The initial signs look very promising.
Since formally taking over as head coach of the Syracuse Orange in December, the “Fran Brown Effect” remains alive and well as we approach the summer — headlined over the past few months by a newly implemented D.A.R.T. culture, a laundry list of promising recruits and a rejuvenating wave of optimism not felt by fans in quite some time.
The renewed interest and confidence among Syracuse football fans is notable, especially since it manifested in a big-time way recently with a record-setting 16,579 tickets claimed for this year’s Spring Game. The takeover has been exciting up to this point, and should the momentum truly carry over to the season, it begs the question — what could the Orange’s attendance numbers look like in Brown’s first year at the helm?
Both last year and over the course of the past half-decade, Syracuse’s attendance numbers trended downward at one of the worst rates among all FBS teams. Approximately 34,000 fans attended each of the Orange’s home games during the 2023 season, down from the nearly 41,000 fans (40,828 to be exact) per home game in 2022, according to d1ticker.com.
Out of all the 133 FBS teams, Syracuse’s percentage change in attendance between 2022 and 2023 was seventh-worst (-16.61%, worst in the ACC). The JMA Wireless Dome has a current capacity of 49,057, but keep in mind that will decrease to between 42,000 and 43,000 with the new renovations coming in.
The sharp decline in attendance for Syracuse makes sense. The 2022 season resulted in a historic 6-0 start and what was easily the program’s second-best year under former coach Dino Babers. That year reached its apex in mid-October, culminating in what became the 10th sellout in school history and the 19th-highest attended football game in the Dome when Syracuse defeated NC State to move to 6-0.
Fast forward a year after that game, and the bitter end to 2022 led directly to one weird, up-and-down 2023 campaign where Babers’ time eventually ran out… as did the optimism of many fans.
But the trend of declining attendance can be traced back at least five years, where Syracuse has the 14th-worst percentage change (-8.69%) in the FBS (third-worst in the ACC, behind Georgia Tech and newcomer Stanford).
This year’s spring game provided a glimmer of hope, but not just because Brown’s energy looks like it can translate to more seats being filled in the Dome.
Brown is looking to do more than rebuild the program. He’s looking to reinvent the entire experience, especially for fans.
I still can’t process this quote from Brown after the spring game:
“It wasn’t the way I wanted it,” Brown said. “I talked to them about it. It was weak. They didn’t do it right. I’m happy for the fans and the people that were there, but the band was supposed to be there. The cheerleaders were supposed to come. Everybody was supposed to be there, completely deep. We told them what time we were coming. It wasn’t set up right.”
Through both words and action, that’s the attention to detail and genuine passion the program needed really badly. If it keeps up, it’s hard to not see that translate somehow to an uptick in attendance.
Historically, the program saw its best stretch of attendance in the Dome during the Pasqualoni and MacPherson eras. Compared to Babers’ first year in 2016 (just under 33,000 fans per home game), attendance was only up by roughly 1,000 fans this past year.
The hype around Brown feels real, but will the momentum actually push the program to those attendance numbers from decades ago?
For now, you wait until the product fully plays on the field. Then again, it’s hard not to be excited. Look back at the past several months of legit progress, then read this line from Brown which he said during his introductory press conference back in December:
“I can promise you and assure you that what we’re going to do here is going to be big things,” Brown said. “But I’m going to need everybody to be involved and making sure to constantly support the show. Don’t tell me you’re a fan and then you are not really helping to be a fan. Don’t say you want a championship, but you give me 6-6 effort. We gotta make sure we put out what we’re supposed to put out.”
The arrow continues to point up for the program under Brown’s watch, and now comes the wait to see how the build-up will translate to the Dome atmosphere.