Attendance & Alcohol

[BitsTD]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

People mention selling beer at a game and some suddenly assume that a kegger is going to break out.

Be a lot cooler if it did.

[thumper_76]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Very well said.

SDSU games, both football and basketball, are not really "events" yet. I would say that overall the gameday experience can be very bland for those that are not fervent Jackrabbit fans. I would like to see an area promoted at the tailgate that is a social area. I have mentioned before about having some type of stage with pre-game broadcasts and/or live music. This would give those that aren't apart of an established tailgate area someplace to enjoy themselves. Right now there really isn't a good area for the "walk-up" attendee to pregame.

Agreed. Full disclosure, I'm not a big donor, so my ideas should be taken with a grain of salt because I have no idea on feasability due to monetary concerns, nor do I contribute enought to really make this more than constructive complaints, but a couple things I would suggest from living in Fargo (sigh).

1) I'm never in Sioux Falls anymore, but if we don't have something set up with the digital billboards around that highlights upcoming home games for our athletics I think we are really missing the boat. If we want to turn that area into a blue and yellow city, I really think we should be plastering the town with billboards from athletics. Billboards about the university are all fine and dandy, but if we are looking to build a fanbase some constant reminders while people are sitting in traffic about upcoming games in Brookings could go a long way towards getting the word out. I really think theres a lot of casual fans out there who don't know when games are, who we play, etc. that we need to have the brand in front of all the time. I grew up a Cowboys fan in WI, and slowly ended up cheering for the Packers partially due to being completely buried in Packers stuff everywhere.

2) To build off of the first idea, sometimes I wonder if we focus too much on the social media and email campaigns. I get emails constantly from the athletic department that I generally casually scan over because I get so many and if they contain info on any specials or promos they are doing, they are completely buried in a bunch of small text. They really look like a letter instead of a promo about upcoming events. As for the social media aspect, unless someone already follows us on Twitter or Facebook, how many potential new or casual fans are you reaching? And how many people who follow really are paying attention to the updates and campaign? I'm not saying to stop doing it by any means, I think its a great deal that we do that, but I worry we might focus just too much on it?

3) This one would probably be expensive at first but could turn into a revenue stream, but man would it be huge to have a radio station that had two Jackrabbit talk shows on it like ndsu has on one of the sports talk radio stations. 570 is phenominal for statewide coverage of the games, but really being able to have a radio station with more than just the Stig radio show would be huge I think for potentially growing the Sioux Falls market. First off it gives us a lot more of that DI swagger to help make SDSU shown as a big deal to the area. Then having a show like that gives you an opportunity to really get your brand out there, your events out there, and build up upcoming games and events. Plus it will have an effect on the kids growing up in the area by having SDSU stuff everywhere. God I would love that. Have an app for it, put it on soundcloud, the whole works. I really think Tyler M would be great, the bison guys manage to do their noon radio show and announce their games, plus its fairly easy to get national guests on for FCS because the whole sudivision in general is always dying for more exposure. It would also be easy to dovetail into what some people have brought up with having local businesses provide discounts for showing tickets and whatever else you do. I know that the advertisers for the ndsu station have all sorts of promos they do with their ads for stuff. Having a Jacks centered 2-3 hours during peoples lunch break and drive home would have a huge effect in my very uneducated opinion. Hell, since I'm busy asking for pie in the sky stuff, it would make it much easier to have a Saturday tailgate show and post game reaction call in show as well if we had a Jacks radio station that doesn't just carry the games, but has the main show be Jacks athletics. I know I would have a tailgate show on the radio during tailgating, I don't think I would be the only one. There has to be a pretty good market for SDSU athletics in the Sioux Falls/Brookings area with how Zimmer talks about the numbers of hits on his SDSU stuff compared to all the other college teams in the area.

4) The last gripe/idea is to get our apps up to speed. Theres a SDSU football app but it doesn't have ANYTHING on it. Every link or section on it is empty or just links you to the gojacks roster. The events page is blank. If we've already invested in this doesn't it make sense to make it a big deal? Or just scrap it and make a SDSU athletics one with all the events and games listed. Add a "JackTracker" that people can show their location or whatever while they make the trek to the stadium on gamedays, a "Jackgating" section where people can post photos from their tailgate, and all that fun jazz. This one reall kinda bothers me since we obviously put the money into creating it but its just sitting there with nothing put into it and no promotion of it. I happened to find it because I'm a whacko and searched SDSU Jackrabbits in the app store. Feels like a big whiff to me right now.

All this being said, I'm sure the athletic department has thought of this and more. These are legit things I was daydreaming about paying for when the lotto was $1 billion.
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[Rabbitball]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Excellent post thumper. I would add that NDSU has billboards all over the twin cities as well. And with an app like you're talking about it could send out notifications about upcoming events that might have slipped people's minds. I know there have been times that I remember about games at the last minute and can't go. Especially basketball given that there might be 3-4 games in a week-like this week

[jakejc795]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

This. It won't be any more traffic than you see when it gets cold and people make hot chocolate runs. People mention selling beer at a game and some suddenly assume that a kegger is going to break out.

Surprised Nidaros hasn't called out some of the straw men being mentioned here. Not sure what side of DJD you sit on, but if you sit on the east side, you may notice it only takes a couple people to cause a bottleneck on the stairs. When that happens, at least three rows of fans can have obscured views (depending on teams' field position, etc.). Hence my suggestion for having vendors.

I could say, mention vendor trays, and some act like you're re-enforcing Prohibition or declaring a Cold War on cold ones. I've never been fighting consumption of alcohol. What I've objected to is the seeming foreign nature of compromise for some on here and the lack of consideration for the fact that rarely do people become more courteous and coordinated after alcohol consumption, so why not try to limit foot traffic through what are fairly narrow rows on the east side?

[JackJD]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

There’s now a suggestion the east side rows are narrower than west side. I have seats on west side but have sat on east side several times. I think the width of rows is the same. (Whether there are problems related to row width and aisle width should be comparable.)

[Nidaros]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Very well said.

SDSU games, both football and basketball, are not really "events" yet. I would say that overall the gameday experience can be very bland for those that are not fervent Jackrabbit fans. I would like to see an area promoted at the tailgate that is a social area. I have mentioned before about having some type of stage with pre-game broadcasts and/or live music. This would give those that aren't apart of an established tailgate area someplace to enjoy themselves. Right now there really isn't a good area for the "walk-up" attendee to pregame.

I thought I was finished expressing my thoughts on this topic,but Jake you woke me up. I do like many of Thumpers suggestions particularily about the billboards. Off hand I dont have my copy of the Carr Report but they leaned heavily to the suggestion that fans would have to come from SF to make the D1 move work. I am curious to see if they made any specific recommendations, such as billboards. I dont know if they were that futuristic in their thinking, but l will check. 13 Ave in Fargo is much like 41st in SF in that both streets have large malls that are starting to slow down, but that's another topic. Business growth has occurred in both SF and Fargo in the area that contains a mall. In Fargo,on 13th ave between 42 and 45th st.i recall seeing a huge NDSU sign which no doubt help me get a Dividend check from Daktonics. In full disclosure I own 200 shares and get this nice little check for 14 bucks thanks to NDSU putting up this big billboard on a street that has a lot of traffic. I think SDSU would be wise to start doing something similar in SF. A billboard of this nature would most likely attract more fans to DJD than beer. Not that I am against beer being sold, I am not.

[ringthebells]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Can they set up a mock tailgate under the stands with tons of TVs showing the game. Sort of like the Club area only for commoners like myself. Put out some square bails for seating, kegs on mobile carts, big spools for tables.

[thumper_76]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

I thought I was finished expressing my thoughts on this topic,but Jake you woke me up. I do like many of Thumpers suggestions particularily about the billboards. Off hand I dont have my copy of the Carr Report but they leaned heavily to the suggestion that fans would have to come from SF to make the D1 move work. I am curious to see if they made any specific recommendations, such as billboards. I dont know if they were that futuristic in their thinking, but l will check. 13 Ave in Fargo is much like 41st in SF in that both streets have large malls that are starting to slow down, but that's another topic. Business growth has occurred in both SF and Fargo in the area that contains a mall. In Fargo,on 13th ave between 42 and 45th st.i recall seeing a huge NDSU sign which no doubt help me get a Dividend check from Daktonics. In full disclosure I own 200 shares and get this nice little check for 14 bucks thanks to NDSU putting up this big billboard on a street that has a lot of traffic. I think SDSU would be wise to start doing something similar in SF. A billboard of this nature would most likely attract more fans to DJD than beer. Not that I am against beer being sold, I am not.

They also have one on 32nd, I have to drive by both every day on my way to work. Barf.

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[thumper_76]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Surprised Nidaros hasn't called out some of the straw men being mentioned here. Not sure what side of DJD you sit on, but if you sit on the east side, you may notice it only takes a couple people to cause a bottleneck on the stairs. When that happens, at least three rows of fans can have obscured views (depending on teams' field position, etc.). Hence my suggestion for having vendors.

I could say, mention vendor trays, and some act like you're re-enforcing Prohibition or declaring a Cold War on cold ones. I've never been fighting consumption of alcohol. What I've objected to is the seeming foreign nature of compromise for some on here and the lack of consideration for the fact that rarely do people become more courteous and coordinated after alcohol consumption, so why not try to limit foot traffic through what are fairly narrow rows on the east side?

I don't mind the idea of having vendors go around the stadium, but I cant think of many places I've been that do. The Huskers do, but I don't remember any for the Goofers, I know ndsu doesn't have any. And if they don't need them in a place as cramped as the mall gets in Fargo, I don't think thats a top priority until we start attracting regular crowds over 16k tbh. Part of being at the game in the stadium is dealing with having people get in and out of your rows of seats unfortunately. Also, I would imagine that having vendors go up arouond the stadium would be more on Aramark than on the athletic department. From what I hear they donated towards the stadium its given them a lot of leverage, allegedly. That would be a big cost increase either way to add the man power to have vendors in the stands, they would probably need some pretty good incentive to commit to something like that.

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[jakejc795]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

There’s now a suggestion the east side rows are narrower than west side. I have seats on west side but have sat on east side several times. I think the width of rows is the same. (Whether there are problems related to row width and aisle width should be comparable.)

Umm, pretty sure I asked how row width compared, as I've never sat on west side post-CAS. Again, if you want to focus on something you think's easy to dismiss, feel free. I'd point you to posts mentioning complaints about concession lines, and suggest vendors are one possible option to ameliorate both line issues and row traffic.

[jakejc795]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

I don't mind the idea of having vendors go around the stadium, but I cant think of many places I've been that do. The Huskers do, but I don't remember any for the Goofers, I know ndsu doesn't have any. And if they don't need them in a place as cramped as the mall gets in Fargo, I don't think thats a top priority until we start attracting regular crowds over 16k tbh. Part of being at the game in the stadium is dealing with having people get in and out of your rows of seats unfortunately. Also, I would imagine that having vendors go up arouond the stadium would be more on Aramark than on the athletic department. From what I hear they donated towards the stadium its given them a lot of leverage, allegedly. That would be a big cost increase either way to add the man power to have vendors in the stands, they would probably need some pretty good incentive to commit to something like that.

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That'd be a compromise I'd be willing to make (e.g., having to eliminate any chances ticket prices are reduced to help fund vendors). I think vendors could also reduce possible refrigeration costs by having one larger "cooler section" to replenish stocks.

Plus, allowing minors to staff concessions stand appeals to me because it ensures students have additional college funding and can allow international students to recoup losses due to lack of access to financial aid.

[Nidaros]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

They also have one on 32nd, I have to drive by both every day on my way to work. Barf.

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That and 52nd street seem to have a great deal of traffic. Bill boards on 56th street and possibly west 26th streets in Sioux Falls would work. Not an expert on SF traffic, but someone with that knowledge would be helpful in determining where and when to have flashing billboards. I suspect the athletic department is still looking for donors to finance this venture.

[JackJD]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Umm, pretty sure I asked how row width compared, as I've never sat on west side post-CAS. Again, if you want to focus on something you think's easy to dismiss, feel free. I'd point you to posts mentioning complaints about concession lines, and suggest vendors are one possible option to ameliorate both line issues and row traffic.

I must have missed the section of the SDSUfans manual which instructed everyone to respond to your questions. In any event, my point was that the seating in the grandstands is essentially the same and, consequently, if there is a problem due to row width, aisle width etc. then the problem can occur on both sides (corners too!). Wasn't dismissing anything. In fact, my comment could be construed to be supportive of anyone expressing concern based on row and aisle width.

[Nidaros]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

I must have missed the section of the SDSUfans manual which instructed everyone to respond to your questions. In any event, my point was that the seating in the grandstands is essentially the same and, consequently, if there is a problem due to row width, aisle width etc. then the problem can occur on both sides (corners too!). Wasn't dismissing anything. In fact, my comment could be construed to be supportive of anyone expressing concern based on row and aisle width.

I tend to think the Club Section on the west side the aisles are a little wider and this by design, but the peons below me are no doubt in the in the same boat as the east side. CAS was pretty equal in aisle width with no hand rails. It was unsafe for older people with balance problems. The width in Club section has corrected many of those problems as best I can tell. SDSU’ forerunners to the SDSU Foundation fell short of their goal in fundraising so a lot corners were cut just to get the project going. Contrary to the FCS Facebook group negative comments, mainly NDSU fans, DJD is great stadium.

[jakejc795]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

I must have missed the section of the SDSUfans manual which instructed everyone to respond to your questions. In any event, my point was that the seating in the grandstands is essentially the same and, consequently, if there is a problem due to row width, aisle width etc. then the problem can occur on both sides (corners too!). Wasn't dismissing anything. In fact, my comment could be construed to be supportive of anyone expressing concern based on row and aisle width.

Sure, that's what I meant -- the board responds to my every whim OR maybe I was saying that I was trying to ascertain information because I haven't sat on the west side for nearly 7 years.

Geez, posts and questions aren't always an indictment of Athletics' ability and effort or the effort of volunteer board members who contributed to stadium efforts. Sometimes people ask merely to obtain information.