I think it's a classic example of "you can't please everyone."
I have small kids who were dead tired by halftime. They had been there tailgating since 2:45PM.
The tailgating atmosphere might be too good - quite a few people come for that and stay out there or leave after and don't come to the game.
In the stadium, the games simply last far too long. 4 hours with a 7pm kick off is just insane. Too many stoppages of play for television and replay reviews.
If you are following the game closely from a statistical analysis (a football wonk) perspective, than TV gives you a better experience. The in game stats they provide can't be matched.
TV also allows you to stop the game for food / bathroom breaks and then fast forward through the stoppages of play, which you can't do in the stadium - plus it's 68-72 degrees and you don't have to walk to your car.
Inside the stadium, the atmosphere is subdued by the fact that the games aren't that competitive, outside of the SMU game. We're "too good" it seems. When the outcome isn't in doubt after the first possession, fans lose interest.
On the east side, they need to find a way to integrate the Reynolds Center into the fenced in area so people have access to concessions there and also the bathrooms. Perhaps they could fence off the other 2/3 of the building that doesn't need to be accessed? It's hard to justify facility upgrades for a stadium used 6 times a year for around 24 total hours a year, but it sure would be nice if the east side had some short of canopy / shade cover as it can be downright unbearable for 4 hours.
Also many fans on the west and south sides have no idea about the bathrooms under the apartments.
A simple 8.5" X 11" "Amenity Guide" would be a good start that lists where the facilities are - they do have the useful game day maps in all the corners but I think they can be walked by sometimes.
Ultimately it's hard to complete with HDTV. It's free - ish and convenient. Certainly cheaper than a season ticket package, even at our ridiculously low prices. When you can get a family of 4 into all the games for $210, that's a steal.
You're not going to get OU / Ark / OSU alums to buy season tickets. Your potential fanbase is alumni of other far flung universities (like the guy that sits in front of me in the Yale Crew shirt each week) - and those without college degrees. The trick is - how do you get the former group to adopt TU as their 2nd school, and how do you get the others off the couch and into the stadium? What can you do to make it a must - see event for those people? Marketing gimmicks? Lady Dynamite? Diamond Rio concert in the north end zone?
