skip-zip Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Selling tickets for $5 or less for all those years (acme-Zip) convinced Joe Akron that is all we are worth. It will take years to convince them otherwise.Exactly. And it goes beyond that. Technically, from a sales perspective, you would give away or discount product to induce future sales. For decades, we found that with having 25k at the Acme/Zip game...and 10k for every other game....that this clearly wasn't helping us make money in the future. Like I tell everyone: As a fan, I'd love to see the place full....whatever it takes.But as a businessman, I know it's a bad, losing strategy, with many drawbacks, and no future benefits. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Exactly. And it goes beyond that. Technically, from a sales perspective, you would give away or discount product to induce future sales. For decades, we found that with having 25k at the Acme/Zip game...and 10k for every other game....that this clearly wasn't helping us make money in the future. Like I tell everyone: As a fan, I'd love to see the place full....whatever it takes.But as a businessman, I know it's a bad, losing strategy, with many drawbacks, and no future benefits. Isn't it equally bad business to have over half of your product go unsold/unused?Since we seem to be fond of anecdotes, heres my own experience: I used to work at a restaurant for 5 years, while I was in college (so I could pay for it). One of the worst nights to work was a Tuesday/Wednesday night. It was horrible because almost no-one wants to eat fancy restaurant Tuesday/Wednesday nights.Before I started working there the management came up with "Half-Price Sushi" night on Tuesday, with all sushi (except rare types) being half price. It became an instant hit, and the place was packed from 4-9 every single Tuesday for nearly 6 years. Everyone in the community ranted and raved about it, and it became an event in upon itself. The restaurant didn't lose money because you had to buy a drink for half-price (and usually people didn't just get sushi). It was absolutely brilliant marketing...until the morons stepped in.A few years after I left, they got rid of it (because the owner had the bright idea that everyone loves sushi so much that they'll continue to get it regardless if it was half-price or not). After that decision Tuesdays became dead. After a couple of other bone headed decisions, the owner is looking to sell that particular restaurant.Note: The prices did raise periodically over that time period (this effecting the half-price price) but people still showed up at the same levels.Were there people who only came to half-price sushi night and never a regular night? Yes. Were there people who went there on half price sushi nights AND other nights? Yes. Were there people who stopped coming to the restaurant all together because they got rid of half-price sushi night? OVERWHELMING YES! The restaurant dropped nearly $3000 sales a week for that decision.For the sake of arguement I say $5 (obviously they'd have to put some effort into finding out what would make people want to come, and market a package around that) and by all means it wouldn't apply to every game...but you can't miss out on butts in seats. It'll take work on behalf of the people in the AD...but that's their job.Agreed. And when people finally want to go, we can't raise the prices and piss everyone off. So we are where we are.Which is why I said a one game event. Not every game. But it makes ZERO sense of having the vast majority of seats sit unsold. That makes zero sense by any stretch of the mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K92 Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Which is why I said a one game event. Not every game. But it makes ZERO sense of having the vast majority of seats sit unsold. That makes zero sense by any stretch of the mind.See skip-zip's post #226. He nailed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Isn't it equally bad business to have over half of your product go unsold/unused?Since we seem to be fond of anecdotes, heres my own experience: I used to work at a restaurant for 5 years, while I was in college (so I could pay for it). One of the worst nights to work was a Tuesday/Wednesday night. It was horrible because almost no-one wants to eat fancy restaurant Tuesday/Wednesday nights.Before I started working there the management came up with "Half-Price Sushi" night on Tuesday, with all sushi (except rare types) being half price. It became an instant hit, and the place was packed from 4-9 every single Tuesday for nearly 6 years. Everyone in the community ranted and raved about it, and it became an event in upon itself. The restaurant didn't lose money because you had to buy a drink for half-price (and usually people didn't just get sushi). It was absolutely brilliant marketing...until the morons stepped in.A few years after I left, they got rid of it (because the owner had the bright idea that everyone loves sushi so much that they'll continue to get it regardless if it was half-price or not). After that decision Tuesdays became dead. After a couple of other bone headed decisions, the owner is looking to sell that particular restaurant.Note: The prices did raise periodically over that time period (this effecting the half-price price) but people still showed up at the same levels.Were there people who only came to half-price sushi night and never a regular night? Yes. Were there people who went there on half price sushi nights AND other nights? Yes. Were there people who stopped coming to the restaurant all together because they got rid of half-price sushi night? OVERWHELMING YES! The restaurant dropped nearly $3000 sales a week for that decision.For the sake of arguement I say $5 (obviously they'd have to put some effort into finding out what would make people want to come, and market a package around that) and by all means it wouldn't apply to every game...but you can't miss out on butts in seats. It'll take work on behalf of the people in the AD...but that's their job.Which is why I said a one game event. Not every game. But it makes ZERO sense of having the vast majority of seats sit unsold. That makes zero sense by any stretch of the mind.Or the owner figured out that he wasn't actually making a profit selling sushi and alcohol for half price. Sometimes less is more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Or the owner figured out that he wasn't actually making a profit selling sushi and alcohol for half price. Sometimes less is more.Alcohol wasn't half price, only sushi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Sounds like your example is perfect. Once we drop prices, we can't raise them because people expect half off of the product. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Sounds like your example is perfect. Once we drop prices, we can't raise them because people expect half off of the product. Thanks.The point is: You either make it so people want to come. Or you keep them away. Take your pick. I love the Zips, but are we really THAT great to push people away? C'mon folks! Everyone must really love that empty stadium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Price isn't keeping people away. The poor product for the past n years is. Your solution is short sighted. Do some research on the Florida Panthers and their discounted/free tickets and what they're doing now to remedy their mistakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/puck-daddy/florida-panthers-owners-expect-lower-attendance--for-good-reason-214429811.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Alcohol wasn't half price, only sushi. "The restaurant didn't lose money because you had to buy a drink for half-price" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staton14 Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 Dont know if anyone saw Can't State's attendance from Tuesday....7,471. Worse than any Akron game this year. Its not just Akron struggling with attendance. Although Can't is extremely awful this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 3,924 students at the game Tuesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 3,924 students at the game Tuesday. You could tell. Hopefully they had a good time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 You could tell. Hopefully they had a good time.A lot of them did, despite the weather and the game. Need to learn to not make too much noise while the Zips are on offense, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 3,924 students at the game Tuesday. I'm trying to gauge in my own mind what an impressive student turnout would be, when we are talking about a school with a 30k enrollment. But, I would take two sections full of students behind the visiting bench any day. What would it take to get 3 full sections, Free Cars??But I will say this.....the fact that so many people were hanging out under the overhangs for most of the game probably made the crowd look much smaller than it's actual size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staton14 Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 I'm trying to gauge in my own mind what an impressive student turnout would be, when we are talking about a school with a 30k enrollment. But, I would take two sections full of students behind the visiting bench any day. What would it take to get 3 full sections, Free Cars??But I will say this.....the fact that so many people were hanging out under the overhangs for most of the game probably made the crowd look much smaller than it's actual size. There were three full sections of students. Two on one side of the band, one on the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Adams Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 Student attendance is a tired,old topic. Nobody here has any idea about how to 'increase' student attendance because there has NEVER been a significant,consistent student attendance since I attended Akron starting in 1970. The only really significantly large crowds were for the old Acme Zip games. I said before the deep thinkers in the AD have no idea what it has been like for the last 40+ years around here as far as student attendance,much less general attendance is concerned. Most of them aren't from around here or are far too young to realize what it is like to go to DII playoff games in sub freezing temps. Much easier to 'ESPNize' themselves to bring in money. Win consistently,that is 7+ games a year and they will increase attendance a bit. But, there will never be any consistently big crowds(20,000) at Info. Stop the madness people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Lee Adams +1. Students don't go to games because they're in college to get a degree. Those who want to be a part of the college spirit of going to every game etc...usually go to schools like State Ohio university. And this is not a bad thing. College is about, first and foremost, getting a degree, with as little debt as possible.There are a lot of students who really support UA, but aren't at the games. Why do you ask? Because they're no jocks. They have jobs so they can graduate with as little debt as possible, and they're busy doing other things at UA. This is not bad.If you were to meet me in my regular, everyday life, with the job I do, you'd probably never guess I was a die-hard football fan. But even when I (the die hard Zips fan and the die hard football fan) was in college and could go to games for free, I still missed games. I missed games for work. On the basketball side I sometimes missed games because I was so utterly exhausted after being on campus all day, and being in the lab for 3+ hours...I just wanted to get dinner and go to sleep. I'd listen on the radio or stream it online while I got ready for bed.All-in-all I think everyone needs to stop harping on the students. Try to understand them, try to see where there lives are. This is where AD's and Alumni fail. They try to impose a bias "what should be" on students they don't understand.We had the best student crowd at Infocision Stadium I've seen in a long time; and most were engaged and having fun (until we started losing). I'd like to see the tuition giveaway earlier in the season while the weather is better. More people show up for early season games as is, and more students would come out to it if it wasn't raining and cold. One game, early in the season, where we have all the right conditions, might create a special atmosphere that people want to return to. But what do I know...I'm just the recent Alum who suffered through 3-33, and have never seen anything special football wise. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 There's almost 30K students. Go take a walk down Power Street and tell me how many are there to study and get their degree ASAP. There are enough sports fans to draw to games if the product was worthwhile. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Wake Forest's student section was only 1/3 full last night for a nationally televised game against a Top 25 team. Their small stadium probably had less than 23,000 in it. We all need to get used to the fact that the dynamics of college life have changed and kids don't turn out to games anywhere as much as they used to. Once we do that, we won't have to talk about student attendance any more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Wake Forest's student section was only 1/3 full last night for a nationally televised game against a Top 25 team. Their small stadium probably had less than 23,000 in it. We all need to get used to the fact that the dynamics of college life have changed and kids don't turn out to games anywhere as much as they used to. Once we do that, we won't have to talk about student attendance any more.Yeah the landscape has changed, not arguing that.. My point was that let's not act like everyone is studying instead of going to the games. And to be fair, GP1, the 2014 Wake team is possibly the worst team to ever play in the ACC. You couldn't pay me to go watch them if I lived in Winston Salem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 And to be fair, GP1, the 2014 Wake team is possibly the worst team to ever play in the ACC.Clearly, you are unfamiliar with the history of Duke football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Possibly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Possibly It is funny. There is a saying in the ACC when your team is bad...and I mean really bad. When that happens, people call your team "Duke Bad". If you get called that, you are truly a horrible team. Wake is playing better as of late and it is helping them to escape being called Duke Bad. They weren't far away though early in the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Wake is playing better as of late and it is helping them to escape being called Duke Bad. They weren't far away though early in the season.Have you ever thought of not rooting for the Zips for one football season?Don't click on a score, don't watch a game, just to see if it's you bringing these teams down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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