“Week 4 BSOP 209 Case StudySouthwestern
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 tothe 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 Questions1. 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, 2004–2009200420052006GameAttendee Opponen AttendeeAttendeeOpponentstss134,200Baylor36,100Oklahoma35,900TCU2a39,800Texas40,200Nebraska46,500Texas Tech338,200LSU39,100UCLA43,100Alaska4b26,900Arkansas 25,300Nevada27,900Arizona535,100USCOhio State 39,200200736,2002008OpponentRice2009Attendee Opponen AttendeeAttendeeOpponentOpponentGame stss141,900Arkansas 42,500Indiana46,900LSU2a46,100Missouri48,200North Texas 50,100Texas343,900Florida44,200Texas A&M 45,900Prairie View A&M4b30,100Miami33,900Southern36,300Montana540,500Duke47,800Oklahoma49,900Arizona State”