Poor fan showing at Gampel

[Trudy Gay]

It really is a question of prioritization. If game day experience and the look of a game on television is important then change the pricing structure and put students along the sidelines. But what they actually are looking to maximize is revenue. So corporate Season ticket holders money is the priority, regardless of whether people show up or not.

I've long advocated for a school run sell back program where STHs can pledge back their tickets to the school for resale at a cost of 50% of whatever the school ultimately realizes. That way, the cost of season tickets is mitigated, the school gets to sell the same seats twice, game day experience gets maximized with more butts in the seat, and the UConn brand gets enhanced because television show shows a sold out arena.

Some people have suggested that having a "official reseller" in StubHub, or whomever they use is an adequate substitute for this. I would disagree. That relies on the Season ticket holders to be willing to invest the time to list and sell the tickets, and allows them to set the market price. Having the school do this allows the school to set a price point to fill the arena, and, offer the tickets first to students, if that's a priority. Literally,

Well yes they already have the former and it’s clearly not working. Season ticket holders can log into their account and click “sell tickets” I believe it’s through seatgeek but not sure, all they have to do is click the button and either set a price or use dynamic pricing and seatgeek does the rest.

 

[Hoophound]

Things are not going well for UConn basketball (relatively, anyway) so this discussion has gone from the University of Connecticut itself stinks, to the state of Connecticut is bad, and onto the entire Northeast is a problem.

As always, scary to think what happens when actual losses arrive

The lack of marquee games is a problem right now. The conference having a down year definitely hurts. Our fans aren’t gonna show up and go crazy about beating a .500 team. That’s a lost cause in the Northeast. If we had a stronger schedule at home, we’d be full.

I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. The crowd looked and sounded fine on TV and I see empty seats at tons of high major games these days. This isn’t UK or KU. Our fans are surrounded by big time sports. I’m a huge fan and I still chose other things over UConn games from time to time when I lived there. There is an awful lot going on in the Northeast, especially if you like hockey, the NFL or the NBA. Don’t even get me started on all the concerts that come through the region.

When you have all those options, it’s tough to sell a game against Georgetown or Butler, especially at $100-$500 per ticket. Honestly, if I told my family we were gonna get pizza and go to the UConn game and it was going to cost me $1000 or more for the 5 of us, they’d tell me they’d rather go snowboarding or go the mall with their $200. Even kids can see the pricing is absurd.

 

[HooperScooper]

The lack of marquee games is a problem right now. The conference having a down year definitely hurts. Our fans aren’t gonna show up and go crazy about beating a .500 team. That’s a lost cause in the Northeast. If we had a stronger schedule at home, we’d be full.

I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. The crowd looked and sounded fine on TV and I see empty seats at tons of high major games these days. This isn’t UK or KU. Our fans are surrounded by big time sports. I’m a huge fan and I still chose other things over UConn games from time to time when I lived there. There is an awful lot going on in the Northeast, especially if you like hockey, the NFL or the NBA. Don’t even get me started on all the concerts that come through the region.

When you have all those options, it’s tough to sell a game against Georgetown or Butler, especially at $100-$500 per ticket. Honestly, if I told my family we were gonna get pizza and go to the UConn game and it was going to cost me $1000 or more for the 5 of us, they’d tell me they’d rather go snowboarding or go the mall with their $200. Even kids can see the pricing is absurd.

Wasn't Hurley's complaint just about the student section this past Saturday? Were there other empty seats? I guess someone needs to ask the students who had those tickets and didn't go to the game why they didn't go. We used to love Saturday night games. Drink before the game. Go to the game. And then go out after the game. Perfect Saturday night on campus.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Ed should worry about his own house. He can't even fill a high school gym.

 

[Nicklo28]

I do think the price of tickets to UConn games has a direct effect on the atmosphere.

 

[Stew Crew]

Wasn't this mostly just about the student section this past Saturday? I guess someone needs to ask the students who had those tickets and didn't go to the game why they didn't go. We used to love Saturday night games. Drink before the game. Go to the game. And then go out after the game. Perfect Saturday night on campus.

Yes it was. Most of the arena was full. Not a lot of empty seats, at least from what I could see. I sit on the north side so I don't have good visibility to upper level bleachers.. The west end student section was mostly empty at tip off. It filled in a little but was still at least half empty for the game.

 

[Edward Sargent]

This is a pretty fair point. I mentioned in a thread a few weeks ago that I can't remember being less enthusiastic to watch our league games in recent memory. Every game is a slog. It's just not attractive basketball. I blame the Big East really, it forces ugly basketball. We had good crowds at some non-conference games.

At least its not the AAC or maybe it is?

 

[Vancat]

Hard to keep excited & engaged when it's
AWESOME
UGH!
AWESOME
UGH!
TIMEOUT
UGH!
AWESOME
REPLAY
UGH!
YEAH!
WTF?
That gets exhausting.

 

[6in25]

Hard to keep excited & engaged when it's
AWESOME
UGH!
AWESOME
UGH!
TIMEOUT
UGH!
AWESOME
REPLAY
UGH!
YEAH!
WTF?
That gets exhausting.

It's 2 hours of your life...I believe in you.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

This is a pretty fair point. I mentioned in a thread a few weeks ago that I can't remember being less enthusiastic to watch our league games in recent memory. Every game is a slog. It's just not attractive basketball. I blame the Big East really, it forces ugly basketball. We had good crowds at some non-conference games.

Although there's truth to this, our BE opponents sure don't seem to have issues pushing pace for fast breaks, pulling off pick & rolls for alley-oop dunks, drive-and-dishing for open jams, and having rebounded putback jams...

All told, we get this stuff consistently thrown at us at least 4-5x/game from otherwise inferior opponents.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Wasn't Hurley's complaint just about the student section this past Saturday? Were there other empty seats? I guess someone needs to ask the students who had those tickets and didn't go to the game why they didn't go. We used to love Saturday night games. Drink before the game. Go to the game. And then go out after the game. Perfect Saturday night on campus.

It was.

And as I wrote in my rant, the empty seats + the lack of a pulse from the students sitting in the overflow section was outright pathetic and it's my clearest complaint about the crowd in the game.

 

[uconnric]

I think the attendance speaks to the weakness in the central CT economy. The economy is not picking up enough wins of its own up there.

Now you're veering way off course. And it was a decent crowd considering the time, location (It's a great campus but not a convenient location), date of the game and a so-so opponent.

 

[CL82]

Well yes they already have the former and it’s clearly not working. Season ticket holders can log into their account and click “sell tickets” I believe it’s through seatgeek but not sure, all they have to do is click the button and either set a price or use dynamic pricing and seatgeek does

The thing that makes that less effective, in my view, is not keeping the school in the loop.

 

[BlueandOG]

I'm a little disappointed in Hurley for backing up Cooley's troll comments about our Fanbase....Hurley fell for the trolling. UConn fanbase is fine, G'Town sucks and is irrelevant like most of the BE teams unfortunately. Hard to get batshit crazy playing these mostly garbage BE teams.

I totally agree with this. Cooley knew his comment would rattle Hurley. We are having an AMAZING season! Don't let this nonsense be a distraction. Win regardless of who is in the stands.

 

[IndyLives]

More reason for UConn to get out of the Big East yesterday (besides the economic realities of NIL, media $$, transfer portal).

The old BE had real rivalry & the fans fed off of that. Seriously, who besides maybe a good St. Johns or Villanova team today will generate any heat among the fans? Answer: None. And, they expect fans to pay $100-$150 for an average seat?!?

BTW, same thing is happening to the women's team as well. The last few games, Gampell has been half-empty for them.

 

[GampelPBA]

Time to shrink the student section? Either 1) lower bowl behind both baskets only, or 2) upper & lower behind one basket only? Many more seats to sell either way. PBA-style bar(s) in upper bowl section(s) perhaps?

 

[Hoophound]

Time to shrink the student section? Either 1) lower bowl behind both baskets only, or 2) upper & lower behind one basket only? Many more seats to sell either way. PBA-style bar(s) in upper bowl section(s) perhaps?

The bar in Gampel would be a huge hit.

 

[Hoophound]

Wasn't Hurley's complaint just about the student section this past Saturday? Were there other empty seats? I guess someone needs to ask the students who had those tickets and didn't go to the game why they didn't go. We used to love Saturday night games. Drink before the game. Go to the game. And then go out after the game. Perfect Saturday night on campus.

He's complained about empty seats before. He doesn't think there should ever be an empty seat with the success he's had. I don't think its a fair assessment. Of course, college kids are going to sign up for free tickets and then not go. That's a given, they get distracted. Make the kids pay for them and make them transferrable. Who cares if a kid sells his ticket to another student for $20-$50?

As far as the rest of the seats go, they are just too expensive for average people. Its a high end event these days.

 

[Huskie837]

I'm an alum, live about 35 minutes from campus and know where to park. Scheduling a 8pm game on a Valentine's Saturday night was really bad planning. A noon start time would have been much better. That said, go Huskies!!

 

[T-Squared]

Hard to keep excited & engaged when it's
AWESOME
UGH!
AWESOME
UGH!
TIMEOUT
UGH!
AWESOME
REPLAY
UGH!
YEAH!
WTF?
That gets exhausting.

Sounds like someone feels entitled to.

 

[CL82]

He's complained about empty seats before. He doesn't think there should ever be an empty seat with the success he's had. I don't think its a fair assessment. Of course, college kids are going to sign up for free tickets and then not go. That's a given, they get distracted. Make the kids pay for them and make them transferrable. Who cares if a kid sells his ticket to another student for $20-$50?

As far as the rest of the seats go, they are just too expensive for average people. Its a high end event these days.

Yes, those empty seats are due to people being priced out rather than Season ticket holders, not showing up, then the question is whether the existing model optimizes the total raised income.

Back in the 90s basketball tickets were extraordinarily difficult to get and houses were packed consistently. Then athletic Director Jeff Hathaway decided to make a money grab by dramatically in increasing prices in breaking some of the practices with season ticket holders of the time. It was a catastrophically bad decision that alienated the people that were the biggest fans. It seems like history has repeated itself with the whole lifetime seat debacle. For a university that has a very solid school of business, we make some extraordinarily bad decisions from time to time.

 

[huskymedic]

He's complained about empty seats before. He doesn't think there should ever be an empty seat with the success he's had. I don't think its a fair assessment. Of course, college kids are going to sign up for free tickets and then not go. That's a given, they get distracted. Make the kids pay for them and make them transferrable. Who cares if a kid sells his ticket to another student for $20-$50?

 

[UDann]

Once the fans stand up its the kiss on death. My son and I have been saying this all year.

I have come to the conclusion that the team needs to earn our cheers and screaming. These guys get paid more than most of the hardcore fans (Karaban $1mm) and certainly Dan makes more than most. I find ugly it that he gets angry at the fans for not screaming all the time.

1. While I will always love the Huskies this version plays ugly and lack of fast breaks and dominance in the paint make them a head scratcher. Case in point the end of both Georgetown games we had to hang on to win. This is not the fans' fault at all!

2. Prices our out of control. We live in one of the most expensive States and we are constantly asked to up more and more. I realize it's the reality in today's "college" sports but coming from Fairfield County and driving up to Gampel can be a real pain. But we do it regardless.

3. I sit around people I don't recognize especially at Gampel. They get their refreshments in the back rooms, and I can tell know little about the team let along basketball. Even had Providence fans sitting next to me at Providence game, evidently, they knew somebody. This should not be allowed a few rows behind the bench.

4. Student tickets should be a nominal payment and allowed to transfer so there is a fanny in the seat.

5. As I mentioned previously Dan's parents weren't at the game Saturday. Maybe its personal matter or matter Georgetown (Big East teams) not worth the time and effort to drive up from NJ.

6. Hartford has been a much better venue and rocks. The refurbishment is great and makes it far more enjoyable experience plus easier drive with more places to eat.

7. Big East refereeing is atrocious. I watch Mullens and Solo run around and get held all the time. This brand of basketball is bad for the conference. Maybe they are afraid we will run away from everybody but isn't better to have a team in the conference that dominates the sport? My take is we would have won against St. Johns in MSG if the game was called like in other conferences. We will be better in the tournament when the style of refereeing will be consistent with basketball and not rugby.

8. Finally, our defense is suffering due to the ridiculous foul calling against us. Players seem tentative to after the ball because they get called all the time. We need Stewart and Ross to perform when out there. I trust they will come around.

Go Huskies

 

[superjohn]

Not only should tickets be transferable to anyone with a student ID it should be a first come first serve thing to get the student tickets. Make sure it's the most passionate student fans who will actually use their tickets to go to the games.

The way they're doing things makes no sense.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

This happened to me two years ago, so Dave is correct. I caught on before the game and got a refund plus site credit to stubhub though. No idea if the seller got punished. I’m pretty sure they told students to never sell to non-students.