Fans Need To Do Their Part

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bottlebass said:
It would be nice. They need to get the student section as full as it was for the opener, that would be huge. The student section makes more noise than the rest of the stadium. I don't care how they do it, start giving out the tickets, have some tail gates where students can win tickets or something but get the student section full.
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AMEN. My position for a long time has been to get more students at the game. Period. Focusing on any other demo is a waste of time until that problem is solved.


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Unfortunately due to work I'm out for all 11am games this year
 

Spoofin said:
AMEN. My position for a long time has been to get more students at the game. Period. Focusing on any other demo is a waste of time until that problem is solved.


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The Maryland 11 a.m. start time isn't gonna help. It's possible to get a packed student section this year, but only under the perfect conditions. It's gonna take awhile before we can expect a packed section for an 11 am game. I honestly think the main factor in student attendance isn't price or promotions. I think it's just start time.
 

Spoofin said:
AMEN. My position for a long time has been to get more students at the game. Period. Focusing on any other demo is a waste of time until that problem is solved.


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I just don't think there are 18k students who want to go to games every week. Price is not a reason why students aren't going.
 



Some guy said:
I just don't think there are 18k students who want to go to games every week. Price is not a reason why students aren't going.
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Student section is less than 10,000 seats now and they still haven't been able to sell that out.
 

Some guy said:
<b>I just don't think there are 18k students who want to go to games every week. </b>Price is not a reason why students aren't going.
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Sadly, you are correct. IMO, that is the number 1 issue with our attendance (not the only). No reason we shouldn't be able to get a ton more students who want to go. Look at the size of our University. They need to make it THE place to be. Somehow. Anyhow.


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Spoofin said:
Sadly, you are correct. IMO, that is the number 1 issue with our attendance (not the only). No reason we shouldn't be able to get a ton more students who want to go. Look at the size of our University. They need to make it THE place to be. Somehow. Anyhow.


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Wait I got this radical idea, maybe they should ask the students what would get them to go to football games!
 

Spoofin said:
Sadly, you are correct. IMO, that is the number 1 issue with our attendance (not the only). No reason we shouldn't be able to get a ton more students who want to go. Look at the size of our University. They need to make it THE place to be. Somehow. Anyhow.


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I agree that they need to continue to get more students, but the student section has been getting more full (and louder) over the years. Still more work to do, but while the rest of the stadium empties, the student section is trending in the right direction.
 



Spoofin said:
Sadly, you are correct. IMO, that is the number 1 issue with our attendance (not the only). No reason we shouldn't be able to get a ton more students who want to go. Look at the size of our University. They need to make it THE place to be. Somehow. Anyhow.


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Kinda hard to do that in a city with so many other things going on.
 

Taji34 said:
Wait I got this radical idea, maybe they should ask the students what would get them to go to football games!
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Win big games against teams you weren't expected to beat. Repeat. Become the favorite in those games. Watch as stadium fills up.

It all starts on the field.
 

Hates Monikers said:
I agree that they need to continue to get more students, but the student section has been getting more full (and louder) over the years. Still more work to do, but while the rest of the stadium empties, the student section is trending in the right direction.
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I hope you are right. Increasing student attendance now, and creating loyal fans is the best long-term sustainability plan. Decreasing costs to get more old folks that will only come if we are winning and if the weather is nice and if it doesn't conflict with the state fair and if there isn't too much construction/traffic is not the answer, IMHO.


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Spoofin said:
Sadly, you are correct. IMO, that is the number 1 issue with our attendance (not the only). No reason we shouldn't be able to get a ton more students who want to go. Look at the size of our University. They need to make it THE place to be. Somehow. Anyhow.


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Pick a student at random (must be in attendance) at the 3rd quarter break to receive a $1,000 tuition voucher. Costs the University relatively nothing over the course of a season.....and incentivizes students on the fence to attend.
 



stocker08 said:
Pick a student at random (must be in attendance) at the 3rd quarter break to receive a $1,000 tuition voucher. Costs the University relatively nothing over the course of a season.....and incentivizes students on the fence to attend.
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If 5,000 students show up your expected value of the added incentive is 20 cents per game.
 

stocker08 said:
Pick a student at random (must be in attendance) at the 3rd quarter break to receive a $1,000 tuition voucher. Costs the University relatively nothing over the course of a season.....and incentivizes students on the fence to attend.
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Already giving out a random $2000 scholarship....
 


stocker08 said:
Seriously? Why don't they advertise that during the game?
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Well... they do.

They put it on the big screen and make a bit show of picking the person randomly on the screen.

That's why they hand the students those tiny paper oars, they wave them around and pick from the students who have their oars out.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Well... they do.

They put it on the big screen and make a bit show of picking the person randomly on the screen.

That's why they hand the students those tiny paper oars, they wave them around and pick from the students who have their oars out.
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Hmmmm.......guess I wasn't paying attention.
 


I agree student attendance is an issue, however we're not the only school with that problem. That said, IMO, some ways to make students come are not rocket science:

1) Make it cheaper to attend
2) Make the games seem like less of a time commitment
3) Make the games feel more important (e.g., nationally relevant/win more)

I'm not saying you have to do all of these, but I bet improvements in these areas would pay dividends as far as student attendance. Then, once they come, you have to invite them into the tribe, feed that sense of being a part of something bigger than themselves, and make the experience worth coming back for - including giveaways, student tailgates, etc. But that's a different beast than getting them there in the first place.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Already giving out a random $2000 scholarship....
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You all hated me for this, but I really don't believe that's going to make much of a difference to these students. None of them are so bad at math that they will think that showing up to the games is worth their time for a 1/10,000 shot at $2,000.
They would be better off using that time to apply for scholarships.

It was very generous and a great way to reward those that do go to the games, but it's not going to draw new students the way decreasing the ticket prices or making them free would.
 

hello-world said:
You all hated me for this, but I really don't believe that's going to make much of a difference to these students. None of them are so bad at math that they will think that showing up to the games is worth their time for a 1/10,000 shot at $2,000.
They would be better off using that time to apply for scholarships.

It was very generous and a great way to reward those that do go to the games, but it's not going to draw new students the way decreasing the ticket prices or making them free would.
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Right now it's about a 1/6000 shot...based on what I see.
 

Gopher07 said:
I agree student attendance is an issue, however we're not the only school with that problem. That said, IMO, some ways to make students come are not rocket science:

1) Make it cheaper to attend
2) Make the games seem like less of a time commitment
3) Make the games feel more important (e.g., nationally relevant/win more)

I'm not saying you have to do all of these, but I bet improvements in these areas would pay dividends as far as student attendance. Then, once they come, you have to invite them into the tribe, feed that sense of being a part of something bigger than themselves, and make the experience worth coming back for - including giveaways, student tailgates, etc. But that's a different beast than getting them there in the first place.
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Not only tickets, but maybe have a student discount on concessions (excluding alcohol probably)?
 

Taji34 said:
Not only tickets, but maybe have a student discount on concessions (excluding alcohol probably)?
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Nothing like standing in the hot sun at 1:00pm after drinking all morning and not being able to afford a bottle of water.
 

hello-world said:
I mean we had a 9 win year last year and this is happening.
Fleck can win all the games he wants, and it will start to get full toward the end of the season, but, honestly, the prices are way too high.
$630 per season ticket is manageable for zone three, but if I want to move up to zone 2, forget about it.
$2000 for two tickets to a team that doesn't play P5 opponents OOC, no thanks.
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We will get P5 opponents when we start winning and pull in sellout crowds. Not enough payout to attract anyone big. We might have to go on the road to play these people and win a big one like Maryland did this year. Prices are fair. Compare with going out to dinner, dropping $8.50 for a beer at the state fair...win the games and get through a stretch where you beat Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, then price issues become less important.
 

saintpauljeff said:
Please get the B1G to ditch the 11am start times. Our group of 8 former season ticket holders were targeting the Maryland game as a possibility but now that the start time is out, I don't know...
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That will never happen. But winning more will decrease the # of times we are assigned the garbage time slots.
 

OddStack said:
Right now it's about a 1/6000 shot...based on what I see.
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Word has it the promotion is from an "anonymous donor".

And honestly I think the non students love it just as much as anyone else. It's a nice feel good moment for everyone.
 

They need to make the student tickets free and go from there.
 

Taji34 said:
Not only tickets, but maybe have a student discount on concessions (excluding alcohol probably)?
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It's a lever they should consider. As for an example of a major sports team pulling this lever, Arthur Blank (Falcons owner) has seen the writing on the wall and done something about it. At the new Falcons stadium you can get a soda for $2 with unlimited refills. Hot dogs are $2. Bottled water is $2. It's refreshing to see and frankly I think many major sports venues might follow this lead in the coming years as it gets more difficult to attract fans to the game because of the overall cost of attendance.

Starting with deep concessions discounts for students would be a great start.

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