When will the SuperFans grads change the BC Fan culture?

Michigan's attendance issues remain news in the college football world, but this article on Deadspin highlighted something that I think is important to BC Football. The article delves into the supply-demand relationship for sports, but slipped in this regarding student tickets:

"Current students are not that important [to ticket sales], per se," said Dan Rascher, a sports management professor at the University of San Francisco. "But you're trying to turn those current students into former students who are still fans decades later. You want students, when they become alumni, to have that attachment and come back for the games, and that's what's concerning athletic departments."

Despite some issues with basketball and the fairweather nature of any group of fans, BC's has a strong student section for Football. The SuperFans have made supporting BC Football cool for 16 years. However, I don't know if that SuperFan culture has carried over enough to when the SuperFans become Alumni. Now I know the caveats:  the Spaz's years dampened enthusiasm, recent grads move out of New England, recent grads are broke, etc. But even students who endured the Spaz years still have enough high points (bowls, GameDay, Luke Kuechly) to grow the attachment referenced in the Michigan piece.

I think it is that attachment that is missing from all of the pre-SuperFan Alumni. I know a large portion of loyal, older fans were turned off by the DBS, but I think for decades there was a detachment to BC sports. The Flutie runs or the Coughlin moments had a lightning in the bottle feel but otherwise there was an overriding cynicism to our fanbase. Or at least that I what I felt when I first arrived at BC in the mid-90s. The football games were social and the game was really secondary. So when the diehards were driven away, the casual fans didn't backfill because of the detachment.

The oldest SuperFans are creeping towards 40. Even with conflicts like kids or geography, the largest portion of these SuperGrads should still live in the northeast and still have BC in their blood. I know that BC keeps creating opportunities for young alums (GOLD). That's good. Now we just need a few more classes to graduate and then maybe we will have enough people that we can finally fill Alumni consistently. Winning wouldn't hurt either.

Bates tries to build on Saturday's excitement and other links

Brad Bates used his latest "Letter from the AD's Desk" to sell people on coming to the final five home games. It is not a bad idea. Everyone's in a great mood about BC sports and the word of mouth from those who attended the game was great. Not every game will be as special and I think there are many factors in a home attendance issues, but a big one that has been overcome is our competitiveness. BC no longer has a sad sack as coach, so I think some of our fans can start to get excited about the games instead of feeling like they are wasting their time. Bates's focus was on the memories of Saturday night, but his office did add a new face this week. Bates hired Marcus Blossom as Associate Athletics Director for Business and Administration. On the surface this is not a major hire, but it is important for Bates. Even two years into his tenure many of the Athletic Department staff are holdovers. Bates did not clean house when he took over. The fact that so many stayed speaks to Bates' ability to win them over but also their love for working at BC. I expect we will finally see some top-level changes once Bates announces the Master Plan.

The story of Henry Hill fixing BC Basketball games will lead off the latest series of 30 for 30 films.

Brian St. Pierre St. John's team is off to a good start.

Here are the Game Notes and Depth Chart for the Maine Game.

Soccer lost to Harvard.

This article on Barry Gallup's role within BC Football is from last week, but still worth your time to read.

Hockey crushes RPI and other links

The Hockey team quickly bounced back from their disappointment in Michigan to thrash RPI 7-2 at Conte on Sunday. Seven guys scored and Demko had 25 saves. The team faces Wisconsin this Friday.

The BC men and BC women's soccer teams both lost to UNC over the weekend (men | women)

Even with our impressive showing, AA and HD still don't have us bowling. I am not worried. If we get to six wins, we will go somewhere. And doesn't everyone feel pretty good about our chances to get three more wins?

You might have missed this last week, but CBS's Jon Rothstein was at Basketball practice last week and tweeted out a series of quotes and observations about BC. Donahue had a lot to say. It is worth scrolling back through Rothstein's timeline to read the entries.

This isn't BC-specific but I thought TCU's attendance issues should be on our radar. The school has had BCS-level success lately and renovated their stadium, but remains a private school in a big Metro market. I don't know if there is a specific lesson for BC, but I don't think we should expand capacity when we renovate Alumni.

BC fans are not teaching our children well

I've read "My Dad Loves Boston College Football" hundreds of times. Any time my son brings it over, I am helpless to resist. Yet today was the first time I realized what a dangerous book it was and how it captures all that is wrong with BC fandom. This cute little children's book is proof that BC's fan issues are "nurture" not nature. Don't believe me? It is right there on the pages. Take a look:

For those who can see the text, it reads: "Before the game starts we set up the tailgate. When I'm cooking with Daddy everything is just great." Harmless, right? Now look closer. If you look at the Upper Deck in the background, you will see that the Alumni is full (or nearly full). And this dad is still out at his tailgate throwing the football around and eating. He doesn't care if he is in the stadium at kickoff and he is teaching his son the same thing.

Now if you think I am overthinking this, check out the next page:

This time the text reads: "We look for our seats with the rest of the crowd. Inside Alumni Stadium it gets really loud." Once again look at the picture. Does it look like most of the crowd is looking for their seats? No, the stadium is full and this Father of the Year is just getting inside. Plus, look at the food and drinks he picked up. That easily delayed him getting to his seats. I am betting it is the Second Quarter by the time he finally sits down. And little Junior is going to think this is how BC fans support their team.

I've been preaching that if we are ever going to change the fan culture around BC it will start with the young SuperFans. Now I've lost hope. If this is what we are reading to them now, I don't know if they will ever learn.

"Eagles take flight" (literally)

Last spring at the Matt Ryan cocktail party here in Atlanta, Gene held a Q&A with alumni. Inspired by Auburn's pregame ritual, fellow Eagle, Ted Hodan made a great suggestion to have a live eagle circle Alumni Stadium before games. Ted felt that a stunning tradition, like Auburn's, might motivate tailgaters to get to their seats on time. At the time, Gene casually brushed off the suggestion as silly [Eds note: Ted said "he acted like it was a terrible idea"]. Well Gene must of had a change of heart since BC has enlisted Challenger the Bald Eagle to perform his pregame flight prior to the Notre Dame game.

Challenger is a regular at NFL and MLB games throughout the year. Hopefully his flight is as cool as it sounds. If the response is positive and people get to their seats, I think we should get our own live eagle for every game.

Where to begin with attendance?

photos courtesy of Andrew K


Editor's Preface: First let me state that I am not a season ticket holder. I haven’t been one since I was a student. If you transported my current life and situation to Boston, I would probably be a season ticket holder but wouldn’t attend all the games because of the kids.


BC has a real attendance problem and I am not sure if there is a simple explanation or a simple solution. First let’s recognize that the economy is a major issue everywhere. College teams all across the country are falling well short of sellouts. Just look at TCU. They are a Top 10 private school with a nice history in a major metropolitan area and cannot fill their small stadium. I also think the growing and improving TV options dampens ticket demand? 10 years ago, the BC-CMU game wouldn’t have been on TV. If you wanted to see it, you would have to go to Alumni. Now there is ESPN U to cover the game. But even with the economy, the lackluster schedule, the weather issues, Halloween, a better TV experience, and all the other excuses that contribute to the attendance issues, there are two major factors that BC must address this offseason. Those issues are:

1. The fans that no longer attend games due to donor-based seating
2. The fans that no longer attend due to the diminished tailgating experience


Donor-based seating. BC hasn’t released stats around donor-based seating and its impact on sales. I’ve heard varied reports on the effect from as few as 500 tickets that were not renewed in some capacity to as many as 3,000 tickets that were not transferred in some capacity. Regardless of the true total, BC needs to spend some time this offseason and reach out to the people who gave up their tickets. Even if it is only 10 people, those are 10 people that BC could still use. At one point the previous ticket holders cared enough about BC football to have season tickets. We can get them back. We are still producing good football and have likable guys. It is an easier sell to say sorry and we want you back to a previous ticket holder than getting Boston-area fans to experience BC sports for the first time. You need as many season ticket holders as possible so that there is consistent demand regardless of the opponent. The shrunken season ticket holder base leaves more to the general public and allows more fans to pick and choose which games they will buy and attend.

Game day experience. BC has done a lot in things to make Saturdays more fun. There is the Eagle Walk. There are things for kids. There is are new bookstore and places to eat and shop. But the recurring comment I hear is that the tailgating policies are so restrictive and enforced with such cold and uncompromising zeal that it is a turn off to new and old fans. I am sure BC has good reasons for what they are doing and how they enforce policies, but they need to work on execution. And they need to spend offseason time reaching out to tailgaters. Listen to their complaints and explain why things are the way they are. Emails and letters are great communication tools to the masses but tone and touch can get lost in the delivery. Getting all the tailgaters on campus during the offseason in a "thank you" environment will help. It may also lead to some new ideas and solutions to tailgating policies.

I am disappointed that BC doesn't fill Alumni for any and all opponents. I don't think it makes a difference in the results on the field, but I do think the kids deserve a full stadium and I do think getting more people passionate about BC football is a good thing for the university. When there are so many factors, you need to start with one and work on it and for the Athletic Department it is not about commercials or promotions or any other gimmick. This offseason should be about thanking their current and former loyal customers and asking "how can we do it better."