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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Nov 16, 2021 4:52:26 GMT -6
Food, according to Matt Brown  |
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archsimon
arm chair Grad Assistant
Posts: 243
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Post by archsimon on Nov 16, 2021 8:11:28 GMT -6
Suite-level food that could be bought on a Bean swipe card at any joe-blow concession stand would be a great idea. Might need 6 of those oft-talked about banana puddings to get me through Saturday's game.
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Post by Outsider on Nov 16, 2021 12:18:34 GMT -6
Suite-level food that could be bought on a Bean swipe card at any joe-blow concession stand would be a great idea. Might need 6 of those oft-talked about banana puddings to get me through Saturday's game. Can they use their Bean swipe card at any of the consession stands? |
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Post by ceyonce on Nov 20, 2021 21:39:02 GMT -6
Fire Dorrel and put a decent product out there. The fans will follow
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Post by catfanatic on Nov 21, 2021 9:42:58 GMT -6
Fire Dorrel and put a decent product out there. The fans will follow Agreed. Nothing personal. Strictly business. |
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Post by CrazyPurpleCat on Nov 21, 2021 18:31:13 GMT -6
Fire Dorrel and put a decent product out there. The fans will follow To an extent I agree with you. If we could get a coach that could get us to be a Sam Houston or NDSU type then I agree, but just a good FCS team won’t be a draw in Abilene. From 2010 through the 2019 season Sam Houston only finished in the top 30 in average FCS attendance 1 time (interestingly enough ACU has finished in the top 30 twice in the same time frame) But just looking through the attendance numbers and the teams that bring attendance, looking at their records, it doesn’t really appear that winning breeds attendance with some exceptions. Now we could be one of the exceptions but I feel like a road trip to Lubbock for a Tech game, road-trip to Austin for a UT game, or a road-trip to DFW are bigger draws to so many Abilene folks/ACU students. One problem (and this will be a fix that isn’t figured out and it would take a long time to figure out and see noticeable effects I think) is keeping students in Abilene after they graduate. I remember when I was a senior and I was working with the staff on trying to find a job after graduating they started by asking “where are you looking to go after graduation, we have some great connections in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Nashville” What about Abilene?? It was never mentioned. I was open to being really anywhere at that point, but then some medical issues in my wife’s family kinda guided us where we are now but I was open to anywhere and I let them know that. Never did they present anything that would lead me to stay in Abilene. That seems like a very big problem that could get fixed to keep alumni in Abilene and potentially adding more people to our attendance numbers |
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Post by bucfan on Nov 21, 2021 18:54:14 GMT -6
Your HBCUs draw large crowds for home games without necessarily having national championship or even playoff level football teams. Students and alumni have to feel they are supporting their school by showing up to a football game. I get the impression that more alumni than students have this feeling but I don't think that is unique to ACU.
As far as staying in Abilene after graduation, does Abilene have enough businesses that will hire the number of graduates ACU turns out? And do they pay at a scale that is even close to the larger cities? I only know public education and I know Abilene ISD and surrounding districts pay pretty poorly compared to those in the Houston and DFW areas. Especially the suburbs of those areas.
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Post by CrazyPurpleCat on Nov 21, 2021 19:07:06 GMT -6
Your HBCUs draw large crowds for home games without necessarily having national championship or even playoff level football teams. Students and alumni have to feel they are supporting their school by showing up to a football game. I get the impression that more alumni than students have this feeling but I don't think that is unique to ACU. As far as staying in Abilene after graduation, does Abilene have enough businesses that will hire the number of graduates ACU turns out? And do they pay at a scale that is even close to the larger cities? I only know public education and I know Abilene ISD and surrounding districts pay pretty poorly compared to those in the Houston and DFW areas. Especially the suburbs of those areas. I don’t have an answer on either the job or the pay part. That would probably be part of why it would take a long time to really get that set up in a way to keep students in Abilene. It would be a big economic development investment in Abilene that you would hope would provide ROI |
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Post by mavsman53 on Nov 22, 2021 10:32:09 GMT -6
How to get more students to the games
1. Have a student named section; bleacher creatures, something
2. Have to get Freshmen involved. Baylor has the Baylor line, and I am not suggesting we do that, but have every student get a t-shirt and have them put whatever they want on it (within reason) and wear it to home games
3. Bring the social club tents inside the gates. There is the lawn right behind the south end zone. Would it be tight, yep, but it would work and get them in the gates. Many students are setting up the tents and leaving before the game starts
4. Quit having days like teacher appreciation day and military appreciation day and NOT invite them. The thought is, well, we put that info on our schedule on our website. And....what's your point. No one outside of ACU reads that. If they don't know its for them, they AREN'T coming. What a joke!
5. Football team has to be more visible on campus. They need to invite students to games. Coaching staff has to be more visible too and constantly, every press conference, media day, etc, remind students to attend. Maybe have a day each week where the team is passing out treats, snacks, ice cream around The Bean, reminding people of the home game that week
6. I think I have said this before, but when I first worked on campus (12 years ago), on Friday home games, they would put up huge game day banners all over campus. They draped them over buildings, COBA, Bible, Campus Center, etc. It was a good reminder that there was a home game. The atmosphere felt different; it felt fun and energetic.
7. Make Friday Chapel more of a Pep Rally. Honestly, it is any way, so invite the band, cheerleaders, football team and coaches to speak. You can do worship too, but think outside the box of what it could look like
8. For a committee for game day experience and not just current ACU people need to be a part of it. If they asked, I would do it in a heartbeat for free
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Post by Cap'n Cattitude on Nov 25, 2021 10:49:40 GMT -6
#5 above was Dorrel’s greatest failing. I know it’s not apples to apples but just look at how Julie hypes women’s basketball. They are all over social media, they do community projects, The players are active in campus life when they can be. We the fans actually feel like we know the players.
The coaches should give chapel talks (when it’s all together again). Go to social club meetings ( sorry, Sorority and Fraternity).
In short, make the students feel like they are a part of the team and vice versa.
#2 is necessary as well. I would like to see us imitate the Baylor line. If Freshmen come to games and have a great time, many of them will keep coming. This is the number one best idea IMHO. Since all freshmen will be living together on the South side of campus, it’s another way to pull them together as well.
#3 is such a great idea. Then have them open the tailgate back up after the game for students and us for that matter to hang out. There is no good reason to make the students take down the tailgate by halftime.
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Post by catfanatic on Nov 25, 2021 11:02:12 GMT -6
#5 above was Dorrel’s greatest failing. I know it’s not apples to apples but just look at how Julie hypes women’s basketball. They are all over social media, they do community projects, The players are active in campus life when they can be. We the fans actually feel like we know the players. The coaches should give chapel talks (when it’s all together again). Go to social club meetings ( sorry, Sorority and Fraternity). In short, make the students feel like they are a part of the team and vice versa. #2 is necessary as well. I would like to see us imitate the Baylor line. If Freshmen come to games and have a great time, many of them will keep coming. This is the number one best idea IMHO. Since all freshmen will be living together on the South side of campus, it’s another way to pull them together as well. #3 is such a great idea. Then have them open the tailgate back up after the game for students and us for that matter to hang out. There is no good reason to make the students take down the tailgate by halftime. I bet the students will come to the games if Art’s the HC! #HireArt |
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