station19
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Empty student seats at TCF Stadium? U has a plan
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MNVCGUY
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This is a tough one. I can totally understand the Universities desire to sell those seats for the money but it will be a shame to see them go to the general public because the student section is such a special part of college athletics.
Hopefully we hit a point here in the future where the student demand is high enough that this is no longer an issue.
Hopefully we hit a point here in the future where the student demand is high enough that this is no longer an issue.
Spoofin
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Couldn't agree more. A good student section is what CFB is about. However, we ain't got one so you can't blame the U for doing this.
El Amin Fan
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Wow I didn't realize how far from 10K we've fallen.
“It’s our goal to fill that section with 10,000 students,” Mike Ellis, the executive associate athletic director, told the board. But realistically, he said, that goal has been elusive.
Since the 50,800-seat stadium opened in 2009, the number of student season-ticket holders has dropped from 10,248 to 4,953 last year.
“It’s our goal to fill that section with 10,000 students,” Mike Ellis, the executive associate athletic director, told the board. But realistically, he said, that goal has been elusive.
Since the 50,800-seat stadium opened in 2009, the number of student season-ticket holders has dropped from 10,248 to 4,953 last year.
umm, this hasn't been a commuter campus in years
Joelle Stangler, a junior who is the incoming student-body president, says there are practical obstacles, too. “Many students have work obligations on the weekends,” she said. And with the U’s history as a commuter campus, she noted, “game day isn’t an integral part of every student’s life.”
Joelle Stangler, a junior who is the incoming student-body president, says there are practical obstacles, too. “Many students have work obligations on the weekends,” she said. And with the U’s history as a commuter campus, she noted, “game day isn’t an integral part of every student’s life.”
I don't think the attendance would be much different if the tickets were free, and in fact there are studies that show that a modest financial commitment often encourages people to attend something as opposed to brushing off an event because its free anyway. Mike Schmit, a finance major, said he skipped the season tickets his sophomore year because of the cost. “Personally, I have over $30,000 in student loans,” he said. “I could use this $100 somewhere else.”
TexasAggie11
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I don't buy that guys like Mike Schmit are putting their $90 into early repayment of student loans, but rather spending it on video games, beer, clothes, dates, etc. Also, can students at the U not put the tickets on their student accounts and have the fee covered by scholarships, financial aid, or mom and dad? That would be a big step in increasing student ticket purchases.
Also, an SBP worth her salt wouldn't be making excuses, but rather rallying the students to purchase tickets so they don't lose 2/5 of their section while working with administration to improve the gameday experience for students.
+1 all around. the comment from the student body president is telling.
GopherVotary
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"but only, Ellis said, if all the other seats in the stadium are sold out."
Well, that means those upper level student section seats will be empty for every game except Iowa.
Well, that means those upper level student section seats will be empty for every game except Iowa.
hungan1
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The average new generation kid going to college nowadays have different priorities on how they spend their increasingly meager entertainment dollars. Things have gotten expensive, even the cost of fast food!
Is there a national trend in students losing interest in going to live games? I don't know.
Will wiring up the stadium for wifi etc.. help?
I guess whether they fork out money for season tickets also really depends on whether the Gophers are winning consistently enough to cause kids to leave the football game parties or the bars to go to a live game.
WIN AND THEY WILL COME!
Is there a national trend in students losing interest in going to live games? I don't know.
Will wiring up the stadium for wifi etc.. help?
I guess whether they fork out money for season tickets also really depends on whether the Gophers are winning consistently enough to cause kids to leave the football game parties or the bars to go to a live game.
WIN AND THEY WILL COME!
Iceland12
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Yes hungan, it is. The recent stories revolve around Michigan going from 21,000 student tickets in 2012 down to a projected 13-14,000 this year. Here's an article for ESPN earlier this year.
http://espn.go.com/college-football...-concern-students-show-college-football-games
No. 5 Oregon was in Tucson to take on Arizona and, despite consecutive home losses and a 6-4 record for the Wildcats, the Ducks and their lightning-quick offense were a pretty attractive draw.
But come kickoff, Arizona's 9,000-seat student section -- which provides seats from endzone to endzone along the home team's sideline -- was looking anemic. At the start of the third quarter, Arizona had built a 28-9 halftime lead in a huge upset bid over Oregon, which had only lost four of its last 42 conference games.
By the time Arizona officials stopped scanning student tickets into the game after the second-half kickoff, only 3,773 were accounted for, in a home game featuring a Heisman Trophy candidate,Ka'Deem Carey, against a rival..
t's not just happening at Arizona. It's an issue everywhere. Despite the NCAA celebrating an overall attendance record due to an increased number of programs, crowds topped out at an average of 46,456 fans per game in 2008, with attendance for FBS schools dropping below 46,000 per game for the past five seasons. But even more alarming: In analyzing the demographics of the college football crowd, athletic directors and marketers alike have been most baffled by the student population..
Oklahoma sells more than 8,000 student season tickets each year, which represents roughly a third of its student population in Norman. The school gives students time to claim their tickets -- which come at a 76 percent discount to the regular price -- during the week leading up to a home game, and if they aren't claimed by that Friday, they go back into a pool and are sold to the general population.
The average number of students that showed up to its home games on Saturday this season was 5,752, meaning that, on average, 28 percent of the student tickets weren't used on gameday. And that's for a team that was 10-2 this season..
"While game time, opponent, promotion and record all had some effect, weather had the most direct effect on our student crowd," said Jeff Garner, Penn State's assistant athletic director for ticketing sales and service.
For Penn State, that means cold, wind, rain and snow. For Georgia, heat certainly plays a role, though the exact reason for the school's precipitous decline in student attendance still seems to be a mystery. This year, the University of Georgia cut its student section capacity from 18,026 to 16,200. Despite overselling on purpose (17,212), the school's scanners revealed this sad fact: An average of 28.8 percent of those who bought tickets didn't show up to home games...
Success, or lack thereof, on the field obviously plays an important role. For years, Iowa's student section capacity was steady at 10,400 students per game. But this year after going 19-19 in games from 2010-2012, the school only sold 7,500 tickets and an average of 30 percent of those students didn't show up for the games. In the middle of the season, Iowa closed off two sections of the stadium previously occupied by students and began selling those tickets to the general public. Only half the student tickets purchased for the game against Michigan, which happened during the school's Thanksgiving break, were used..
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TexasAggie11
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I'm not sure I buy that... walk around in a student parking lot and look at the cars or cruise by any nice restaurant near a university on a Friday night or look at the entertainment setups in many college apartments and see how many students live. If they want tickets, they can figure out a way to afford tickets.
TexasAggie11
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Amateurs.
Wonder why these articles never seem to mention the other side of the story: schools that do maintain a full student section and can charge a premium price to do so. Why these ADs are not looking at other schools (and it's not just us) for ideas is beyond me.
(Of course, we need to do the same for basketball).
Ski U Master
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Right. They just don't want tickets. The product is poor and the gameday experience is worse.
CrocShots
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Amateurs.
Wonder why these articles never seem to mention the other side of the story: schools that do maintain a full student section and can charge a premium price to do so. Why these ADs are not looking at other schools (and it's not just us) for ideas is beyond me.
(Of course, we need to do the same for basketball).
Let's be honest here. Texas is a different animal for football, students are largely from the state with that tuition deal they have, and college station does reallly have much around it. Aggie spirit is pounded into peoples heads as soon as they step foot on campus. 30K is pretty ridiculous though.
mplsbadger
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...for many as soon as they set foot on the delivery table I'll bet.
Quote Originally Posted by Jon
Out of sight out of mind; put sports back on Free TV.
In the boxing movie “Cinderella Man” when asked why he fights : quite simply, he was fighting for milk for his kids...
TV money is great in the short term but perhaps the next generation won't be or is not a Gopher fan; out of sight out of mind...
Out of sight out of mind; put sports back on Free TV.
In the boxing movie “Cinderella Man” when asked why he fights : quite simply, he was fighting for milk for his kids...
Bet that's a part of it but not surprisingly it's never referred to. Wonder if ESPN and/or the BTN will do a special on it?
TV money is great in the short term but perhaps the next generation won't be or is not a Gopher fan; out of sight out of mind...
short ornery norwegian
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you can't force people to do something they don't want to do. If the students don't want to go to the games, they're not going to go.
The U needs to do whatever it can to sell out the stadium - both for revenue and for appearances. I think it just looks bad when a game is on TV and the camera shows the areas of empty seats - in a 50,000 seat stadium. If the students don't want to go, then make those seats available to the public. I want to see a full stadium, and if there are only 3,000 or 4,000 students at the game, so be it.
The U needs to do whatever it can to sell out the stadium - both for revenue and for appearances. I think it just looks bad when a game is on TV and the camera shows the areas of empty seats - in a 50,000 seat stadium. If the students don't want to go, then make those seats available to the public. I want to see a full stadium, and if there are only 3,000 or 4,000 students at the game, so be it.
WilliamsArenaGuy
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That would have been me. Went to Augsburg mainly to be near the U. I went to as many gopher games as possible. I think I made it to one Auggie football and basketball game each.
beavergopher
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Excellent idea. Give first dibs to St Kate!
short ornery norwegian
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I went to Augsburg and never missed an Auggie FB game.
Of course, I was the team statistician.........(doing work-study for the SID as part of my financial aid package.) I'm trying to remember, but I don't think I ever went to a Gopher game while I was at Augsburg. After getting out of college, I did start going to Gopher games when I could.
I do remember the Gophs used to run some kind of promotion at the Dome where HS teams could get discounted tickets if they came to the game in their uniforms. Maybe they could try something like that again.
Of course, I was the team statistician.........(doing work-study for the SID as part of my financial aid package.) I'm trying to remember, but I don't think I ever went to a Gopher game while I was at Augsburg. After getting out of college, I did start going to Gopher games when I could.
I do remember the Gophs used to run some kind of promotion at the Dome where HS teams could get discounted tickets if they came to the game in their uniforms. Maybe they could try something like that again.
Quote Originally Posted by Jon
Out of sight out of mind; put sports back on Free TV.
In the boxing movie “Cinderella Man” when asked why he fights : quite simply, he was fighting for milk for his kids...
Yep I got that; will be interesting to see how it goes, I think BigTen network started around 2007 so perhaps interest will continue to drop... Like the Twins once they got their new stadium they pulled the plug on their one free weekly game and I think their attendance is down... Maybe there will be some social media thing where people say enough is enough and target a team > would be funny if all the seats were empty...
Out of sight out of mind...
Out of sight out of mind; put sports back on Free TV.
In the boxing movie “Cinderella Man” when asked why he fights : quite simply, he was fighting for milk for his kids...
Yep I got that; will be interesting to see how it goes, I think BigTen network started around 2007 so perhaps interest will continue to drop... Like the Twins once they got their new stadium they pulled the plug on their one free weekly game and I think their attendance is down... Maybe there will be some social media thing where people say enough is enough and target a team > would be funny if all the seats were empty...
Out of sight out of mind...
die hard gopher
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They already do that. Except its only for one game of the year, usually the second home game and the tickets are already distributed to the coaches so you don't have to show up in you're game jersey to get tickets.
GophersInIowa
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I think there are much bigger reasons why attendance has declined. Three straight years of losing 96+ and a stadium that isn't really "new" to most people anymore play a substantially bigger role in the decline in attendance in my opinion.
It's probably somewhat of a factor, but not that much in my opinion.
GophersInIowa
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Stupid computer, double post.