Rice Has Game Plan For Bringing In More Fans

[NT Drummer]

From the Houston Chronicle:

Rice has game plan for bringing in more fans

"For the first time since 2003, Rice will narrow its focus on one football game with the belief that an intense marketing effort might yield a raucous atmosphere when the Owls host SMU in their season opener at Rice Stadium on Aug. 29."

(Rice AD ) "Del Conte hopes to lure a sizable crowd to Rice Stadium that might enjoy the product enough to return when the Owls host North Texas on Sept. 27."

"... furniture impresario Jim McIngvale will be recognized for his advertising contributions via Gallery Furniture."

"Rice’s struggles with home attendance necessitate the hoopla. The Owls lured 27,832 fans with their previous Operation Sellout production on Oct. 18, 2003 against Navy."

[greenminer]

Could this turn into a "We didn't need him anyways!!!" thread?

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

Could this turn into a "We didn't need him anyways!!!" thread?

I hope not because we need all of the help that we can get. I'd welcome Jim back with open arms. I wish that he had a store in the DFW area. Mac is a good guy who just got a little overzealous in support of an old friend.

[DeepGreen]

Rice University and "raucous atmosphere". Think about that for a second.

[NT Drummer]

Mac has been pretty good at spreading his advertising dollars around with all Houston sports teams, college and pro. But he starts out with a bang, and after a while his interest wanes, and eventually moves onto something else. Do you remember the "galleryfurniture.com bowl"? Then for a while, he was interested in tennis, then horse racing...

[UNTflyer]

The Owls lured 27,832 fans with their previous Operation Sellout production on Oct. 18, 2003 against Navy."

Man, and we thought our attendance was bad. We didn't even promote our Navy game and still drew a bigger crowd than Rice.

[Eagle1855]

Man, and we thought our attendance was bad. We didn't even promote our Navy game and still drew a bigger crowd than Rice.

well Rice has about 3k undergrads... so relatively speaking, 27k is pretty damned good.

Mattress Mac supports everything in Houston. He's a marketing genius. That's how he built Gallery Furniture into the empire you see today. It isnt because they sell quality products, I assure you.

[JesseMartin]

Eagle=Tyler Durden?

[GreenStreet]

The fact that Espn and Sportline have Rice to go 8-4 this year should help fill the seats as well.

[FirefightnRick]

I hope not because we need all of the help that we can get. I'd welcome Jim back with open arms. I wish that he had a store in the DFW area. Mac is a good guy who just got a little overzealous in support of an old friend.

Exactly. If anything this should be an opportunity to try and heal some wounds between MM and North Texas.

Rick