Attendance

[ConnHuskBask]

Yes - three.

I get your point to Dooley, but if you're coming from a decent distance away, by the end of the season the seats end up being the cheapest part of the trip. I know it's essentially a donation, but if you can save a good chunk of change for the same exact experience it's tough to not consider it.

 

[CTMike]

I was actually trying to make a point through some leading questions. I'm not about to pretend you or Skib aren't diehards.

The product sucks but, if you can afford it, it's the wrong time to pull our money.

Close your eyes, bite the bullet. (And buy hockey tickets, too.)

I certainly understand this point of view, and I think most here would even agree. We are going to the games no matter what. But for the majority of fans that are casual, or fair weather, or whatever you want to call them... I can't blame them for not wanting to spend time and money to watch. The problem is we need them, too - not just the die hards. They are the empty seats we need to fill.

 

[Bonehead]

I certainly understand this point of view, and I think most here would even agree. We are going to the games no matter what. But for the majority of fans that are casual, or fair weather, or whatever you want to call them... I can't blame them for not wanting to spend time and money to watch. The problem is we need them, too - not just the die hards. They are the empty seats we need to fill.

One issue at a time-

Is the issue selling tix or getting seats filled?
In my eyes its two different things...

 

[Waquoit]

Uconn. 27,000

Yale. 34,000

What's your point?

 

[CTMike]

One issue at a time-

Is the issue selling tix or getting seats filled?
In my eyes its two different things...

How so?

 

[FDNY99]

With every loss the grumbling from our season ticketholders grows louder.

UConn is going to have a heck of a time convincing people to pay up(donate) and pay for seats too for the next 3 year commitment.

Just casually I know of several groups who are not renewing their current seats.

And I'm strongly considering doing the same.

Instead they will be going "on their own". Can't blame them. They are not "fair weather fans"- just don't feel like putting out the extra cash. They will still be at every game.

Season tickets next year with the crummy home schedule could be 15 k next year.

Not for nothing but why should you pay a seat donation when anyone can sit anywhere. Case in point..we sit in Mezzanine chair backs..$400 per seat donation for the season. They could care less who sits in our section, which is starting to cause some issues. I go to the games to watch the game (no matter how bad the product on the field is) and support the program, not to watch a bunch of juvenile adults decide who's turn it is next to harass the guys in the front row. Problem would be solved if they checked tickets like they used to do in chair back sections. Out of the 4-6 people who enjoy their little game..2-4 of them don't even have tickets for the section. Funny thing though, if you have a seat in the Club Section which they also charge a fair price for, you have to pass through at least 2 points where your ticket is checked. Just another level of tting on the customer by UCONN.

 

[Bonehead]

How so?

Normally when an organization sells tickets they are looking for revenue in my eyes. I would assume there are many chairbacks that are sold as season tickets that are left empty as they may have been sold to companies (insurance companies as example) and have no vested interest in attending. The CEO aint going to the game and the said company puts out an email to employees - who wants tickets to this weekends UConn football game - no one in the company wants them as the product is bad, the email only goes out to executives, upper management, whatever. Those tickets are sold but people arent using the tickets so the seat is left empty. The revenue is in hand.

If you are looking for people to actually use the seat, thats another battle all in itself.

I guess the point is there may be times when 30,000 tickets are sold but the attendance is 25000. Ever ticket sold doesnt mean every seat filled.

 

[sanchez42885]

All I'm doing in stating the obvious is trying to light a fire within the AD to do something to acknowledge season ticket holders. Attendance is going to drop and there is nothing that I or anyone else clucking for the Big Ten can do about it. But UCONN can try to limit the damage and the best way to do that is to offer early renewal discounts. If they can retain 20K based on some sort of early renewal discount program, then that's a start of a good base to make an attendance push.

How soon you forget the $5.00 all you can eat popcorn!

 

[Dooley]

Normally when an organization sells tickets they are looking for revenue in my eyes. I would assume there are many chairbacks that are sold as season tickets that are left empty as they may have been sold to companies (insurance companies as example) and have no vested interest in attending. The CEO aint going to the game and the said company puts out an email to employees - who wants tickets to this weekends UConn football game - no one in the company wants them as the product is bad, the email only goes out to executives, upper management, whatever. Those tickets are sold but people arent using the tickets so the seat is left empty. The revenue is in hand.

If you are looking for people to actually use the seat, thats another battle all in itself.

I guess the point is there may be times when 30,000 tickets are sold but the attendance is 25000. Ever ticket sold doesnt mean every seat filled.

I get your point. There seems to be a mixed ideology of sorts within the ticket office. Jacking season ticket holders until 24 hours before opening game kickoff when they start to offer 50% savings on single game tickets.

For the life of me, I don't understand why UCONN switched to reporting attendance figures as tickets scanned, not sold. It seems to me that if the Big Ten is a desired destination, it would sound much better to say we had over 30K this past Saturday than 27K. If UCONN reports tickets scanned, they should be giving away tickets each and every week to fill the joint. Or, they should just go back to reporting tickets sold.

 

[Dooley]

How soon you forget the $5.00 all you can eat popcorn!

I said in another thread: the best part of Saturday was the free refill of popcorn!

 

[minidarren]

Fine by me. Don't pay seat donations, and don't donate to the athletic department. My basketball seats will get better and better every year (which is the primary reason that the seat donations don't bother me, even when we suck).

It is my understanding that football seat donations do not go towards priority points for basketball. Is this true?

 

[J187Money]

Not true. All athletic $ go towards all points calculations.

 

[Dooley]

It is my understanding that football seat donations do not go towards priority points for basketball. Is this true?

We cashed in some points last year to get Final Four tickets. Points follow you across all sports.

 

[minidarren]

Maybe I was confused with the bonus points.

 

[auggie22]

For most college programs, buying season tickets is a convenient way to make a donation to the university ( or community college, if you went to school in Louisville ) while retaining some residual value for yourself.

I also do it for the sentimental value. Also, to have an excuse to skip out on my wife and kids a few times a year.