Bridgeport 'offers' highest prices of any region

[Wonkster]

... HDTV and Comfort is key to the drop in attendance

You GOT it, Babee!

A thousand years from now we will all have evolved to being just a brain on an ice cream stick, directly wired to ESPN.
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[meyers7]

You GOT it, Babee!

A thousand years from now we will all have evolved to being just a brain on an ice cream stick, directly wired to ESPN.
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ESPN8, The Ocho.

 

[FairView]

You need to make the games more family-friendly with cost, start times and MARKETING. Look at the Rock Cats. They have a terrible team yet they set new attendance records every year. They have low ticket prices ( http://www.milb.com/tickets/page.js...=8725166&vkey=tickets_t538&fext=.jsp&sid=t538 )and they promote like crazy.

And pricing does make a difference. USF was one of the games that offered tickets at a discount to state workers and some school groups. Two anecdotal pieces of evidence:
• The waitress at a local pizza place we frequent went to one UConn women's game last year. She was all excited about it. Her mom, who works in a local school system, got a promotion for $10 tickets. They went with a group of 18 people. They would not have gone otherwise.
• I have a 33-year old nephew (my older sister was a child bride!) with three kids and a not-very-attractive household income. His two older daughters love the UConn women. He could not afford to take them to a regularly-priced regular season game, let alone a $50 playoff game.

I agree that better home viewing has taken its toll --- especially on older, folks. So the organization needs to put together a marketing plan to get more bottoms in the seats. And ticket prices with young families (what I would investigate as one of my prime targets) are important.

One more note on the South Florida game -- it had an earlier start time. Geno even noted that as he thanked the crowd after the game and he wondered aloud if that helped contribute to the attendance.

 

[mr006]

Lovely - did they provide a free car wash while you were inside the Arena watching the game?
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ROTFL - It was probably a coupon on the back of the ticket stub. Or one of those special offers in the program, if the goalie signed the appropriate page. My car needs it.

 

[mr006]

They *did* make the times more family friendly - remember the 9:30 starts last time around? :-p

I am in the Bpt area and will be attending. I enjoy the live atmosphere, and I enjoy watching a game or two without having announcers filling every second of the broadcast with noise. Also, there's plenty of other UC games I can watch on TV that I won't be able to see in person. Having said that, I would have thought long and hard about these games if they were at Gampel (long ride) or if I had gotten the tickets through a broker (those "convenience fees" would have tipped the scales for me for sure). Unfortunately, we live in an expensive area and have a major WBB program to boot, and pay accordingly.

By any chance, did anyone calculate the tourney ticket prices relative to the going rate for regular season games for the areas in question?

 

[Replicant]

Who wants to pay $50 to see UConn obliterate PV A&M? What an asinine decision. I realize Fairfield has no motivation to do anything but maximize profits (which doesn't necessarily mean pack the house with UConn fans), but I think there is a lower price point that would increase attendance and lead to greater revenues.

Actual revenues are almost always greater when costs are lower and the base is broader. I'll hazard a guess that max revenue would have been realized at approx. $35/session and the corresponding higher attendance.

 

[FairView]

Talk about shooting UConn in the foot! I'm looking at my Saturday Session ticket (i.e. both games) and it says $31.00 for a center section seat a dozen rows up. Where does $41 come from? There are altogether too many -ups like that with the press and TicketBastards, as occurred on their web site in last year's NCAA's.

Has anyone ever heard of fact checking before they misinform 20,000 people?
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Go to Ticketmaster and you'll see that the price for Saturday's session is $41 per ticket. With fees it comes to $50.80. You apparently bought a package for both Saturday and Monday for $62, which would be $31 per session. However Ticketmaster's fees bring it to $70.80 per ticket, so $35.40 per game. So I think what the press is reporting is correct. There is a significant price advantage to buying the package instead of buying the sessions separately. That said, if you want to go to a single session, the cost is $50.80 for a single ticket – precisely as reported.

 

[McHuskyFan]

if you want to go to a single session, the cost is $50.80 for a single ticket

which is out-freakin'-rageous !!

 

[alexrgct]

Saturday at 1pm... against a better team than P-View! Doty's return after missing a game and on the strength of beating Syracuse by 41pts a few days earlier (Tiff had 35). Some knew it was the last game of the season at the XL Center for them (ND was at the XL Center but at 9pm on a Monday 15k)

The PV A&M game is Saturday at 1:20, right? And coastal folks clamor for games in Bridgeport. As for PV A&M vs. USF, I'm not trying to say necessarily that PV A&M is better, but what's USF seeded in the NCAA tourney?

 

[DaddyChoc]

The PV A&M game is Saturday at 1:20, right? And coastal folks clamor for games in Bridgeport. As for PV A&M vs. USF, I'm not trying to say necessarily that PV A&M is better, but what's USF seeded in the NCAA tourney?

USF is 18-15 & PView is 17 - 15... USF won their WNIT game (yesterday) by 56.
PView season will end at 17-16 but they are the SWAC Tourney Champs (reason they are in).

I also think someone mentioned the ticket discount in Jan.

and I agree, shame on them for begging for a game(s) and not showing up for them BUT I also understand them for not wanting to pay the 30, 40, 50.00 per ticket.

Im sure I mentioned it before... I didnt go to the USF even with all the great factors (no work, start time, promo price and in walking distance)... why, cause I could watch it at home in HD.

I guess the great promo got a not of new faces in the seats that seat. (UConn, BET nor the XL Center has anything to do with this PView game)

 

[Sonny44]

What do you expect?
This is CT isn't it?

 

[Sonny44]

which is out-freakin'-rageous !!

And for what kind of seat?

 

[Sonny44]

You GOT it, Babee!

A thousand years from now we will all have evolved to being just a brain on an ice cream stick, directly wired to ESPN.
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Sent by my 'RRHOIDS COLONIC using Crapatalk
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You got it Wonkster. We are raising a generation of couch potatoes whose activities don't wander far from their screens. Getting off your butt and getting into a car requires effort.

 

[UConnChapette]

Some very good points have been made.

My take is it is the combined affects of many factors:

1.) Early rounds against cupcakes sandwiched between the BET and the Kinston Regional. Call it basketball fatigue. You can't really escape the cost of parking and concessions (well, okay, maybe concessions). But that is a lot of money to outlay to go to every one of UConn's potential post-season games.
2.) Outrageous cost of the tickets. Maybe for the regionals - MAYBE. But the first and second rounds? Not so much.
3.) The nice weather and game time. Who really thought we would have 60's in mid-March in CT?
4.) Income tax time coming up. CT had that lovely mid year tax increase, retro active to Jan 1, 2011. There is a lot of angst over how much taxes will be due to CT, and if employers appropriately increased withholding. We ended up getting a refund this year, but only because I had additional voluntary withholding taken out of my paycheck.
5.) General fiscal fatigue. Feeling like we (in CT) are being nickle and dimed and taxed to death. The legislature is now talking about taxing digitial downloads to smartphones. Price of gas is skyrocketing.
6) Readily available viewing options for the games. HDTV, or wide-screen anyway when UConn opens up a big lead and ESPN moves the HD channel to a more "compelling" game, computer.

No easy answers here. Lowering ticket costs may not be enough. Send the BET somewhere else, UConn fans will complain. Have the first two rounds in a more distant state, UConn fans will complain. Can't control the weather. No going back on the easy and readily accessible tv viewing. Cost of living is not going to get any cheaper.

 

[FairView]

I will say it again and again .... the answer is marketing.
The 4 Ps. Place, Product, Price and Promotion.

 

[mr006]

ROTFL - It was probably a coupon on the back of the ticket stub. Or one of those special offers in the program, if the goalie signed the appropriate page. My car needs it.

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UPDATE, 3/17/12: As mentioned in another thread, parking was actually $15. And no, still no car wash, but I did feel like I got hosed

 

[Wonkster]

... BTW, not sure about the parking fees for BB, but when we went to see hockey at Harbor Yard this year, the parking fee had gone from $5 to $10.

THANKS FOR THE WARNING, mr006! I owe you a beer.

After reading your post, I realized I had given no thought to transportation. I was just going to drive to the game, like any other mindless American. Then I remembered the $1.00 Senior fare from Westport to Bridgeport on the New Haven Railroad. Although I recently moved from a short walk away to nearly 2 miles from the station, I decided to take the train, which conveniently stops not far from Harbor Yard. Parking at the Westport station is free on weekends, too!

As I walked toward the arena, I spotted the sign for parking: 15 freakin' dollars!
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[ASweet3781]

A lot of reasons have been mentioned and most are valid but I think having the Big East Tournament in Hartford every season cuts down the demand and desire to pay to see the NCAA games. I'd be all basketballed out if I sat through 3-5 days of basketball. And after seein UConn play ND, St. John's, Rutgers are you going to really want to pay a lot of money to see them play a 16 seed?

I think UConn wants it both ways. They want the advantage and revenue of the home courts so much that they don't care if its drives down the demand to see them. No other major BCS conference holds their tournament on a teams home court. No other top programs puts in for the 1st/2nd rounds every other year and the year they skip they know another in state school (Fairfield) will put in for them.

Quite frankly I have found it to be a rather weak excuse that Hartford is the only suitable place to hold the BET. Your telling me South Bend wouldn't get 8,000-9,000 or more for a UConn-ND final? Louisville has a beautiful new arena and they have done a great job selling it out for big games. Even DePaul has shown they can draw good crowds. Unless you take something away and let the fans miss and crave it, they get used to it. They are used to seeing postseason games in CT and take it for granted. Less demand, less fans at the game. As long as you have the BET in Hartford every season, I think you'll be seeing 4500-6000 fans at over priced 1st/2nd round games.

 

[Wonkster]

... Louisville has a beautiful new arena and they have done a great job selling it out for big games ...

You've got to be kidding. Do you know what the TOP PRICE is for the Louisville women's games? SEVEN DOLLARS! And they have had promotions there for $2/seat if you show a local supermarket chain's ID card. TWO DOLLARS!

The YUM! Center 'success story' has yet to be tested against the future loss of the novelty factor after every yokel in a 5o-mile radius has gone there once just to gape at the place. Nor does anyone know what will happen to attendance if or when ticket prices go up.

What matters to the Big East bigwigs is the revenue, not the number of tickets sold. I don't know what the price of vendors' offerings are in Louisville, but I'd guess they are a better deal for the fams than the ripoffs in Hartford and at Gampel. Not necessarily higher profits for the vendors, though. Which do you think is more important to the Big East?

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[ASweet3781]

You've got to be kidding. Do you know what the TOP PRICE is for the Louisville women's games? SEVEN DOLLARS! And they have had promotions there for $2/seat if you show a local supermarket chain's ID card. TWO DOLLARS!

The YUM! Center 'success story' has yet to be tested against the future loss of the novelty factor after every yokel in a 5o-mile radius has gone there once just to gape at the place. Nor does anyone know what will happen to attendance if or when ticket prices go up.

What matters to the Big East bigwigs is the revenue, not the number of tickets sold. I don't know what the price of vendors' offerings are in Louisville, but I'd guess they are a better deal than the ripoffs in Hartford and at Gampel.
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So try it out one year. See if it works. They have a 20,000+ seat arena so maybe some lower ticket prices and promotions can bring in more than the 8000-9000 over taxed fans in Hartford. And if Louisville goes on a Cinderella run and wins a BET maybe some of those 7$ fans will pay more next year. That's how UConn started out once upon a time you know. You also can't tell me South Bend wouldn't sell out or come close to it with the Diggins era in full effect.

And if not, In the meantime, the faux shock when fans in CT are tapped out financially and spoiled rotten with having so many postseason options can cease.

 

[Wonkster]

So try it out one year. See if it works. They have a 20,000+ seat arena so maybe some lower ticket prices and promotions can bring in more than the 8000-9000 over taxed fans in Hartford.

Sheer fantasy. The contracts are awarded on a 4 or 5-year basis. Suitable game dates have to be secured well in advance.

And if Louisville goes on a Cinderella run and wins a BET maybe some of those 7$ fans will pay more next year.

More fantasy. Louisville can forget about winning any BE Tournaments for the next 4 years, at least. And, of course, you personally will guarantee that their hotshot head coach will be still be there to pilot them, right? And, course, you know for a fact that Louisville will still be a member of the Big East 4 or 5 years from now, right?

You also can't tell me South Bend wouldn't sell out or come close to it with the Diggins era in full effect.

Much more likely than the Louisville scenario. How long does "the Diggins era" last, may I ask?

In the meantime, the faux shock when fans in CT are tapped out financially and spoiled rotten with having so many postseason options can cease.

Don't forget - the Big East bigwigs have already run this experiment - at Rutgers, where it flopped gloriously. I think they should run it again, as long as you sign a conditional mortgage on everything you own to protect the Big East against unplanned revenue shortfall resulting from your fantasy speculation.
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[ASweet3781]

Sheer fantasy. The contracts are awarded on a 4 or 5-year basis. Suitable game dates have to be secured well in advance.

More fantasy. Louisville can forget about winning any BE Tournaments for the next 4 years, at least. And, of course, you personally will guarantee that their hotshot head coach will be still be there to pilot them, right? And, course, you know for a fact that Louisville will still be a member of the Big East 4 or 5 years from now, right?

Much more likely than the Louisville scenario. How long does "the Diggins era" last, may I ask?

Don't forget - the Big East bigwigs have already run this experiment - at Rutgers, where it flopped gloriously. I think they should run it again, as long as you sign a conditional mortgage on everything you own to protect the Big East against unplanned revenue shortfall resulting from your fantasy speculation.
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Who knew the suggestion to move the BET out of Hartford for a year or two could be taken so personally.

All I'm saying is that the whining about our attendance can stop because it's going to be this way with so many tournament games to choose from.

 

[DaddyChoc]

ASweet its not about the "final" game... its about the 1st rounds also, the Friday & Saturday games (the ones people dont show up for).

at the XL Center on a Friday Seton Hall vs Prov (example) could draw 3-4K.

Location is everything, Pirate & Friar fans can drive to this type of game... not so if its in Indiana.

 

[ASweet3781]

ASweet its not about the "final" game... its about the 1st rounds also, the Friday & Saturday games (the ones people dont show up for).

at the XL Center on a Friday Seton Hall vs Prov (example) could draw 3-4K.

Location is everything, Pirate & Friar fans can drive to this type of game... not so if its in Indiana.

The Pirates and Friars have fans?

 

[Wonkster]

Who knew the suggestion to move the BET out of Hartford for a year or two could be taken so personally.....

In the interest of full disclosure, I should inform you that I have put in a bid to have the Big East Tournament located in my driveway from 2013 through 2017.
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