Aggie student attendance

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metrolax

metrolax

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One reason for this is that at A&M, in addition to the unique spirit, the student section isn't
just some section off in the corner, out of the way. At A&M, the students get the East side,
50-yard line and all.

I never have figured out why so many schools just stick their students in some corner. Maybe
more students would attend otherwise.
 

metrolax said:
View attachment 2875

One reason for this is that at A&M, in addition to the unique spirit, the student section isn't
just some section off in the corner, out of the way. At A&M, the students get the East side,
50-yard line and all.

I never have figured out why so many schools just stick their students in some corner. Maybe
more students would attend otherwise.
Click to expand...

It is all about money. Student tickets are generally the cheapest seats for the games so you stick them in the endzones and corners in order to save the seats you can sell at a higher price for the public.
 

Would love to hear TexasAggies comments on this.
 

I get the idea that it hasn't hurt A&M's bottom line, at all :cool:
 

metrolax said:
I get the idea that it hasn't hurt A&M's bottom line, at all :cool:
Click to expand...

One of my concerns has been the U's focus on short term bottom line rather than long term strategy. I bet that after being in that 38,000 student section on the fifty yard line, A&M fans are more likely to continue to be loyal ticket holders later on in life, even if those seats could be sold to big donors today for a lot more money. I don't think our student section is in a bad spot, I always thought it was really fun being down by the endzone when the Gophers scored right in front of us. But, I think this also carries over in parking. We are certainly making more money in the present by selling the spots the way the U does than they would if they pulled any of my suggestions off of Gopherhole. What I wonder though is if we were to focus more on creating a good tailgate atmosphere now at the expense of short term revenue, how would that affect not just parking revenue but overall attendance 10, 20, 30 years down the road? Of course, it is difficult for the U to focus on long term revenue when they are always judged on present day bottom line (big example: the constant ripping on them for losing money on beer sales in year one while ignoring the fact that the accounting that criticism was based on included all of the installation costs which enabled the selling and would not be incurred in future years).
 


^^^ Yes. Despite the state fair, LD weekend getaways, and opponent, I was utterly shocked at the low non-student attendance for the opener. And it's been pretty frustrating even against decent teams (including Big Ten opponents). The student section isn't always 10,000 strong, but when it's 6-8,000, at kickoff, and they look over to the away sideline seats and see a crapload of maroon plastic seats, I'd begin to wonder why the AD doesn't value me as a ticketholder (even if my seats are subsidized). See shots of the stadium right before kickoff from our first two games:

IMG_20140828_180843.jpgIMG_20140828_180846.jpgIMG_20140906_144126.jpgIMG_20140906_144152.jpg

No, the bowl seats at TCF are by no means bad from a view perspective (no seat really is). But it's hard to argue that seats from, say, the 15 to 50 aren't better than the bowl. It's hard to say the noise wouldn't have a larger effect at all areas of the field. It's hard to say a raucous crowd of students being caught more often on TV doesn't have a positive effect on perceived atmosphere.
 

metrolax said:
I get the idea that it hasn't hurt A&M's bottom line, at all :cool:
Click to expand...

I don't think it hurts the overall bottom line of our athletic department, but it does put a significant burden on our season ticket holders. They gladly bear this burden because they know it creates an intimidating venue to play in from all the student noise, and because they benefited from the same arrangement when they are students. The implicit agreement is that students receive half-price tickets ($290 for a Sports Pass), but in turn show up before the game starts, stand and yell the entire time, do not boo, and leave only after the game is over. In the future, graduating students will pay more for season tickets so that our next generation of student tickets can be subsidized.

The 50 yard line seats directly across from the student section sell for an average of $1,000 per game when the price of season tickets is divided over six home games. We could sell the equivalent student seats to the public and make more money, but supply and demand would probably cause the price on other seats to drop. We'd probably come out ahead slightly, but it wouldn't be worth it. Our gameday environment is second to none, and we just got a ton of free publicity when our student attendance was announced.

I should also note that there is close to zero cell phone coverage (although this will be addressed in 2015), no popular music piped in during the game - just the band who plays classic marches, and very few contests or prizes offered to students. While there isn't just a ton going on in town, you can get to the outskirts of Austin or Houston in about an hour, and there is everything in the world to do in those places. We have no re-entry into the stadium and an active tailgating scene, so students must choose between the game or drinking. This flies in the face of all the excuses made by other programs as to why students don't show up to football games anymore.

2014-seating-map.jpg

White areas are the student section.
 

A game in College Station has just been added to my bucket list.
 

Also, I'm going to brag for a bit...

This is our student section at midnight, the early morning of the game at 6:30 p.m.

0GjSCne.jpg


dQbCefr.jpg


 



TexasAggie11 said:
I don't think it hurts the overall bottom line of our athletic department, but it does put a significant burden on our season ticket holders. They gladly bear this burden because they know it creates an intimidating venue to play in from all the student noise, and because they benefited from the same arrangement when they are students. The implicit agreement is that students receive half-price tickets ($290 for a Sports Pass), but in turn show up before the game starts, stand and yell the entire time, do not boo, and leave only after the game is over. In the future, graduating students will pay more for season tickets so that our next generation of student tickets can be subsidized.

The 50 yard line seats directly across from the student section sell for an average of $1,000 per game when the price of season tickets is divided over six home games. We could sell the equivalent student seats to the public and make more money, but supply and demand would probably cause the price on other seats to drop. We'd probably come out ahead slightly, but it wouldn't be worth it. Our gameday environment is second to none, and we just got a ton of free publicity when our student attendance was announced.

I should also note that there is close to zero cell phone coverage (although this will be addressed in 2015), no popular music piped in during the game - just the band who plays classic marches, and very few contests or prizes offered to students. While there isn't just a ton going on in town, you can get to the outskirts of Austin or Houston in about an hour, and there is everything in the world to do in those places. We have no re-entry into the stadium and an active tailgating scene, so students must choose between the game or drinking. This flies in the face of all the excuses made by other programs as to why students don't show up to football games anymore.

2014-seating-map.jpg

White areas are the student section.
Click to expand...

+1 to the bold, looks like you've got a great atmosphere Aggie.
 


RailBaronYarr said:
^^^ Yes. Despite the state fair, LD weekend getaways, and opponent, I was utterly shocked at the low non-student attendance for the opener. And it's been pretty frustrating even against decent teams (including Big Ten opponents). The student section isn't always 10,000 strong, but when it's 6-8,000, at kickoff, and they look over to the away sideline seats and see a crapload of maroon plastic seats, I'd begin to wonder why the AD doesn't value me as a ticketholder (even if my seats are subsidized). See shots of the stadium right before kickoff from our first two games:

View attachment 2877View attachment 2878View attachment 2879View attachment 2880

No, the bowl seats at TCF are by no means bad from a view perspective (no seat really is). But it's hard to argue that seats from, say, the 15 to 50 aren't better than the bowl. It's hard to say the noise wouldn't have a larger effect at all areas of the field. It's hard to say a raucous crowd of students being caught more often on TV doesn't have a positive effect on perceived atmosphere.
Click to expand...

Wow, that image was really depressing. It looked really bad on TV as well. Hopefully at some point in the near future we will get to the point where people are motivated to show up even for those early season games against weak opponents.

As for the person that mentioned putting a game at A&M on their bucket list, I'm right there with you on that one although betting it might be pretty tough to find tickets or afford them. :)
 

metrolax said:
View attachment 2875

One reason for this is that at A&M, in addition to the unique spirit, the student section isn't
just some section off in the corner, out of the way. At A&M, the students get the East side,
50-yard line and all.

I never have figured out why so many schools just stick their students in some corner. Maybe
more students would attend otherwise.
Click to expand...

According to A&M tradition, students are also not allowed to sit down/are expected to stand, for the entirety of the game. A good number of the rest of the fans also stand throughout much of their games. True story.
 




supadupafly said:
According to A&M tradition, students are also not allowed to sit down/are expected to stand, for the entirety of the game.
Click to expand...

Not true, we can sit down for seven minutes while the other team's band marches. :)
 



A game at Kyle is awesome (full disclosure, I'm an Aggie). I don't at all miss the chain restaurant Mecca that is College Station, but, man, the games. Definitely bucket list worthy when the team is good. Glad to hear they haven't switched from the band to more recorded pop stuff.
 

I'm an Aggie (as most of you already know), and I'm taking my family to the ULM game on Nov. 1st. :)
 

TexasAggie11 said:
I should also note that there is close to zero cell phone coverage (although this will be addressed in 2015), no popular music piped in during the game - just the band who plays classic marches, and very few contests or prizes offered to students. While there isn't just a ton going on in town, you can get to the outskirts of Austin or Houston in about an hour, and there is everything in the world to do in those places. We have no re-entry into the stadium and an active tailgating scene, so students must choose between the game or drinking. This flies in the face of all the excuses made by other programs as to why students don't show up to football games anymore.
Click to expand...
nerds.
 

I think the traditions at Texas A&M have become deeply ingrained by the fact that they've rarely changed and those entrusted with the traditions have closely safeguarded them. Devotion of this sort seems stronger in College Station than virtually anyplace else. That said, if these things hadn't been done for so long to the point that they mean as much as they do to the Texas A&M community, I don't believe you could start them from scratch there and certainly not elsewhere. This is really a lightning in a bottle situation.
 

Members of cults are often extremely loyal, especially in places with no alternate activities.
 





supadupafly said:
see penn state. and cult is probably putting it too nicely. talk about putting the blinders on.
Click to expand...

+infinity

The A&M culture is a thing of beauty. Nebraska has done a nice job too. We need to continue building interest and pride in our own program. This starts with the students who need to have their own unique culture and traditions. We already have a great band and fight song. Our trophy games (excluding the Liberty) are second to none. We recently added the now banned Iowa chant ;-) ;-). Along with some more wins and things could really take off IMHO. Oh, and let's not forget... Ski-U-Mah and Go Gophers!
 

MNGoldenGophers1 said:
+infinity

The A&M culture is a thing of beauty. Nebraska has done a nice job too. We need to continue building interest and pride in our own program. This starts with the students who need to have their own unique culture and traditions. We already have a great band and fight song. Our trophy games (excluding the Liberty) are second to none. We recently added the now banned Iowa chant ;-) ;-). Along with some more wins and things could really take off IMHO. Oh, and let's not forget... Ski-U-Mah and Go Gophers!
Click to expand...

The "now banned Iowa chant" is b.s.

WHO HATES IOWA?
 

As a student at the UofM, I had the pleasure of being flown around the country to look at various schools for an upcoming building renovation. Our first stop was Texas A&M, followed by UT-Austin. On the drive out to A&M (I kid you not) our rented minivan was attacked and/or chased by no less than 13 dogs and one wild pig. A&M certainly does have a cult-like atmosphere. Some of the things, such as the buried mascot/dog area are a little creepy. They have yell (cheer) practice for all of the students the night before the games. At the games, it's all very coordinated with hand-signals, calls, etc. The student body president snuck a couple of us into a game by telling the ticket takers that we were the student board from Minnesota - a nice lie that worked. The game was fun and so was the atmosphere, but our general take was that everyone needed to chill out a bit. They repeatedly went into rants about UT-Austin and their students. It was very negative.

When we went to UT-Austin, those folks had the attitude of....'Yeah, those Aggies are pretty intense and carry things a little too far.' About a minute later as I'm surrounded by UofM administrators, a UT-Austin student walked up and offered to sell me some weed. My thought was that it was a lot like Madison! Either way, it seemed as though the Aggies took their rivalry a lot more seriously than the Longhorns.

I did have fun drinking in College Station. I remember going to a bottle bar where they had live snakes in terrariums in the walls surrounding the pool tables. I remember hanging out in "Bottle Cap Alley" which seemed like a pleasant twist on littering. All in all, a very "interesting" experience to go to Texas A&M. Hopefully this isn't viewed as a dig on A&M. It is just very different than most places you will EVER visit.
 

Texas A&M has always been the little brother in the rivarly with Texas, so them having a chip on their shoulder makes sense. Texas has always digged at the Aggies by proclaiming Oklahoma as their top rival, and at times Arkansas when the Hogs were a Southwest Conference rival. As for the cult like fanaticism, as well as the rigid safeguarding of tradtion, I think the heavy ROTC presenceand status as a senior military college plays a big role.
 

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