Attendance

[Captain Kangaroo]

Interesting article on the K.e.n.t. game attendance

If $5 tix fill the house, and your team is essentially worth $5...should you do what is best for the team and create an exciting environment? Pack the house?

Or, charge $15 (triple the price)...get 1/3rd the house filled...and net the same amount of money?

K.e.n.t. State math note: K.e.n.t. had 24,200 tickets sold...and $88,000 in ticket revenue. That equals $3.66/ticket.

K.e.n.t. concession note: The lines at the concession stands were easily a 30 minute wait for ANYTHING. They sold every soda, popcorn, water, candy that was in that place. Divide the crowd by 3, and you get a fraction of the concession sales.

I'll guess an extra 5,000 cars (vs. an 8k crowd) at $5 per parking space = $25,000.

Do you adjust your ticket prices to reflect the crappy product on the field?

Did Proenza notice the K.e.n.t. crowd size, in comparison to what's coming through the turnstiles at InfoCision?

[skip-zip]

First, let me say that I understand the argument on both sides of this issue.

But...as a fan, I'm losing my enthusiasm to go to a 3/4 empty Info and cheer along with a few other people each play, and hearing our hollow sounds echo in the empty atmosphere. I want excitement. I guess an economist would say that supply and demand should determine your price. I have a hard time disagreeing with that. I want more atmosphere and we should do whatever it takes, unfortunately.

This will especially come into play next year. I expect that tons of people will not renew season tickets. Especially after these heavily discounted packages are now being offered for reserved seating multi-game packages. We need to have some way to keep this ex-season ticket holders coming back, even if they don't renew.

[akzipper]

It's a RIVALRY game, of course they are going to get people there. I bet you all the rest of their games will be empty. Ticket prices do not keep people away, a bad team will. If someone wants to go to the game $5 and $15 is not a big deal. That's like saying I'm going to pay $45 to watch the Browns, but not $55. Don't blame our marketing/athletic dept we have a terrible team, just leave it at that. It's the process of coming to the game, parking, walking, sitting on hard bleachers, poor weather, and a bad team. It's not the money, it's the thinking "do we really want to go all the way there to just watch them lose again?" and the answer will always be NO.

Another pro example, look at the Indians attendance this year. Terrible! Do you blame their marketing dept or ticket prices? no, they are terrible, but guess what when the Yankees come to town they draw a large crowd. It was a rivalry game, so people are going to be there. A good team fills the house, a bad one empties it. Everyone knows Akron has a football team, and they know all too well how bad we are. Until that changes, no one will go to the games, even if it's free.

[ZachTheZip]

Then if your team somehow turns the corner, can you justify raising the prices to something more resembling a D-I football team instead of a high school JV game without the fans throwing a b!tchfest?

[Captain Kangaroo]

It's a RIVALRY game, of course they are going to get people there. I bet you all the rest of their games will be empty. Ticket prices do not keep people away, a bad team will. If someone wants to go to the game $5 and $15 is not a big deal. That's like saying I'm going to pay $45 to watch the Browns, but not $55. Don't blame our marketing/athletic dept we have a terrible team, just leave it at that. It's the process of coming to the game, parking, walking, sitting on hard bleachers, poor weather, and a bad team. It's not the money, it's the thinking "do we really want to go all the way there to just watch them lose again?" and the answer will always be NO.

Another pro example, look at the Indians attendance this year. Terrible! Do you blame their marketing dept or ticket prices? no, they are terrible, but guess what when the Yankees come to town they draw a large crowd. It was a rivalry game, so people are going to be there. A good team fills the house, a bad one empties it. Everyone knows Akron has a football team, and they know all too well how bad we are. Until that changes, no one will go to the games, even if it's free.

Akron isn't the Yankees. We're the Pirates.

It was the football version of Pirates/Indians 2010.

And, the Indians discount such games pretty heavily via different packages.

K.e.n.t. packed the house for a 1-3 team vs. a 0-5 team. That has to show up on someone's radar.

Note: $5 vs. $15 makes a big difference for a family of 4. $20 gets you off the couch. $60 keeps you on it.

[Blue & Gold]

With how bad our team is, I don't think $5 tickets would draw too many more people than are going to come as-is.

Btw, I do know that KSPU was giving away handfuls of free tickets to last Saturday's game. I've got a few friends that attend KSPU-Stark (Community College - yeah, the Can't State branch a mere 10-minutes south of UA - ticks me off) and they were giving away free tickets down there like parade clowns give away candy. I got two free tickets myself! Anyone could have gotten a handful of them. So, idk how KSPU actually counts attendance or tracks revenue @ their games. KSPU administrators must simply consider fielding a football team to be a 100% advertising write-off.

[Blue & Gold]

With how bad our team is, I don't think $5 tickets would draw too many more people than are going to come as-is.

Btw, I do know that KSPU was giving away handfuls of free tickets to last Saturday's game. I've got a few friends that attend KSPU-Stark (Community College - yeah, the Can't State branch a mere 10-minutes south of UA - ticks me off) and they were giving away free tickets down there like parade clowns give away candy. I got two free tickets myself! Anyone could have gotten a handful of them. So, idk how KSPU actually counts attendance or tracks revenue @ their games. KSPU administrators must simply consider fielding a football team a 100% advertising write-off.

Edit: With $5 tickets AND GREAT WEATHER, a family may come on out to just, Idk, suffer and moan for a few hours. Lol. Weather probably has a lot to do with attendance.

[Blue & Gold]

Oops. Wrong button.

Anyway, I might add, I don't think KSPU will draw 1/2 that many people for any single game the rest of the year, even with $5 tickets. In fact, I'd bet they don't draw 1/3 that many. The attendance, IMHO, shows how big the Akron-Can't rivalry actually is. It's pretty amazing, really. The community honestly gets excited about these games - even after all these years of two absolutely atrocious football programs.

The Akron-Can't basketball games speak for themselves - the atmosphere couldn't possibly be much more electric at even a Duke-North Carolina game.

Great rivalry.

[Lee Adams]

First, let me say that I understand the argument on both sides of this issue.

But...as a fan, I'm losing my enthusiasm to go to a 3/4 empty Info and cheer along with a few other people each play, and hearing our hollow sounds echo in the empty atmosphere. I want excitement. I guess an economist would say that supply and demand should determine your price. I have a hard time disagreeing with that. I want more atmosphere and we should do whatever it takes, unfortunately.

This will especially come into play next year. I expect that tons of people will not renew season tickets. Especially after these heavily discounted packages are now being offered for reserved seating multi-game packages. We need to have some way to keep this ex-season ticket holders coming back, even if they don't renew.

As a season ticket holder I agree that we are in essence being punished for supporting a bad team. I could buy GA tickets on the east side for individual games and have a comparable view of the game. And I am only paying for the games I want to go to. I sent an e-mail to the AD about season ticket prices,the performance of the team etc. His response,give it time. He said nothing specifically about season ticket prices. A shout out to the Band. They are now the best part of going to the games.

[Captain Kangaroo]

A shout out to the Band. They are now the best part of going to the games.

I agree. But I also like Zach Campbell's punting.

[skip-zip]

It's a RIVALRY game, of course they are going to get people there. I bet you all the rest of their games will be empty. Ticket prices do not keep people away, a bad team will. If someone wants to go to the game $5 and $15 is not a big deal. That's like saying I'm going to pay $45 to watch the Browns, but not $55. Don't blame our marketing/athletic dept we have a terrible team, just leave it at that. It's the process of coming to the game, parking, walking, sitting on hard bleachers, poor weather, and a bad team. It's not the money, it's the thinking "do we really want to go all the way there to just watch them lose again?" and the answer will always be NO.

Another pro example, look at the Indians attendance this year. Terrible! Do you blame their marketing dept or ticket prices? no, they are terrible, but guess what when the Yankees come to town they draw a large crowd. It was a rivalry game, so people are going to be there. A good team fills the house, a bad one empties it. Everyone knows Akron has a football team, and they know all too well how bad we are. Until that changes, no one will go to the games, even if it's free.

Akron isn't the Yankees. We're the Pirates.

It was the football version of Pirates/Indians 2010.

And, the Indians discount such games pretty heavily via different packages.

K.e.n.t. packed the house for a 1-3 team vs. a 0-5 team. That has to show up on someone's radar.

Note: $5 vs. $15 makes a big difference for a family of 4. $20 gets you off the couch. $60 keeps you on it.

It absolutely makes a difference!! If it doesn't, then someone please explain to us why some of those old Acme-Zip games could draw 35,000 while the rest of the games in some of those seasons wouldn't even draw 10,000, even if we were winning?

This isn't a raving endoresement of discounting tickets. But, it would definitely increase attendance. The question is, would we encounter too many negatives by resorting to such a program?

[Blue & Gold]

First, let me say that I understand the argument on both sides of this issue.

But...as a fan, I'm losing my enthusiasm to go to a 3/4 empty Info and cheer along with a few other people each play, and hearing our hollow sounds echo in the empty atmosphere. I want excitement. I guess an economist would say that supply and demand should determine your price. I have a hard time disagreeing with that. I want more atmosphere and we should do whatever it takes, unfortunately.

This will especially come into play next year. I expect that tons of people will not renew season tickets. Especially after these heavily discounted packages are now being offered for reserved seating multi-game packages. We need to have some way to keep this ex-season ticket holders coming back, even if they don't renew.

As a season ticket holder I agree that we are in essence being punished for supporting a bad team. I could buy GA tickets on the east side for individual games and have a comparable view of the game. And I am only paying for the games I want to go to. I sent an e-mail to the AD about season ticket prices,the performance of the team etc. His response,give it time. He said nothing specifically about season ticket prices. A shout out to the Band. They are now the best part of going to the games.

I've got el-cheap-o GA season tickets. I sit on the 50-yard line every game.

[ZachTheZip]

It's a RIVALRY game, of course they are going to get people there. I bet you all the rest of their games will be empty. Ticket prices do not keep people away, a bad team will. If someone wants to go to the game $5 and $15 is not a big deal. That's like saying I'm going to pay $45 to watch the Browns, but not $55. Don't blame our marketing/athletic dept we have a terrible team, just leave it at that. It's the process of coming to the game, parking, walking, sitting on hard bleachers, poor weather, and a bad team. It's not the money, it's the thinking "do we really want to go all the way there to just watch them lose again?" and the answer will always be NO.

Another pro example, look at the Indians attendance this year. Terrible! Do you blame their marketing dept or ticket prices? no, they are terrible, but guess what when the Yankees come to town they draw a large crowd. It was a rivalry game, so people are going to be there. A good team fills the house, a bad one empties it. Everyone knows Akron has a football team, and they know all too well how bad we are. Until that changes, no one will go to the games, even if it's free.

Akron isn't the Yankees. We're the Pirates.

It was the football version of Pirates/Indians 2010.

And, the Indians discount such games pretty heavily via different packages.

K.e.n.t. packed the house for a 1-3 team vs. a 0-5 team. That has to show up on someone's radar.

Note: $5 vs. $15 makes a big difference for a family of 4. $20 gets you off the couch. $60 keeps you on it.

It absolutely makes a difference!! If it doesn't, then someone please explain to us why some of those old Acme-Zip games could draw 35,000 while the rest of the games in some of those seasons wouldn't even draw 10,000, even if we were winning?

This isn't a raving endoresement of discounting tickets. But, it would definitely increase attendance. The question is, would we encounter too many negatives by resorting to such a program?

A major discount is great as a 1-off thing, a promotional tool, like the Acme Zip game was. Do you think if prices were like that all year round we would actually average 35,000 every game?

Anybody in marketing can tell you that you don't make an actual price cut on a non-essential product without the intention of making it permanent.

Maybe if we sold beer at the Info we could afford to drop prices to $12 or something.

[Wally B]

1-off games have a great upside! The money you lose up front is easily made back and more in concessions and merchandise, provided you are prepared to handle the crowds! It also creates an electirc atmosphere that excites your team and brings fans back. It done properly it builds your base and the 1-off price can be raised with demand (as judged by attendence for other games).

As for downside, if no one buys your $15 ticket, it's not worth its face value anyways!

[Captain Kangaroo]

I shop at Kohls when I get a 30% discount coupon in the mail. In an emergency, I'll shop there with a 15% or 20% discount. When I shop at a 30% discount, I buy a lot of stuff.

As a wise old man once told me -- You don't make money off people who don't enter your store.

[GP1]

As a wise old man once told me -- You don't make money off people who don't enter your store.

If you are losing money either way, it doesn't matter.

At this point, they discount the tickets to $5 and they are no better than they were 20 years ago.

Everything has a value. I wouldn't say I wouldn't go if they paid me, because I would. Below is what it would cost to get me to go to a game when I am 20 miles from the stadium the day after Thanksgiving this year.

1. Gas from N. Canton to Infocision $5.00

2. Sitting in the cold and rain for four hours...$100/hour = $400

3. Missing time with the family because nobody in their right mind would go with me...including my wife, Mrs. GP1, the luckiest woman in the world. $1,000

4. Missing the Pens game $400

5. Irritation $50

If UofA will pay me $1,855, I would be more than happy to attend the final game of the season. Other than that, there is no way I pay a penny to go watch them play.

[Dave in Green]

Reminds me of voodoo economics.

[ZachTheZip]

I shop at Kohls when I get a 30% discount coupon in the mail. In an emergency, I'll shop there with a 15% or 20% discount. When I shop at a 30% discount, I buy a lot of stuff.

As a wise old man once told me -- You don't make money off people who don't enter your store.

So when I tell you that the Zips team shop and book stores are having a sale of 25% off all Adidas Zips gear, you'll stop by campus and load up on merchandise? Because they really are having that sale right now. I picked up some stuff before heading to Penn State yesterday.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I shop at Kohls when I get a 30% discount coupon in the mail. In an emergency, I'll shop there with a 15% or 20% discount. When I shop at a 30% discount, I buy a lot of stuff.

As a wise old man once told me -- You don't make money off people who don't enter your store.

So when I tell you that the Zips team shop and book stores are having a sale of 25% off all Adidas Zips gear, you'll stop by campus and load up on merchandise? Because they really are having that sale right now. I picked up some stuff before heading to Penn State yesterday.

Thanks for the heads up!

[goodthts]

SKIP-ZIP: "...as a fan, I'm losing my enthusiasm to go to a 3/4 empty Info and cheer along with a few other people each play, and hearing our hollow sounds echo in the empty atmosphere. I want excitement. "

Captain Kangaroo: "Note: $5 vs. $15 makes a big difference for a family of 4. $20 gets you off the couch. $60 keeps you on it. "

I could care less if the athletic dept makes or loses money. I want what Skip-Zip wants; EXCITEMENT. That would mean more butts in the seats AND a good product to watch. At least the UofA can try to address the first this year and hope I-Coach and his staff can correct the latter.

I'm a broke mid 30's guy. I have made some bad choices in my personal finances, but still like getting out to tailgate and watch some football. $15-20 for tix to this drivel is a joke. The UofA should do whatever it takes to get people to campus on Saturdays. At least for the rest of this year.

[ZachTheZip]

Youth tickets are now $5 for the WMU game. This should be made permanent.