Season Ticket count

[brasssbonanzaa]

Typical home football weekend at a major college program:

Thurs: (Wednesday for really big games): RVs begin arriving.

Friday: most fans outside a 100 mile radius begin arriving.

-Check-in to hotel or wherever your staying.
- Hit the local supermarket for last.minute tailgate supplies, beer, and ice.
- Walk through campus.
- Hit the local town paying special attention to local watering holes, perhaps pick up a new t-shirt, hat, jersey or whatever for the game.
- Have dinner usually at a local haunt you couldn't afford when you were a student or go the other way and hit that old place you used to go.
- Party and hang with people you haven't seen since the last game.
- Go to bed.

Saturday: day trip fans within a two-hour drive show up.

- Set up your tailgate. You are there as soon as the lot opens to get your usual spot. Usually around 7-8am. It doesn't matter what time the game starts.

- Make breakfast. Throw the football, drink a few, watch Gameday on the satellite if you are so prepared.

- for 3:30 and later, make lunch, perhaps take another stroll through campus or visit other tailgates.

- enter the stadium to watch the pregame traditions, hit the restroom.

- Kickoff
- Final Whistle

- Make dinner at tailgate or if you're good enough to know the secret way out, pack up and hit your favorite restaurant before the masses can get out.

- revel in victory or just revel with your fellow fans.

- go to bed.

Sunday: exit plan.
- Get up early enough to hit the breakfast joint 15 minutes before the masses.
- if you arrived late Fri or Sat, do the campus, town, t-shirt thing.
- check out
- Hit road back home.

As far as we've come, we still have a ways to go.


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The difference is, where we live there are other things to do. At many of those major programs you're talking about, there is literally nothing else to do within a 250 mile radius. You think you're going to get people to do this and give up seeing or going to Red Sox/Yankees September and/or playoff games? If only we had more Mets fans as UConn fans, this wouldn't be an issue. Also don't forget that UConn games overlap with the NFL season, and many people in CT either are Giants/Jets/Pats season ticket holders, or go to games. Additionally, many are season ticket holders of other teams like the Eagles and Redskins, and make a weekend out of going to those games.

This is a pro sports part of the country, and that won't change, that's not the fault of the Big East. Most of these "major programs" are from areas that don't have any professional sports teams nearby, much less three MLB teams, three NFL teams, four NHL teams, and three NBA teams all within a 125 mile radius. Priorities are divided here because of choice overload and the longstanding traditions of some of those pro teams.

It's not to say that we can't build a following, but if you think arriving on Friday for a UConn football game is going to usurp going to/watching Red Sox and Yankee playoff games in October (lol Mets), or going to a Giants/Jets/Pats game, I've got a bridge to sell you.

 

[UCFBfan]

It's not to say that we can't build a following, but if you think arriving on Friday for a UConn football game is going to usurp going to/watching Red Sox and Yankee playoff games in October (lol Mets), or going to a Giants/Jets/Pats game, I've got a bridge to sell you.

The problem to is that if you arrive on a Friday where are you going to go? Buckland Mall? Hartford? There's no college town to hang out in. It's one of the few drawbacks to having an off-campus stadium. The post that gave the itinerary works when stadiums are surrounded by vibrant college towns but that wont occur here which is fine. Also, if stadium was built on campus RVs wouldn't make the trek up there anyways! In the end we need to stop trying to be everyone else and mold our own identity. So far, I like the tailgate scene we currently have and feel it gets better each year!

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[Carl Spackler]

The difference is, where we live there are other things to do. At many of those major programs you're talking about, there is literally nothing else to do within a 250 mile radius. You think you're going to get people to do this and give up seeing or going to Red Sox/Yankees September and/or playoff games? If only we had more Mets fans as UConn fans, this wouldn't be an issue. Also don't forget that UConn games overlap with the NFL season, and many people in CT either are Giants/Jets/Pats season ticket holders, or go to games. Additionally, many are season ticket holders of other teams like the Eagles and Redskins, and make a weekend out of going to those games.

This is a pro sports part of the country, and that won't change, that's not the fault of the Big East. Most of these "major programs" are from areas that don't have any professional sports teams nearby, much less three MLB teams, three NFL teams, four NHL teams, and three NBA teams all within a 125 mile radius. Priorities are divided here because of choice overload and the longstanding traditions of some of those pro teams.

It's not to say that we can't build a following, but if you think arriving on Friday for a UConn football game is going to usurp going to/watching Red Sox and Yankee playoff games in October (lol Mets), or going to a Giants/Jets/Pats game, I've got a bridge to sell you.

Our broadest, and most effective target of a ticket buying fan base is all within same day travel of the stadium. Area hotels are only going to see traffic from visiting team travelers, which in the past, also involved pretty much same day travel, one night max stay - with the new big east, that will be different, visiting programs will have a contingents staying longer, as air travel will be necessary.

The problem we've had as a big east member, is scheduling. We've been a pawn of ESPN for a long time with football, as filler, while the primetime saturday time slots in the afternoon, have been reserved for other broadcasting. I find it more than ironic, that the ACC, is going to have all the same problems that the Big East football programs had while handcuffed to ESPN. Weeknight games for the best matchups. Odd team scheduling, with alternating years of one less home game per year. A noted writer in the Pittsburgh media had interesting commentary about it all, after his first trip to ACC media day. The commissioner answering questions about the perception of how good ACC football is.....etc. etc.

Anyway - I digress, with the structure of the new big east, and the ability to schedule and broadcast across the entire country, I fully expect to see a lot more UConn games kicking off at home at 3:30pm EST, or on Saturday nights. I think all the football programs in the new big east are looking at that as high priority for the next TV deal. I believe I'd be able to count the number of televised, 3:30 kickoffs we've had in just over a decade of division 1-A football, on one hand.

 

[Carl Spackler]

The problem to is that if you arrive on a Friday where are you going to go? Buckland Mall? Hartford? There's no college town to hang out in. It's one of the few drawbacks to having an off-campus stadium. The post that gave the itinerary works when stadiums are surrounded by vibrant college towns but that wont occur here which is fine. Also, if stadium was built on campus RVs wouldn't make the trek up there anyways! In the end we need to stop trying to be everyone else and mold our own identity. So far, I like the tailgate scene we currently have and feel it gets better each year!

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The gameday atmosphere at Rentschler is fantastic. There aren't that many college football venues that put the entire stadium crowd, tailgating in such close proximity to the field as we can.

 

[SubbaBub]

The difference is, where we live there are other things to do. At many of those major programs you're talking about, there is literally nothing else to do within a 250 mile radius. You think you're going to get people to do this and give up seeing or going to Red Sox/Yankees September and/or playoff games? If only we had more Mets fans as UConn fans, this wouldn't be an issue. Also don't forget that UConn games overlap with the NFL season, and many people in CT either are Giants/Jets/Pats season ticket holders, or go to games. Additionally, many are season ticket holders of other teams like the Eagles and Redskins, and make a weekend out of going to those games.

This is a pro sports part of the country, and that won't change, that's not the fault of the Big East. Most of these "major programs" are from areas that don't have any professional sports teams nearby, much less three MLB teams, three NFL teams, four NHL teams, and three NBA teams all within a 125 mile radius. Priorities are divided here because of choice overload and the longstanding traditions of some of those pro teams.

It's not to say that we can't build a following, but if you think arriving on Friday for a UConn football game is going to usurp going to/watching Red Sox and Yankee playoff games in October (lol Mets), or going to a Giants/Jets/Pats game, I've got a bridge to sell you.

There are no pro sports teams in Michigan or Ohio or Florida or Texas?

The point I was making is that they are big time, because the people do care and that they want to spend their weekend at the game.

As a densly populous state in terms of.alums and overall, you'd think it'd be easier as a one day event, and not even a full day at that.

Others had it right, winning and time make the difference. The seasons tickets are down because the wins (real.ones, not MAC ones) don't look like they are coming soon and time is running out on the BE.

Once you've played with ND, OU, WV and Miami, it's hard to get excited about UMass and Temple.

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[FAIRTIDES]

It's not just us having problems. The NFL had its lowest per-game average since 1998 and overall sales have declined steadily since 2007. The two factors going against everyone are the economy and the rise of the inexpensive, high quality HD TV/entertainment system. We need to continue to win and do whatever we can to get fannies in the seats. If more-than-casual-but-not-diehard fans knew that every game would eventually sell out, they'd be much less likely to try to cherrypick a few games. We've got to get back to 30k season tickets - which virtually ensures sellouts every game. We'll get there.

It's not the price. It's not game times. It's not cup cakes on the schedule. It's the Product! It's the Product! It's the Product! Here, in the northeast, where

 

[Carl Spackler]

There are no pro sports teams in Michigan or Ohio or Florida or Texas?

The point I was making is that they are big time, because the people do care and that they want to spend their weekend at the game.

As a densly populous state in terms of.alums and overall, you'd think it'd be easier as a one day event, and not even a full day at that.

Others had it right, winning and time make the difference. The seasons tickets are down because the wins (real.ones, not MAC ones) don't look like they are coming soon and time is running out on the BE.

Once you've played with ND, OU, WV and Miami, it's hard to get excited about UMass and Temple.

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It is difficult, if you've got kids involved in youth sports, in extracurricular activities, to get to a noon game on a saturday. But it's not impossible. You're either going to miss the entire pre-game atmosphere, or you've got to make a decision to either go to the kids activity in the early afternoon, or miss it, entirely, or miss the game in favor of your kids activity. With a 3:30 start, you might still miss the tailgate, but you're going to be able to get to the game with your kids.

I jjust went through some of the old schedules. If my count is right, since 2002, we've played more wednesday night games than we've had home kickoffs scheduled for a 3:30pm saturday television slot.

THursday and friday nights? Wednesdays? Simply not college football days, and not primetime by any means. Thursday nights now, are going to be NFL. The ACC is going to be filling up fridays for ESPN. Saturday is college football day, and 3:30pm is primetime.

 

[Carl Spackler]

It's not the price. It's not game times. It's not cup cakes on the schedule. It's the Product! It's the Product! It's the Product! Here, in the northeast, where

agreed, winning is obviously the most important thing. It's no coincidence though, that when we played Michigan, and we played Notre Dame on the road, that we played on Saturdays, and in the afternoon.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

It's not the price. It's not game times. It's not cup cakes on the schedule. It's the Product! It's the Product! It's the Product! Here, in the northeast, where

Something weird caused the above to xmit before I was finished,so, I'll try again.

It's not the price. It's not game times. It's not cup cakes on the schedule. It's the Product! It's the Product! It's the Product! Here, in the northeast, where there is incredible competition for the entertainment dollar, the entertainment product has to stand out.

And it is "entertainment," unless, of course, you are one of the fanatics that contribute to the "boneyard." For those, it's life and death. To compete with other forms of entertainment, both sports and otherwise, UCONN will have to provide and promote a competitive product. Games have to become events. It starts with winning, but includes more.

Now, before you answer with a "we don't need band wagon jumper fans;" the answer is: you most assuredly do. Some of those bandwagon fans will become fanatical fans if the product is good and the game experience is better.

But, make no mistake. It's the product, and the product can't be evaluated through a boneyarder's prism.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Something weird caused the above to xmit before I was finished,so, I'll try again.

It's not the price. It's not game times. It's not cup cakes on the schedule. It's the Product! It's the Product! It's the Product! Here, in the northeast, where there is incredible competition for the entertainment dollar, the entertainment product has to stand out.

And it is "entertainment," unless, of course, you are one of the fanatics that contribute to the "boneyard." For those, it's life and death. To compete with other forms of entertainment, both sports and otherwise, UCONN will have to provide and promote a competitive product. Games have to become events. It starts with winning, but includes more.

Now, before you answer with a "we don't need band wagon jumper fans;" the answer is: you most assuredly do. Some of those bandwagon fans will become fanatical fans if the product is good and the game experience is better.

But, make no mistake. It's the product, and the product can't be evaluated through a boneyarder's prism.

UConn basketball didn't take off until the NCAA tournament runs in 1989-1990-1991. We won the NIT in 1988, and had Cliff Robinson on the team going up against all the other big time front line players in the big east, and nobody watched, or cared, except the die-hards.

You've got win, first and foremost, and on top of that, you have to be visible. UConn football has two big east titles, but the only times we've been really visible to the public, to the uconn population is in the past 2 years, and we haven't been that visible. We've had three shots, all away games. Notre Dame, MIchigan, and Oklahoma. The majority of the casual people out there, that would become new ticket buyers, only exposure to uconn football is those three games.

We need to win games, and do it visibly. The band wagon for a top 25 uconn football program, I predict, would be incredible. To my knowledge, we've never won a game at home as a top 25 ranked team.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Two of my most memorable games (recently) when it comes to the fan excitement around the games, were the North Carolina game in 2009 and the WVU game at home in I think 2008. Both times, we had good teams on the field, and the opponent was coming in ranked in the top 25. We lost both games.

The best way to make sure we've got a top 25 team on the field at Rentschler, to draw ticket buyers, and interest, is to actually be the top 25 team on the field.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Just received an email offering $20 per game tickets with free shipping and 2 additional free tickets to the UMass game if you purchase before 7/31.

 

[Dann]

got the email also.

what do u guys make of this?

 

[Jarhead_1775]

got the email also.

what do u guys make of this?

Hopefully a successful marketing strategy. More likely the panic button has been pressed.

 

[uconNYC]

I like the "Lock in your seats for Michigan"

 

[Dann]

the past few days i have seen a lot of people(some students some not) posting on twitter about either just bought season tix or am going to this weekend type talk. so i can say i am thinking that we can still hit a respectable number. maybe this email gets the buzz going we need to. i haven't seen a uconn commercial on tv in a long time. whats up with that?

 

[coachcap]

The panic button has DEFINATELY been stomped on. Notice that the offer expires on July 31st (next Tuesday). The following week, (August 8th) is the published date of putting individual game tickets on sale. Does anyone know if the 3 game miniplans are being marketed this season? Also notice that this discount plan makes NO mention of parking ticket pricing.
And my next question: Are those of us who already purchased season tickets ALSO going to receive the two extra FREE tickets to the UMass game, or is this just a ploy to lure the Johnnie-come-latelies?

 

[SubbaBub]

got the email also.

what do u guys make of this?

If I'm a casual fan... I see a two and a half game home schedule.

 

[UCFBfan]

got the email also.

what do u guys make of this?

Where are the $20 seats? It says "For as low as" that usually is code for, we'll give you $20 seats in the Top of the Rent section but if you want lower level seats dream on.

 

[metsfan2323]

If I'm a casual fan... I see a two and a half game home schedule.

I see a solid 5 game schedule with the only big dog being the Buffalo game. UMASS is 10 times more interesting then Fordham was last year, plus I always enjoy game 1 even if we are playing a lousy team. I know many feel that Temple is a dog of a game, but that is now a huge, must win conference game for us, and Temple did in fact beat up our Fiesta bowl team two years ago.

NC State and PITT are ACC teams....need I say more?

Cincy is the last game of the year and I expect a huge celebration post game.

 

[CTMike]

We can all list off a bunch of reasons why going to a game is not the #1 priority for people... question is how does UConn change it. Winning is priority #1. Marketing. Scheduling. Really need to push all angles, and for every excuse, have an answer and a way to convince folks otherwise.

 

[businesslawyer]

i agree. but if the stadium was on campus we would have 15k in students season tix. then people here would argue that alot less ppl around the hartford and southern areas would go to games. ok fine. i would rather have 15k students and 10k alum/fans then 14k alum/fans and 6k students. but each year those kids graduate they see going back to campus on saturdays as part of culture, it develops quickly. people dont see the rent as a real destination. its a parking lot with a above average mac stadium. sorry thats harash. its not exactly big boy ish which is where we want to be. students have to take 30 min bus rides and there aren't enough or w/e the issue is. the states next project should be selling the rent to a mls team by 2018 and making the highway extension. we continue to create a lax culture of hey, we can come to a place near you so u can watch. instead of come to uconn, see our beautiful campus etc etc and enjoy a day or night here. that leads to kids growiing up wanting to go there and that leads to d 1 athletes from the state wanting to go there and that leads to more grads that stay in the state and become ticket holders. the result is that the towns around storrs all become little college towns instead of nothings like right now. they can develop into little college towns like post road fairfield for example. that is what uconn needs. you can create a college town thru sports. sports bring huge crowds to campus again and again. eventually the towns get built up around that, but were not using that instead we run everything to hartford. were doing things wrong form a while ago and fighting it. thats my opinion on it. get the Fecundity out of hartford and bring the fan base with you. rant over.

anyway, i hope we have a nice spike the last month and at least get it back up in the mid 20's.

I'm confused. Was the stadium closer to campus when we were selling 25k season tickets?

 

[whaler11]

That isn't a new offer. The deadline has always been July 31st for the bonuses like the UMass tickets.

 

[whaler11]

The funny thing about the Top of the Rent was if you had those seats at the Meadowlands you'd be bragging about how good your seats are.

 

[UCFBfan]

The funny thing about the Top of the Rent was if you had those seats at the Meadowlands you'd be bragging about how good your seats are.

I think they're great seats. I prefer sitting upper deck so you can see the play develop. Football is one of those sports where sitting close to the field isn't that great. You can't see what's happening when you're too close. When I get my season tix again I'll be going Top of the Rent for sure. Used to have tix up there and look forward to returning.