Iowa having trouble selling tickets

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Curseislifted33

Curseislifted33

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What else is there to do in Iowa?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Iowa Joins Michigan Among Big Ten Schools Having Trouble Selling Football Tickets <a href="http://t.co/5od6sn47Yk">http://t.co/5od6sn47Yk</a></p>— The Big Lead (@thebiglead) <a href="https://twitter.com/thebiglead/statuses/493845902440660995">July 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

With thousands of tickets remaining for each of its seven home games during the 2014 season, Iowa director of athletics Gary Barta is searching for solutions.

“The sky is not falling, but we do have tickets to sell for every game,’’ Barta said Friday. “Four years ago, we had sold out every game by July and that’s a great position to be in. We are not in the position often, but it was the case then.’’

That is not the case now — Iowa had just over 10,000 seats left for a Sept. 6 game against Ball State and 2,128 remaining for a game a week later against Iowa State — and Barta and his staff are attempting to dissect why Hawkeye season ticket sales have stagnated.

Go Gophers!!
 

They may need to build a stadiette
 

Simple economics. With the terrible weather, the corn crop will fall well short of bumper this year.
 

It's a nationwide problem. College football is getting away from what made it special and the fans are dropping off.
 


Ski U Master said:
It's a nationwide problem. College football is getting away from what made it special and the fans are dropping off.
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I'm not so sure about that. I think its still special, it's just easier, cheaper, and more comfortable watching it from home.
 

Ski U Master said:
It's a nationwide problem. College football is getting away from what made it special and the fans are dropping off.
Click to expand...

May I assume you are referring the game day being invaded by in-game promos and the total commercialized atmosphere? If so I agree that is a large part.
 

Maybe they need to build some unisex bathrooms. I know that fans would come out of the woodwork!
 




JMWZ made a good point. With the BTN and other cable/satellite sources it is pretty hard not to find your favorite team
playing on the tube. You can even cue up Aggie Vision. Hee,hee....
 

icepirate13 said:
Maybe they need to build some unisex bathrooms. I know that fans would come out of the woodwork!
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I think a barn full of sheep adjacent to kinnick stadium would allow them to double capacity and still assure sellouts. In fact, I bet there would be a waiting list stretching beyond the horizon.
 

Iowa having trouble selling tickets? Who gives a schidt!!!
 

Ski U Master said:
It's a nationwide problem. College football is getting away from what made it special and the fans are dropping off.
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You are correct sir. The atmosphere is less and less appealing to women in general which is an issue.
 



Ski U Master said:
It's a nationwide problem. College football is getting away from what made it special and the fans are dropping off.
Click to expand...

I agree. Trying to extract to much money from the equation will slowly and ultimately sour the product.
The other thing is that the High Definition at home experience is just so darn good.
 

BarnBoy said:
I agree. Trying to extract to much money from the equation will slowly and ultimately sour the product.
The other thing is that the High Definition at home experience is just so darn good.
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True. For me, the best way to experience the game it to see it live, and then watch it again at home.
 

station19 said:
May I assume you are referring the game day being invaded by in-game promos and the total commercialized atmosphere? If so I agree that is a large part.
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Commercialization of the gameday experience
Increasing ticket prices
Declining value placed on the "student" aspect of being a student-athlete
Emphasis/marketing on individual players over the team/school
Regional culture giving way to television driven land grabs (Rutgers, Maryland)

Every year college football takes one step closer to being the NFL Jr.
 


http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsport...eepstakes-to-sell-tickets-and-avoid-iowa-law/

The Iowa Hawkeyes are doing everything in their power to get students to go to home games. The athletic department is even trying to find ways to skirt laws in the state of Iowa to do so.

Last week, the Hawkeyes proposed an opportunity for students to win free tuition. The students had to buy season tickets, and they would be entered into a raffle to potentially win the prize.

Two days after the program was offered, it was suspended due to questions over whether it was legal or not. In the state of Iowa, it’s illegal to gamble by using credit. Since the bulk of the purchases were made online, the school refunded the tickets bought through the program.

Iowa won’t be deterred, though.

The option the school is now considering is to turn the promotion into a sweepstakes instead of a raffle.

“The sweepstakes option is a possibility that we’re waiting on feedback from the Johnson County attorney,” Rick Klatt, a Hawkeye associate athletic director of external relations, told The Daily Iowan.

The Hawkeyes still have over 3,000 season tickets for students available. These tickets range from $175 to $140. The varying prices and whether or not the person needs to be present to be awarded the prize also became issues.

If Iowa’s athletic departments finds a way to enact the sweepstakes, it’s a tremendous opportunity for students to potentially save thousands of dollars they might have to pay back in the future.

Here’s a piece of advice for those students at Iowa considering this option — buy the tickets and hope for the best.

UPDATED (8:01 PM EST): The Johnson County attorney approved Iowa’s revised tuition give-away program, according to a statement released by the school.

“We are pleased the Johnson County Attorney and the Office of the Attorney General have approved our revised plan,” said Rick Klatt, Iowa’s associate athletics director for external relations.

Five students that participate in the program will be chosen at random and awarded $8,000 to be used for their tuition or educational expenses in the fall or the following spring.
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Tickets keep getting more and more expensive. To justify the cost, the schools need to go much further in providing a valuable experience to fans. That doesn't exclude the need for wins, which I'll get to in a moment, but fans need and want wifi or cellular data networks that don't crash, better food options, enough concession stands to ensure reasonable lines, large HD boards, bathrooms that aren't cesspools and that are also plentiful enough to handle the lines, concourses that are wide enough to deal with the crowds of people, and a better customer service experience including perks even for rank and file season ticket holders.

Iowa put in a new HD video board at Kinnick Stadium last year as well as putting a real stand in place of the erector set one in one of the end zones, building more concession stands, and putting in more restooms. However, having been to Kinnick Stadium before, it still needs a lot of work. I get the desire of some to have a rustic, traditional college football stadium, but fan comfort has to enter the equation when the money required for tickets continues to grow.

As for wins and losses, I think it's playing a role in the apathy gripping both Iowa and Michigan. Leaving the Wolverines aside, the Hawkeyes are 8-5 (4-4), 7-6 (4-4), 4-8 (2-6), 8-5 (5-3) from 2010-13. There have been some disappointing losses in there (including to us!) and a sense that the fanbase is mentally done with Ferentz, not to mention some off field incidents. My take is that Iowa fans have a certain expectation of what the team is and what it should be that don't necessarily match reality. Power has shifted in the Big Ten towards a few elite scools to a greater extent than since the Woody-Bo years. For revenue, looking at 2012, Iowa is closer to the U of M than to Ohio State or Michigan. After getting to some Rose and Orange Bowls, I get the feeling middle tier games aren't firing up the Hawkeye fans.
 

Curseislifted33 said:
What else is there to do in Iowa?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Iowa Joins Michigan Among Big Ten Schools Having Trouble Selling Football Tickets <a href="http://t.co/5od6sn47Yk">http://t.co/5od6sn47Yk</a></p>— The Big Lead (@thebiglead) <a href="https://twitter.com/thebiglead/statuses/493845902440660995">July 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Click to expand...

They must have figured out that it's more comfortable to bang at home instead the bathroom stall.
 

Football games are social events involving interacting with others around you.

When a machine (tablet / hand-held device) fulfills that interaction, it certainly has to be considered as a variable in affecting attendance levels of younger fans.

Not so sure it is as much of a cost issue for students as some claim it is although I truly don't doubt that it may be for some.
Be interesting to see the breakdown of the percentage of students who own HDTV's, iPads, SMARTphones, iTunes accounts, as well.

In other words, not necessarily the cost but more so where / what money is being spent on (budget prioritizing).

Probably more enjoyable for a student to watch BTNtoGo App on their $300 (phone / tablet) while Tweeting their buddies with a #AXE_IS_BACK_BABY!
 

Buck_Buchanan said:
Football games are social events involving interacting with others around you.

When a machine (tablet / hand-held device) fulfills that interaction, it certainly has to be considered as a variable in affecting attendance levels of younger fans.

Not so sure it is as much of a cost issue for students as some claim it is although I truly don't doubt that it may be for some.
Be interesting to see the breakdown of the percentage of students who own HDTV's, iPads, SMARTphones, iTunes accounts, as well.

In other words, not necessarily the cost but more so where / what money is being spent on (budget prioritizing).

Probably more enjoyable for a student to watch BTNtoGo App on their $300 (phone / tablet) while Tweeting their buddies with a #AXE_IS_BACK_BABY!
Click to expand...

All of this may be true but I am not sure the devices you listed exist in Iowa.
 



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