C'mon Whaler... Tell me that you don't remember the 85-86 Adams Division playoffs here in Hartford??? You could not GIVE Whaler tix away that year until the Whale went on a SICK run starting in March and created "Whaler Mania!!" When we Bit*h slapped the Div Champs in the Nordiques that year in the first round. This was much like the 95' Lady Husky run as well as our NIT run which started this party back in the late 80's! These events changed the dynamic of fan support in this fair weather fan base here in CT!! At that point the Whale only really sold out when the Bruins/Rangers/Maybe the Isles and Flyers came to town depending on the day of the week. That run created a desire for access to see the winner that was the Whale, who was always the underdog until that time. We all know what happened with Claude "" Lemieux in double OT of game 7 at the Forum so lets move on. Anyway, It created a hype that everyone here in CT wanted to be a part of. I will admit that I was truly Blessed as a child, to be in a position where my family owned season tix from start to finish of the Whaler years here in CT. However, I STILL slept out for playoff tickets for both the Nordiques series as well as the Canadiens series that year! Why was that? Because I wanted to be part of the hype and be part of something special. I ended up selling those tix for face value to friends who wanted to go and those days were some of the last times the Civic Center shook to its core during an event due to the fan excitement. Long story short, make the tix affordable now and enjoy the return on investment when we get out of this $how of a conference and those people who enjoyed their experience prior, will be willing to anti up down the road. My point is this.... We really don't have any right to charge a $1500 seat donation prior to buying 4 chairback seats to the casual fan based on our performance and conference situation. As a result, most of our games look empty and generally like to those watching our game on tv. We need to make these events more accessable to the family of 4+ so that we can build our fan base to where we need it when we get into the B1G. Then we can jack the and people will then b able to justify paying large prices to see B!G time schools over Tulane and Memphis.
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I think they should decrease season tickets and really try to move them. I think going to games is a habit and it's more likely someone with season tickets gets into the habit of going.
Based on my and other's inability to give away free tickets, there is a chance it doesn't move the needed much and all you end up doing is decreasing your revenue because the people that were already buying are paying less.
The Big 10 obviously would be great but I don't see it as automatic sellouts in an expanded stadium. Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State sure. Nebraska and Wisconsin sure but how often would you see them in a 16-18 team league with a geographic split? Once every 4 years?
Indiana, Illinois, Rutgers, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern... they aren't selling tickets if UConn is 4-8 consistently. Virginia? Kansas?
Look at some of the Big 10 schedules this year and that is at 14. You get to 16-18 and they become even shallower.
