Need Fans!!!

[Captain Kangaroo]

OK now that I've heard all the comments and suggestions,here's my take we need to single out the players that can be the face of our program. What does this program want to project to the public? I think we need to have players that want to look at the big picture and accept the responsibilty of being a Division 1 football player. Time passes by so quickly and these young men need to understand the urgency. Hopefully we have a leader on the team that will lead us to the promise land and a MAC Championship. Go Zips!!

The MAC is a Quarterback's conference. Look at Davis @ Ball State...he elevated an entire team to a top 20 ranking...and when he left...the next season they lost double-digit games.

Dan LeFevor was a 6th round NFL draft QB, and he tore the MAC up. PN7 needs to kick some butt in 2010 and we'll be fine.

If we want to compete beyond the MAC, we need a solid defense. Sewell and Wagner are all MAC, but we need others to step up and generate more than 11 sacks on the season (that was our total last season, right?).

A kicker that can make 7-out-of-10 from inside 40 yards would be worth a couple wins in itself.

The list goes on...but the Zips go as Nicely goes in 2010. If he has a great season, we'll go to a bowl.

[Zipgrad01]

Raising attendance requires a few things.

1. Win. I get people, OSU fans and otherwise to go to games. The problem is we lay an egg and you can see the look on their face that the product on the field is inferior. If we won on a consistent basis it would bring people back.

2. Play teams people are interested in watching. I had people ASKING ME to go to the Indiana game. I also have people asking me to go to the Syracuse game. Playing BCS schools, regardless of who they are gives the game a big time feel.

3. Good tailgating. My uncle is considering season tickets because I took him to two games and he tailgated for the first time. He LOVED it and he enjoyed being able to watch a D1 game close to home. He played football for Miami.

4. Start traditions. We have zero. The students and alumni have no common traditions or game day events. It makes the experience feel small time. We have no skull sessions in the gym, walks to the stadium, entrances, cheers, etc... It is just boring.

5. Did I mention winning? We need to win the MAC most years and beat a few name teams at home

6. This is a football crazy area..... it will get better if the loser stigma goes away.

[GP1]

What does this program want to project to the public? I think we need to have players that want to look at the big picture and accept the responsibilty of being a Division 1 football player.

I have no idea what this means. Is it equal to, "the coach has lost the team"?

I have a better idea. Play hard and win some freaking games.

[GP1]

Dan LeFevor was a 6th round NFL draft QB, and he tore the MAC up. PN7 needs to kick some butt in 2010 and we'll be fine.

If we want to compete beyond the MAC, we need a solid defense. Sewell and Wagner are all MAC, but we need others to step up and generate more than 11 sacks on the season (that was our total last season, right?).

If we have a defense with a pulse, everything else will take care of itself.

PN7 needs to be more accurate and everything on offense will be fine.

[eguins]

It is more than just winning, it is winning consistently. When Stambaugh opened in the mid 80s it wasn't packed until we had 2-3 winning seasons and made the playoffs. If I were Akron, I would be striving to win 7-8 games a year and beating one bigtime school on your schedule. If you could do that, that is without a doubt a good start. Promotions only get you so far.

[Dr Z]

I would be striving to win 7-8 games a year and beat one big time school.

Great idea.

[johnnyzip84]

I would be striving to win 7-8 games a year and beat one big time school.

Great idea.

Do you think we can get RI on board with this?

[Spin]

Judging by the Aeros, and the teams who did well at the Coliseum despite not playing a "big three" pro sport, I would say:

Have a nice convenient comfortable venue. Check.

Get the clothing and memorabilia out there. People like to wear clothes of their favorite teams. It makes you legitimate. Get the clothes into department stores and sporting good stores. I know, dead horse, but it bares repeating.

Stay off of SportsCenter. The only time a mid-maj or a minor league team makes SportsCenter is for something really really bad. Starting QB kicked off, coach resigns under the pall of recruiting violations, that all spells "train wreck" to the consumer.

The opponent is not important but being competitive is. Beat the BGSU's and Northern Illinois'. The Aeros draw nice crowds playing Altoona and New Brittain. And beating them and winning championships. Bringing in Indiana if you can compete with them will attract the big time college football fan, but when you give up 56 to Temple, big time college football fan knows you're not even a mediocre mid-major. Save that for later.

Make it a fun event for everyone in the family. I'm a purist and don't like the sideshows at games, but they are popular with the kids. And all those kids pay admission and could be lifelong fans.

Advertise. Advertise the family aspect. Advertise the FOOTBALL. Eastern Ohio is football central. We have high schools that outdraw most colleges.

Get with a marketing partner like we had with the Acme/Zip games. Just don't expect them to pay the whole thing like we did Acme. We need the exposure. We need people to come out and see the team beat the BGSU's and Northern Illinois. Giving away seats is better than playing in an empty stadium.

The Zips have one thing on the Aeros, is they have local talent. Make that known.

First things first, win MAC games. Play non-conference games you can win. Market. Advertise. Remember the kids. Look at the Aeros, they're a perfect case study in selling non-big-time sports.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Remember the kids. Look at the Aeros, they're a perfect case study in selling non-big-time sports.

Have the Aeros ever offered discounted tickets? Something like BOGO? Just curious.

If so, someone told me they are undervaluing their product. Obviously the Aeros must NOT know what they are doing.

[ZachTheZip]

Remember the kids. Look at the Aeros, they're a perfect case study in selling non-big-time sports.

Have the Aeros ever offered discounted tickets? Something like BOGO? Just curious.

If so, someone told me they are undervaluing their product. Obviously the Aeros must NOT know what they are doing.

They have dollar hotdog nights.

[Captain Kangaroo]

They have dollar hotdog nights.

[GP1]

Make it a fun event for everyone in the family. I'm a purist and don't like the sideshows at games, but they are popular with the kids. And all those kids pay admission and could be lifelong fans.

Advertise. Advertise the family aspect. Advertise the FOOTBALL. Eastern Ohio is football central. We have high schools that outdraw most colleges.

Giving away seats is better than playing in an empty stadium.

The Zips have one thing on the Aeros, is they have local talent. Make that known.

I agree with some of what you said, but below is my disagreement.

Why does everything have to be about "the children"? Either we are a big time program or we are not. Stops in play should be filled with awards to student athletes, winter and spring sport athletes being introduced on the field, recognition to large donors, recognition of alumni success, etc. I understand a funny skit with Zippy every once in a while, but college football is adult entertainment. I don't need to go to a football game to be entertained by cartoons during timeouts.

Advertise football, not a "family event".

We have been giving away tickets for years and it doesn't expand the ticket base. In fact, if I still bought tickets, I would be pissed as Hell that they gave away tickets.

Promoting local talent has also not worked....they my as well go back to "band day".

[Spin]

Handing out tickets for the sake of getting people to come isn't the answer. Just ask the Force...

But if you work with another organization, like Acme Stores back in the day, you're not giving away anything. If you get a poster in a tire store or a fast food joint and say "If you get your oil changed here this month..." or "If you buy a rediculously big burrito full of rice and little else..." then there is a value on that ticket. You're getting your name and logo in those stores. That some of us remember the AcmeZip game in 2010 means it was an event.

The more I think about it, you may be right about the kids. After being bombarded with the kid stuff at baseball games, hockey games, arena "football" games, not to mention the loud obnoxious garbage we're hammered with at Cav's games, let's let football be football. We'll let the Aeros and Monsters run the circus.

[g-mann17]

Make it a fun event for everyone in the family. I'm a purist and don't like the sideshows at games, but they are popular with the kids. And all those kids pay admission and could be lifelong fans.

Advertise. Advertise the family aspect. Advertise the FOOTBALL. Eastern Ohio is football central. We have high schools that outdraw most colleges.

Giving away seats is better than playing in an empty stadium.

The Zips have one thing on the Aeros, is they have local talent. Make that known.

I agree with some of what you said, but below is my disagreement.

Why does everything have to be about "the children"? Either we are a big time program or we are not. Stops in play should be filled with awards to student athletes, winter and spring sport athletes being introduced on the field, recognition to large donors, recognition of alumni success, etc. I understand a funny skit with Zippy every once in a while, but college football is adult entertainment. I don't need to go to a football game to be entertained by cartoons during timeouts.

Advertise football, not a "family event".

We have been giving away tickets for years and it doesn't expand the ticket base. In fact, if I still bought tickets, I would be pissed as Hell that they gave away tickets.

Promoting local talent has also not worked....they my as well go back to "band day".

I think we agree on something.

[Captain Kangaroo]

We have been giving away tickets for years and it doesn't expand the ticket base. In fact, if I still bought tickets, I would be pissed as Hell that they gave away tickets.

Promoting local talent has also not worked....they my as well go back to "band day".

Giving away free tickets is bad. Discounting GA ducats on games that typically draw flies, and promoting event, is smart.

If the Zips are playing Malone in basketball, I would rather have a 3/4 full house than tumbleweeds.

And - "Band Day" is still a staple of filling the seats @ UA. Sad to say...

[ZachTheZip]

If what we're selling is popular enough with parents, the parents will bring their kids anyway. None of the pro teams I've ever watched go out of their way to attract families. They create a product that attracts people whether they have kids or are single adults, but if the parents want to bring along their kids then the team will accommodate them.

Don't use bringing kids as a selling point. It sends a message that the whole thing is meant for kids. And if there's anything that will keep students and adults away, it's the prospect of being surrounded by a bunch of smelly, whining kids at an event designed specifically for smelly, whining kids.

[GP1]

Giving away free tickets is bad. Discounting GA ducats on games that typically draw flies, and promoting event, is smart.

If the Zips are playing Malone in basketball, I would rather have a 3/4 full house than tumbleweeds.

I have to respectfully disagree. The last thing the Zips need to do when the basketball team plays Malone or St. Francis or whatever cupcake the parade into the JAR is get a lot of people to the game. If a person's first experience with Zips basketball is watching them roll over a pile of crap, they will believe that is the way Zips games are. Most people don't understand it is part of the "building process" . If my choice was to watch the basketball team play Malone for $1 or pay the amount of a full price ticket to not have to go watch the game, I would probably pay full price to sit at home and do something interesting.

When fans don't go to games, they are making a rationale choice to not spend not only their money, but also their time on a bad product.

Nobody is talking about the giant elephant in the room and this isn't just a problem isolated to UofA. The elephant is the quality of play in the MAC in recent years has been terrible. A fan doesn't have to go to a game in person to see the MAC is terrible. MAC schools are on TV a lot and fans get exposure to the league much more than in the past. Fans are not stupid....they know crap when they see it and that's why MAC games are so poorly attended. You can have dollar hotdogs all day long, you can have counter productive discounted tickets all day long, you can have Zippy going around making farting sounds with his armpits all day long, but as long as the quality of product remains low, people will not turn out.

The question shouldn't be...How do you market the Zips? It should be....How do you market a bad product and get repeat customers while generating enough income to support an entire athletic department? There are bad products marketed and sold every day that support companies. It can be done, so how do we do it is the real question.

[ZachTheZip]

They have dollar hotdog nights.

You'll be even more shocked to find out that they are having a dollar beer night tomorrow. Dollar. Beer. Night. The Info would be full from the time the gates open until the end of the game.

[Captain Kangaroo]

They have dollar hotdog nights.

You'll be even more shocked to find out that they are having a dollar beer night tomorrow. Dollar. Beer. Night. The Info would be full from the time the gates open until the end of the game.

Who needs a game? Just open the Info for Dollar Beer Nights every Friday and Saturday? Put some sports event on the Jumbotron...blast some tunes...we could create The World's Biggest College Bar?!

[eguins]

Check this out: http://www.letsgoguins.com/columns/footbal...-ua-Can't State-and-ysu

At least we aren't as bad as Can't. How they remain in the FBS is beyond me.

[InTheZone]

Check this out: <a href="http://www.letsgoguins.com/columns/football/170-attendance-breakdown-for-ua-Can't State-and-ysu" target="_blank">http://www.letsgoguins.com/columns/footbal...-ua-Can't State-and-ysu</a>

At least we aren't as bad as Can't. How they remain in the FBS is beyond me.

Go to hell.

[RootforRoo44]

Check this out: <a href="http://www.letsgoguins.com/columns/football/170-attendance-breakdown-for-ua-Can't State-and-ysu" target="_blank">http://www.letsgoguins.com/columns/footbal...-ua-Can't State-and-ysu</a>

At least we aren't as bad as Can't. How they remain in the FBS is beyond me.

Go to hell.

Who cares eguins?

YSU is garbage....see our crappy campuses thread.

[Zipmeister]

Alright, nobody seemed impressed by the idea of free food and naked cheerleaders, so here's another thought.

At least once per year admit kids for free and advertise the event as "unnattended children will be sold as slaves at halftime night."

The proceeds could be put to a variety of worthwhile uses.

[scottditzen]

I know the stadium is brand new, but still, it definitely has an air of being unfinished.

I think additional improvements to the stadium and overall gameday experience/atmosphere would go a long long way.

[MaxZIP]

I know the stadium is brand new, but still, it definitely has an air of being unfinished.

I think additional improvements to the stadium and overall gameday experience/atmosphere would go a long long way.

I think a winning team would bring a lot to the game day experience. Bring in a good team to play there and the stadium will come alive.