Bad will and empty arenas are UConn's fault

[8893]

Very good article, but I got distracted looking at this picture at the bottom of the website. Hilton was an NBAer and is confronted by a demanding Coach like this.

I won't derail this thread or put it on one of the other dozens Ollie threads. Its connected in a way to our empty seats. Just saying. . . . . . .

I dare say Hilton became a NBAer because he was pushed like that.

 

[8893]

This is a super unpopular opinion around here but Herbst is clueless re: sports.

Whatever she knows about sports, she’s not in the top five responsible for our predicament imo.

And Hathaway is at least 1-4.

 

[Muddler]

Whatever she knows about sports, she’s not in the top five responsible for our predicament imo.

And Hathaway is at least 1-4.

She is 1-5. She may be a great academic, but this falls on the President. We can criticize higher education and it’s reliance on athletics, but this is the game we are in. And, the NCAA is a president driven association. At the end of the day, the financial effects on the university will be draconian. We are already seeing the results and it’s hard to see how a few wins will make a game against East Carolina any more interesting.

 

[8893]

She is 1-5. She may be a great academic, but this falls on the President. We can criticize higher education and it’s reliance on athletics, but this is the game we are in. And, the NCAA is a president driven association. At the end of the day, the financial effects on the university will be draconian. We are already seeing the results and it’s hard to see how a few wins will make a game against East Carolina any more interesting.

Hathaway was the AD—i.e., the University official in charge of athletics—during the period of time when we had the greatest window of opportunity. He squandered it. Everyone else since has been trying to recover. None have been perfect but they each inherited a tougher spot. Hathaway blew it. Period.

 

[Muddler]

Hathaway was the AD—i.e., the University official in charge of athletics—during the period of time when we had the greatest window of opportunity. He squandered it. Everyone else since has been trying to recover. None have been perfect but they each inherited a tougher spot. Hathaway blew it. Period.

Sure...the person deemed by the NCAA as being responsible for the athletic department is off the hook and the millions and millions of lost revenue to the university is not her responsibility. Who do you think approves all major conference decisions...not the ADs.

 

[8893]

Sure...the person deemed by the NCAA as being responsible for the athletic department is off the hook and the millions and millions of lost revenue to the university is not her responsibility. Who do you think approves all major conference decisions...not the ADs.

Fine, then lay it on Hogan. Ever meet that goober? I did. Not long after he was hired. Why do you think one of Herbst’s first moves was a “360 review” of Hathaway?

It was the blind leading the blind, but Hathaway should have known better imo. The other guy was just a goober. And Herbst has been trying to clean up both of their messes, and then some.

 

[Marbles90]

UConn is undercutting themselves on the secondary market. Just look at what is for sale on Stubhub - it’s clearly the school making tickets available. They have been doing it for years.

This is interesting and true they are making these tix available to brokers. But i’m not sure they are undercutting. I think they are leveraging the brokers to sell tix at market value. This way they can leave their “box office” price for those that are blindly buying tix with checking stubhub first.

 

[Robertelamin]

Hathaway had all the momentum in the world, 2 historic basketball programs and a really solid football team and did nothing at all with it. As far as I can tell all he did was collect paychecks for a decade. Rockstar Warde Manuel wasn't exactly a rockstar either. Neither had any vision.

 

[whaler11]

This is interesting and true they are making these tix available to brokers. But i’m not sure they are undercutting. I think they are leveraging the brokers to sell tix at market value. This way they can leave their “box office” price for those that are blindly buying tix with checking stubhub first.

I don’t know if they do it through a third party or if they just have someone post them directly to the sites.

It’s a long term loser like most of the strategies they roll out.

 

[ct06111]

This article is about the Carolina Hurricanes, but I believe this article touches on a lot of UConn's attendance issues lately:

The Carolina Hurricanes are almost always last in NHL attendance, and that’s (at least partly) by design - SBNation.com

 

[BlueDogs]

Here's a great idea that fixes most of these problems... start winning with better recruiting and coaching. Lowering prices doesn't fix a terrible product.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

It is really quite simple. The University President didn't understand or realize the importance of how conference realignment was unfolding. They were asleep at the wheel leading up to Louisville to the ACC. A hundred million dollars in lost revenue and now an apathetic fanbase has basically doomed the athletic department. I'm not sure Uconn could even get a spot in the ACC if a spot opened up. I know many of you love to defend, but at the top of the list for college presidents is to raise money and this was the cash cow. It is now gone and the likelihood of UConn maintaining its academic standing as it becomes cash starved is unlikely.

There's a lot of truth here, but at the same time you cannot discount the influence the southern ACC football schools had on the decision to take UL over us. There is much written about how they felt like Syracuse and Pitt were shoved down their throat by the North Carolina basketball schools and they wanted their seat at the table in the 2012 decision. Don't forget also that at the time, there was a very, very real possibility that they could easily jump ship to the Big 12. That's not to say Herbst and Warde didn't completely get outmanuevered by Jurich while they sat at that basketball tournament in Bermusa, but it's not a 100% guarantee that we would've gotten the invite had they made the right moves. FSU and Clemson hard and fast wanted UL, and they have a lot of pull in the conference.

 

[whaler11]

This article is about the Carolina Hurricanes, but I believe this article touches on a lot of UConn's attendance issues lately:

The Carolina Hurricanes are almost always last in NHL attendance, and that’s (at least partly) by design - SBNation.com

The Florida Panthers started this after their last ownership change.

One funny note in that story. 3 coaching changes in 11 years is an issue? That’s about as stable as hockey teams get. Especially a bad one.

How UConn has been this clueless on this topic is aaf. Gee you can’t sell season tickets anymore? I wonder why?

It’s this simple. Your most important customers are your season ticket holders. They should never be disadvantaged. This simple rule should inform every decision you make.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

The part about ticket prices is dead on. Let’s say you have two choices. You can sell:

7,000 tickets at $30 = $210k
10,000 tickets at $20 = $200k

So you make $10k more at $30 a ticket. But how much harm do you inflict on your fans to do it? Well, the 7,000 fans who show up are each $10 worse off, so that’s $70k right there.

And the 3,000 fans who WOULD have bought tickets for $20 are all worse off too. Let’s say, on average, a ticket is “worth” $25 to them. That’s another $5 x 3,000 = $15k in fan value destroyed.

So you’re taking $85k away from fans to make $10k - and lighting the other $75k on fire basically. Now I know UConn is trying to get cute by offering last-minute deals, but that just rubs it in the face of the 7,000 diehards (who all now feel like they are $10 worse off and are being played for suckers). And last-minute deals aren’t the type of thing the 3,000 can plan ahead around, so you’re still losing fans compared to a simple, honest price for everyone. It’s not how you cultivate a fanbase.

 

[Ts5034]

Idk if slashing ticket prices will really make much of a difference either. With the way the team is playing and who the visiting teams are, Is cutting prices by $5-$10 per ticket really going to get 3,000-5,000 more people into Gampel or XL? UConn fans always showed up for big games. It didnt matter if it was a weekend, or up against the NFL playoffs, or during the week. If this team is playing somewhat decent by the time Villanova comes in, I guarantee the XL Center will have at least 14,000 and the same goes for Wichita St at the end of the month.

 

[champs99and04]

Are there people who don't know about secondary ticket markets in 2017? I can understand the season-ticket holders being mad, but it doesn't explain the thousands of empty seats in Hartford for the conference tournament last year and it doesn't explain senior day against Cincinnati not being sold out. And if the premise for them lowering ticket prices is that it will help improve the perception of the program, then what do they think the headline "UConn lowers ticket prices" communicates to recruits? That the program is on the upswing?

If you want to argue that flooding discounted tickets onto the secondary market is a bad strategy long-term, then fine. But this idea that going to a UConn game is a huge pain doesn't really resonate with me. I go to a lot of UConn games every year and it is really easy. I'm also pretty budgeted, don't have the luxury of getting discounted student tickets, and live two hours away. I know, I know...I'm not the type of fan they're worried about. I'm just saying that I think a lot of this is window dressing. The bottom line is that the combination of high fan base expectations (some would use the word spoiled) and an average product has kept them people away. We have the ability to change one of those things and articles like these don't quite do the trick. Don't use a ridiculous food analogy or tell me that you're paying the same price for a worse product. And if you are paying the same price, it's just as likely that you still think it's 1995.

 

[scotty0330]

Anyone want to guess attendance on a Saturday afternoon against a winless team with snow in the forecast? 3,800 might be a dream under this scenario.

 

[mjmoney23]

I look at the ticket issue from a few angles. As a season ticket holders I am getting the best available seats which makes it worth it. Now, here's where they can improve. Why does a ticket 2 rows off thr floor in section 114 cost the same as a ticket in 214 row ff? The prices of thr tickets should be tiered at both venues, especially at the xl center. I personally like sit ting behind the hoops in the 100 level as that is where my seats are, but if I was offered upper levels for $10 to $15 less per ticket I might consider those. There is no option for season ticket holders anymore, all the seats cost the same. What happened to the value seats in the 300 level behind the hoops? That was a great way to increase season ticket sales and get more people out to the games. It looks like the finally have a bit of a tiered price system for single games at xl, but even that is skewed. Those sideline seats up in heaven should cost the same as lower levels. Same at gampel, bleaches shouldn't be the same as chairbacks.

 

[mjmoney23]

Also, is ticket galexy getting seats directly from uconn to dump on stubhub and their site? For 2 games this year in hartford, I framed an extra seat and both times the purchaser's name on the ticket was ticket galaxy. Both seats were in sec 111.

 

[polycom]

Are there people who don't know about secondary ticket markets in 2017? I can understand the season-ticket holders being mad, but it doesn't explain the thousands of empty seats in Hartford for the conference tournament last year and it doesn't explain senior day against Cincinnati not being sold out. And if the premise for them lowering ticket prices is that it will help improve the perception of the program, then what do they think the headline "UConn lowers ticket prices" communicates to recruits? That the program is on the upswing?

If you want to argue that flooding discounted tickets onto the secondary market is a bad strategy long-term, then fine. But this idea that going to a UConn game is a huge pain doesn't really resonate with me. I go to a lot of UConn games every year and it is really easy. I'm also pretty budgeted, don't have the luxury of getting discounted student tickets, and live two hours away. I know, I know...I'm not the type of fan they're worried about. I'm just saying that I think a lot of this is window dressing. The bottom line is that the combination of high fan base expectations (some would use the word spoiled) and an average product has kept them people away. We have the ability to change one of those things and articles like these don't quite do the trick. Don't use a ridiculous food analogy or tell me that you're paying the same price for a worse product. And if you are paying the same price, it's just as likely that you still think it's 1995.

There are people who have only heard of Google in name of course there are people who don't know what a secondary ticket market is. I'm sure there are people who attend a game or two a year who have no idea about the secondary market.

 

[Palatine]

UConn BB pricing is not a new problem. I know folks that got priced out of the Hartford Civic Center (for UConn BB) 20 years ago.

 

[Padutch5]

There are people who have only heard of Google in name of course there are people who don't know what a secondary ticket market is. I'm sure there are people who attend a game or two a year who have no idea about the secondary market.

Actually I think we have several problems. A number of times I have tried to buy extra tickets near our season tickets in both the 100 level at XL and 300 level for football. The computer says they are sold out and, while very helpful, the athletic department people tell me the same thing. We get to the game and, surprisingly, there are lots of empty seats around us ( including at the sold out women’s game last Sunday). I wonder how many people go on the computer, see o decent seats available and don’t go as a result.

 

[CTGoonie]

Anyone want to guess attendance on a Saturday afternoon against a winless team with snow in the forecast? 3,800 might be a dream under this scenario.

I'm going with over 4000. Saturday afternoon is a much better time than a Wednesday night. A couple inches of snow won't keep most ticket holders away.

 

[Sky ball]

Good lord that attendance line graph:

View attachment 26774
But sure, lets just keep burying our heads in the sand and attacking/mocking people who are speaking the truth.....

We went to AAC in 2013. Might be the reason for the drop in attendance?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Hathaway is the main person the blame.

UConn men's basketball may have been the best college basketball program for a run of 15 years and we had an exciting young football program to boot.

All this 6th borough BS they push now is all just a little too late. They were on a rocket ship and just coasted on it until it ran out of gas.

The night Louisville got into the ACC was the death knell for UConn athletics long term. Short term, our coaching has sucked, but you can rebuild in a big league without the added pressure of each season's losses going on your resume if there is a shift in conferences.