BSOP 209 Week 4 Case Study

Week 4 – BSOP 209 Case Study
Southwestern University (SWU), a large state college in Stephenville, Texas, enrolls close to 20,000 students. The school is a dominant force in the small city, with more students during fall and spring than permanent residents.
Always a football powerhouse, SWU is usually in the top 20 in college football rankings. Since the legendary Bo Pitterno was hired as its head coach in 2003 (in hopes of reaching the elusive number 1 ranking), attendance at the five Saturday home games each year increased. Prior to Pitterno’s arrival, attendance generally averaged 25,000 to 29,000 per game. Season ticket sales bumped up by 10,000 just with the announcement of the new coach’s arrival. Stephenville and SWU were ready to move to
the big time!
The immediate issue facing SWU, however, was not NCAA ranking. It was capacity. The existing SWU stadium, built in 1953, has seating for 54,000 fans. The following table indicates attendance at each game for the past 6 years.
One of Pitterno’s demands upon joining SWU had been a stadium expansion, or possibly even a new stadium. With attendance increasing, SWU administrators began to face the issue head-on. Pitterno had wanted dormitories solely for his athletes in the stadium as an additional feature of any expansion.
SWU’s president, Dr. Joel Wisner, decided it was time for his vice president of development to forecast when the existing stadium would “max out.” The expansion was, in his mind, a given. But Wisner needed to know how long he could wait. He also sought a revenue projection, assuming an average ticket price of $50 in 2010 and a 5% increase each year in future prices.
Discussion Questions
1. Develop a forecasting model, justifying its selection over other techniques, and project attendance through 2011.
2. What revenues are to be expected in 2010 and 2011?
3. Discuss the school’s options.

Southwestern University Football Game Attendance, 2004–2009

2004

2005

2006

Game

Attendee Opponen Attendee
Attendee
Opponent
s
t
s
s

1

34,200

Baylor

36,100

Oklahoma

35,900

TCU

2a

39,800

Texas

40,200

Nebraska

46,500

Texas Tech

3

38,200

LSU

39,100

UCLA

43,100

Alaska

4b

26,900

Arkansas 25,300

Nevada

27,900

Arizona

5

35,100

USC

Ohio State 39,200

2007

36,200
2008

Opponent

Rice

2009

Attendee Opponen Attendee
Attendee
Opponent
Opponent
Game s
t
s
s
1

41,900

Arkansas 42,500

Indiana

46,900

LSU

2a

46,100

Missouri

48,200

North Texas 50,100

Texas

3

43,900

Florida

44,200

Texas A&M 45,900

Prairie View A&M

4b

30,100

Miami

33,900

Southern

36,300

Montana

5

40,500

Duke

47,800

Oklahoma

49,900

Arizona State