[BostonCard]

Notre Dame is particularly popular despite its comparable student size because it has historically attracted a very large non-alum following, particularly amongst Catholics in the US, which number 52 million in the U.S.  Stanford does not have a similar non-alum base to appeal to.  The Bay Area region is a particularly difficult area to draw fans from because a large share of residents (2/3 if you Google it) were born outside the area and thus did not "grow up" rooting for Stanford.

I don't Stanford can wish itself into being Notre Dame, and the things you suggest, aside from being expensive, probably won't make a difference.  If you price the product like it is not worth much because you give it away, it turns out that many people will treat it like a product that is not worth much.  I think you pine for a Stanford to be a school that simply isn't.  Nothing wrong with that, and I hate to be a wet noodle, but you will likely be disappointed.  I expect the pattern that we've seen for as long as I've been a fan will continue.  Occasional periods of being good (sometimes, as in 2011 - 2015), really good, punctuating long periods of mediocrity or worse. And even those periods of "being good" seem like they are going to be increasingly scarce going forward.

BC

[BostonCard]

Notre Dame is particularly popular despite its comparable student size because it has historically attracted a very large non-alum following, particularly amongst Catholics in the US, which number 52 million in the U.S.  Stanford does not have a similar non-alum base to appeal to.  The Bay Area region is a particularly difficult area to draw fans from because a large share of residents (2/3 if you Google it) were born outside the area and thus did not "grow up" rooting for Stanford.

I don't Stanford can wish itself into being Notre Dame, and the things you suggest, aside from being expensive, probably won't make a difference.  If you price the product like it is not worth much because you give it away, it turns out that many people will treat it like a product that is not worth much.  I think you pine for a Stanford to be a school that simply isn't.  Nothing wrong with that, and I hate to be a wet noodle, but you will likely be disappointed.  I expect the pattern that we've seen for as long as I've been a fan will continue.  Occasional periods of being good (sometimes, as in 2011 - 2015), really good, punctuating long periods of mediocrity or worse. And even those periods of "being good" seem like they are going to be increasingly scarce going forward.

BC