This week you will be doing the case study entitled, "Forecasting Attendance" (see below). All cases and problems must use Excel QM. ALL CALCULATIONS MUST BE SHOWN. Spreadsheets must accompany a formal analysis in APA format (Word) and submitted through Dropbox. Please read the rubric before starting your assignment. Do not recopy the case or any significant portion of the case in your document.
Rubric for a case study is below (after the case.)
Case - Forecasting Attendance
Southwestern University (SWU), a large state college in Stephenville, Texas, 30 miles southwest of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, enrolls close to 20,000 students. In a typical town–gown relationship, the school is a dominant force in the small city, with more students during fall and spring than permanent residents.
A longtime football powerhouse, SWU is a member of the Big Eleven conference and is usually in the top 20 in college football rankings. To bolster its chances of reaching the elusive and long-desired number-one ranking, in 2005 SWU hired the legendary Bo Pitterno as its head coach. Although the number-one ranking remained out of reach, 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 six 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 issuehead-on. Pitterno had wanted dormitories solely for his athletes in the stadium as an additional feature of any expansion. SWU’s president, Dr. Marty Starr, decided it was time for his vice president of development to forecast when the existing stadium would “max out.” He also sought a revenue projection,assuming an average ticket price of $20 in 2011 and a 6.5% increase each year in future prices.
Discussion Questions
1. Develop a forecasting model, justify its selection over other techniques, and project attendance through 2015.
2. What revenues are to be expected in 2014 and 2015?
3. Discuss the school’s options
2008
2009
2010
Game
Attendees
Opponent
Attendees
Opponent
Attendees
Opponent
1
34,500
Baylor
36,500
Oklahoma
36,100
TCU
2*
39,900
Texas
40,100
Nebraska
45,600
Texas Tech
3
38,000
LSU
39,500
UCLA
43,500
Alaska
4**
26,500
Arkansas
25,300
Nevada
27,000
Arizona
5
34,500
USC
36,500
Ohio
39,500
Rice
2011
2012
2013
Game
Attendees
Opponent
Attendees
Opponent
Attendees
Opponent
1
41,500
Arkansas
43,000
Indiana
47,000
TCU
2*
46,900
Missouri
49,300
North Texas
50,500
Texas Tech
3
43,500
Missouri
44,500
Texas A&M
46,000
Alaska
4**
30,500
Miami
34,000
Southern
36,500
Arizona
5
41,000
Duke
48,000
Oklahoma
50,000
Rice
*Homecoming games
**During the fourth week of each season, Stephenville hosted a hugely popular southwestern crafts festival. This event brought tens of thousands of tourists to the town, especially on weekends, and had an obvious negative impact on game attendance.