Wichita game a sell out?

[Kyle]

Re: Wichita game a sell out?

I stand corrected.

Football Attendance:
2003: 12,080
2004: 9,874
2005: 10,628
2006: 11,120
2007: 16,118 (Hartzell's last year)
2008: 12,178 (Dannen's first year)
2009: 12,969
2010: 12,997
2011: 13,189
2012: 11,905
2013: 12,563

Dannen's first five year attendance average = 12,647
Hartzell's last five year attendance average = 11,964

[Kyle]

Re: Wichita game a sell out?

Based on PTTB's post for MBB:

Dannen's first five year attendance average = 4,655
Hartzell's last five year attendance average = 5,390

[06panther10]

Based on PTTB's post for MBB:



Dannen's first five year attendance average = 4,655

Hartzell's last five year attendance average = 5,390

The bball comparison is basically useless though, as Hartzell had the dome to pack 12K people in for big games.

[orangetennis]

Re: Wichita game a sell out?

MBB attendance:
03-04: 3966
04-05: 4692
05-06: 6899
06-07: 6298 (ISU game moved to UNIDome)
07-08: 5096
08-09: 4212
09-10: 5642
10-11: 4767
11-12: 4406
12-13: 4249 (includes 4 games in CIT combined to average below 4000)
13-14: 4929

Not going to look up football...someone else can. As Bilas says...'Gotta go to work'.

weren't we in the NCAA's in all these seasons? obviously a good product produces good attendance.

[JayJ79]

Re: Wichita game a sell out?

It's getting to the point where they have to be careful about undercutting season ticket holders as it is.

With the $5 tickets for 6 games this year, you could have gone to every game for $150. You can't keep talking about how you're on par with your bigger counterparts and then give away your product.

The best thing they could do is figure out a way to sell more season tickets and give the incentive to people for committing to the whole year, rather than Joe Blow who only shows up for $5 ticket night.

something to keep in mind, sure. but IMO it isn't something to fret too much over. Buying season tickets means that your seats are secured, and that you're supporting the program on a slightly bigger scale than someone who buys game-to-game. Sure, often times you can save money, but that isn't guaranteed.

If you're someone who is looking to spend the least amount possible, you could always take a chance at waiting to see if they do ticket discounts/promotions, and you might be able to save a few bucks. But you also possibly have more headaches, and your seating (or even getting a ticket) isn't guaranteed. You might end up with crappy seats for a big game (or not even being able to get a seat). And if the team does well that season and attendance is strong w/o the need for $5 games, then you might end up spending more overall.

But if those discounts/promo nights mean that there are more people in the seats and thus a better atmosphere, generating the same or better revenue, then I'm all for it, even if it means slightly fewer season ticket sales.

[06panther10]

I'm a season ticket holder and I have never felt undercut by other tix specials. I think of my season tix as another way to support the program and a way for me to have guaranteed seats at every game.

I don't mind cheap ticket specials if it gets people in the seats. I want as full an arena as we can get.

[BCPanther]

Re: Wichita game a sell out?

I'm happy to support the program and am not trying to sound like a cheap ass by any means. I'm going to be a season ticket holder regardless. I'd pay 3x what I do now to watch my Panthers...

I just hate that we talk about wanting to be on par with the other institutions and then we give away our product. Its as though the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing at times...

[Kyle]

Re: Wichita game a sell out?

The bball comparison is basically useless though, as Hartzell had the dome to pack 12K people in for big games.

This is true, but I'm not even talking about our big ISU/Iowa games. And I'm not trying to hoist blame on anybody for our poor attendance, I'm just honestly trying to figure out how we can generate more support.

The last couple years in the dome we were drawing crowds of 8K against mediocre conference opponents. At the time, I honestly thought we were turning into CU, who averaged 5K prior to the Korver years and then shot up to 10k. After moving into the Quest Center, they shot up again to 15K. They've been able to sustain the growth. We have not.

Just look at MVC and BracketBusters attendance our last year in the dome. Can you even imagine having 1/2 our conference games sold out? Right now, it seems like an unattainable feat and pure fantasy.

vs MSU 10,053
vs BU 8,074
vs Bucknell 8,442
vs WSU 8,459
vs ISUblue 6,172
vs Drake 9,323
vs SIU 5,304
vs CU 8,612
vs ISUred 4,014
vs UE 4,219

[run&blade]

Re: Wichita game a sell out?

Winning and guys on the court that capture the imagination of the fan base will draw crowds.

I loved watching Coleman play...went out of my way to go to games.
The sweet 16 year i went out of my way to go to games.
Ali Egelseder and Adam Koch were worth the drive.

Now i go when it works out. No marketing or gimmicks are needed nor will they work. Put simply just win baby.

[Panther'73]

Re: Wichita game a sell out?

Quest Center + beer + good team = higher attendance; beer very popular...

[LitchMingo]

Re: Wichita game a sell out?

The last couple years in the dome we were drawing crowds of 8K against mediocre conference opponents. At the time, I honestly thought we were turning into CU, who averaged 5K prior to the Korver years and then shot up to 10k. After moving into the Quest Center, they shot up again to 15K. They've been able to sustain the growth. We have not.

The culture surrounding CU in Omaha is another bird altogether. 1st the metro area is roughly close to a million people (last census put it over 900k). 2nd-UNL has put forth a horrible product when it comes to MBB. 3rd-Roughly 30% of the community is Catholic. The town is full of what is referred to as Jay-skers fans. Bluejays for MBB and Huskers for football. These three factors will always help CU elevate themselves to a higher attendance level than than any place in the MVC and quite possibly the majority of the new "Big East." They are the only product in town (outside of UNO Hockey) when the Cornhuskers aren't playing. Mix that with the non-graduates Catholic-pride (see Notre Dame) and you have attendance records for a school of that size. The games are also where west-Omaha goes to be seen. It is rather sad to see their fans.

In Omaha there is really three seasons when it comes to sports: Husker Football, Bluejay Basketball, and the College World Series.

[UNIdad]

Re: Wichita game a sell out?

But then you have season ticket holders donating $5K to get good seats while watching Joe Shmo pay $150 to sit a couple seats over. It won't take long before fans realize they don't need to move up the PSC ladder to get prime seats.

There really is no quick fix. The best way to combat the problem is to put a more entertaining product on the floor. We don't appeal to the casual fan right now (and make no mistake about it, corporate seats fall in the casual fan category). It also helps when ISU and Iowa are terrible, but I wouldn't count on that happening anytime soon.

For big corporate donors, the game itself is only a secondary matter. And getting there for tip off isn't always a big priority either.

Maybe they could put a stipulation on the sale of corporate tickets right behind the bench that a representative needs to alert the AD about whether the tickets will be used or not. Then, the AD could find folks to fill in the spots.

It really looks bad on TV to see those seats empty so often.

[PantherChic]

Something similar is done at the Des Moines Civic Center, where tickets need to be claimed at the ticket office by a certain time or the seats go back up for sale. Seems something could be done about it - it's not like UNI is the only entity to have this type of situation.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk

[Kyle]

Re: Wichita game a sell out?

The culture surrounding CU in Omaha is another bird altogether. 1st the metro area is roughly close to a million people (last census put it over 900k). 2nd-UNL has put forth a horrible product when it comes to MBB. 3rd-Roughly 30% of the community is Catholic. The town is full of what is referred to as Jay-skers fans. Bluejays for MBB and Huskers for football. These three factors will always help CU elevate themselves to a higher attendance level than than any place in the MVC and quite possibly the majority of the new "Big East." They are the only product in town (outside of UNO Hockey) when the Cornhuskers aren't playing. Mix that with the non-graduates Catholic-pride (see Notre Dame) and you have attendance records for a school of that size. The games are also where west-Omaha goes to be seen. It is rather sad to see their fans.

In Omaha there is really three seasons when it comes to sports: Husker Football, Bluejay Basketball, and the College World Series.

Very relevant points, and I understand what you are saying, but I don't expect us to reach CU attendance levels. I'd be happy averaging less than 1/2 of what CU gets.

The comparison was really about the growth. CU captured a surge in support through the early 2000's and to date has sustained the growth. We experienced a similar growth pattern from 2004-2007 and are watching it slowly fall back to 2003 levels.

[LitchMingo]

Re: Wichita game a sell out?

Very relevant points, and I understand what you are saying, but I don't expect us to reach CU attendance levels. I'd be happy averaging less than 1/2 of what CU gets.

The comparison was really about the growth. CU captured a surge in support through the early 2000's and to date has sustained the growth. We experienced a similar growth pattern from 2004-2007 and are watching it slowly fall back to 2003 levels.

The way to do that, again, is to put a better product out on the court. As someone who is 4 hours away, I really am not up for driving there to watch a bunch of 3 point shots and no one of sufficient size to rebound...