Attendance & Alcohol

[MontanaRabbit]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Im not opposed to free ticket give aways, but I'm not sure if throwing two extra tickets into each season ticket holders' envelope to the tune of 6 thousand free tickets is the best move either.

It's a valid concern, but I have to think the department can absorb some amount of giveaway. Maybe limit it to certain levels of season ticket holder and send a letter with the tickets explaining the reasoning behind the tickets is to get people to the game that otherwise likely wouldn't go.

At this point I don't think "just winning" is going to bring in regular capacity crowds. I'm sure the department is considering all options and some free tickets isn't the worst idea.

A marketing blitz in the Sioux Falls market is also a solid idea IMO but that comes at a cost.

[Mr_Tibbs]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

It's a valid concern, but I have to think the department can absorb some amount of giveaway. Maybe limit it to certain levels of season ticket holder and send a letter with the tickets explaining the reasoning behind the tickets is to get people to the game that otherwise likely wouldn't go.

At this point I don't think "just winning" is going to bring in regular capacity crowds. I'm sure the department is considering all options and some free tickets isn't the worst idea.

A marketing blitz in the Sioux Falls market is also a solid idea IMO but that comes at a cost.

Agreed, some type of give away is probably beneficial, and a targeted package based on donor level would probably help.

I also agree the winning isn't going to do it. We've had a top 10-15 team for close to a decade now, and that won't cut it I guess. A targeted marketing effort/giveaway might make more sense. Personally, I'd like to see a coordinated effort with giving tickets to local high school football teams within two hours of campus for a game. Hell, include their families too. In my opinion, part of the college football "cultural" problem in South Dakota is that there aren't enough fans of college football in the high schools as is, let alone high school fans of State. Give those tickets to football teams, their coaches and families and let those kids experience game day here. It might spark interest in following SDSU closer, and it certainly might help get those kids interested in attending school here once they graduate. We already do this for senior day, but a lot of those families don't end up going to the game because they're exhausted at the end of a long day and/or don't care about football. Give those tickets to a bunch of kids that care about football and let them take in a gameday, tour some facilities/tailgating/etc. Maybe they'll have a good enough time to have their families come back for another one later in the year.

However, I will say that one big benefit of sticking extra tickets in the season ticket holder envelope is that people receiving those tickets will have a connection to someone that is already a dedicated fan. Maybe they wont sit with them at the game, but at least there is a connection that might keep those recipients interested in attending games in the future.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Agreed, some type of give away is probably beneficial, and a targeted package based on donor level would probably help.

I also agree the winning isn't going to do it. We've had a top 10-15 team for close to a decade now, and that won't cut it I guess. A targeted marketing effort/giveaway might make more sense. Personally, I'd like to see a coordinated effort with giving tickets to local high school football teams within two hours of campus for a game. Hell, include their families too. In my opinion, part of the college football "cultural" problem in South Dakota is that there aren't enough fans of college football in the high schools as is, let alone high school fans of State. Give those tickets to football teams, their coaches and families and let those kids experience game day here. It might spark interest in following SDSU closer, and it certainly might help get those kids interested in attending school here once they graduate. We already do this for senior day, but a lot of those families don't end up going to the game because they're exhausted at the end of a long day and/or don't care about football. Give those tickets to a bunch of kids that care about football and let them take in a gameday, tour some facilities/tailgating/etc. Maybe they'll have a good enough time to have their families come back for another one later in the year.

However, I will say that one big benefit of sticking extra tickets in the season ticket holder envelope is that people receiving those tickets will have a connection to someone that is already a dedicated fan. Maybe they wont sit with them at the game, but at least there is a connection that might keep those recipients interested in attending games in the future.

I don't think this is a bad idea... but what you propose is a long-term investment. While high schoolers might become students within 4 years, it will be closer to 8 years before they might become season ticket holders.

Here's a twist on the extra tickets in season ticket holder envelopes... what if it was a voucher people could bring to the ticket office on gameday (non-premier games only)? You would have to fill out your name, phone, address, and email to claim 2 free tickets. Then the athletic department would have a targeted list of people they could try to sell season tickets or packages next year.

[BrerRabbit]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

I had this same thought earlier this afternoon and you said it better than I could have. Voucher and list would seem to be easy

[uniftw]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Yes, that is exactly why I cited the age of the stadiums. New stadiums cost money. There is math that goes into how much money is needed. That is the reason they couldn't knock off $3-$5 per ticket. If they change something like selling alcohol, the equation would change and they might be able to charge less.

How does your age of stadium arguement hold water when it comes to single game tickets prices? - which seems like the root of the argument.

UNI is charging $15 more for single game tickets. SUU is 37 at SDSU. It was 52 for a comparable seat at Uni. Our cheapest ticket was the same price as your most expensive



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[slosho]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

How does your age of stadium arguement hold water when it comes to single game tickets prices? - which seems like the root of the argument.

UNI is charging $15 more for single game tickets. SUU is 37 at SDSU. It was 52 for a comparable seat at Uni. Our cheapest ticket was the same price as your most expensive



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Serious Question. Isn't attendance lagging at UNI as Well I feel like they were just complain about that very thing

[CappinHard]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

How does your age of stadium arguement hold water when it comes to single game tickets prices? - which seems like the root of the argument.

UNI is charging $15 more for single game tickets. SUU is 37 at SDSU. It was 52 for a comparable seat at Uni. Our cheapest ticket was the same price as your most expensive



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The post before that I mentioned how pricing is pretty similar for single game tickets. With SDSU being a newer stadium, that would indicate that either UNI is too high, or SDSU is a good value. Your season tickets cost much less though, which I believe is a function of the age of the stadiums. I do like the flex and mini pack options that UNI offers.

[uniftw]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Serious Question. Isn't attendance lagging at UNI as Well I feel like they were just complain about that very thing

UNI, for regular season games, is averaging like 11-12k the last few years. It's not great certainly. Every school is looking for ways to "fix" attendance. Look at the VoD of NDSU/UND. Look how many empty seats there are.

However, do the math

Let's say both NDSU and SDSU draw 10k for a game.

Both have about the same number of season ticket holders and students attend games. For arguments sake lets call it 5k for easy math

5k walk up tickets

UNI sells 5k tickets at an average of 40 across all price points
SDSU sells 5k tickets at 30 across all price points.

UNI "makes" 200k in walk up sales
SDSU "makes" 150k in walk up sales

For SDSU to equal UNI in walk up sales they need to sell 1,666 more tickets at an average of $30 than UNI does at 40 across all prices

Is UNI high? I happen to think so. However, look at the math I just posted. If UNI were to drop prices $15 per tier and match SDSU's prices we'd have to sell ~2k more walk up tickets than we do. Is UNI going to draw an extra 2,000 people for SUU with that lower price? History would tell us no.

I mean UNI could drop single game tickets to $20 like we were a few years ago and were still averaging about 12-13k. At an average sales price of $20 we'd have to sell 5,000 more tickets than we would have at an average of $40. I can tell you there is zero change in hell UNI sells an extra 5k to SUU at $20 a ticket.

Sure we sell more tickets. I won't deny that. Do we get an extra 5,000 in the door walk up? Not a shot in hell.

It's a balancing act of season ticket sales and walk up sales and money in vs tickets sold.

Would it be great to have 16,324 in the dome every weekend? 10000%. To do so we'd have to have tickets at such a low price we'd be better off not playing at home ever.

I've also heard our AD tell us (in the last week or so) that their studies have shown UNI is right in the middle of the pack for ticket prices/ticketing options for the Valley and other peer programs.

Our AD has also come out and said UNI fans smashed expectations/projections on beer sales and it was announced 4 days prior to the game. I'd guess that number goes up as the season goes on and people know about it.

[WestSideRabbit]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

I don't think this is a bad idea... but what you propose is a long-term investment. While high schoolers might become students within 4 years, it will be closer to 8 years before they might become season ticket holders.

Well, they may not be donors for potentially 8 years but they will be students in less than 4... The current GAF (General Activity Fee) for an SDSU student is $47.25 per credit with $11.78 of that earmarked for athletics. So for 15 credits students are paying in $176.70 per semester or $353.40 per year. $353.40 x roughly 12,000 students is $4,240,800 per year in GAF. https://www.sdstate.edu/tuition-and-fees

To me, getting a few more area HS students interested in SDSU by giving away free tickets to the games we have trouble drawing a crowd to would be a good place to start and it certainly wouldn't hurt to try.

[JackJD]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

On the topic of building the fan base: Students at Watertown's Lake Area Technical Institute can now attend SDSU games by showing their student ID. There are articulation agreements in place which permit credits in some classes from LATI to transfer to SDSU and there are several students than spend at year at LATI and then move on to SDSU.

[centraljack90]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

How many kids do we actually think will go to a game from LATI? 7?

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Well, they may not be donors for potentially 8 years but they will be students in less than 4... The current GAF (General Activity Fee) for an SDSU student is $47.25 per credit with $11.78 of that earmarked for athletics. So for 15 credits students are paying in $176.70 per semester or $353.40 per year. $353.40 x roughly 12,000 students is $4,240,800 per year in GAF. https://www.sdstate.edu/tuition-and-fees

To me, getting a few more area HS students interested in SDSU by giving away free tickets to the games we have trouble drawing a crowd to would be a good place to start and it certainly wouldn't hurt to try.

Good point, I hadn't thought of that.

[GopherHole]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Based off of available seats for Saturday's game, the $8 experiment for getting fans in the stands is not working very well. East side has the vast majority of seats still available and there's a good selection available on the westside too.

It will take a monumental walkup crowd to generate 12,000 fans, maybe even 10,000.

[goon]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Based off of available seats for Saturday's game, the $8 experiment for getting fans in the stands is not working very well. East side has the vast majority of seats still available and there's a good selection available on the westside too.

It will take a monumental walkup crowd to generate 12,000 fans, maybe even 10,000.

Is this the beef bowl?

[Jackedforlife]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Is this the beef bowl?

nope, that's SUU on the 21st.