take prices up with the demand.
If you are a Paladin Club member and a season ticket holder, stop for a minute and think about how much communication you get from the athletic department. In my case, very little. Email is free. I can't see that it is being used in any strategic way. It appears Furman's whole communication strategy is around Twitter and the web page. How many of you are active Twitter users? Furman has to get out in the community to sell athletics. It has been done before. It can work, but there has to be a consistent, years-long strategy. And it needs to be done on a relationship basis.
I think there is hope for Furman. The on-field product is great. Furman is finishing 1st and 2nd in the Commissioner's and Germann cups on a regular basis. Furman athletics has to be more intentional about getting its name out in the community, not just the Furman community. There are three retired guys that sit behind me that live at the Woodlands. They did not grow up in Greenville. Others have already pointed out that there are people flocking to Greenville. What will it take to get them engaged? I think Furman can draw decent crowds. Winning will make a difference, but optimizing the outcome of having a good team takes outreach in a world awash in other activities. The question is whether Furman has the will to do it and whether we are willing to be part of it.
) Put a good and exciting team on the field, stop killing any preseason buzz with 0-3 starts to the season, contend for league and division championships, blackout the local TV market and continue to make the game experience a pleasant one, target the demographic that is growing and stop blaming the students for not being football fanatics and having the audacity to leave grand old ivy after they graduate. Where is this growing demographic? Right in front of us. Do you know that the registration for OLLI@Furman is about to grow larger than the undergraduate student body and they aint going anyplace, yankee accents and all. And that is just a fraction of the population growth in this area. The senior migration in America to the south is fueling much of the economic growth of the region.