Schwartz-Angry Fans article = fail

[ferentz4life]

Schwartz doesn't get it. He's writing that article like NOW there will be a mass exodus of angry Iowa fans. That's not how it works, David. It's a slow, steady stream. In case you haven't been paying attention, it's already begun. As another poster already noted, loss in attendance for Mens Basketball was not an overnight phenom either. More and more people walk away and when they do, they get REALLY comfortable in that recliner in their living room.
I'm sure David was getting a really good chuckle when Iowa Basketball fans on this board (or the previous HawkeyeNation), walked away from Carver Hawkeye arena, And as previously noted, they still aren't all back.
So, keep laughing David. Everyone here is laughing too. We're just not laughing WITH you.

I'm laughing at the author deeming himself part of the "intelligent majority" while drafting this masterpiece. I'm tempted to say this is a troll article, but that might be giving him too much credit.

 

[RocknRollface]

TV revenue is now the key. I think I heard Iowa gets $24 million a year from Big 10 and networks. And this is locked in unless people quit signing up for cable or satellite. So if you have cable/sat sports packages you are giving money to Iowa and other teams.

Anyone know the correct amount of TV revenue the hawks are getting in fall 2014- spring 2015

Which is exactly why they can afford to eat that contract.

Need to have Barta be relived of duties first because he obviously isn't going to do it.

 

[RocknRollface]

You won't see a big enough dropoff with this fan base, seriously it's one of the best in the country.. The end of KF won't be due to this Fan base not showing up, because they will keep showing up.. The program has more meaning to this fan base than just KF.

Iowa may be the only sports organization college or pro where the coach can be consistently bad, not get fired and the fans still come.

At successful programs the big money won't stand for it and at also rans no one is there to care in the first place.

Only Iowa can be profitable while sucking.

 

[IOWuh]

^ Don't forget the Cubs. They do a bang up job of it as well.

 

[tweeterhawk]

Jon, did Gary Barta pay David to write that article and you to run it?

Because that certainly seems to be the attitude coming out of the Athletics Department.

 

[STILLBUSTER]

Yea, not one of his better efforts. Then again, in terms of theme, content and style, he hasn't written anything better than some of the high quality posts I see here, everyday. I've concluded he's nothing more than a fan in turmoil -- like most here -- and take that into account when I read his stuff.

All I could think about as I read it was how contradictory it was to the apathy warning he sounded just a few weeks ago in this one ...

http://hawkeyenation.com/football/schwartz-iowa-fans-buzz


On the other hand, it was consistent with his post-ISU loss piece, where he blamed the fans for continuing to support the declining program and accepting mediocrity.

http://hawkeyenation.com/football/whats-wrong-hawkeyes-look-mirror

Like I said, he's a fan in turmoil and can't figure out if he's part of the problem or just being a fan of a team that happens to have a crappy coaching staff and is performing accordingly.

My only questions: Is the fact that Hawk fans are myopic drones that can't help themselves for being the lemmings they are a good thing or a bad thing? Should we stay or should we go?

Get back to us when you figure it out for yourself and actually take a consistent position, Dave.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

The article failed to recognize one highly critical factor: This season, the Iowa fans came to a realization that our mediocrity is due to the head coach. It isn't the players lack of execution; certainly, not their effort. Today's Iowa fan saw what should have been a championship season, not just squandered, but (seemingly) rejected, by the head coach. Iowa fans spent most of the season predicting how we could lose a given game and all too often, we were right.

Iowa fans are loyal and dedicated, but we're also not dumb, nor, are we lemmings. It is down to a small percentage that do not want change at the top. We learned from the Lickliter experience, that our wallets (event attendance) do speak very loudly. Some fans will continue to buy season tickets because they don't want to be "that family member" that stopped the tradition of their family having season tickets, and that is understandable. But, an equally strong message is not attending games, even though you have a ticket, or selling a game ticket to opposing fans.

I really don't think Schwartz has correctly calculated just how angry the Iowa fans are at Gary Barta and the head coach. We, The University of Iowa should have been the B1G West champions in 2014 and getting ready for a showdown with the Buckeyes in Indianapolis.

 

[Shivetts]

I never understood donating to something that has huge revenue sources. College football is a huge money maker. The NCAA can almost print money. Its like donating to WalMart.

 

[83Hawk]

Count me as one who is seriously considering not renewing my season tickets next year.

 

[Rosebowler]

I never understood donating to something that has huge revenue sources. College football is a huge money maker. The NCAA can almost print money. Its like donating to WalMart.

I'm sure this isn't necessarily a popular opinion, but I agree. I love college athletics, and I love the Hawkeyes, but in the grand scheme of things, it's really pretty pointless. If I was a big-baller writing a six-figure check to a university somewhere, I'd much rather it go toward cancer research or some important academic research than toward the salary of KF or someone like him.

 

[AHawk1]

I'm laughing at the author deeming himself part of the "intelligent majority" while drafting this masterpiece. I'm tempted to say this is a troll article, but that might be giving him too much credit.

Definitely a troll job. If he's serious, someone needs to steal his keyboard .

 

[okeefe4prez]

Again, the $1.185 assumes the author's estimate of 3k non renewals is accurate and does not include the required donation for each non renewed seat.

I think the non renewal number will be closer to 5-6k. Someone smarter than me can calculate the total amount of lost donations for each seat, but it's not unreasonable to think the overall total could be $3,000,000-4,000,000.

I agree this is small relative to the overall revenue, but still a very significant hit.

I think your number is close to what we may actually see (though I suspect there will be a little offset with individual game sales). Every sideline seat has a donation associated with it and I believe some of the end zone seats even now require $50 donations. Me and Happy Chef are finito. Our 4 seats came with $1600 of donations and close to that amount for the tickets. There will be a number of die hards who have 4 seats that cost between $2,000 and $4,000 who are going to be done. My mom was on the wait list and they called her and offered her sideline seats but she told them to pound sand on the donation and they said they would waive it (she still declined due to heavy traveling this fall). People can look at the budget and see the $25 mil or so from shared revenue from the conference, but that money is spent long before the check gets to IC. The football program has to support the non-revenue sports and a million or two delta in ticket sales and donations is pretty big.

Iowa has benefited greatly from being able to extract $1000 to $5000 from a huge number of donors to offset the lack of big donors, but between the crappy product, the re-seating and the constant diminution in tailgating, the general spirit of the fan base has slid from one of general satisfaction to one of general dissatisfaction. Barta has a bigger problem on his hands than he realizes.

 

[hawkforlife9]

Given the strength of the fan base, I suspect zero drop off. We may see an increase as tickets are now available to people who haven't been able to do in the past. Go Hawks!