Tigerfan

6 minutes ago, TUTigers said:

I think Waddell deserves a lot of credit for the turn around as well. I don’t think the football program has the success it does without him. 

I struggle more with Pat Skerry and the basketball team. We averaged 2,000 a game in the 1980's and played in a 1 bid league. 40 years later we still average 2,000 a game and play in a one bid league.  Basketball is cheaper to run and we play in a great high school basketball area(DC/Balto).

31 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

Nova and Richmond have won titles. They have traditions. I would say William & Mary is the only school in town. Sports-wise, what else is there to do? Virginia doesn’t have pro sports to deal with. Those aren’t really commuter schools. It’s not like they pack the place either.

Let’s remember, we’ve been in the CAA for 15 years in football and 18 on basketball. We’ve had very little success in basketball and some in football. Three playoffs in 15 years and a title games. That pales in comparison with most of those schools who were in the CAA for 30+ years and the Yankee Conference/Atlantic 10/CAA football for 30+. We have to knock on people’s doors and give student sweatshirts just to beg them to come out. And then we lose three times in front of them. Doesn’t help. Ok twice since no students were there on Saturday. 

 

You make good points but:

 I graduated in 1982  and we still draw the same in basketball or 2,000 a game. That is almost 40 years.

Football draws about 2,000 more than 40 years ago. We have made very little progress in 40 years.

4 hours ago, AtlantaTiger said:

I don't think it's complicated as to why Towson fan attendance/interest is low across football & basketball.  Very, very, very few people grow up as Towson fans.  How many kids are raised to be Towson football fans?  I'm guessing a large majority of Towson students grew up in homes that pulled for Penn St., Maryland, Notre Dame, Va. Tech, etc. 

Outside of North Dakota St. and a handful of other, similarly remote FCS schools, I don't know that FCS football is a major draw for students and fans.  They have more interest and loyalty to the schools they grew up cheering for and would rather go to bar to watch those teams play than sit and watch Towson play Rhode Island.  Short of an undefeated season I don't think anything changes that.

Basketball could/should probably draw better than it does but, even then, if you don't put a compelling product on the floor, few people are going to make the effort to come out.

Have we tried everything possible to get the students to the games?  How can Nova, Richmond and William & Mary draw the same in football as us with only 9,000 students? Both schools are in area's with plenty to do(Virginia Beach, Richmond and Philly).

1 minute ago, BradTU said:

Consistently win games that matter. Beat big time programs. That’s it. 

That helps. How about a bonus program for the Athletic Department staff. If they increase student attendance a certain % they get a bonus.

46 minutes ago, Blounge said:

^how are you going to get them to attend? Are you gonna go door-to-door giving out tickets in the dorms?

That is one option. Would also have pep rally's with the team at the Colony, Donnybrook, Towson Place and other off campus apartments with tickets and free piizza/beer.

Until Towson realizes student attendance  should be highest priority, we will never get great in football or basketball.

Students who attend games will donate to the athletic department as alumni and come back as alumni/increase attendance.

Our problem is lack of significant money to pay off poor coaches and get good coaches and landing great players. Empty stadiums do not land great players.

My problem with Tim Leonard is the following:

1, No increase in football and basketball attendance since he's been at Towson and enrollment has increased. In fact, student football attendance has really declined the last 3-4 years.

2. We pay $450k to $500k for Pat Skerry and we get a middle of the pack CAA team with no post season appearances. At some point, we need to aim better. My hope is when is contract is up we do not renew it. East Coast/ Balto/DC is known for B-Ball not football. Should we spend more money to get better?

I like playing 1 FBS team every year and an academic school (Ivy League or Patriot League team) every year.

21 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Eh, there were a decent amount of morgan people there, mostly older folks.  

There's no reason the bottom bowl shouldn't be full for most games, especially weekend ones. But when you have 75-300 students at most, attending, it doesn't help out the numbers

Yes. Even our basketball attendance has dropped. We go from 10,000 students in the 1980's to 23,000 and we draw the same number of students? We also have 9,000 more students living within 2 miles of campus compared to the 1980's. School administration has done a poor job.

13 hours ago, Chris Datres said:

I had brought this up in a thread a year or so ago and I think it deserves repeating.  I look at a school like Grand Canyon.  It's located in the middle of Phoenix, which is a hotbed of major league sports not to mention having Arizona State right down the street, and numerous other nightlife opportunities.  Last year, they averaged almost 7200 fans for a school that has 20,000 on campus.  They've only been D-1 for 6-7 years and yet, they've immediately built it into numerous sellouts and that's with playing a WAC (not whack/wack/whatever) schedule.  So I'd say that our people should be taking a field trip to Phoenix (it's nice this time of year) and pick the brains of the GCU people and find out how they can attract such a large amount of people to their games.  

Bingo. I've decided our athletic department/administration needs help if they can only get 6,000 for Homecoming. The Homecoming crowd was the worse in 10-15 years.

1 minute ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Villanova also doesn't have tailgating and their stadium isn't great for a game. They are also on a game average outdrawing us by 1,100 this year, with Lehigh, Maine, and SB as their opponents.

The "Major Sports" city excuse should not exist either.  Who was playing Tuesday night in Baltimore where we only drew 2000 and a handful of students?  The turtles in CP? sure but who is driving 1.5 hours in rush hour traffic to see Maryland holy cross. 

Oct 12, a beautiful fall day, what was the excuse that day for only 4700 people for the Albany game?? Little turtles?  Played at noon in West Lafayette IN.  Navy?  Played at 7:30 in Tulsa, OK.  Orioles in the playoffs? HA HA.  Ravens played the next day against the Bengals.    Also, Morgan also played that day, down the road against Del State and drew 4000+ more than we did. EMBARRASSING

Yes. It's sad Villanova is outdrawing us for football. They are a little bigger school than Loyola of Maryland. Only 9,000 students.

Really have to blame it on Towson's athletic department and administration. A realistic crowd for Towson homecoming/Delaware game should be 10,000-15,000. .

12 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

Villanova has Howie Long. They have a National title and much richer tradition. There’s no comparison. They also don’t draw great for football but they care much more about hoops.

Basketball is different. The student crowd for GW was awful. All the freebies they are giving out for a D3 game should have been for the opener.

We should decide if we want Skerry soon for the long run He is 67-57 In the CAA the last 7 years excluding his first year.  Took over an awful team his first year.

How long do you keep a coach than cannot make the NCAA or NIT. Worth taking a chance on someone else soon if no NCAA the next few years. Got to take a risk in hopes of making a big in basketball.

Maryland is in the same boat with Turgeon. He has to make the sweet 16 this year in my opnion to extend his contract.

21 hours ago, FBS OR BUST said:

We cannot now or ever compare ourselves to JMU.  They are NOT our peer.  In football our only peer in the CAA is Villanova.  Both FCS football in a metropolitan area with the NFL.

In basketball our peers are Drexel and Northeastern and to an extent Hofstra.  Again mid major hoops in a metropolitan area.

JMU is the only game in town.  It's the only game in a 90 mile radius.  Plus, where do their students come from?? I don't have facts on this but I would be that most of their students live farther from home than Towson's.  Thus, more of their students stay on campus most weekends and don't head home to PG and Montgomery County.  Or to Jersey.

Plus, I went to the Madison game and the announced attendance was not what was in the stadium.  And it was their homecoming.  If it was sold out, there were about 5,000 no shows. Or like at Towson, they stayed in the parking lot and never came to the game.

I tailgate with 10 others every week, and homecoming I have never seen the parking lots as packed as they were.  Went in to watch the game, and we all looked around and said where the hell did everybody go??  So, someone, be it the athletic dept or whoever, is getting people to Johnny U parking lots, now they gotta figure out how to get them into the stadium

I agree with the Villanova comparison except for 2 things. Why can't we get better in basketball. There are great players around us. Should we settle for middle of the pack Skerry forever?

Vilianova has about 9,000-10,000 students and we have 23,000 but we draw the same amount for football? The commuter excuse no longer exist with our 12,000 residential students.

Still believe our administration is not promoting sports enough for basketball and football. 1,500 students-2,500 students for Delaware and Homecoming ?

32 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

The student crowds in the first two games were outstanding. Declined a bit for Albany but fine for Homecoming 

I was thinking the Delaware game. They had maybe 1,500-2,000 students there.

Was not at Homecoming but the total crowd was the worse for Homecoming in a long time(6,000). We use to get 8-10 thousand when Waddell was here.

My biggest concern with the athletic department is reaching the students. If they do not attend games, they will not come back as alumni and donate to the Athletic Department.

The student crowds have really declined at the football games compared to the Terrence West years.

There appears very little effort to promote the game to the students. 

2 hours ago, Blounge said:

I agree you need to turn the students into fans and then hope they come back as alums and purchase season tickets. It’s a fun game day atmosphere when the students show out, but it needs to be a consistently big deal every week to go to the games. In my years at Towson, the Greek Life dominated the social scene so I would start by going to all of the fraternities and sororities and giving them a case of beer and asking them to come to the games and ask for their feedback as to what they would like to see at the tailgate...what they think of the game day promotions and in-game music/giveaways. One issue I see with the student tailgate is that most college students are broke and don’t have a car, grill, or funds for a parking pass every weekend. I think the school should have food trucks and brewery craft beer stands in the parking lots. Then all they need to ask is that people show up because the party’s already there. no tailgate prep required. The Towson students go uptown to the bars every single weekend. Partying is on their agenda so we need to make the pre game festivities a fun atmosphere and really just leave them be to drink and have a good time.

Obviously this will require funds, but there should be a T-shirt or some type of giveaway incentive at every home game. Like i said before, most college students are broke so as an 18-22 year old with no job you will definitely make the trip to the stadium for a free t-shirt. 

From reading these forums, it seems as though the ticket office isn’t particularly great at their jobs. They could probably use Business/Sports Management majors as interns to have an inside sales job calling all season ticket holders and thanking them and asking to renew for the next year as well as cold calling alums and any one who expresses interest for tickets. 

As far as marketing goes, I would continue to pump as much money into Facebook and Instagram ads as possible. Also, maybe give out as much Towson football swag as possible to freshman on move-in day at the dorms: T-shirt’s, hoody’s, flags, hats, posters, and a ticket to the first home game. 

I  like your fraternity and sororities idea. This group likes to party and we should have at least 1/2 the Greeks at every game.

With 23,000 students at Towson, key is getting more students to attend the games. If they do not come as students, they likely will not come as alumni.

Its also proven at all colleges that more residential students come to the games than commuters.

Starting next year Towson will have 12,000 students living in campus owned/non owned dorms and apartments,

If I was the Athletic Director, i would schedule various meet/greet happy hour/pep rally's throughout the football/basketball season at the off campus apartments, university owned dorms, and center of campus . Free beer/soda/snacks would be available. These happy hours/pep rally's would happen every year.

Stats show how poor our defense is. Ambrose would have regular playoff teams if he know how to coach defense.

11 hours ago, BoogerJ said:

I agree with above that it serves no purpose to repeatedly call for the change in a coach after this season as it will never happen. It would not surprise me to see Ambrose look for a OC job in Power 5 after this season as missing the playoffs again, in 2020, could mean that he gets punted. 

Per the CAA Coaches, Ambrose's record is pretty weak in comparison to the group. Pretty damn weak. Wait for it... it's coming... the excuse parade of injuries (everybody has them) & bad budget (fake news).

 

I am not an Ambrose hater. He is a solid coach and took over at a really down time. However, its  time for a change if we do not make the playoffs this year or next. Worth the risk on greatness to find someone else.

  Believe if we are a regular playoff team our fan support would improve. Maybe average 10,000 a game rather than our current 7,000. We averaged 9.300 a game when West was here.

Just now, Tigerfan said:

Hard to image that Towson a school with 23,000 students,12,000 residential students with the opening of Towson Row and 101 York and 165,000 alumni should drop football.  8.5 million on a 600 million to 1 billion dollar budget sounds small.The only school our size that does not have a team is George Mason.?                                        

Rather see a change in head football coach and leadership to win games and increase attendance . The student tailgating policy is  still a mess and we need more parking lots to tailgate without buying a parking pass.

 

See no reason why we cannot draw 10,000 to 15,000 a game as Delaware. We are a similar size school.

Hard to image that Towson a school with 23,000 students,12,000 residential students with the opening of Towson Row and 101 York and 165,000 alumni should drop football.  8.5 million on a 600 million to 1 billion dollar budget sounds small.The only school our size that does not have a team is George Mason.?                                        

Rather see a change in head football coach and leadership to win games and increase attendance . The student tailgating policy is  still a mess and we need more parking lots to tailgate without buying a parking pass.

I agree Ambrose has done a solid job. Would like to see the next step or becoming a regular playoff team.

Agree that people would not be beating the door down to coach at Towson. We draw 6,000-9,000 a game and have 1,500 season ticket holders. Hoping a regular playoff team would increase attendance plus we are expanding to a 2nd campus in Downtown Towson.

38 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

 

I am okay with playing large schools like Maryland/Rutgers/Temple/Wake Forest with 40,000-60,000 stadiums but not jumbo schools top 10 Florida/Georgia/Penn State with 90,000-100,000 seat stadiums. We will get killed. Not even close to the same league.

6 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

You can get to the lots when they open, or have someone you know get there then.  There isn't anywhere in country that will allow tailgating in a parking garage/structure and unfortunately we have a ton of those eye sores on campus.  I know they also have tailgating (no students) in lot 13 near the arts building. They also have surface lots in the back of the admin building that could be used, however they are a bit of a walk compared to the other options. 

 I did not think of the surface lots on Cross Campus drive at the Adm building. May be a good addition if Towson promotes it. I know for homecoming they are having tailgating at the Liberal Arts building. Maybe one of these 2 lots should be available for at least Parents weekend, Homecoming  and the Delaware game.

26 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

So parking lots filling up early isn't good for a school trying to get more fans?  

Compared to most, we have a nice tailgate setup. The stadium is on campus, so it isnt far for students, but not in the middle of campus where there are no lots right next to it (see Maryland).

I've been to games at Delaware, WM, JMU, NOVA and Stony Brook and with the exception of Delaware (some of their lots are not owned by the school), we have the most/closest spots to the gates of the stadium. I should also mention, the cheapest parking as well.

It's good the parking lots are filling up but not good for people that want to tailgate with no place to park. I brought food and beer last year to tailgate and could not find a spot. Parked in the union and left the tailgate supplies in the car.