Increasing JAR Attendance/Engaging the Fans

[Let'sGoZips94]

2 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

What's to say they aren't here lurking already?

 

They might, but for a University with budget constraints, seems odd to use financial resources on a formal process like this instead of joining the board, creating a section or a thread with questions, and starting there - for free.

Edited 2 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94

[GP1]

19 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

People buy season tickets because they feel they have to and then keep them because it's a great experience watching games with an energized crowd.

Charleston is an extremely trendy place. There are loads of people looking to impress and be impressed. I'd bet it is part of the driving force. Compound that with a great game day experience and there is the success. 

[akzipper]

19 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

What's to say they aren't here lurking already?

 

Back when I was at UA they definitely were. I interviewed for a internship within the athletic department and they knew I was a poster here. I had a different account back then (Dambrot era) but they knew exactly who I was based on my posts. Nothing bad and I got the job. But they knew lol.

 

From my experience everyone worked very hard and did what they could with the limited resources of a MAC school on a tight budget. They are young, come from big schools and know what they are doing. The problem is most don't see Akron as the final destination, but a career stepping stone. So there isn't much longevity and lots of turnover. My bosses all ended up in the Big Ten, Big 12 or SEC within 5 years of me working there. 

 

Personally working for the Zips would be my dream job. But I don't think many others see it that way. 

Edited 2 hours ago by akzipper

[kreed5120]

24 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

They might, but for a University with budget constraints, seems odd to use financial resources on a formal process like this instead of joining the board, creating a section or a thread with questions, and starting there - for free.

 

I think a forum like this is great for brainstorming ideas, certainly for one's they might use. Having a smaller focus group is probably better for working out how best to implement them.

[ZipForNow]

3 hours ago, VAZip said:

My perception, limited as it is, is that UA has a little bit of a branding problem. My daughter was there during the Dambrot years and being from VA didn’t have the ability to go home everyday or the weekends. The place was pretty much dead on the weekends. If the local kids only see UA as a convenient way to get a degree vs a true college experience it’s unlikely they attend many games. If you didn’t go as a student it’s unlikely you bring your family back as an adult. With 20k student around at anytime and probably 100k alums around Akron it’s crazy the JAR isn’t mostly full every game….its only 4% of the potential fan base.  I love Akron (much better than Charleston🤣) and my daughter loves UA. If we are within a couple hours on game day we go…unfortunately it’s not often enough.

Bingo. I think the key to the future of UA student fandom is to recruit a greater number of students from outside the NE Ohio region. Even the Columbus kids are more likely to go to games than the Stow kids. This would also help the academic program as we are facing a demographic cliff and could always use more students in general. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

Just made my deposit for season tickets again. Hopefully enough people do so to signal support for Ford.