How To Fill the Stadium in 8 Easy Steps

If we review mainstream media coverage of the Cardinal over the past five months, the 2010 Stanford football season can be summarized by three questions, two of which have already been answered: Will Andrew Luck head to the NFL? Will Jim Harbaugh leave for another job? Why don't Cardinal fans fill Stanford Stadium?

That last question became so prevalent by the second half of the season that reporters began asking Harbaugh about it in relation to the Cardinal's eventual bowl destination and including it in stories speculating about his expected departure. At one point Harbaugh let his frustrations slip and suggested that there should be one person in the athletic department whose sole responsibility would be to increase attendance. I don't know if such a position has been created or if anyone's been hired, but here's my application for the job. 

The attendance question was often answered quickly as observers simply decided that Stanford students didn't care about football, but it's much more complicated than that. Sure, the team has been great for two years, but there was a long stretch of irrelevance before that during which time the fanbase did not grow. Continued on-field success coupled with an aggressive marketing plan can change all that. So here's my proposal. I can fill that stadium in eight easy steps.

1. Meet the Coach

New head coach David Shaw has done everything right so far, starting when he knocked it out of the park during his opening press conference. He's been busy lately criss-crossing the country visiting recruits, but as soon as he gets back on campus he should start making himself visible by embarking on an evening tour of the campus dormitories. There are ten residence halls, but some of those halls include several houses. If Shaw were to take a total of sixteen weekly visits to these dorms, he'd be able to keep people talking about Stanford football during the winter and spring. He could also bring a different player to each talk, which might even encourage bigger fans to come to all the chats.

2. Indoctrinate the Youth

I imagine that when a baby is born in Alabama, the first words he or she hears is "Roll Tide!" When that child eventually enrolls at the University of Alabama, he or she will have been soaking in Crimson Tide lore for eighteen years. For the vast majority of incoming Stanford freshmen, that is not the case. They must be taught, and here's how you do it.

• When I walked into my dorm in the fall of 1987, there was a Froshbook and a calendar waiting for me on my desk. From now on, there should also be a Stanford Football schedule poster there, as well as a summary of the two or three games the team will have already played.
• In freshmen dorms, one of the RAs should be appointed the Football Ambassador. His or her job would be to coordinate the selling of season tickets, take the dorm to the first home game, and explain the error in most record books concerning the final score of the 1982 Big Game.
• Coach Shaw should have a place somewhere on the agenda during New Student Orientation. He'd be able to speak to 1,500 new fans, but he should also introduce them to the freshmen among them who are on the football team. Ideally the players would be sitting with their dorms, then called to the stage, which would be pretty cool. There were two football players in my freshman dorm, and they were my first connections to the team. I still think of them whenever I see #15 or #81 on a Stanford jersey.
• Teach them about the Axe. The alma mater is printed on page two of the New Student Orientation handbook; page three should recount the history of the Stanford Axe.

3. Embrace the Tradition

When I was a student the Axe was stored safely (for all four years, by the way) behind glass in the Tresidder Student Union. Recently, I believe, it's had a home at the Arrillaga Center, again safely behind glass. I suppose it has to have a home somewhere, and I suppose the paranoid among us will say that it should be safe from prying Golden Bear paws, but it shouldn't be locked away permanently.

Here's my plan. Bring the Axe, the Orange Bowl trophy, and Jim Plunkett's Heisman Trophy to every home football and men's and women's basketball game. As fans file past, they will stop and snap photos with the Orange Bowl trophy, they'll strike the Heisman pose, and they'll touch the Axe. I touched the Axe once, but I had to fight through a mass of humanity on the field after the 1990 Big Game. I still remember the image of my brown fingers laid against the silver edge of the oversized blade, and it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. More people should know that feeling.

4. Honor the Greats

People need to understand that there is a long line of Stanford football heroes, and they need to be reminded of that each Saturday. The best way to do this is to honor the greatest to have worn the Cardinal red by installing bronze statues of them near the entrance of Stanford Stadium. There's no need to do it all at once, but it might be cool to unveil a different statue each year or every other year. I know there will be different opinions about this (Tommy Vardell, Frankie Albert, John Brodie), but here's the schedule I'd use:

• 2011: John Elway
• 2012: Ernie Nevers
• 2013: Jim Plunkett
• 2014: Pop Warner
• 2015: Toby Gerhart
• 2016: Bill Walsh
• 2017: Andrew Luck

5. Hit the Airwaves

• The Stanford Cardinal Farm Report was a weekly thirty-minute show that aired on Fox Sports Bay Area, and it was a great way to spread the gospel of Stanford athletics across the nation -- or at least to those folks outside the Bay Area (like me) who were willing to pay an extra premium to add the channel to their satellite packages. The program discussed all sports, but the focus in the fall was football. Each week we'd get a generous highlight package, an interview with the head coach discussing the previous week's game, and a preview of the next game. Watching Walt Harris was kind of like watching paint dry, but Coach Shaw would do a lot better. Bring this program back.
• Last year ESPN wanted to do a special on Andrew Luck during which a camera crew would follow him throughout the day from class to class, to team meetings, and to practice. Luck turned this down, citing his desire to keep a low profile and not stand out above his teammates. What better publicity could there be for his Heisman campaign, the football program, and the University in general than for people to take an up-close look at a young man who turned down millions of dollars in order to work towards a Stanford degree? At this point Luck doesn't owe Stanford a thing, but someone should gently suggest that this would be a tremendous idea for everyone involved.

6. Package the Highlights

Put together a three-minute highlight package for each game, premiere it at Sunday night Flicks, and make it available on-line beginning Monday morning.

7. Infiltrate the Community

• Whatever the local advertising budget is, double it at the very least. Don't just highlight the twenty wins over the past two seasons, but also be sure to remind everyone of just how they won those games -- with a dynamic offense and a dominant defense. Focus on Andrew Luck, of course, but introduce the budding stars like Shayne Skov. (In fact, why not have a Shayne Skov Night where kids with mohawks -- or better yet, sit down at the gate to get a mohawk -- get a Skov jersey.) Finally, don't forget about Jim Harbaugh. You can connect with area 49er fans by selling his move to San Francisco as more of a graduation than a defection. My guess is that he left on good terms, so why not reach out to him for an endorsement? It would be nice to see him in local commercials endorsing the Cardinal as "the best college football team in California, right in your own backyard." (Of course, now that I think of it, that could be a violation of NCAA rules; someone will have to look into that for me.)
• Reach out to every high school football team and youth football program within fifty miles of campus. Host free football camps on Saturday mornings, then sell tickets for the afternoon game to participants and their families.
• Continue hosting the Spring Game at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, if only to expose the team to a new audience.
• Convince the local cable affiliate to start airing "Cardinal Classics." I'd love to be able to re-watch the 1990 Big Game, the 2007 Biggest Upset Ever, or even the 2009 "What's Your Deal?" game. More Mighty Card football is always a good thing.
• Make sure that Stanford t-shirts and football jerseys are available in every sporting goods store within fifty miles of campus.
• Instruct pediatric nurses in all area hospitals to whisper "Go Mighty Card" into the ears of sleeping newborns on a set schedule.

8. Win

Isn't this the main thing? None of this will matter if the team doesn't win. We're years away from the time when the Stanford community will sell out the football stadium just because it's there, but if someone in the athletic department can take care of numbers 1 through 7 on this list, we'll get closer to that level of commitment. And if the team wins -- and I believe they will win at least ten games in 2011 -- the momentum from last season will continue to build and we will definitely see larger crowds in Stanford Stadium. Trust me.

UPDATE: There has been some discussion about this in the comments section and various other places, most notably the CardBoard (link to the right), so I thought I would amend some of the more interesting suggestions to the main post. Almost everyone noted that children should always get in free with the hopes that they'll grow into the fans of tomorrow, whether they attend the University or not. CardBoard member "norcalcard" suggested that the University should run free game day busses from San Francisco and San Jose to shuttle in fans. Finally, there was some discussion about honoring Stanford greats inside the Stadium, and "CowboyIndian" suggested a Ring of Honor similar to those in several football stadiums around the country. All excellent ideas.

Comments

[Helixcardinal]

Your ideas are great but most are targeted to students. The student section was full at pretty much all home games. It's the community that needs to step up

[Lud]

Don't forget Darrin Nelson -- not only is he a worthy all time Stanford great, he also works in the athletic department, so selling him on it might help you land the job

[Scott Allen]

Love some of these ideas, especially the bronze statues, Flicks highlight package, and Shayne Skov night. I think Nos. 7 and 8 are the real keys to filling the seats. The students, for the most part, seem to be behind the team.

[Kevin Leung]

Agreed with the above comments that students are pretty much on-board. As far as the situation with frosh, schedules are openly available (some students have them on their doors during the season), tickets for students are automatically free (so RAs don't really need to sell to them), going to the football game is on the schedule for New Student Orientation, and pretty much everyone knows about the Axe and The Play. Although we don't have an official football ambassador position, there's enough buzz and expertise to make it unnecessary. I do think the community is very important, though. Students are excited; let's get everyone else excited, too

[alicia]

I agree with HelixCardinal - great ideas for reaching the students, but the student body is limited in number. The challenge here is reaching the community and the alumni specifically.

Alums from state schools with big football programs have chastised me for not attending more games. But I live 550 miles away, I say. I attend two home games per year (thank you Southwest) and they consider that a low number, despite the distance! Yet I suspect that's more than most alums attend -- and a LOT of those alums live within the Bay Area Sphere of Influence (BASI). Now why the low turnout from alums?

My guess: 1) They weren't really into football as students (now returning to your "build the student interest" idea); 2) There are a lot of competing interests, particularly among busy working parents. All the Stanford alums I know spend far more time talking about their kids' basketball games, etc., than following other sports. So... build going to Stanford football into a family experience to draw these folks.

Finally, there's the biggest problem: People in the community don't feel the tie to Stanford football. Here in LA you grow up as either a USC fan or a UCLA fan, even if you didn't go to one of the schools. And USC is a private university, so saying it's the whole "state school" issue is a non-starter. How do you build a sports interest and sense of loyalty among the locals? I wish I had an easy answer to that. I'll consult our marketing staff and get back to you...

[Eugene]

These are great ideas. I remember when Denny Green was new, he came and visited my frosh dorm. It made me feel "special" and I bought in even more. I have to confess I was already a huge sport fan, but that made me feel even more invested.

I'm going to suggest a #9. The marketing department should host a town hall meeting where all those who LOVE stanford football can bounce their ideas off of the staff. To encourage attendance at said meeting, Shaw can show up and introduce his new staff.

[Pat]

Re Point 1:

Don't forget that a lot of the players (at least freshman year) live in the residence halls, too. Simply having the ones that live in each respective dorm join the coach when he visits could help build a connection with the residents as well.

Great list.

[Athlete]

This is all fine, but about the swim teams, the basketball teams, the volleyball teams, the tennis teams, the water polo teams, the baseball team, the softball team, etc, etc? What is this football-centric view? I enjoy watching Stanford Football, but give the elite sports on campus their due. We are not the best athletic department in the country because of the football team - almost every year it is DESPITE the football team. True they have improved greatly, and that has been great, but if you're going to do all this for football, better do it for all the other sports as well.

[el Palo]

Local awareness is really important. Here's an anecdote that illustrates that: My wife was at the Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo at Christmas time this past year. She went to a sports memorabilia store to see if they had Stanford football stuff (they didn't). When she asked the clerk about this, he scoffed and wondered why. When he was informed that Stanford was #4 in the BCS he was really surprised that they had become that good. You wonder how is that possible only 15 miles from the stadium and I say it is poor media penetration beyond Palo Alto.

My thoughts are that Stanford should have a media day and invite all local press, particularly TV. Have a media liason that makes a specific effort to reach out to local TV stations. David Shaw is a very congenial looking guy-- plaster his face on buses and billboards, put him in TV ads.

[DB]

@Athlete

You must not realize that ALL Stanford sports are funded by football or donations. No sport other than football is self-funding.

[drew@drewfagan.com]

I moved to Palo Alto when I was 6 years old, in April of 1945. I went to my first Stanford football game the next year. In those days, Stanford football games admitted kids under 12 for free and we sat loyally in the worst seats in the old stadium, right by the tunnel.

Before moving to Sacramento, in 1948, I vowed I would one day go to Stanford myself. I did. Class of '61. And I've been a loyal fan ever since.

[What's a Card?]

"Indoctrinate the youth", Ah, such wise words from one so untested. Raising our children in the right way, when my son asked me if he could attend Stanford, I replied, "Don't ever darken my door again". He was in utero during the '82 Big Game as we watched in amazement as Cal snatched victory from the greedy selfish hands of Stanford.