Southwest Classic Is Finally Here
Bill Byrne
Director of Athletics
Sept. 30, 2009
The Arkansas game is finally here. I've heard from so many of you wanting to talk about the Southwest Classic game, and now we finally can.
The mechanics of the game are such; we have signed a long term agreement to play at the new Cowboys Stadium. It's fair to say we plan to play the Southwest Classic there for a long time.
One of the things so positive about playing the Southwest Classic has been the response by our fans in the Metroplex who have bought the lion's share of the tickets.
Folks in North Texas have purchased 47 percent of our allotment, while our fans in the Houston area have accounted for the second most sales on our side of the stadium at 17 percent. Out-of-state supporters purchased the third most at nearly 12 percent. These numbers do not include sales to our students.
As a point of comparison, we have about 35 percent of our home game tickets purchased by Aggie fans from the Houston area, with the second most sales coming from local Brazos Valley fans at 21 percent. The third most season ticket sales are from fans from North Texas with 17 percent, while 15 percent of sales come from the Hill Country. The remaining 12 percent of our season ticket sales come from all over Texas and from outside the state
One of the reasons we wanted to play this game in the Metroplex is it allows us to play in one of the fastest growing regions in the United States.
Texas A&M, as an institution, looks at it as a way to bring the Corps and student body to North Texas. The various colleges on campus are looking at the game to spread their news to attract new supporters from the Metroplex.
For years, we were playing in the Metroplex with annual games at either SMU or TCU. Our fans enjoyed the travel and experiences. The Southwest Classic allows us to "return ... to those thrilling days of yesteryear." The Lone Ranger rides again! Hi-Ho Silver!
When we set out to play a neutral-site game, one of the many things we had in mind was our departmental budget. We originally projected about $4 million of income from this game, which is at least half a million more than a sellout would provide us at Kyle Field. However, when all sales are final, we anticipate generating more than $4 million from this game. Revenue from the Southwest Classic is another part of our plan to continue to balance our budget.
All-in-all, this game is a great opportunity to generate significant income, be able to play in the Metroplex, and have our student-athletes play in a new stadium that absolutely everyone is talking about. It's the beginning of a new tradition that will be great for the entire Texas A&M family.
Like many of you, I took a few minutes last Saturday to watch Arkansas play Alabama, and while Alabama won, I came away impressed with Arkansas. They have very good defensive linemen, and I thought their offensive linemen were very athletic and pass protected well. Their quarterback is a big guy with great velocity and touch when he throws the ball. It's going to be a challenge.
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This year we will be the designated visiting team, which means this is Arkansas' home game. Despite the designations, fans won't see a one-sided in-game presentation on the Cowboy's giant video screen. Our staffs have worked for months on many of those details to ensure the best in-game entertainment experience for both schools' fans, bands, and spirit squads.
Some of you have asked if the two teams will switch sides of the stadium each year. The answer to that question is no. We will stay on the same sidelines and same seating configuration each year.
We may be the visitors on the scoreboard and in uniform color, but I expect the 12th Man to create a terrific home field advantage in Arlington. Wear maroon and bring your 12th Man towels and let's make it Kyle Field North.
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We have a variety of activities planned around Cowboys Stadium this weekend.
The Corps and Fightin' Texas Aggie Band will march around the stadium area beginning at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday near Lot B, which is south of the Rangers Ballpark. Click here for a map with the parade route.
At 4:15 p.m. we will hold a Kids Yell Practice in the Aggie Plaza. This plaza is located on the Rangers Ballpark side of the stadium adjacent to Entry C. Kids Yell is a great way for younger Aggies to learn the yells and meet the Yell Leaders.
Following Kids Yell Practice, the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band will be at the Aggie Plaza for a pregame Yell Practice starting at 4:30 p.m.
Throughout the afternoon, the Aggie Plaza will have food and drinks available, as well as, a few Fan Zone activities. Our Metroplex radio affiliate 105.3 FM The Fan will start its pregame radio show at 1 p.m. on the Plaza, while our local television partner KBTX-TV will host its Aggie Gameday show beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the same area.
Click here for the complete schedule and for more information.
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We have less than 700 club level tickets remaining for the Southwest Classic. We sold out of our student standing room only tickets earlier today. Contact the Athletic Ticket Office at 1-888-99-AGGIE or click here to purchase.
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We will be holding an Away Game Yell Practice Thursday at 6 p.m. at Kyle Field. Coach Mike Sherman and the entire football team will be in attendance, as will the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band and Yell Leaders. Four of the first 20,000 students in attendance at the Yell Practice will be chosen to join the team for the road trip. All expenses paid! The four lucky students will ride the team bus, stay at the team hotel, attend team meetings, attend the walk-through at Cowboys Stadium, dine with the team, be on the sidelines, and be given sideline apparel.
Students must bring a valid University ID card to the Yell Practice. And we are encouraging attendees NOT to bring any bags, backpacks, or purses, in order to expedite entry into Kyle Field. Gates 1 and 14 will open at 5 p.m.
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This week, folks in Houston can hear the game via the Texas A&M Sports Network on KTRH 740 AM. Our friends in San Antonio will hear the game LIVE on KTKR 760 AM. Those of you with satellite radio can tune into Sirius channel 122.
In addition to traditional radio stations, satellite radio, and the internet, there is another way to hear our broadcasts. Go to RadioAggieland.com and you can listen free with your iPhone, Windows Mobile phone, and BlackBerry.
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As you can imagine, I enjoyed the football game last Saturday night at Kyle Field. In fact, I saw no infestation of crickets until the last minutes of the game.
The athletic director from UAB was very complimentary of how his team, staff and he were treated in Aggieland. He was also very impressed with all of our traditions and atmosphere.
One of the things which really impressed me was the way our offense managed to stay on the field. Despite not having three starters available, our offense had a terrific percentage of completing third downs and our defense really flew to the ball. I am impressed with the way Jerrod Johnson has matured and improved while here at Texas A&M. And, I'm impressed with the way our receivers have stepped up and caught the ball in Jeff Fuller's absence. Almost all of them recorded a catch against UAB.
We've had contributions from a ton of young players, and that continues to bode well for the future. We have played 16 true freshmen and seven redshirt freshmen this season. That's an incredible number of young people. Of the 69 players who have seen action this season, an amazing 32 (46.4 percent) were making their career debuts for us.
That's a direct reflection of the type of job our coaches have done in recruiting. I've said before how impressed I am with our coaches' ability to analyze, evaluate, and recruit talent. Our fans can see it with our roster, and what they are seeing on the field. And from what I hear about our 2010 recruiting class, we will continue to improve in all phases of the games.
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We debuted our text messaging fan assistance service at the UAB game and all indications are it was well received. We call it AgAssist. Fans text the word AgAssist to 97178 along with their message and our event staff responds accordingly. Thank you to those who took time to let us know about some issues happening in their seating area. We were able to respond to areas reporting poor fan behavior, and to some medical and maintenance issues. As we expected, there were some folks who forwarded us unnecessary comments that tied up the system. Since the system logs the sender's cell phone number, we can work with University Police on responding to those folks who misuse the system.
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Monday, we were notified by the Big 12 office that our next home game against Oklahoma State on Oct. 10 will kickoff at 11:30 a.m. It will be televised nationally on FSN.
It will be Billy Pickard Day at Kyle Field as we honor the more than 50 years of service by Billy at Texas A&M. We have a variety of special things planned to honor Billy and we will share some of those here next week.
You can purchase tickets now by clicking here.
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Like many of you, I keep a checklist of things I want to see us accomplish at Texas A&M. I was able to check off the item about beating Nebraska in volleyball. Last Wednesday was a big step forward for coach Laurie Corbelli and our team as we beat Nebraska in four games on our court at Reed Arena. It was a great atmosphere in the arena which translated well for the national television audience, too. It was great win for us.
I've said it's tough to play on the road in any sport and such was the case for us at Missouri on Saturday.
Tonight our team will face our friends from the state capital on their court at 7:30 p.m. It's the first half-point available in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown for this athletic season.
Saturday, we will host Kansas at Reed Arena at 2 p.m. We moved the time earlier in the day so fans can attend the match and be able to watch the Southwest Classic later that night.
You can purchase tickets for Saturday's volleyball game by clicking here.
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Our No. 15-ranked soccer team got a split on the road in conference play last weekend. We beat Baylor, 1-0, on Friday before falling at Oklahoma, 3-2, on Sunday. Coach G and our team will host Kansas at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Aggie Soccer Stadium. On Sunday, we will host Missouri at 4 p.m. in a game being televised nationally by ESPNU. Kids 12 and under will be admitted free. You can purchase tickets for the two soccer games by clicking here.
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An entire month will have passed since our cross country teams last competed in a meet. Because our Texas A&M Invitational was rained out a few weeks ago, our team's previous action happened on Sept. 4 in Waco. Our men and women finished in second place at the Baylor Twilight. This Saturday, our runners will be in Madison, Wis., for the Wisconsin NCAA Interregional.
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The season is underway for our defending national champion men's golf team. Monday, our No. 12-ranked team finished in fifth place at the Ping-Golfweek Preview at Gold Mountain Golf Club's Olympic Course in Seattle. We beat six nationally-ranked teams, including No. 4 Alabama and No. 9 USC. Our team will take a few weeks off before competing in the Lone Star Championship in San Antonio Oct. 18-19.
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A reminder, season tickets for men's and women's basketball are on sale now. Sales for women's basketball tickets have already surpassed last year's record number. Season tickets for women's basketball start at $85, and we open the season by hosting Duke on Nov. 15 at Reed Arena. We are accepting group ticket requests for the season opener vs. Duke by clicking here.
Season tickets for men's basketball start at $200. Now is the time to select your seat before the best seats are gone. Our men will open the regular season against Angelo State on Nov. 13 at Reed Arena.
You can use our new interactive ticketing website and select your specific season ticket location. It's very easy to use. Click here to Experience the Spirit of Aggie Basketball with season tickets.
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We get a variety of emails daily. Occasionally, I like to share emails here which really reflect the success we are having at Texas A&M in Building Champions. The mission statement we developed when I arrived here applies to all aspects of Texas A&M Athletics. I received the following email a few days ago and it's a heartfelt thank you from our fans about the quality of folks we have working as ushers and gatemen at Kyle Field.
Bill - My wife and I have had football season tickets in section 411 since the Zone was opened. Unfortunately, my wife is severely mentally and physically disabled due to injuries suffered in an automobile accident 10 years ago and must attend the games in a wheelchair. We want you to know that Karrol Robertson, usher for our section, does a fantastic job. He always greets us with a smile and a handshake. Throughout the game, he checks with my wife to make sure she is doing fine. He always has a positive attitude and ensures we have a great gameday experience. Please pass along our appreciation to Karrol for his outstanding service. Thanks!
Alan & Diane
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I heard from some of you surprised we would reference a humorous website like The Onion, when we talked about bats last week. I tend to throw in some of my off-the-wall humor in every column. Many times it never makes it past the proofers. But this time it did, and some of you did not catch my sarcasm. Several of you have asked how our efforts to eradicate Kyle Field of bats are going. We continue to meet with experts on solutions. I am happy to report we have seen fewer of them around the stadium since I mentioned a plan to charge the bats for admission.
See you this weekend at the Southwest Classic.
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