2017 Gameday Enhancements / DJ in student section

[AidiAU 1,270]

2 hours ago, Tiger said:

Will the DJ have access to songs recorded after 2010????

We still freaking play Young Joc at games LMAOOOO

HAHAHA. This IS a genuine concern. 

[GwillMac6 20,684]

29 minutes ago, AidiAU said:

HAHAHA. This IS a genuine concern. 

L O L. Auburn and cool with our fanbase do not generally go together. We are the aw shucks family of college football. Not the "cool" ones. Just how I have seen it for years. But hey it works for us! Kinda our charm and "thing".

[homersapien 11,382]

During the game?    Is this a frick'n joke?

 

[GwillMac6 20,684]

Gamedays in Clemson University’s Memorial Stadium are spectacles of fanfare underscored by tradition.

Fans in deep philosophical conversation will halt mid-sentence to join the cadence count chant. The band blares its lively fight song with the final notes accompanied by a choir of 82,000.

There is cannon fire. A sky full of balloons. Reverence to a rock. A run down a hill. An array of smartphone flashlights that give those grey stands a charming glow.

Clemson’s devotion to vigor can transform something peculiar into something remarkable.

Its latest gameday tradition aims to augment that energy and enhance the entertainment value of each ticket. With attendance figures declining and the television experience improving, Clemson sought to entice fans with features a camera cannot capture.

So, it put the needle to the groove.

Donsha Butler has served as Clemson’s house disc jockey for the last two seasons. Under the stage name D.J. Sha, he steers the stadium sounds during warmups, breaks in action and halftime.

He plays popular music, from legends like Run DMC and Outkast to current chart-toppers like Kendrick Lamar, Justin Timberlake and Drake. He even works in original songs he produced solely for Clemson.

“My first vision was that I just wanted my songs played in Death Valley at games,” said Butler, a Ninety Six native who also mixes for an Upstate radio station.

After working a few shows in downtown Clemson two years ago, Butler earned an invitation from coach Dabo Swinney to spin at a recruiting event.

“He loved it. He said he was going to get me out at some of the practices,” Butler recalled. “At that time, I thought it was just him caught up in the moment, enjoying himself. But a few weeks later, he kept his word.”

Butler began appearing at Clemson’s practice fields and a few months later he was in Memorial Stadium for the 2015 season opener.

Clemson cleared space for Butler in its game operations booth. He could not be seen from the stands, but a camera transmitted his introductory performance on the screens around the field.

“The feedback I received most was from people wondering if he was actually in the stadium,” said Mike Money, Clemson’s assistant athletic director for marketing and game management.

“It was a roaring success," Money said. "A lot of what he's playing was music that players were requesting to hear in pre-game, so it wasn't a sweeping change from what was already being played. He's just the centerpiece now.”

This season, Clemson moved Butler from the suite to a custom booth near the west stands outside the Tigers’ locker room.

“We wanted to put him outside in a more visible position,” Money said. “Anytime you do something different, there's always going to be some comments to the negative, but overall, it’s been a pretty overwhelmingly positive reaction.

“Right now, we're in an era of trying to do anything to improve the fan experience. Not just at Clemson. That's anywhere across the country.”

Average attendance among Division I bowl subdivision teams has dropped for the sixth consecutive season, although the figure decreased by less than one percent this year.

Clemson enjoyed a 2.8 percent increase last year. Its average attendance of 84,038 was augmented by home dates against Notre Dame and Florida State. That figure dropped 3.7 percent this season.

Scheduling does not account for all of that decline. The viewing experience is much more convenient and cost efficient at home.

For the same price of four tickets on the secondary marketplace, a family could purchase a new high-definition television and avoid the traffic. They can enjoy the countless camera angles, sharp close-ups and vivid replays without waiting in restroom lines.

DJs, valet concessions, reliable wireless internet and drive-in movie theater sized video boards are all measures programs have implemented recently to encourage fans to choose the stadium over their sofas.

“The fan experience is critical,” Money said. “Fans have more and more choices of other things they can do or even choices to stay at home and watch on television. We think we have one of the best experiences in the country, but I definitely want to continue to improve that. That’s why we brought D.J. Sha in.”

Butler’s fee for seven home games is a nominal expense in Clemson’s game operations budget. Additionally, the fees for rights to play copyrighted music are paid through the university, not the athletic department.

This year, Clemson’s licensing fees totaled $22,310 among the three performing rights organizations— the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) and SESAC.

Those rights cover almost any song, from Bob Dylan to Beyonce, played in stadiums, arenas, dining halls and radio stations across campus.

Consequently, the new Death Valley entertainment will not induce an increase in ticket prices. D.J. Sha can spin freely.

“Really, there are no parameters,” he said. “My biggest thing is getting a feel off the crowd. At first, it was different waters for me. You have to do your homework.

“It’s a blessing, just to know everybody accepts me, being that it's something different. Old and Young, they let me know what I’m bringing is very much appreciated.”

Even the most tone-deaf fans would have a tough time arguing with the results…or at least the coincidences. Clemson has earned a 13-1 home record during Butler’s tenure on the ones and twos.

Clemson usually does not mess with what is working. That is how novelty becomes tradition, how something peculiar becomes something remarkable.

[GwillMac6 20,684]

Seems like Jay's obsession with clemson continues!!! lol they just got a stadium DJ a couple of seasons ago so of course Jay had to go get us one as well.........

[LakeBum 187]

9 hours ago, Auburn2Eugene said:

I truly hope, even if the SEC allows it, that Auburn won't. It completely lowers the gameday experience, makes it less fun, and sometimes stops entire families from ever attending games.

I thought ticket prices did that many years ago!

[War Knight 514]

53 minutes ago, LakeBum said:

I thought ticket prices did that many years ago!

This, I'm still bitter that my season tickets that we renewed every year without fail for a decade (through some great football and terrible) in the last five years or so slowly moved us to worse and worse seats. I love Auburn with all of my heart but I'd rather just pick and choose my games with better seats if I'm going to drive up from Orlando.

The audacity to put season ticket holders of over a decade in the nosebleeds. After many underwhelming seasons no less.

[AidiAU 1,270]

2 hours ago, War Knight said:

This, I'm still bitter that my season tickets that we renewed every year without fail for a decade (through some great football and terrible) in the last five years or so slowly moved us to worse and worse seats. I love Auburn with all of my heart but I'd rather just pick and choose my games with better seats if I'm going to drive up from Orlando.

The audacity to put season ticket holders of over a decade in the nosebleeds. After many underwhelming seasons no less.

How did that happen? We are going on our sixth year with TUF and have been in the same section since we started.

[logan adams 333]

 

22 hours ago, djg0017 said:

Lots of students show up beyond drunk because for them it's a social thing; they don't see their place in the game. I'd rather just give those seats away to other fans

These were usually the louder ones. Don't mind them being there. 

[RunInRed 16,421]

 

[Acworth Tiger 36 2]

Cheerleaders----check

Band--------------check

Large video board ---------check

Band---------------check

Video ribbon board -------check

Mascot-------------check

Eagle Fly Over------check

Program to read----check

Alcohol---------------check

Dance Team ---------check

majorettes------------check

Food--------------------check

Radio and ear phones-----check

Smart Phone and wifi------check

DJ-----------------------------check

 

Damn missed the whole game because of all the other stuff I was doing!

 

[RunInRed 16,421]

 

[ShocksMyBrain 9,366]

7 minutes ago, RunInRed said:

 

Are those turntables actually connected to anything or is he just pressing "play" on his IPod?

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,673]

as a youth/student...very mediocre music taste but I suppose he has to make compromises to keep the non-hip hop listeners from complaining

 

the seating though...jesus christ that was awful. enhance the amount of available seats or something

[jenn4AU 24]

On 8/22/2017 at 9:04 PM, AidiAU said:

How did that happen? We are going on our sixth year with TUF and have been in the same section since we started.

I am on my 17th season. Exact same seats as season 1. 

[wareagle7298 126]

With so many entertainment/social options out there, I guess they are doing anything they can to keep the student section full.  It seems silly to us old timers who love football above most everything else. I really don't enjoy going to games anymore - I do not like the incessant loud music (and by loud I mean really loud and music I don't care for). 

[djg0017 726]

I'm pretty sure Auburn oversold student tickets. Seemed like a couple hundred students didn't have seats there.

[lala 327]

I thought the DJ was awesome the 1st half.  The players were jamming on the field and it was getting everyone pumped.  Even old men were shaking a bit.  Second half they seemed to scale back a bit, not sure why.  

Now concessins is another thing.  They tried the 1 line thing and it was a disaster.   Wait was horrendous.