Nova - Guess the attendance

[jackrabbit1979]

Re: Nova - Guess the attendance

Those prices likely corresponded to the prices they'd charge for their most expensive regular season game, in order to comply with NCAA ticket pricing regulations, correct? For example, SDSU had to charge me $47 for my ticket because that was the price for the USD game.

I remember seeing the NCAA policy somewhere in one of these threads, but now I can't find it. I thought it said that tickets couldn't be set any lower than your lowest priced regular season game ticket, but I could be wrong. If that was the case, we would have had the option to offer a lower priced ticket. I'm not sure if that goes section by section, or if you can just offer once price tickets at the low cost throughout the stadium. There is obviously ways to get around this policy as well, and I'd assume, based on attendance on Saturday, that the department will look into them in future years. Lower the price of season tickets on a per/game basis but then raise the donation amount to make up the difference. Then you can charge the lower price for single game playoff tickets.

It's just weird that our tickets were priced so much higher than every other host site in round 2. Oh well, on to the Bison.

[jakejc795]

Re: Nova - Guess the attendance

I remember seeing the NCAA policy somewhere in one of these threads, but now I can't find it. I thought it said that tickets couldn't be set any lower than your lowest priced regular season game ticket, but I could be wrong. If that was the case, we would have had the option to offer a lower priced ticket. I'm not sure if that goes section by section, or if you can just offer once price tickets at the low cost throughout the stadium. There is obviously ways to get around this policy as well, and I'd assume, based on attendance on Saturday, that the department will look into them in future years. Lower the price of season tickets on a per/game basis but then raise the donation amount to make up the difference. Then you can charge the lower price for single game playoff tickets.

It's just weird that our tickets were priced so much higher than every other host site in round 2. Oh well, on to the Bison.

I've referenced it before in other threads. Page 14 of the Pre-Championship Manual contains the guidelines I've mentioned. Here's the URL (for some reason embedded hyperlinking isn't working on my phone): http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/fi...l_20161011.pdf

[OldHare]

Re: Nova - Guess the attendance

NCAA policy for post-season National Tournament play (not conference tourneys) restricts facilities from serving alcohol outside of suites or club rooms. SDSU had no choice in the matter.

The NCAA women's quarter final games at the Denny Sanford Premier were dry. The NRG Stadium for the Final 4 was dry. Now the DJD is dry for the Nova game. I would concur with the sentiment that it is a good thing to be under the thumb of the NCAA at different times. You could always tailgate before the games.

[jackrabbit1979]

Re: Nova - Guess the attendance

I've referenced it before in other threads. Page 14 of the Pre-Championship Manual contains the guidelines I've mentioned. Here's the URL (for some reason embedded hyperlinking isn't working on my phone): http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/fi...l_20161011.pdf

Thanks! From my interpretation, it's still not very clear. Can playoff tickets not be set lower than the cheapest regular season game, the most expensive regular season game, the cheapest seat in the stadium during the regular season, or section by section needs to be equal? Too much to interpret in that policy.

And either way, if this is the policy, than we better reshuffle the season ticket price and donation amount so we can offer a lower priced playoff ticket in December next year. I don't think there is much debate that it had some impact on attendance.

[OldHare]

Re: Nova - Guess the attendance

Did ticket price have more influence than weather regarding attendance?

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Nova - Guess the attendance

Was the ticket price the issue? Reserved season tickets were $30/game for the year. They went up $10 for this game.

As for club seats, it would have been good if somewhere in the process of selling the tickets that they disclosed that alcoholic beverages were not allowed into the stadium. That was disappointing but wasn't a big deal to us. Just be up front with that and nobody would've had an issue.

I was very disappointed in the turnout. For those that didn't come, they missed out. That said, those that were there made some serious noise!

On to Fargo!

SUPERBUNNY

There is zero doubt that ticket price was an issue for some fans.

Ticket price wasn't the deciding factor for me, but it was one of the factors that went into my decision - morning obligations, weather, my regular group wasn't going, and ticket price. I regret not being there, but not sure I would do it differently. A $30 ticket price would have made me, personally, a lock to attend.

There have been fans who said ticket price was not an issue at all for them, and from my perspective they seem to be assuming that it shouldn't be an issue for anyone.

IMO, those fans are tone deaf to the financial realities of a large part of our fanbase. So is the athletic department if they think there are currently 10K+ people who will pay $40+ in South Dakota December weather to watch a game.

[jakejc795]

Re: Nova - Guess the attendance

Thanks! From my interpretation, it's still not very clear. Can playoff tickets not be set lower than the cheapest regular season game, the most expensive regular season game, the cheapest seat in the stadium during the regular season, or section by section needs to be equal? Too much to interpret in that policy.

And either way, if this is the policy, than we better reshuffle the season ticket price and donation amount so we can offer a lower priced playoff ticket in December next year. I don't think there is much debate that it had some impact on attendance.

I agree regarding its ambiguity. If they use the same policy next year, I'd anticipate the Bison game being the one that establishes any home playoff game pricing. Speaking of that game, I'd love for corporate sponsors to step in and start a "Ban the Bison" movement to limit the number of their fans in attendance.

[Nidaros]

Re: Nova - Guess the attendance

There is zero doubt that ticket price was an issue for some fans.

Ticket price wasn't the deciding factor for me, but it was one of the factors that went into my decision - morning obligations, weather, my regular group wasn't going, and ticket price. I regret not being there, but not sure I would do it differently. A $30 ticket price would have made me, personally, a lock to attend.

There have been fans who said ticket price was not an issue at all for them, and from my perspective they seem to be assuming that it shouldn't be an issue for anyone.

IMO, those fans are tone deaf to the financial realities of a large part of our fanbase. So is the athletic department if they think there are currently 10K+ people who will pay $40+ in South Dakota December weather to watch a game.

So much for my economic theory. In defense of the SDSU staff, particularly those who set the prices, this is a new experience for them and without a doubt they will learn from this. I can NOT imagine Sell being happy with the turnout either and we can learn from this experience too


.

[jackrabbit1979]

Re: Nova - Guess the attendance

Did ticket price have more influence than weather regarding attendance?

Honestly, I think both. I think there are a number of folks who aren't willing to pay $40-50/seat to sit in weather like that and watch a football game. Now, if you offered the same seat in the same weather for $20-25, I think many more attend. The bottom line from a pure ticket income perspective is probably the same, but concessions, building the fan base, perception by media and general public, etc. is a all a net win with a bigger crowd. Plus, I'm guessing the attendance at basketball both before and after would have been larger with a more affordable FB ticket option in the middle.

[jakejc795]

Re: Nova - Guess the attendance

So much for my economic theory. In defense of the SDSU staff, particularly those who set the prices, this is a new experience for them and without a doubt they will learn from this. I can imagine Sell being happy with the turnout either and we can learn from this experience too.

Let's hope they adapt and do not become over-reliant on the concept of elasticity at the expense of basic tenets of supply and demand

[OldHare]

Re: Nova - Guess the attendance

Honestly, I think both. I think there are a number of folks who aren't willing to pay $40-50/seat to sit in weather like that and watch a football game. Now, if you offered the same seat in the same weather for $20-25, I think many more attend. The bottom line from a pure ticket income perspective is probably the same, but concessions, building the fan base, perception by media and general public, etc. is a all a net win with a bigger crowd. Plus, I'm guessing the attendance at basketball both before and after would have been larger with a more affordable FB ticket option in the middle.

There were a significant number that would not sit out there for the game if you gave them a ticket. There was more than a couple of wives that stayed home due to weather. Perspective of a football fan is much different than the spouse of a football fan. The broad brush covers too many details. The next time there is a bid that was too low for a first round game which is awarded to another team, I would wager that there is a flood of complaints about the conservative nature of the bidding. You can then put that $10 bill into your pocket and spend a few on gas, lodging, and food and a $20 admission fee. $10 should not build too large of a fence for the football fan. The concessions will consume $10 before you turn around. Was $37 or $42 a bit high? Probably it was. How much will it cost to go to Fargo this week? More decisions about where to put that money are around the corner all the time. If the team makes it to Frisco, what is a reasonable price to expect? The ticket price will likely make no difference. The time and travel may make more difference. $10 or $15 will not be the issue.

[CappinHard]

Re: Nova - Guess the attendance

There is zero doubt that ticket price was an issue for some fans.

Ticket price wasn't the deciding factor for me, but it was one of the factors that went into my decision - morning obligations, weather, my regular group wasn't going, and ticket price. I regret not being there, but not sure I would do it differently. A $30 ticket price would have made me, personally, a lock to attend.

There have been fans who said ticket price was not an issue at all for them, and from my perspective they seem to be assuming that it shouldn't be an issue for anyone.

IMO, those fans are tone deaf to the financial realities of a large part of our fanbase. So is the athletic department if they think there are currently 10K+ people who will pay $40+ in South Dakota December weather to watch a game.

The financial reality is that if you can afford a $40 ticket, you can afford a $30 ticket. People that could afford season tickets, could afford playoff tickets. There are so many other reasons than cost that went into low attendance. Would it have been nice if tickets cost less? Sure, but there's no way we get 10k if the tickets were just $10 less. Another thing people don't take into account, there's not a bad seat in this stadium. The reason why NDSU is able to have $30 and $20 tickets is because they have bad seats (end zones, high corners). The students occupy the only bad seats in the house. The next worse seats are occupied by corporations, which is smart. Every ticket that the general public can buy is a sideline ticket, which is always the most expensive ticket in any stadium. The difference is, we don't have any "cheap seats", so it seems like tickets are really expensive because there aren't any less expensive options. All in all, quitchyerbitchin.

[MontanaRabbit]

Re: Nova - Guess the attendance

There is zero doubt that ticket price was an issue for some fans.

Ticket price wasn't the deciding factor for me, but it was one of the factors that went into my decision - morning obligations, weather, my regular group wasn't going, and ticket price. I regret not being there, but not sure I would do it differently. A $30 ticket price would have made me, personally, a lock to attend.

There have been fans who said ticket price was not an issue at all for them, and from my perspective they seem to be assuming that it shouldn't be an issue for anyone.


IMO, those fans are tone deaf to the financial realities of a large part of our fanbase. So is the athletic department if they think there are currently 10K+ people who will pay $40+ in South Dakota December weather to watch a game.

So $7 was the tipping point between a "lock" and not going? mmmmKay.

[Jacks#1Fan]

Re: Nova - Guess the attendance

Already said...but tickets for playoff game were same as Hobo Day (per NCAA rules), so if playoff game wasn't as important to football fans as Hobo Day game, then that is one's choice.

[BTownJack]

Re: Nova - Guess the attendance

Our casual fan base just isn't there. If there were "there" - $40 and cold weather wouldn't matter as much.

Our rivals up north have two things going for them. Much more rabid fan base and they play indoors this time of year. Although I worry if, theoretically speaking, SDSU was seeded higher than NDSU and we were playing this weekend's game at The Dana. There is a very good chance there would be more green and yellow in the stands than yellow and blue. Rabid fans tend to ignore the price and weather more than non-rabid fans. NDSU's rabid fan base > SDSU's rabid fan base.

Yes, I know...5 straight national championships will do that. The run of national championships they had in the 80s doesn't hurt either to build that base.

So - best thing we can do. Continue to support our really good team and get as many friends to come with you as you can to games like last weekend. We have to build our fan base one person at a time and the best way to do that is growing the small network of fans around you.

Let's also go out and get a win up north on Saturday.

Winning cures everything in athletics!!!!