South Carolina Leads In Attendance for the Third Straight Year

[stamfordhusky]

We've already sold well over 10,000 season tickets, which doesn't include student tickets. Season ticket sales continue another 2 months so I wouldn't be surprised if season ticket sales exceed last year's average attendance. Our men's attendance will likely jump, too. They were 21st in average attendance last year and top 10 wouldn't shock me this year.

Can you still get a season ticket for $2 a game - like last year - or have they raised the price?

 

[SCGamecock]

lol some of you sound salty that SC has cheap ticket prices... sheesh.

 

[triaddukefan]

lol some of you sound salty that SC has cheap ticket prices... sheesh.

I wonder whats the difference in ticket prices between South Carolina and UCONN in football???

 

[Woof 101]

I wonder whats the difference in ticket prices between South Carolina and UCONN in football???

Google will show you that all football teams prices are all over the place depending on the opponent and seat location, pretty simple actually. No attack here triad but one has to wonder how a Duke fan would want to bring up football.
Duke has had 15 seasons over 500, 15 times since 1960. Many of those were 6 & 5.
mcubed.net : NCAA Football : Duke year-by-year records / rankings

It is easy for those from the silver spoon society to kick the less gifted. I ask you though to keep in mind the last time we played SC in football was in a bowl game.
Doesn't matter what the tickets cost the win was PRICELESS!
Papajohns.com Bowl: Dixon runs UConn past South Carolina, 20-7

 

[stamfordhusky]

lol some of you sound salty that SC has cheap ticket prices... sheesh.

Not salty. But the giveaway ticket prices explain why SC leads the nation in attendance. If UConn had prices anywhere close to those of SC, it would have sold out every game for the last 20+ years.

 

[cbraarj]

Just as long as I can get a ticket to witness Duke putting a L on the defending champs




Dont all WCBB programs operate in the red? Just a matter of who loses more money than the next school.

Uconn Wbb pays for itself.

 

[Vowelguy]

Not salty. But the giveaway ticket prices explain why SC leads the nation in attendance. If UConn had prices anywhere close to those of SC, it would have sold out every game for the last 20+ years.

But they aren't and they didn't. Give SC its due.

In any event, when you have SEC money, you can forgo a bit of wcbb revenue for the sake of building a fanbase.

 

[SCGamecock]

But they aren't and they didn't. Give SC its due.

In any event, when you have SEC money, you can forgo a bit of wcbb revenue for the sake of building a fanbase.

Exactly. It's a very arrogant viewpoint when you say something like "giveaway prices explain why SC leads the nation in attendance".. almost as if winning and the fans actually showing up and being engaged, and marketing campaigns like the "Drive for 5" had nothing to do with it.

SC puts a very good and entertaining family fun product on the floor for a reasonable price. Dawn has cultivated an exciting gameday environment and the fans are engaged. Dumbing it down to just ticket prices discredits all of Dawn's work because if we're being honest.. SC has always had cheap ticket prices for WBB.. even free at one point, but we weren't bringing in 10,000+ crowds on weeknights then so one can assume it's also something else.

A lot of people here didn't see the hard work Dawn put into building a program/fanbase from scratch.. so it's easy to discredit it to something as simple as ticket prices when you're uniformed. There was a process... and perhaps one day our ticket prices will increase exponentially, although I doubt it, we're top 20 in athletic department revenue even with most of our women's sports (some of our best attended) operating in the red. Until that increase happens though, SC shouldn't be ridiculed for having cheaper tickets and good attendance.

 

[Nuyoika]

Exactly. It's a very arrogant viewpoint when you say something like "giveaway prices explain why SC leads the nation in attendance".. almost as if winning and the fans actually showing up and being engaged, and marketing campaigns like the "Drive for 5" had nothing to do with it.

SC puts a very good and entertaining family fun product on the floor for a reasonable price. Dawn has cultivated an exciting gameday environment and the fans are engaged. Dumbing it down to just ticket prices discredits all of Dawn's work because if we're being honest.. SC has always had cheap ticket prices for WBB.. even free at one point, but we weren't bringing in 10,000+ crowds on weeknights then so one can assume it's also something else.

A lot of people here didn't see the hard work Dawn put into building a program/fanbase from scratch.. so it's easy to discredit it to something as simple as ticket prices when you're uniformed. There was a process... and perhaps one day our ticket prices will increase exponentially, although I doubt it, we're top 20 in athletic department revenue even with most of our women's sports (some of our best attended) operating in the red. Until that increase happens though, SC shouldn't be ridiculed for having cheaper tickets and good attendance.

I don't think anyone is saying that alone is exactly why but you also can't say it's not a contributing factor. The fact of the matter is their tickets ARE cheaper. I don't see anything wrong with that. They put a good product on the floor and people showed up. Dawn also does a lot in the community. I also feel like her use of social media and making the fans feel involved has helped with their attendance. She likes the games to be a "party" atmosphere.

Also, it's not just this board that references the price. I have seen that referenced on other boards as well, especially Volnation. Now, some of that from over there could be jealousy or some of that could be that they wholeheartedly believe if they dropped their prices to the level of South Carolina they feel like they could pull just as many fans even if the product on the floor isn't all that great.

 

[SCGamecock]

I don't think anyone is saying that alone is exactly why but you also can't say it's not a contributing factor. The fact of the matter is their tickets ARE cheaper. I don't see anything wrong with that.

My entire point. It is a contributing factor but it's not the only contributing factor...on the other hand, it's the only contributing factor that's usually pointed out here and other places like VolNation whenever the data points are released... and I understand that, you all are UConn/Tennessee fans so there's no reason for you to be aware of all the ways our coaching staff are really going full throttle to get fans in the seats. So when articles like this are posted and some fan dumbs it down to just being cheaper tickets.. I'm here to explain why that's a case, but it's not the ONLY case.

The money that UConn and Tennessee fans pay to attend WCBB games is not the norm. There are plenty of schools, elite programs even, with cheap(er) tickets just like South Carolina that have abysmal attendance. The focus shouldn't be on why SC has cheaper tickets in the first place... it should be on why those fans of other programs with cheaper tickets DON'T show up.

 

[CocoHusky]

Exactly. It's a very arrogant viewpoint when you say something like "giveaway prices explain why SC leads the nation in attendance".. almost as if winning and the fans actually showing up and being engaged, and marketing campaigns like the "Drive for 5" had nothing to do with it.

SC puts a very good and entertaining family fun product on the floor for a reasonable price. Dawn has cultivated an exciting gameday environment and the fans are engaged. Dumbing it down to just ticket prices discredits all of Dawn's work because if we're being honest.. SC has always had cheap ticket prices for WBB.. even free at one point, but we weren't bringing in 10,000+ crowds on weeknights then so one can assume it's also something else.

A lot of people here didn't see the hard work Dawn put into building a program/fanbase from scratch.. so it's easy to discredit it to something as simple as ticket prices when you're uniformed. There was a process... and perhaps one day our ticket prices will increase exponentially, although I doubt it, we're top 20 in athletic department revenue even with most of our women's sports (some of our best attended) operating in the red. Until that increase happens though, SC shouldn't be ridiculed for having cheaper tickets and good attendance.

Whoa. whoa.... hold on a second. This "Drive for 5" ? Is that a real SC WCBB thing? Shouldn't you be driving for two first?
Signed: Another "Arrogant" UCONN WCBB fan.

 

[SCGamecock]

Whoa. whoa.... hold on a second. This "Drive for 5" ? Is that a real SC WCBB thing? Shouldn't you be driving for two first?
Signed: Another "Arrogant" UCONN WCBB fan.

Well first, before somebody jumps in here ready to attack.. I'd like to say that I didn't call UConn fans arrogant. ...

The "Drive for 5" was a marketing campaign for attendance that SC had in place just a few years ago. The goal was to average 5,000 fans per game that season. It was that campaign that really allowed for the creation of our party like/family friendly gameday environment. I brought that up to demonstrate that we didn't start getting good attendance numbers overnight.. there was a process and a foundation was laid.

I know the business goal is to always make more money.. but I honestly hope that SC never increases ticket prices substantially.. it would be very unfortunate to see families and young people priced out of being able to attend. If you've never been to a SC game then it's hard to explain.. but everything there is done in a very lively, engaging way and you see A LOT of students, young people and young families with children.. for one, we have a friggin hip-hop DJ that plays music that young people recognize.. and that's a contrast from most other places where you see older people and less children.

 

[CocoHusky]

Well first, before somebody jumps in here ready to attack.. I'd like to say that I didn't call UConn fans arrogant. ...
The "Drive for 5" was a marketing campaign for attendance that SC had in place just a few years ago. The goal was to average 5,000 fans per game that season. It was that campaign that really allowed for the creation of our party like/family friendly gameday environment. I brought that up to demonstrate that we didn't start getting good attendance numbers overnight.. there was a process and a foundation was laid.
I know the business goal is to always make more money.. but I honestly hope that SC never increases ticket prices substantially.. it would be very unfortunate to see families and young people priced out of being able to attend. If you've never been to a SC game then it's hard to explain.. but everything there is done in a very lively, engaging way and you see A LOT of students, young people and young families with children.. for one, we have a friggin hip-hop DJ that plays music that young people recognize.. and that's a contrast from most other places where you see older people and less children.

I knew what the Drive for 5 was but I can't pass up an opportunity to irk you-you make this too easy. Remember when SC first led the nation in attendance I was the one that called Dawn the best program builder since Geno & CD. You did call @stamfordhusky POV "very arrogant" and I'm pretty sure he's a UCONN fan. It's all good, us UCONN fans have a lot to be arrogant about. SC can keep their young people and that DJ. Us more mature fans of UCONN are doing alright because we can actually afford the high UCONN ticket prices and still pay the mortgage. Do your " younger" fans even know what a Mortgage is?

 

[Nuyoika]

The focus shouldn't be on why SC has cheaper tickets in the first place... it should be on why those fans of other programs with cheaper tickets DON'T show up.

As a marketing professional I concur.

 

[SCGamecock]

I knew what the Drive for 5 was but I can't pass up an opportunity to irk you-you make this too easy. Remember when SC first led the nation in attendance I was the one that called Dawn the best program builder since Geno & CD. You did call @stamfordhusky POV "very arrogant" and I'm pretty sure he's a UCONN fan. It's all good, us UCONN fans have a lot to be arrogant about. SC can keep their young people and that DJ. Us more mature fans of UCONN are doing alright because we can actually afford the high UCONN ticket prices and still pay the mortgage. Do your " younger" fans even know what a Mortgage is?

I'm not irked, I just didn't know that you knew what it was and I don't expect you to, so I explained.

Also, saying somebody's viewpoint on a particular matter is arrogant isn't the same as calling somebody arrogant. We may disagree there and that's fine.

 

[Nuyoika]

Personally for me, (A married male who just turned 30), the exact type of fan WCBB is trying to draw, I can't understand how anyone would think $25 (which is what I last paid for a game @ the XL center) is a lot of money for a game. I mean you are almost guaranteed to see them win. They have won what 96% of their games in the last 20 years? The ticket price is the least of my worries since I am traveling from out of state to see them. In general, the ticket is the cheapest part of my trips. It's all about perceived value. I will pay $25 per game to see UConn if not more because they are worth every cent.

Other schools understand UConn's worth as well. Look at how the price of their games go up when UConn comes to town. Look at how they start holding back tickets well in advance so UConn fans can't snatch them up. Look at how they don't include UConn games in 3 game ticket packs because they know they can get more money when UConn shows up. If I lived in Connecticut I wouldn't miss a game and the price really wouldn't matter. It is the experience I'm there for and for what I get I feel like $25 is a deal.

People also have to consider the fact that in the north east your money just doesn't go as far as it would in the south anyway. So trying to compare prices is sort of pointless because the dollar value is relative to the location anyway.

 

[vtcwbuff]

Uconn Wbb pays for itself.

Not so. I believe that the team has been in the red for most of it's existence. In 2014 the team earnings were $4.0 million while expenditures were $6.3 million.

Most women's teams survive simply because they are heavily subsidized by the University.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Not so. I believe that the team has been in the red for most of it's existence. In 2014 the team earnings were $4.0 million while expenditures were $6.3 million.

True. But you didn't mention that the most recent numbers, for 2015, show revenue of almost $8.9 Million compared to expenses of $7.5 Million.

It is also worth noting that the revenue for the women's program does not get credited for any merchandise sold.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Exactly. It's a very arrogant viewpoint when you say something like "giveaway prices explain why SC leads the nation in attendance".. almost as if winning and the fans actually showing up and being engaged, and marketing campaigns like the "Drive for 5" had nothing to do with it.

I didn't say that, or anything close to that. But feel free to make up stuff if you like. I only said the ultra-cheap prices explain why SC LED the nation. I did not say that winning and marketing campaigns had nothing to do with it. Am curious why facts make one "arrogant".

 

[SCspur]

I didn't say that, or anything close to that. But feel free to make up stuff if you like. I only said the ultra-cheap prices explain why SC LED the nation. I did not say that winning and marketing campaigns had nothing to do with it. Am curious why facts make one "arrogant".

It almost sounds as if you feel some type of way that SC has good attendance numbers. It's really not that big of a deal both UCONN and SC gets great fan support and rightfully so! I for one feel as though Gamecock nation would still show up in droves if the games were cheap or expensive! The fans in Columbia loves them some WCBB! And it's not only WBB that does well in attendance our Women's Soccer team was in the top 10 our men's BB was top 20, baseball was top 15, football sell out nearly every game! It's just something about South Carolina Athletics that brings the crowds in!

 

[SCGamecock]

I didn't say that, or anything close to that. But feel free to make up stuff if you like. I only said the ultra-cheap prices explain why SC LED the nation. I did not say that winning and marketing campaigns had nothing to do with it. Am curious why facts make one "arrogant".

We can argue semantics if you'd like... but I'd prefer not. I will say this... "almost as if" means that you didn't say it verbatim. Read carefully.

And you stating the fact of our cheap tickets wasn't where I gathered your arrogant viewpoint.. it was the way you described our ticket prices as "giveaway" and then followed it up with "IF UConn...."

That came across as an arrogant viewpoint.

 

[vtcwbuff]

True. But you didn't mention that the most recent numbers, for 2015, show revenue of almost $8.9 Million compared to expenses of $7.5 Million.

It is also worth noting that the revenue for the women's program does not get credited for any merchandise sold.

Did your source provide a breakdown of earnings and expenses? I'm curious where the huge (120%) increase in revenues is coming from. Especially since ticket sales (the program's #1 earning source) are down or at best stagnant.

 

[vtcwbuff]

We can argue semantics if you'd like... but I'd prefer not. I will say this... "almost as if" means that you didn't say it verbatim. Read carefully.

And you stating the fact of our cheap tickets wasn't where I gathered your arrogant viewpoint.. it was the way you described our ticket prices as "giveaway" and then followed it up with "IF UConn...."

That came across as an arrogant viewpoint.

Maybe not arrogance. It might be repressed ticket envy.

 

[cbraarj]

Not so. I believe that the team has been in the red for most of it's existence. In 2014 the team earnings were $4.0 million while expenditures were $6.3 million.

Most women's teams survive simply because they are heavily subsidized by the University.

2011 the mens team made 3.9 million while the women made 3.8 million.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

As far as cost of attendance, USC still led in attendance for the first 2 rounds of the NCAA Tournament. I would imagine that NCAAT prices are standard around the country.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Had a feeling this thread would go this way...

Any event adult admission was $8.00 last season. Season tickets ran $60 bucks for lower level reserved seating.

If anything I would estimate that actual attendance probably decreased last season due to more Gamecock Club reserved season tickets being sold.

Season ticket prices have ticked upwards this season again as I think they are $70 a piece this season.

I actually think that the cheaper, few reserved seats was better for the program and the community as it engaged a different group of people than usual who were wholly engaged in the team. The increased number of Gamecock Club seats just means you are pricing people out of the lower level and more people who don't actually care are buying tickets that they will not use.