Improving Football Gameday Experience | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Improving Football Gameday Experience

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Couple ideas I offered: School or corporate sponsored tailgate for students prior to game; more UCMB involvement during game; do away with silly Kiss Cam, Dance Cam, etc., I think they just scream minor league.

omg, are you crazy? Hot-weathered late August/early September games....coeds......nearly nekkid......gyrating......dance cam.
 
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Damn. finished & sent the survey, THEN remembered that I didn't mention having a husky sled team lead the players onto the field.

No worries Coach - Got it covered in spades.
 

Dooley

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Couple ideas I offered: School or corporate sponsored tailgate for students prior to game; more UCMB involvement during game; do away with silly Kiss Cam, Dance Cam, etc., I think they just scream minor league.

I, too, HATE the dance and kiss cams. However, those things are for the casual fans who come for the tailgate and to socialize with their friends. Sadly, UCONN is about to get crushed with season ticket cancellations next year, thus making the casual fan dollars every bit as important as the season ticket holder dollars. But I agree with you - those things (you can also include the silly Subway fresh take contests and t-shirt giveaways) scream minor league.

Student involvement should be a major focus going forward. Can't fault them for not wanting to trek 30 miles to see us lose by 3 TDs (everyone gets a pass for 2014, including students), but going forward, UCONN will need to figure out how to get students to games and keep them there. The student sections are the lifeblood of any college athletic venue and to see multiple opponents choose to go into the student section for pivotal overtime periods over the past few years is embarrassing. Again, they get a pass for 2014 with everyone else. But if UCONN plans on moving up, this is something that has to be addressed in a way other than simply stating "winning".

LOVE the dog sled idea. Similar to Boomer Sooner and puts more emphasis on our mascot, which is always a good thing to create a good college culture environment.

In any rate, it's good to see UCONN doing this now as opposed to 1 week before the 2015 season kicks off. I hope they take our suggestions seriously.
 
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Tom tell me not to use my reel name and said I could not so it was changed but this is true for every one is it not because tom told me so an I dont' think he would ly to em and its ok if dkie not reel name right altho he slet me keep Ann and so it is half me but that is all that si allowed but I could tell you more but tom I dont' think would think I should becaue he thought I should not so I am do good with English and fluid I am not I wok on it but you do not think it is good so you made a joke of dell help line and the joke awas bout me and not dell and even though I am not smart I try hard and you dont'like me and I should not have done what I did and I apoloze to you and I said I would not talk here and I did so I am appologizzze to you and my talking.


Amy don't let people get you down and don't keep apologizing , you did nothing wrong. You are entitled to your opinion .
 

Waquoit

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I guess I'm in the minority, but I've always like my "gameday experience". Easy in, great tailgating. Good seats, great sight lines. I've been to several away games and hadn't come across anything significantly better, most not as good.
 
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I guess I'm in the minority, but I've always like my "gameday experience". Easy in, great tailgating. Good seats, great sight lines. I've been to several away games and hadn't come across anything significantly better, most not as good.

I don't think you are in the minority (I agree w/ your feelings) but there can always be some new treats and tweaks....
 
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Done. Besides the on field product and better student support (cheaper tickets for student, more for them to do, etc?), I went after parking. It's confusing (location changes every year, especially the season-by-season use of the field to the west of the stadium on Willow St), it's expensive for the privilege of parking a mile from the stadium in mud, and the staff sucks. That's a big turn-off for the car centric, often high-end car centric, Connecticut crow and with the current on-field issues, they don't need further excuses not to go.
 
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One thing I was wondering too - what do they mean by "concourse ammenities"? I agree with others, I like my gameday experience in general. I love our seats too. What I don't like is our schedule, I hate this dumpster fire.
 
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The firesale on tickets really bums me out. I get why they do it but as a twelve year season ticket holder it doesn't seem right to pay $42 per game when I could get them for $5 in the parking lot. Major disservice to season ticket holders but the only solution would be to get this back on track to increase demand. Not sure there are any other solutions to my gripe
 
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For the one thing, I answered: "Touchdowns, offense against quality opponents, and more celebrations".

This is an entertainment business. The sooner the team is entertaining to watch, the atmosphere will change along with it.
 

Husky25

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Done. Agree with the repetition of questions.
It wasn't repetition. The first question asked about personal importance. The next asked about satisfaction. For instance, parking is important part of my gameday experience. My satisfaction with parking, especially the parking attendants (and specifically the crotchety old man in the white windbreaker and golf cart), is not in any way satisfactory.
 

Husky25

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I feel the product is going to take care of itself. My comments were directed towards treatment of the season ticket holders leading up to individual games, Parking, the student section, music (not enough band, too much pop music pumping though the PA). Not enough characters for anything else. I could not copy and paste but my general gist was:

1) Treatment of STHs Leading up to Individual Games STHs feel alienated given we paid full freight for the same product later fans get at a discount. It hurts the base when they realize they buy the same thing for 33%-67% less if they wait.

2) Student Section My exact word was, "pitiful." I then suggested that transportation should be free and door to door (not down the runway somewhere). if they are going to continue to charge, then concessions/activity should be offered. Also buses should start returning to campus starting during the 4th quarter, not halftime.

3) Music Pretty simple...More marching band and less Miley Cirus or whoever the duck_k. I want to here the low and slow ending of the fight song on 1st downs and big defensive plays. I want it played more often the Rocky Top and Hail to the Victors combined. I want opponents so sick of those few bars, they puke in their helmets. Don't get rid of Hell's Bells or Welcome to the Jungle, but find a marching band arrangement. If there is a marching band arrangement for Gangum Style, there's one for Guns 'n Roses' entire catalog.

4) Parking - Don't even get me started. The Blue Lot, where we pay a premium in dollars but get gipped on space and independence is other worldly. Kids should be able to throw the ball around in a vacant lot. Fathers should be able to play without the crotchety old retiree in the white windbreaker and golf cart yelling at them. I can't blame some of the actual attendants guiding cars in, because sometimes it is as much (if not more the drivers error) for parking crooked, but more training couldn't hurt.

It's amazing how fast one can use up 1,500 characters.
 
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One thing I was wondering too - what do they mean by "concourse ammenities"? I agree with others, I like my gameday experience in general. I love our seats too. What I don't like is our schedule, I hate this dumpster fire.
Concourse amenities is a catchall: Can mean clean restrooms, availability of atms,, but most likely means high selection of beer kiosks, & those food trucks behind the jumbotron.
 
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Skiblets said:
Amy has been nuked. Thank you for your interest in UConn football

Was she using the same IP address as Chap?
 
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UCONN ice cream

Ha! I mentioned it too. My strongest comment was about my pet peeve: incentivizing fans to be in their seats by TV kickoff. Each game is like an interview for the P-5. The way our stadium looks is like coming to an interview in mismatched shoes and a lip ring. I offered some suggestions as did all of you. My hope is that all of this data is collected, collated, prioritized, round-tabled, discussed, announced and implemented soon-- even if in phases. It will take someone with a mandate to get it fixed and with complete authority, overtly/publicly endorsed by the AD and President.
 
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For the one thing, I answered: "Touchdowns, offense against quality opponents, and more celebrations".

This is an entertainment business. The sooner the team is entertaining to watch, the atmosphere will change along with it.

Winning, conference affiliation( probably why many signed up when the Rent opened or when the decision was made to play in the Big East, it was the prospect of playing big time football) are given in helping to draw fans to the program. How do you get as many of those fans in their seats before kickoff? They have to feel that they will be missing something if they are not in there. Looking back several years, I wonder how many points we score or average in the first quarter? probably not that much. The offensive culture of the program needed to change. There has to be higher probability and successful execution of plays that get people cheering, out of their seats. Even unsuccessful plays will bring their share of drama. Many here will recall that play when Moore got behind the WVU defense and Endres unloaded that bomb, the entire stadium got up off its seat. Casual fans of football or even people that may not know its rules very well understand the significance of a long run or completed pass. I think incorporating the spread and having a qb capable of breaking off long runs will do that. Hopefully winning and conference affiliation will result. Go TDH
 

SubbaBub

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Skiblets said:
The firesale on tickets really bums me out. I get why they do it but as a twelve year season ticket holder it doesn't seem right to pay $42 per game when I could get them for $5 in the parking lot. Major disservice to season ticket holders but the only solution would be to get this back on track to increase demand. Not sure there are any other solutions to my gripe

If you are waiting for college football to be a value play, you'll be at it a while.

Think of it as you are a top level supporter of the program. Which in this climate is something to be proud of.



2014-11-21-15-05-51--804685665.jpeg
 

Dooley

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Just sent a separate email to Athletic Ticket department and Warde because 1,500 characters couldn't cut it!

Here are my suggestions to improving the gameday/season ticket holder experience:

1. Give season ticket holders a chance to renew early at a discount (ex - 50% off if renew by April 1). This way, season ticket holders do not feel as slighted by the plethora of ticket promotions that slash prices in half. I WANT UCONN to sell as many tickets as possible because it helps our chances at getting into a Power conference. However, giving “casual” fans the opportunity to go to games at $20 (or FAR less) while charging season ticket holders $350/yr that includes donations seems counter-intuitive. Offering an early renewal discount incentive to entice season ticket holders would not only keep fans in the stands (and money in UCONN’s bank account), it would soften the blow of watching “casual” fans (who gather around the scoreboard and leave games at halftime) get into the stadium for $20 or less;

2. Extend tailgating hours by 2 hours before kickoff and 1 hour after kickoff. This would allow fans to travel from further away (ex - alumni around New York City) and make plans to come to games. I think that UCONN should market itself as a “northeastern” team and market to fans and alumni from New Jersey all the way up to Maine. If the shortened tailgating hours are set for fear of too much alcohol consumption by fans (and then driving home), then you can stop serving beer inside the stadium or change the alcohol sales policies;

3. Open a RV tailgating lot up to 24-48 hours before kickoff. This again speaks to marketing UCONN as the “northeast’s” team and would allow fans and alumni from far away places to drive to games. Charge a premium for RV tailgating;

4. STUDENT ATTENDANCE MUST BE ADDRESSED. I have grown tired and embarrassed of watching opposing coaches elect to go INTO our student section at the start of Overtime in the past few seasons. Students show up late and most of them leave games at halftime, regardless of the score. If we played our football games on-campus, student participation would probably be different (as it is at Gampel basketball games). But we do not play on-campus so we must begin to cater to that. First, student busses should drop the kids off at a special student tailgating area where they can be served food and drinks. I believe that the current policy is to just drop the kids off at the gate where they are on their own to find food/drinks. If we want our students to feel part of the atmosphere, we should expose them to part of the atmosphere: pre-game tailgating. A school sponsored tent that offers our students hamburgers/hot dogs, soda, chips, water, etc would be a good start towards connecting the students with the off-campus football program. Second, the schedule of busses that depart Rentschler Field has got to change. I believe that busses begin taking students back to campus, regardless of reason, at halftime. PLEASE STOP BUSSING STUDENTS BACK TO STORRS AT HALFTIME. The lifeblood of any college athletic venue is the student sections. When ours goes missing at halftime, regardless of score, it drains a lot of energy out of the stadium. Even if you began running busses back to Storrs with 5 minutes left to go in the game, it’s a start (although I’d prefer to run busses AFTER the conclusion of the game and set up an “emergency” shuttle for those students who offer a valid, emergency reason to get back to campus). Also, it is my understanding that students have to purchase bus passes separately. All student season ticket packages should come with bus passes for all games. You can identify season ticket holders by scanning their student ID. Please consider anything and everything that would improve student attendance (and involvement) at football games. UCONN Football desperately needs support from its students at home games and anything to simplify the process would help;

5. Please consider allowing season ticket holders to purchase/rent season long chair backs (if they sit in a bleacher seat) and leave them at their seat locations throughout the season (aka - after games are over). Almost every other school allows season ticket holders this option and I think it would go a long way towards improving the gameday experience for the fans who are there all season;

6. Boost wi-fi inside and around the stadium. Last year (2013), I missed an emergency at home because I can not receive text messages from my wife during games while I am inside the stadium. I have not noticed any improvement to connection speeds this season. Please note: I am not on my phone all game long…I keep it on vibrate in my pocket in case my wife needs to contact me in the event of an emergency.

7. Increase the number of instant replays on the scoreboard. Part of the reason why attendance is declining across the country, especially for football, is because football is the perfect made-for-TV sport. Why spend money and leave your couch when you can get a better experience at home, including several replays of key plays and moments? I know that I am not alone when I say that fans inside the stadium feel like we’re being held hostage by the replay booths during booth reviews. We very seldom ever see an instant replay and it is frustrating to know that people watching at home are seeing multiple replay angles while we get none.

8. Introduce a Dairy Bar vendor at home games. One of the more iconic memories that alumni have from our days on campus is The Dairy Bar. Having a Dairy Bar tent located somewhere inside the stadium would be a GREAT way to connect UCONN students, past and present, with the football stadium/program and school. Granted, ice cream sales would drop in November games but maybe the tent can sell hot cocoa?

9. More UCMB, less muzak. We have an OUTSTANDING marching band. One of my favorite aspects of watching college football over the years is hearing each school’s band play their school’s fight songs over and over again. Ours should be allowed to do the same. We have tried everything inside the stadium for music: a DJ, Coach’s Playlist, dance cams, kiss cams, various other contests…NOTHING sets a college football environment quite like a good band. Please consider allowing our UCMB more play time. We have a great (“Stick It In”) tradition built between our band and students (and fans) when we enter the red zone. Allowing them to also play during TV timeouts, after every first down, and to pump the crowd up when we are on defense would be great.

10. FINALLY constructing a “#6” Jasper Howard Memorial is a good start, but we should also spruce up the hallways and concourse areas with pictures of past team accomplishments. For example, let’s put up a team photo of the 2010 team that went to the Fiesta Bowl, team photos of all teams who won bowl games, and individual players who had outstanding Husky careers and found success in the NFL (Donald Brown, Darius Butler, Kendall Reyes, etc). We should print and hang pictures of key moments in UCONN football history (ex - Teggart’s kick at USF to send the team to the Fiesta Bowl, DJ Hernandez hurling a game winning double-OT football into the parking lot, Dwayne Gratz pick-6 against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, Greg Lloyd Jr knocking Armando Allen’s helmet off at Notre Dame Stadium, etc). Also, we should have photos from our earlier years playing football, like our Yankee Conference years, as a reminder to visiting fans that UCONN just didn’t “pick up football” in 2003. We’ve been playing it for a long time…just like Rutgers.

11. I thought Bob Diaco was a GREAT hire and I still think so, despite this year’s record. But I (and I know MANY others) have grown tired of hearing the “this program was a mess” excuses. I think Coach Diaco and his staff should get a 2014 mulligan, a full year to institute a “winning” environment and installing their program’s system. Diehard season ticket holders KNOW that this program was a mess already…many of us called for the coaching change last season to begin with! We do not need to be reminded of it after each loss to a weak opponent (like we heard after the inexplicable loss to Army). At some point, this message of just how much of a “mess” this program was in is going to sound mixed and players and fans will begin to tune it out. As soon as this season is over, the “mess” excuse needs to stop. What we fans want to hear is how we are going to improve and ultimately win games and get into a better conference. As soon as 2015 begins, we will want to see, on the field, a solid program full of players who love the university every bit as much as we do. No messes. No excuses.

12. Discounts on away game / bowl game packages to season ticket holders. Our two best games on the 2015 schedule are both away (Missouri and BYU). When you consider that UCF and Cincinnati will also likely be away opponents, that makes 4 road games that UCONN fans would be interested in going to see. Offering a travel package discount on away games would be a great way to attract season ticket holders to keep their tickets next year and also give the team much needed vocal support (in numbers!) in away venues. Our stadium has become home to many visiting fans and by the time the game ends, the only fans left in their seats are me, the player families, UCMB and every single visiting fan rejoicing in their win. I would love to see that kind of support for our team at away games. Not to mention, it would help our profile to find a better conference.
 
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UConn needs to be in a better conference. I will continue to support the football team, but it is really hard to find friends, family or alumni who care about seeing a game against Tulane, Temple, Tulsa, SMU, Houston, etc, regardless of our record. The lack of regional rivalries is killing this program and the fanbase, and I hope the school is doing everything possible to pursue a better conference affiliation, including: i) leveraging Connecticut's Congressional representatives as other schools like Louisville, Utah and Virginia Tech have done; ii) leveraging Connecticut's relationship with ESPN through the Governor's office; and iii) considering possible anti-trust litigation in conjunction with other similarly situated schools.

I know that my recommendation communicates a level of hysterics, but I firmly believe that our our conference situation is that desperate, and that until it is sorted out no improvements in parking or concessions will correct the fan apathy that is settling over the football program.[/QUOTE]

I agree with everything except the anti-trust litigation. I am convinced that Richard Blumenthal's lawsuit against the ACC (when they poached Boston College) killed UCONN's chances of getting into that conference. With that said, unless we can get into a Power 5 conference we are in for a difficult future.
 
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The conference situation/placement has GOT to get straightened out. They can run every trick in the book to keep us happy and coming back, but the schedule is going to kill this program if it stays like this.
 
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Dooley I agree with everything you posted, especially #4,#7and #9 as I wrote the same thing.
 
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