Plenty of Tickets Available

[Carl Spackler]

You're blaming someone by wanting to sell all seats on a season ticket basis when the market can do that? Really.


Friggin Giants and Knicks and Red Sox. The scum.

You're just trying to provoke me. I'm not biting. Had the massive volume increase of football ticket sales that occurred b/w 2003-2005, as compared to the sales from Memorial stadium, been handled properly, specific to the sport, the venue, and the ticket buying base, we would not have the ticket sales problems in football that we have now, with the die hard fan base of approx 35,000. Ok , well I nibbled a little bit. But I'm not biting.

 

[Carl Spackler]

We were at the Fiesta Bowl, and I totally agree with CAHusky. I was actually positively surprised with the turnout for Connecticut.

This is one of the travesty's of our immediate media following, and their inability to break down myths that are perpetuated in the greater media about UConn. The myth is that UConn couldn't get fans to Arizona. That myth is entirely false. I estimate at least 10k fans there in blue and white. That's a low estimate.

THe problem was that the athletic department got caught with their pants down when Teggart hit that kick against South Florida. They tried to sell 17,000 seats to a single football game, with a model of ticket sales that for 20 years had been geared to a base of approx 2,000 regular UConn sports post season buyers, and guess what - we sold about about 2,000 packages to the game through the school.

But the traveling fans made it there, in large numbers.

Would be nice if the local media were able to break that myth apart.

 

[Waquoit]

Would be nice if the local media were able to break that myth apart.

Would be nice if UConn did something about that.

 

[whaler11]

The problem is they are still penny wise and pound foolish. Today's example: single game seats for Syracuse for $50. You know the ones they couldn't sell for $87 in packs of three games.

They continue to soak the fans short term with no insight into the big picture. In the end they end up doing things like comping entire sections at Gampel for DePaul.

 

[Waquoit]

The problem is they are still penny wise and pound foolish. Today's example: single game seats for Syracuse for $50. You know the ones they couldn't sell for $87 in packs of three games.

They continue to soak the fans short term with no insight into the big picture.

What's the big picture?

 

[whaler11]

What's the big picture?

The big picture is how do you get people to invest in the programs through the long term sales of season tickets. Emotionally and financially.

Leads you to a better spot then sending multiple emails about how there are still tickets for a game against the #1 team in the country.

 

[UConn4ever]

The problem is they are still penny wise and pound foolish. Today's example: single game seats for Syracuse for $50. You know the ones they couldn't sell for $87 in packs of three games.

They continue to soak the fans short term with no insight into the big picture. In the end they end up doing things like comping entire sections at Gampel for DePaul.

They did sell the Cuse game in the package I got Louisville Syracuse and Cincinnati all for about 90 bucks

 

[businesslawyer]

Would be nice if the local media were able to break that myth apart.

And how exactly are they supposed to do that? Have a reporter go door to door through the state and ask people if they went to Glendale and, if so, who did they buy tickets from?

We didn't buy from the school, and while 10k fans there doesn't strike me (having been there) as impossible (although on the high end of what I would guess), we didn't have so many fans there that it was obvious that we had a great turnout notwithstanding that people didn't buy from the school.

This is not the Courant's failure -- it is ours. More people needed to come and more people needed to throw money away just so the school could sell tickets. that is the bottom line, but it's so much easier to point fingers than look in the mirror.

 

[Husky25]

So you're just sayin you're just a casual fan. That's fine.

What a missupported conclusion, but be that as it may...I will also be unable to attend the game tonight. Where do I turn in my True-Blue-Die-Hard-100%-Attendence-Required-at-all-Things-UConn Card? There is no mailing address on the back. I haven't been to a Red Sox game in 2 years, I guess I'm not allowed to be a baseball fan either. By the way, all those people who weren't at the football game vs. William & Mary on October 18, 1997 will also have to turn in their cards as well. There was only about 9,000 of us, so don't try and say that you were.

The issue is not the people who cannot attend (I will be lucky if I can get home in time for the tip, let alone get to Htfd, but I will watch/listen to as much of the game as possible.)...The issue are the people who have purchased tickets (via season tickets or otherwise), don't go, and don't ensure that their seat is occupied on game day (lookin' in the general direction of the high $$ donors and corporate courtside seats.).

 

[Husky25]

This is not the Courant's failure -- it is ours. More people needed to come and more people needed to throw money away just so the school could sell tickets. that is the bottom line, but it's so much easier to point fingers than look in the mirror.

UConn has had an in-arena support issue ever since basketball achieved its national prominance. It just took the worst economic downturn in 75 years to bring it to bare. The common fans' household income decreased and they were forced to get choosier on what they spent their discresionary income. Once they found they can do without (or substitute for) their previous activities, its not as important for them to recommit to them.

 

[hungry husky]

Will not be attending but will be screaming loud from Tallahassee. My family held season tickets for 20 years, wish I could be there.

 

[Carl Spackler]

And how exactly are they supposed to do that? Have a reporter go door to door through the state and ask people if they went to Glendale and, if so, who did they buy tickets from?

We didn't buy from the school, and while 10k fans there doesn't strike me (having been there) as impossible (although on the high end of what I would guess), we didn't have so many fans there that it was obvious that we had a great turnout notwithstanding that people didn't buy from the school.

This is not the Courant's failure -- it is ours. More people needed to come and more people needed to throw money away just so the school could sell tickets. that is the bottom line, but it's so much easier to point fingers than look in the mirror.

And you're still trying to bait me. The national main news stories around the game for UConn were about the difficulty in ticket sales, while the stories about Oklahoma were about their actual football team. Could the UConn sports media publicity team done better - absolutely. Could the local media have done more? Sure.

BTW: who said "courant"? I'm pretty sure I specified local media, there's a local sports media company that's a lot more noticeable than the "courant".

 

[whaler11]

They did sell the Cuse game in the package I got Louisville Syracuse and Cincinnati all for about 90 bucks

Yes that's my point. When you don't sell them out 3 @ 90 - moving them to 50 for the single game doesn't make a ton of sense. It's just a short term cash grab with no long term strategy. Further teaches people to cherrypick the attractive games.

 

[Waquoit]

What a missupported conclusion, but be that as it may...I will also be unable to attend the game tonight. Where do I turn in my True-Blue-Die-Hard-100%-Attendence-Required-at-all-Things-UConn Card? There is no mailing address on the back. I haven't been to a Red Sox game in 2 years, I guess I'm not allowed to be a baseball fan either. By the way, all those people who weren't at the football game vs. William & Mary on October 18, 1997 will also have to turn in their cards as well. There was only about 9,000 of us, so don't try and say that you were.

The issue is not the people who cannot attend (I will be lucky if I can get home in time for the tip, let alone get to Htfd, but I will watch/listen to as much of the game as possible.)...The issue are the people who have purchased tickets (via season tickets or otherwise), don't go, and don't ensure that their seat is occupied on game day (lookin' in the general direction of the high donors and corporate courtside seats.).

What's your point? Guy said he wasn't going to the game, not because he couldn't make it but because he didn't want to pay the normal price the day of the game. Casual fan, that's fine.

 

[Waquoit]

Yes that's my point. When you don't sell them out 3 @ 90 - moving them to 50 for the single game doesn't make a ton of sense. It's just a short term cash grab with no long term strategy. Further teaches people to cherrypick the attractive games.

I think you have it ass-backwards. They were trying to limit people from cherrypicking this one game. And have they ever done this before?

 

[Husky25]

What's your point? Guy said he wasn't going to the game, not because he couldn't make it but because he didn't want to pay the normal price the day of the game. Casual fan, that's fine.

Read my next post too. Many choose not to pay the price, but that does not make them any less of a fan. The value of the in-arena experience is not worth the cost of the ticket, parking, and optional refreshments as well as whatever indirect costs that may be associated with attending the game.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Read my next post too. Many choose not to pay the price, but that does not make them any less of a fan. The value of the in-arena experience is not worth the cost of the ticket, parking, and optional refreshments as well as whatever indirect costs that may be associated with attending the game.

The thing is, the live fans are the ones participating in the experience. As fans, it's one of the few things we can actually do to influence the game. Seeing the game live is not a passive experience like watching on TV. I can scream my head off and maybe me and 10,000 of my closest friends and make a player feel a little more amped up on adrenaline and maybe, just maybe, we can actually influence the game itself.

That's why they call the crowd the sixth man and they don't call people sitting at home on the couch anything.

 

[UConnMatt813]

i just went on the ticketmaster website to see what was available and it said the tickets are no longer for sale. Does this mean it sold out? Or could you still buy them as a walkup?

 

[huskymedic]

Last night there were 10 seat available on Stub Hub - now there is 35. Seems there maybe a demand for tonight.

 

[huskyjawz]

i just went on the ticketmaster website to see what was available and it said the tickets are no longer for sale. Does this mean it sold out? Or could you still buy them as a walkup?

Walkup.

 

[Husky25]

The thing is, the live fans are the ones participating in the experience. As fans, it's one of the few things we can actually do to influence the game. Seeing the game live is not a passive experience like watching on TV. I can scream my head off and maybe me and 10,000 of my closest friends and make a player feel a little more amped up on adrenaline and maybe, just maybe, we can actually influence the game itself.

That's why they call the crowd the sixth man and they don't call people sitting at home on the couch anything.

I am not disparaging anyone who goes to the games, least of all those who are active. I go to MBB games every once in a while and I am a 10 year (and counting) season tickets holder for football games. I spoke up for the person who chooses not to go for whatever reason and then automatically labeled a fairweather or casual fan.

As I said, the bigger problem is the person who acquires tickets, can't make it, but doesn't do anything to ensure his/her seat is filled for the "less attractive" match ups. By and large, these are the same people who sit on their hands as one within nano-seconds of UConn hitting the first basket. Many of these people are not participating in the experience at basketball games and might as well be at home on the couch. It certainly makes it harder for someone who feels otherwise to pay good money for junk seats 200 feet from the court in the corner of an outdated arena when the better viewing experience can be had elsewhere.

 

[Dann]

lol 2500 seats left.

 

[Giddyup5]

Looks like a decent amount of student tickets still available on facebook.

It disgusts me that students are trying to make money of these tickets. Its about 2+ hrs to game time and people are still trying to make a profit? Just give your ticket away if you can't go...

 

[3uconn]

@EdDaigneault: Told there are about 2,500 tix left for #UConn-Louisville. Sad. When Ticketmaster shuts down early p.m., it shows no tix left. Not true.

 

[Husky25]

Looks like a decent amount of student tickets still available on facebook.

It disgusts me that students are trying to make money of these tickets. Its about 2+ hrs to game time and people are still trying to make a profit? Just give your ing ticket away if you can't go...

Unless things have changed, only students can use student tickets with their UConn ID. I would agree only if the tickets are free. They were not in 1995-1999, when they cost $5 a piece. I see nothing wrong with trying to recoup that cost and maybe getting a little more for the effort (no different than Stubhub for students)? The ticket is worth whatever the market will bear, which is probably not much more than face value and probably why so many student section tickets are available.

Now I have to leave or else I'll have to listen to Joe D in the car and be considered even less of a fan...

 

[huskyjawz]

I am not disparaging anyone who goes to the games, least of all those who are active. I go to MBB games every once in a while and I am a 10 year (and counting) season tickets holder for football games. I spoke up for the person who chooses not to go for whatever reason and then automatically labeled a fairweather or casual fan.

As I said, the bigger problem is the person who acquires tickets, can't make it, but doesn't do anything to ensure his/her seat is filled for the "less attractive" match ups. By and large, these are the same people who sit on their hands as one within nano-seconds of UConn hitting the first basket. Many of these people are not participating in the experience at basketball games and might as well be at home on the couch. It certainly makes it harder for someone who feels otherwise to pay good money for junk seats 200 feet from the court in the corner of an outdated arena when the better viewing experience can be had elsewhere.

There are many valid reasons not to go to the game. If you are considering going to the game, but choose not to, because you consider the face value of the ticket too high, then yes you are a fair weather fan.

And people that go and sit on their hands are better fans than those that sit at home, and are critical of those that actually got off of their asses and went to the game.

If you don't go, then shut up about the people that do go.

 

[Giddyup5]

Unless things have changed, only students can use student tickets with their UConn ID. I would agree only if the tickets are free. They were not in 1995-1999, when they cost $5 a piece. I see nothing wrong with trying to recoup that cost and maybe getting a little more for the effort (no different than Stubhub for students)? The ticket is worth whatever the market will bear, which is probably not much more than face value and probably why so many student section tickets are available.

Now I have to leave or else I'll have to listen to Joe D in the car and be considered even less of a fan...

Nothing wrong with trying to recoup your cost. And I agree that the tickets are worth whatever the market will bear.

What I don't like is that they are still trying to make a profit within 2 hours of the game. At this point, fill the god damn seats if you can't go.

 

[freescooter]

Problem with trying to sell tickets this year is that it is a glorified exhibition season. Even if UConn goes undefeated the rest of the way, the season ends when the season ends. Many people just can't get vested in a team that has no shot at going anywhere. While its all well and good to say the regular season is important, for high level college basketball programs that just isn't the case. The NCAA tournament has grown to such an extend that nothing else really matters for most people (hell, I've read bracketology in June and in June you're still not even sure wo will or won't be on your team come November...). The idea that a regular season game is a big deal has become almost quaint.

 

[Giddyup5]

^ whats wrong with uconn fans these days

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

The idea that a regular season game is a big deal has become almost quaint.

Imbecilic but hardly surprising coming from you. At odds with reality. NC State / Duke and Ohio St. / Michigan were not mob scenes because people were curious about seeding.