An average of 39,756 people attended the first three Syracuse home football games last year. This year, an average of 28,243 people attended the first three games — all of which have been wins.

The Dome isn’t the only venue with lower attendance; some businesses on Marshall Street are also experiencing the impacts of the decline.

“It’s a lot slower; at least pregame,” said Steven Papazides, manager of Acropolis Pizza House. “I mean we get a little bit after, but it’s not as good.”

“Luckily the team has been doing a lot better, so people stick around and talk about how good the game was,” Papazides added.

Syracuse University hosted the University of Rhode Island, Wake Forest University and Central Michigan University, and will take on No. 8 Louisiana State (2-0, 2-0 Southeastern) on Saturday. This season marks the first since 1935 that the Orange has played its first four games at home.

The game schedule is not the only cause of low attendance, both Papazides and Bill Nester, the manager of Manny’s, said.

“Most people go out and enjoy themselves Friday night,” Papazides said. “Who’s going to wake up at 8, 9 or 10 in the morning and go tailgate or go watch a football game when they’ve been out all night?”

With the exception of the home opener, the last two games have been 12:30 p.m. start times. Saturday’s game with LSU is slated for a noon kickoff.

“By having a game at 12:30 p.m. on a Saturday, you might not be able to get as many people interested in coming out early to tailgate in the morning,” said Rodney Paul, a sport management professor in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. “That leads to potential problems in sales and revenue generation in local businesses.”

Despite these factors, Manny’s hasn’t seen any drastic change in business. Nester, the Manny’s manager, said the success of SU so far this year may be a reason for not having a drop in business.

While the football program is enjoying current success, business owners can’t help but look forward to SU men’s basketball.

Papazides said Acropolis looks forward to basketball season, even during winter break when students are away from campus.

Syracuse men’s basketball had the highest attendance in the U.S. for the 2014-15 season, drawing an average of 23,854 fans per game.

“Most of the basketball games are evening games,” Papazides said. “And they’re late enough to where, even if it’s on a Tuesday or Thursday, you still have time to get home from work, change into your SU gear, enjoy yourself before you go to the game and still not have to rush.”

Paul, the sport management professor, said deciding game times involves a trade-off between attendance and TV coverage. Given SU’s stature in the ACC and the ACC’s rank in comparison to the SEC or BIG 10, it’s difficult to get airtime in the evening, even when attendance tends to be higher, he said.

“It’s a difficult give and take, but I’m sure its something a lot of thought has to go into,” Paul added.

Published on September 23, 2015 at 10:45 pm

Contact Connor: cmlayden@syr.edu