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 2008 SWU hired the legendary Billy Bob Taylor 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 Taylor’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 Taylor’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. Taylor 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 2014 and a 5% increase each year in future prices.
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.

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Southwestern University Football Game Attendance, 2008-2013 GAME 1 2* 3 4** 5 GAME 1 2 3 5 2008 30,100 40,500 ATTENDEES OPPONENT ATTENDEES OPPONENT ATTENDEES 34,200 Baylor 36,100 Oklahoma 35,900 39,800 Texas 40,200 Nebraska 46,500 38,200 LSU 39,100 UCLA 43,100 26,900 25,300 Nevada 27,900 35,100 36,200 Ohio State 39,200 2011 ATTENDEES 41,900 46,100 43,900 Arkansas USC OPPONENT Arkansas Missouri Florida Miami Duke 2009 33,900 47,800 2012 ATTENDEES 42,500 48,200 44,200 OPPONENT Indiana North Texas Texas A&M Southern Oklahoma 2010 36,300 49,900 2013 ATTENDEES 46,900 50,100 45,900 OPPONENT TCU Texas Tech Alaska Arizona Rice OPPONENT LSU Texas Prairie View A&M Montana Arizona State