Syracuse calls on LHS

In 1989, SU football attendance averaged just under 49,000 fans each game, almost 300,000 in total. 

To most, that number of people in the dome would now seem unfathomable. Coached by Dino Babers, the Orange have not had a winning record in the ACC since 2018, 5 years ago, averaging in the high 30 to low 40 thousand range in terms of game attendance. 

Babers was recently fired from his position as head coach with only one game left in the regular season. Through his 8 year career at Syracuse, he has compiled an overall record of 41-55, only playing in 2 bowl games. On Saturday, the team operated with an interim coach, Nunzio Campanile, and will continue to do so until an official head coach is instated. 

On November 15, Liverpool Central School District students and staff all received two complimentary tickets to the SU football game against Wake Forest on 11/25, after Superintendent Daniel Henner received an email from Torrey Ball, Deputy Athletics Director at Syracuse. Within the email, he had written, “We are very excited to share this opportunity with your school system and hope a lot of your faculty, staff, and families can make it out!” 

Most have assumed that these tickets were given to students and staff in order to increase their game attendance. With college students home for Thanksgiving break, the crowd at the football game would have likely been extremely low. By giving away free tickets, their attendance is guaranteed to be higher than if they hadn’t.

After receiving these tickets, Liverpool teacher Laurie Grulich said that unfortunately she would not be using the tickets, but when asked if she thought others would use them, replied, “I hope so. I think it’s great!”

As for the game itself, one student said that “it should be a good game. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to go, but if I can, I will.”

And it was. With both teams having a 1-6 record in their conference, the game was fairly even. In the end, SU avoided a last place rank in the ACC, beating Wake Forest 35-31. The game secured bowl eligibility for the Orange, making it the second year in a row the Orange has done so. 

In comparison to the season high game attendance against Boston College in early November, the Wake Forest game drew a fairly small crowd, with only 35,018 people attending, resulting in the 3rd lowest attended game of the season. While it is unclear how much the free tickets actually affected game attendance, it is obvious that Syracuse was hoping for a larger crowd.