This cow didn’t get sick overnight and it’s not going to get well overnight. At this point, I don’t know if it can get well. My guess, it could still get well, but not at a price the Board is willing to pay. To mix metaphors, our train may have already left the station. But if it hasn’t left, it’s at least revving up the engines.

(06-29-2018 12:30 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(06-29-2018 12:13 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(06-29-2018 10:15 AM)OldOwl Wrote:  There are so many things the University can do to raise additional funds, like getting a sponsor to name the stadium, and requiring all students to pay an athletic fee.

The first is an option, but doubtful. UH struggled with that and got far less than they expected. And their stadium is new and shiny and their team is decent.

For the second - Considering a single digit percentage of students attend games regularly, I cannot see putting a fee on the whole student populace as ever happening.

Athletic funds come from the University’s operating budget so I’m sure the “fee” is already built in.

We need an alum like Doerr who has more money than he knows what to do with to like athletics instead of “leadership institutes”.

Doerr is worth $8.2 billion, more than 6 times T Boone Pickens and we all know how he made OSU relevant.

To follow up on this, I wonder if Leebron and the BOT would even let our AD pursue big athletic donations...

(06-29-2018 03:11 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  This cow didn’t get sick overnight and it’s not going to get well overnight. At this point, I don’t know if it can get well. My guess, it could still get well, but not at a price the Board is willing to pay. To mix metaphors, our train may have already left the station. But if it hasn’t left, it’s at least revving up the engines.

Sadly, the train has been off the track rusting for many many years and every time the tracks starting moving away (1995, 1999, 2005, 2013), about the only thing "they" would do is go visit the train and patch it up a bit, add a little fuel and watch it leak more each time. Didn't want to make the effort to get it back on the track but its fun to watch it spin its wheels or toot its horn every once in a while, but too gutless to sell it for scrap. As I was typing this, sounds exactly like the story of the Battleship Texas.....

(06-29-2018 05:26 PM)texowl2 Wrote:  

(06-29-2018 03:11 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  This cow didn’t get sick overnight and it’s not going to get well overnight. At this point, I don’t know if it can get well. My guess, it could still get well, but not at a price the Board is willing to pay. To mix metaphors, our train may have already left the station. But if it hasn’t left, it’s at least revving up the engines.

Sadly, the train has been off the track rusting for many many years and every time the tracks starting moving away (1995, 1999, 2005, 2013), about the only thing "they" would do is go visit the train and patch it up a bit, add a little fuel and watch it leak more each time. Didn't want to make the effort to get it back on the track but its fun to watch it spin its wheels or toot its horn every once in a while, but too gutless to sell it for scrap. As I was typing this, sounds exactly like the story of the Battleship Texas.....

Back when I was still drilling as a naval reservist, we came up with a project for our ship fitters and hull technicians and other such rates. Instead of sitting around the drill hall watching the same "Victory at Sea" films for the umpteenth time, we sent them out to work in their rates doing maintenance on the Texas. Our people got much better training and the Texas got a lot of needed work done. Everybody loved it--except the paper shufflers at Chief of Naval Reserve. It wasn't a commissioned Navy ship, so no can do.

(06-23-2018 11:02 AM)Hambone10 Wrote:  Seriously.... the concept has merit.

Imagine a football broadcast that actually showed the halftime shows? UNT would love it, as would all of the band members across the country.

I proposed a youtube like channel for KTRU that carried ALL of our sports, selected lectures, student productions, Shep school productions... Now Moody

Again, the idea is to capture 80% of a smaller, more academic oriented market rather than competing for 0.02% of a market that focuses solely on what happens on the field.

NO, that doesn't mean we don't care about winning... in fact, the wins would be precisely what would give us 80% of the market. Our audience would much rather watch Rice beat UT in baseball than Harvard beat Yale or A&M beat UT.... and if you're beating UT (or at least a threat to do so, and picking them as obvious) then you're going to get a few Aggies and LSU and Baylor and Tech fans living in Houston who can't get to their favorite team's games who might want to see it live.... especially if their game is LSU v Podunk U.

This may have serious merit. It's probable that Rice could make more money by not selling out to insignificant broadcasting at the expense of ticket sales. I'm not convinced at all that anyone is watching anything but FOXSW, ESPN, and CBS. Anything outside that spectrum is insignificant. In that environment, Rice needs to schedule arrcordingly. Play one or two bigtime opponents on the road for exposure and money. The rest of the schedule should be filled with area teams, and those games should all start at a time that maximizes ticket sales.

(06-29-2018 02:43 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  The money means too much to them to agree to play body bag games on the other school's terms.

For LSU, you're right.... They're a bad example because people here can and will travel there... and of course getting Houston recruits to Baton Rouge isn't an issue.... but Oregon? Michigan? It's worth looking in to.

As to giving LSU the gate, I wouldn't give them 100% of the gate, but I'd strongly consider giving schools from further away a chuck of it... to improve the atmosphere. I'd want fans unlikely to be able to travel to a real home game.

As I said, I'm not in the know enough to know who the players might be, but 'this' is the sort of game we need to be playing

We have a massive stadium in a hotbed of recruiting where many schools have lots of alumni. We are incredibly unique in that way. We ned to find a way to sell that. Maybe it's not the 'names', but instead its the guys like UCF who aren't the name yet, but really want to be. (again, I'm not 'up' on such things, so maybe there are better names)... but there are certainly schools who are investing a lot to try to 'get over the hump'

One advantage we do have is that we can probably get games with people that most CUSA schools can get. So we don't want to host LSU and give up 100% of the gate. How many other CUSA schools could even get that offered? I'm guessing maybe none.

We can get games that other conference mates cannot get because of who we used to be. To get back there, taking some of those games is probably required.

Texas, Arkansas, SMU, Tulane, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas State, Texas A&M, ULL, Prairie View, Navy, Army, Houston (every season)

Play these schools as often as possible.

It is embarrasing only 4 to 5% alums donate to the Owl Club. The University has to figure out a way to get additional support from the Alums or require an athletic fee from all students even those on full academic schloraship.

(07-06-2018 12:08 PM)OldOwl Wrote:  It is embarrasing only 4 to 5% alums donate to the Owl Club. The University has to figure out a way to get additional support from the Alums or require an athletic fee from all students even those on full academic schloraship.

1. Put a decent product on the field
2. Do not actively chase away fans

Do the above and people may be more inclined. Mandating athletic support will go over exactly as well as the hostage tailgates of years past (closing the servery and forcing people to go to a FB tailgate). EDIT: To clarify, those did not go over well. Merely built resentment.

Include in the tuition like other universities do.

(07-06-2018 12:31 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(07-06-2018 12:08 PM)OldOwl Wrote:  It is embarrasing only 4 to 5% alums donate to the Owl Club. The University has to figure out a way to get additional support from the Alums or require an athletic fee from all students even those on full academic schloraship.

1. Put a decent product on the field
2. Do not actively chase away fans

Do the above and people may be more inclined. Mandating athletic support will go over exactly as well as the hostage tailgates of years past (closing the servery and forcing people to go to a FB tailgate). EDIT: To clarify, those did not go over well. Merely built resentment.

(07-06-2018 10:46 PM)OldOwl Wrote:  Include in the tuition like other universities do.

(07-06-2018 12:31 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(07-06-2018 12:08 PM)OldOwl Wrote:  It is embarrasing only 4 to 5% alums donate to the Owl Club. The University has to figure out a way to get additional support from the Alums or require an athletic fee from all students even those on full academic schloraship.

1. Put a decent product on the field
2. Do not actively chase away fans

Do the above and people may be more inclined. Mandating athletic support will go over exactly as well as the hostage tailgates of years past (closing the servery and forcing people to go to a FB tailgate). EDIT: To clarify, those did not go over well. Merely built resentment.

When the university allocates 20+ million to athletics where do you think it comes from?

It's interesting to see that other schools like SMU face similar challenges with getting fans in seats. And yes SMU have a different back-story, but are also similar to Rice in a lot of ways when looking at enrollment, urban campus location, record, etc. Even with their wins increasing under Chad Morris, they still struggle to get people to games.

SMU have a big tailgate culture, but then very few of those that tailgate actually go into the stadium to watch the game. So they are trying to figure things out and get people inside the gate.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college...ce-problem

(07-06-2018 11:20 PM)Papa_Owl Wrote:  It's interesting to see that other schools like SMU face similar challenges with getting fans in seats. And yes SMU have a different back-story, but are also similar to Rice in a lot of ways when looking at enrollment, urban campus location, record, etc. Even with their wins increasing under Chad Morris, they still struggle to get people to games.

SMU have a big tailgate culture, but then very few of those that tailgate actually go into the stadium to watch the game. So they are trying to figure things out and get people inside the gate.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college...ce-problem

That article (from last October) had only one comment ... but parts of it sound quite familiar:

Jimmy6239 Wrote:(SMU Athletic Director Rick) Hart has trotted out tired promotional cliches about being "Dallas' College Team" and other half-baked promotional efforts with little success. Yes - this is a challenging market. And SMU is a relatively small school that plays in a second-rate conference with no meaningful rivals.

But SMU's inability or indifference to address the football attendance issues essentially undermines any chance of a Power 5 conference invite. You cannot blame the Big 12 for having no interest in a school that consistently draws fewer than 15,000 fans to a 30,000 seat football stadium in the 5th largest market in the country.

(07-07-2018 12:05 AM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(07-06-2018 11:20 PM)Papa_Owl Wrote:  It's interesting to see that other schools like SMU face similar challenges with getting fans in seats. And yes SMU have a different back-story, but are also similar to Rice in a lot of ways when looking at enrollment, urban campus location, record, etc. Even with their wins increasing under Chad Morris, they still struggle to get people to games.

SMU have a big tailgate culture, but then very few of those that tailgate actually go into the stadium to watch the game. So they are trying to figure things out and get people inside the gate.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college...ce-problem

That article (from last October) had only one comment ... but parts of it sound quite familiar:

Jimmy6239 Wrote:(SMU Athletic Director Rick) Hart has trotted out tired promotional cliches about being "Dallas' College Team" and other half-baked promotional efforts with little success. Yes - this is a challenging market. And SMU is a relatively small school that plays in a second-rate conference with no meaningful rivals.

But SMU's inability or indifference to address the football attendance issues essentially undermines any chance of a Power 5 conference invite. You cannot blame the Big 12 for having no interest in a school that consistently draws fewer than 15,000 fans to a 30,000 seat football stadium in the 5th largest market in the country.

I saw that...just change the school names and city and it could have easily came off this site.

The biggest difference between SMU and Rice is, IMO, that their students generally like sports.

(07-07-2018 08:02 AM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  The biggest difference between SMU and Rice is, IMO, that their students generally like sports.

A lot of Rice students "like sports" too. Intramural athletics is still popular. If SMU students "liked sports" in the way that you mean - attendance - then they would go to the games. Things are what they are.

(07-07-2018 08:24 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(07-07-2018 08:02 AM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  The biggest difference between SMU and Rice is, IMO, that their students generally like sports.

A lot of Rice students "like sports" too. Intramural athletics is still popular. If SMU students "liked sports" in the way that you mean - attendance - then they would go to the games. Things are what they are.

OK. Then why when I’m on the Boulevard at SMU does every tailgate have College Gameday on and when I was in a college commons at Rice on a Saturday morning I was more likely to see anime.

To me, the only sport that has far more untapped student interest at Rice than attendance shows is basketball. People love the NBA but don’t like Rice basketball (for all the obvious reasons).

(07-07-2018 09:01 AM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  

(07-07-2018 08:24 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(07-07-2018 08:02 AM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  The biggest difference between SMU and Rice is, IMO, that their students generally like sports.

A lot of Rice students "like sports" too. Intramural athletics is still popular. If SMU students "liked sports" in the way that you mean - attendance - then they would go to the games. Things are what they are.

OK. Then why when I’m on the Boulevard at SMU does every tailgate have College Gameday on and when I was in a college commons at Rice on a Saturday morning I was more likely to see anime.

To me, the only sport that has far more untapped student interest at Rice than attendance shows is basketball. People love the NBA but don’t like Rice basketball (for all the obvious reasons).

You're comparing a tailgate to a commons. What are the SMU people not at the tailgate watching on Saturday morning?

Point is, attendance at SMU is lousy. Whatever the interest level of SMU students and alumni, it isn't high enough to be meaningfully different.

It is not enough. It should be doubled. This is not the 70s anymore.

(07-06-2018 10:50 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(07-06-2018 10:46 PM)OldOwl Wrote:  Include in the tuition like other universities do.

(07-06-2018 12:31 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(07-06-2018 12:08 PM)OldOwl Wrote:  It is embarrasing only 4 to 5% alums donate to the Owl Club. The University has to figure out a way to get additional support from the Alums or require an athletic fee from all students even those on full academic schloraship.

1. Put a decent product on the field
2. Do not actively chase away fans

Do the above and people may be more inclined. Mandating athletic support will go over exactly as well as the hostage tailgates of years past (closing the servery and forcing people to go to a FB tailgate). EDIT: To clarify, those did not go over well. Merely built resentment.

When the university allocates 20+ million to athletics where do you think it comes from?