Trying to rebuild the fan base.

[CL82]

Football remained consistent with season ticket sales, recording 16,000 for the third year in a row and totaled $2,655,691 in revenue from home games. The team pulled in $2.66 million in revenue from its six home games last year, but after expenses only netted $815,691. Two games (Holy Cross and East Carolina) saw UConn operating with a net loss.

Ouch.

Link to Courant Article

 

[pepband99]

To be fair, the ECU game was a reschedule (Thanks USF) I would have to think most of the I-AA games, going back historically, are similar.

 

[cohenzone]

Football remained consistent with season ticket sales, recording 16,000 for the third year in a row and totaled $2,655,691 in revenue from home games. The team pulled in $2.66 million in revenue from its six home games last year, but after expenses only netted $815,691. Two games (Holy Cross and East Carolina) saw UConn operating with a net loss.

Ouch.

Link to Courant Article

A good source indicates this year not so great so far. Not great news with the opener so close. It’s a little hard to knock fans after the last several uncompetitive years and last year’s terrible D, but CT sports fans have always been fair weather fans. It will take at least some competitive play if not winning to get people back. We have had excellent seats from the beginning of the Rent and our section is usually at best half full and often with non-regulars and several fans of the opposition

My jury is out on HCRE. I thought his first tenure was good, certainly we were competitivd faster than I expected (thank you Danny O) but never fabulous even Fiesta Bowl year, the league was a bit down and it took a long field goal to get us in. Last year, the O had some signs that it might be headed in the right direction and we all know how awful the D was. Edsall was always conservative on D and the AAC is so wide open. Bend but don’t break is lethal.

But I go, hell or high water with my small group. Go Huskies and fill those seats.

 

[SubbaBub]

We do this every year. Winning matters and schedule matters. Need both.

 

[kemba]

To be fair, the ECU game was a reschedule (Thanks USF) I would have to think most of the I-AA games, going back historically, are similar.

I don't know about the 2nd part. We used to get better crowds for those games, and even more so when you account for there's been way more promotions and giving away tickets than there was back when we were winning. I'd hate to see our attendance numbers if you only counted people who paid full price

 

[Adios]

It sure has taken time to get acclimated to the AAC. When we start dominating in a revenue generating men's sport, people will care more.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

I don't know about the 2nd part. We used to get better crowds for those games, and even more so when you account for there's been way more promotions and giving away tickets than there was back when we were winning.

Even in the last few transitional 1-AA seasons with a few decent Memorial Stadium crowds of maybe 15-16K tops a season, fans paid very little for tickets, gridiron donations were negligible, etc. Was UConn 1-AA, even transitional 1-A football actually profitable? Maybe a little, not sure ...

 

[Hoophound]

The American schedule may prove to be a challenge even with great teams. We went from a slate of old rivals to a CUSA schedule. It is harder to sell tickets to see a good Houston team than it is to see a bad Cuse or BC team.

The solution is tough OOC scheduling and not only winning, but winning at a huge clip. Basketball is much easier to fix, football is tough because a team that is better than 7 wins is going to be tough to put on the field most years.

 

[Chief00]

I wish Chief was more sold on the Defensive Coordinator. There is not much that he does that appears logical. Never mind detail football x’s and o’s but scheme common sense. It always seem that the other team is running downhill on him and he tries to stop that with 170 pound guys who can’t tackle.
He will have trouble recruiting good DL’s because he solely sees them as occupying blockers rather than wrecking havoc.

 

[huskyrob1]

Football remained consistent with season ticket sales, recording 16,000 for the third year in a row and totaled $2,655,691 in revenue from home games. The team pulled in $2.66 million in revenue from its six home games last year, but after expenses only netted $815,691. Two games (Holy Cross and East Carolina) saw UConn operating with a net loss.

Ouch.

Link to Courant Article

Trying to REBUILD the fan base? Is there a need to? I mean if season ticket sales have been consistent for the past three years, doesn't that point to the fan base being fairly stable??? Now if you want to increase the fan base, then yes I would agree that there is work to do, and AD Dave says that almost daily as does HCRE.

 

[06029]

Would the football revenue and attendance numbers look better if the 7th home game was played in East Hartford instead of Fenway? Was the Fenway game a net positive revenue stream after travel and lodging costs? I know it was not even close to a net positive for advancing the program. Certainly did not capture the imagination of any casual fan. I think you would have had more tickets sold for that game in East Hartford than were actually sold in Fenway.

 

[Milo65]

Give me Don Brown’s attacking D all day. Live or die by the blitz. Bend, bend, break is as frustrating as run, run, pass, punt.

I wish Chief was more sold on the Defensive Coordinator. There is not much that he does that appears logical. Never mind detail football x’s and o’s but scheme common sense. It always seem that the other team is running downhill on him and he tries to stop that with 170 pound guys who can’t tackle.
He will have trouble recruiting good DL’s because he solely sees them as occupying blockers rather than wrecking havoc.

 

[Block C]

Once the team is strong on both sides of the ball and win fans will start buying. Future wise this team will be good trust the process. I always have faith in them but we really need a good quarter back and receivers and our d was horrendous last year. If the d doesn’t step up soon Betty Crocker will be fired

 

[Block C]

Once the team is strong on both sides of the ball and win fans will start buying. Future wise this team will be good trust the process. I always have faith in them but we really need a good quarter back and receivers and our d was horrendous last year. If the d doesn’t step up soon Betty Crocker will be fired

Plus we need to win five games this year not four but five. It’s crazy how we go from being ultra competitive when Randy was here then when he left the program fell apart because of stupid hires.

 

[CL82]

Trying to REBUILD the fan base? Is there a need to? I mean if season ticket sales have been consistent for the past three years, doesn't that point to the fan base being fairly stable??? Now if you want to increase the fan base, then yes I would agree that there is work to do, and AD Dave says that almost daily as does HCRE.

That was the article language, not mine Rob, but I think it is fair since both season ticket holders and overall attendance were higher in the Edsall years. IIRC.

 

[Husky25]

...It’s a little hard to knock fans after the last several uncompetitive years and last year’s terrible D, but CT sports fans have always been fair weather fans. It will take at least some competitive play if not winning to get people back..

Dare I say the unbolded contradicts the the bolded.

UConn is 27-58 since Edsall V.1. Falling behind by 10 meant virtually a certain loss, and late in the season it was during near freezing temperatures. Fans had (have) to make their own entertainment and that typically happens during the tailgate hours. For the last six season, games are used as a time to sober up. If you couldn't stand the unentertaining and no-fun product on the field, it would vitally drive one to drink more. I know personal of more than a few, and have heard of dozens more who go to Rentschler for the tailgate hours and leave by kickoff. People (and the fan subset) will absolutely pay and pay significant dollars to be entertained. The portion of the gameday experience that costs, not only time, but real money was not entertaining.

I have a real hard time blaming attendance on whether or not fans are historically fair-weather? Rentschler Field opened in 2003, which means the first 3 season package was up in 2005. Fairweather cannot explain 2006 (near 39k for a 4-8 team that just went 5-6).

 

[Husky25]

Would the football revenue and attendance numbers look better if the 7th home game was played in East Hartford instead of Fenway? Was the Fenway game a net positive revenue stream after travel and lodging costs? I know it was not even close to a net positive for advancing the program. Certainly did not capture the imagination of any casual fan. I think you would have had more tickets sold for that game in East Hartford than were actually sold in Fenway.

If I recall, the Red Sox paid UConn in excess of $1 million, who also received 22k of the ticket allotment. Whether that was included in the above figure, I am not sure.

 

[uconnphil2016]

I wish Chief was more sold on the Defensive Coordinator. There is not much that he does that appears logical. Never mind detail football x’s and o’s but scheme common sense. It always seem that the other team is running downhill on him and he tries to stop that with 170 pound guys who can’t tackle.
He will have trouble recruiting good DL’s because he solely sees them as occupying blockers rather than wrecking havoc.

Welcome back, Chief. How was the vacation?

 

[Stainmaster]

I wish Chief was more sold on the Defensive Coordinator. There is not much that he does that appears logical. Never mind detail football x’s and o’s but scheme common sense. It always seem that the other team is running downhill on him and he tries to stop that with 170 pound guys who can’t tackle.
He will have trouble recruiting good DL’s because he solely sees them as occupying blockers rather than wrecking havoc.

11:11?

 

[cohenzone]

Dare I say the unbolded contradicts the the bolded.

UConn is 27-58 since Edsall V.1. Falling behind by 10 meant virtually a certain loss, and late in the season it was during near freezing temperatures. Fans had (have) to make their own entertainment and that typically happens during the tailgate hours. For the last six season, games are used as a time to sober up. If you couldn't stand the unentertaining and no-fun product on the field, it would vitally drive one to drink more. I know personal of more than a few, and have heard of dozens more who go to Rentschler for the tailgate hours and leave by kickoff. People (and the fan subset) will absolutely pay and pay significant dollars to be entertained. The portion of the gameday experience that costs, not only time, but real money was not entertaining.

I have a real hard time blaming attendance on whether or not fans are historically fair-weather? Rentschler Field opened in 2003, which means the first 3 season package was up in 2005. Fairweather cannot explain 2006 (near 39k for a 4-8 team that just went 5-6).

Let’s put it this way. In the early days of D1, fans had very few expectations. The term “fair weather”’really doesn’t apply. Orlovsky made us competitive much faster than anyone in their right mind had a reason to expect. A few losing seasons don’t drive fans away immediately. The program improved some with the some better D and excellent running game. Kinda kept the fans around. The extended period of uninspired to downright lousy play has sent the fair weather fans packing. UConn just has no history of success to fall back on to keep fans coming through long dry spells like a Notre Dame could. That defines a fair weather fan, not a couple of losing years where people still hope for more winning after an up period.

Uconn’s ticket policy doesn't help much. The donation driven points policy emphasizes revenue, not loyalty. My 50 yard line section clearly is dominated by corporate buyers. Too many sold but empty seats, seats occupied by different people every game, fans of the opposition in seats that should be jammed by UConn people. My section for the Michigan game was at least 50% Michigan fans. Good for ticket sales, crappy as a UConn representation.

 

[JMick]

I wish Chief was more sold on the Defensive Coordinator. There is not much that he does that appears logical. Never mind detail football x’s and o’s but scheme common sense. It always seem that the other team is running downhill on him and he tries to stop that with 170 pound guys who can’t tackle.
He will have trouble recruiting good DL’s because he solely sees them as occupying blockers rather than wrecking havoc.

Stick to basketball, Chief.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Winning matters most. We played Missouri on a beautiful Saturday night in front of 20,000 people.

 

[Palatine]

As many have mentioned there is no substitute for winning. It makes everything associated with the program more valuable.

Putting that aside and looking at the UConn football. First, the 800K from attendance must improve. What is the our cut of the AAC football money? I pay a fairly substantial donation for my seats. What is the seat donation total (which I believe is separate form the 2.6m number and is virtually all profit)? What are overall football donations beyond seats each year? How much does merchandise bring in? Does portion of SNY goes to football? Radio? Do we get money from other endorsement for uniforms, etc? How much comes from corporate sponsors? From all sources.

What is the real total revenue produced by the program?

 

[Husky25]

Let’s put it this way. In the early days of D1, fans had very few expectations. The term “fair weather”’really doesn’t apply. Orlovsky made us competitive much faster than anyone in their right mind had a reason to expect. A few losing seasons don’t drive fans away immediately. The program improved some with the some better D and excellent running game. Kinda kept the fans around. The extended period of uninspired to downright lousy play has sent the fair weather fans packing. UConn just has no history of success to fall back on to keep fans coming through long dry spells like a Notre Dame could. That defines a fair weather fan, not a couple of losing years where people still hope for more winning after an up period.

Uconn’s ticket policy doesn't help much. The donation driven points policy emphasizes revenue, not loyalty. My 50 yard line section clearly is dominated by corporate buyers. Too many sold but empty seats, seats occupied by different people every game, fans of the opposition in seats that should be jammed by UConn people. My section for the Michigan game was at least 50% Michigan fans. Good for ticket sales, crappy as a UConn representation.

What keeps fans of anything around is the perception of relative entertainment value vs. resource expended (i.e. time and money). In Sabermetric terms, what is a live UConn football game's VORA (Value Over Replacement Activity).

It's been that way forever and for everything, but has become far more evident in the instant gratification environment that has (d)evolved.

 

[cohenzone]

What keeps fans of anything around is the perception of relative entertainment value vs. resource expended (i.e. time and money). In Sabermetric terms, what is a live UConn football game's VORA (Value Over Replacement Activity).

It's been that way forever and for everything, but has become far more evident in the instant gratification environment that has (d)evolved.

Without getting too technical, the definition of a fair weather fan is one who supports only winners. People love winners,