UConn Football Hoping For Attendance Rebound After Record-Low Season

[whaler11]

Good fans

That’s the kind of backward thinking the AD has used to have 3k people in Gampel.

Stick with that. It’s a winner.

 

[BlueMAB]

Springsteen charges $1,700.00 for a single ticket to his Broadway show. Show is sold out for months.

Springsteen is playing in a 900 seat theater, with no broadcast. The Huskies are playing in a 40,000 seat stadium, and are being broadcast both on TV and online.

You do understand the law of supply and demand right?

 

[Waquoit]

That’s the kind of backward thinking the AD has used to have 3k people in Gampel.

Stick with that. It’s a winner.

Chill the out

 

[freescooter]

Last year’s schedule was a mess starting with the hurricane. And I think the loss to ECU hurt too. That was the one game virtually Everyone had circled as a W. Plus a pretty brutal end of the season with zero home games after October.

 

[The Funster]

The 14,000 at the Sunday ECU game really skews these figures. Next year will look better just by eliminating it.

Still, I'm surprised the stadium didn't tip over with everyone sitting in the shade side.

 

[Alum86]

Bumped outta Gampel year 2 for not donating enough to now being in the Rent blue seats, and paying out the wazoo, and folks clamoring to let anyone sit there for $35.00 and no donation to fill the stadium.

 

[Showballot]

There is probably a decent correlation with the downward spiral in the state's crappy economy then couple that with the downward spiral in the football product and get the trend we see.

Wrong. Even with the states horrible economy people are still willing to spend on experiential entertainment.

I don’t think there was any correlation. It’s the poor football coupled with the fact the teams we play just don’t make any sense.

 

[BlueDogs]

Wrong. Even with the states horrible economy people are still willing to spend on experiential entertainment.

I don’t think there was any correlation. It’s the poor football coupled with the fact the teams we play just don’t make any sense.

I don't know, they keep squeezing more discretionary income out if people's pockets. We are the second most taxed citizens in the US.

 

[Marbles90]

I don't subscribe to the notion that simply dropping prices will significantly raise attendance. I don't think the crux of the issue is economics. It's getting people to commit to spending the better part of their Saturday at your game..

+1...It is not just the $$ but also the commitment. People's time off is very valuable. Committing a Saturday or even a weeknight to a tailgate and/or a football game is huge part of the equation. I don't disagree that lowering prices helps with the commitment but I do not think that if you made it almost free to attend people would not just show up unless they felt they were getting value for their time as well.

 

[tduconn]

I don't subscribe to the notion that simply dropping prices will significantly raise attendance. Maybe you would see a small uptick in buys, but I don't think the crux of the issue is economics. It's getting people to commit to spending the better part of their Saturday at your game.

JMO people will pay for a good product, or at the very least an entertaining one. Give them little to show for their commitment and it won't matter much if it cost them 10 dollars or 100 to attend, they won't make coming back a priority.

Unfortunately your fans have been conditioned to believe that they can buy a ticket in the lot for 5 bucks and sit wherever they please. Why are they going to commit to a season ticket package? Do they want to become the guy trying to unload unwanted tickets in the lot?

There are promotions and tweaks that can be done to enhance the live game day experience, and I'm sure your AD is exploring all of them. However it will always comes down to winning and losing. Win and casual fans will care again. Win a lot and you will create demand. Do it in an entertaining manner and you will have repeat customers. It's on the coaches and players to rebuild the fanbase.

This is a vicious cycle, and a lot plays into attendance, not just the players, coaches, price(s), but the fans also play a big part.

I don't disagree that in this lousy Connecticut economy, prices do have an effect. Less personal discretionary spending available to allocate to various entertainment venues. And the only thing the State thinks is a solution is to raise taxes and/or cut spending. So our wallets may be thinner for some time going forward.

We have a large inventory of unused seats. Operating expenses don't go down when no one shows up. Looking at it in very simplistic terms, how does any business get rid of a large inventory of goods.........prices are adjusted. Buy two, get the third one free. Or a unit price of $1.00 each, get 3 units for $2.50. Those are very simplistic examples, but you get what I'm trying to suggest.

How about "honoring" pop warner football teams on a given day........let the teams parade on the field at halftime. Reduce GA tickets for coaches, fans, parents. How about a game where first responders were honored?

Fireworks/concert after a night game?

I agree that in this lousy economy, season ticket prices should be reduced, and then gradually rise back to FBS levels as the team performance and winning becomes more relevant.

But know comes the fan part. I've never been a good athlete, and always played on not too good little league teams. But if our Moms/Dads/ grandparents were on the sidelines, win or lose we always seemed to play harder when someone was behind us cheering and rooting for us as individuals or a team. Fewer errors, unexpected results. Even when, by todays rules, the game would have normally ended early because of the 10 run rule, we unexpectedly had some upsets.

There are holes UConn, players, coaches can plug, ........ but there are things fans can also do better to put a cork in a sinking ship.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

 

[Showballot]

I don't know, they keep squeezing more discretionary income out if people's pockets. We are the second most taxed citizens in the US.

I agree, but how can you make the correlation?

Florida is an extremely tax-friendly State. Are people showing up heavy for weak college games?

 

[huskymedic]

Mike Anthony‏ @ManthonyCourant 5m 5 minutes ago
Randy Edsall when asked about UConn attendance: "We need to lower ticket prices."

 

[Guapo]

The man is a genius

 

[Guapo]

Mike Anthony‏ @ManthonyCourant 5m 5 minutes ago
Randy Edsall when asked about UConn attendance: "We need to lower ticket prices."

Dang it, you beat me to it..

 

[gampelcrazies]

The man is a genius

Happy he said. Obviously this means changes are coming which is good. If no changes are made I'm going to get rid of my section 241 seats and get top of the rent. Tired of paying top dollar when I can get tickets cheaper through sales.

 

[gampelcrazies]

Springsteen is playing in a 900 seat theater, with no broadcast. The Huskies are playing in a 40,000 seat stadium, and are being broadcast both on TV and online.

You do understand the law of supply and demand right?

Don't know how I missed this. As a die hard Springsteen fan who has seen the broadway show and going again, how could anyone in there right mind compare Bruce Springsteen to UConn football?

 

[Guapo]

Don't know how I missed this. As a die hard Springsteen fan who has seen the broadway show and going again, how could anyone in there right mind compare Bruce Springsteen to UConn football?

UConn football is more like a character in a Springsteen song

 

[UConnDan97]

Mike Anthony‏ @ManthonyCourant 5m 5 minutes ago
Randy Edsall when asked about UConn attendance: "We need to lower ticket prices."

That moment when you've battled folks on the Boneyard for years on an issue and finally feel vindicated...

 

[noeynox]

That’s the kind of backward thinking the AD has used to have 3k people in Gampel.

Stick with that. It’s a winner.

I got tired of being a "Good fan" and getting sharted on. Win me back.

 

[Waquoit]

The man is a genius

God forbid he says "We have to win more."

 

[gampelcrazies]

God forbid he says "We have to win more."

To be honest with you I'm not 100% sure winning will bring everyone back. It will help a ton but people in there 20s and 30s don't like to spend money on tickets. Lots of teams are finding that to be a problem