Ticket Sales dropping and the solution...???
- Thread starter skinnykilmer17
- Start date
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
Hmmm...the University is hiring a digital marketing firm to boost ticket sales. Well, from my perspective, winning solves everything...and may be the only answer...so unless the digital marketing firm can assist in offensive game planning...I'm saying it's a waste of money.
My personal recommendation would be to take a cue from Robert Kraft and provide massages with happy endings at halftime if you buy an upgraded ticket or multi-game package. There are all kinds of marketing messages...
"Buy our package and we'll rub yours!"
"Buy season tickets and there will be holding on every sack!"
My personal recommendation would be to take a cue from Robert Kraft and provide massages with happy endings at halftime if you buy an upgraded ticket or multi-game package. There are all kinds of marketing messages...
"Buy our package and we'll rub yours!"
"Buy season tickets and there will be holding on every sack!"
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My thoughts as well. Iowa sold out 4 of 7 home games this year, and was at most 4,000 off for the rest, which isn't really that many. This just reeks of a slow news day or an axe to grind.
skinnykilmer17
Well-Known Member
Most likely because the athletic department hasn't released the official numbers?? Maybe a slow newsday but I don't know why The Gazette would have an ax to grind. The UI very recently announced this and apparently they feel the need to find ways to boost ticket sales. So not sure why it isn't worthy of coverage.
Doubt if it will do much good or might just state the obvious. Win more with an exciting product and improve the stale gameday experience. Has the ath dept ever bothered to survey the fans?
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
Big athletic departments don't care about ticket sales, they care about revenue. If they quit extorting people with donations, I'm sure they could easily sell the stadium out with season tickets, but from a total revenue perspective, the school doesn't care one iota about sellouts if they are churning major revenue.
What will be interesting is how it will impact the programs going forward. When you basically price out a majority of the younger or middle aged fans, what will things look like in 20 years? That goes for every decent program, not just Iowa. Those "10 year waiting lists" at a lot of places have turned into "hey, will you please buy some tickets?"
kameltoez102
Well-Known Member
Get rid of the crappy non conference schedule and it will help. It is also a problem all over the nation. The development in technology has many people staying at home to watch a game on an HD TV with their own bathroom, snacks, etc. To go to a game anymore especially with a family it is a pretty big investment. With streaming services and DVR people no longer have to schedule their lives around games. I am not sure if there is anything that is going to be done that will solve the problem.
We may complain about Iowas product on the field but if it was worse the attendance would really be bad because there are many other options to watch the games.
We may complain about Iowas product on the field but if it was worse the attendance would really be bad because there are many other options to watch the games.
For lots of folks, focusing on anything, in person, for more than 5 minutes isn't going to happen that often. A 3 hour football game vs NE State? A round of golf, 4 hours? Going to the Mall for a couple of hours? Two hours in church? Grocery store? Just leave it at the front door, thanks.
83Hawk
Banned
They could have ads featuring a season ticket holder saying: “I upped my donation. Now up yours!”
They do need to do some promoting. The 2019 home football schedule is horrendous, games that as a 20 year season ticket holder, I really don't want to pay to see. The only reason that I am, is so that I can maintain my seats for 2020. For a whole lotta reasons Barta should be fired, but this may be the primary one for me.
TychoBrahe
Well-Known Member
Ticket prices are way too high, for a start. Some individual games are ridiculously expensive--aren't ISU and Nebraska over $75 a ticket these days? One solution is to emphasize season tickets, to really discount those, and de-emphasize individual game tickets. Another is to deeply discount tickets for kids, because that's where your future fans come from. Also, better wi-fi! The under-30s won't come if their phones won't work.
I think the games are just plain unaffordable for a family of four to attend, compared to sitting at home watching for free on your big-screen.
I think fan-friendly promotions would help, like deeply discounted water and soda for those initial hot September games, and the same for coffee and hot chocolate for cold November games. Have someone sponsor stands around the stadium just for that purpose. Use your imagination, and come up with stuff that builds good will with the fans. Why don't we do Twitter photos that fans submit on the scoreboard? Why don't we have more giveaways of stuff people actually want: free tickets, or an upgrade to open Club Seats for a game, or a football autographed by Hawkeye legends, etc.
It's not rocket science. But I really think it starts with lowering prices, and making people think that season tickets are a must again.
I think the games are just plain unaffordable for a family of four to attend, compared to sitting at home watching for free on your big-screen.
I think fan-friendly promotions would help, like deeply discounted water and soda for those initial hot September games, and the same for coffee and hot chocolate for cold November games. Have someone sponsor stands around the stadium just for that purpose. Use your imagination, and come up with stuff that builds good will with the fans. Why don't we do Twitter photos that fans submit on the scoreboard? Why don't we have more giveaways of stuff people actually want: free tickets, or an upgrade to open Club Seats for a game, or a football autographed by Hawkeye legends, etc.
It's not rocket science. But I really think it starts with lowering prices, and making people think that season tickets are a must again.
pythagoras
Well-Known Member
Iowa doesn't dictate the B1G schedule. All teams play a pretty weak home non con. Look at the national champs they have Wofford and Charlotte next year. WOFFORD
Ree4
Well-Known Member
What gestapo tactics are you referring to? The ones that ended 5-6 years ago?
guffus
Well-Known Member
I guess one way to increase average attendance per game is once every 2 years have only 6 home games instead of 7. Then once every 2 years, they can bring in a decent OOC team to play in Iowa City. That way there is only 1 cupcake game at home per year.
If the trend is for people yo want to stay home and watch games on TV, maybe the answer is to decrease the number of home games, but to increase the TV revenue, by adding more games that are attractive to TV.
If the trend is for people yo want to stay home and watch games on TV, maybe the answer is to decrease the number of home games, but to increase the TV revenue, by adding more games that are attractive to TV.
What a waste... I'd put hiring a 'firm' for that along the same lines of ADs hiring search committes to hire their coaches...
I think I could ramble/complain about this for hours. Long story short, it's all about the $$$. Ticket sales might be down (for Iowa, for specific sports, or leagues in general..), but that doesn't necessarily mean total revenue is down.
College FBall drives the college sports economy. The sport has been transformed from a live football/gameday experience... to a TV industry. Ticket sales and gameday stadium type revenues are not the driver anymore. It's all about television, advertising, telecom market reach, network access, etc.
This is NOT to say the athletic department doesn't care about ticket sales. We know that they still do. But the big money TV era has transformed the game into one that's better to watch from home (if you disagree, that's fair and we can discuss). A full length, network televised CFB game probably contains +1.5 hours worth of ads. That amount of time and structure of the viewing experience is better spent at home.
If CFB went to a less commercialized model (think soccer - fewer ads and more consistent flow of the game), ticket sales would skyrocket and overall revenues would decline. Obviously, this won't happen.
College FBall drives the college sports economy. The sport has been transformed from a live football/gameday experience... to a TV industry. Ticket sales and gameday stadium type revenues are not the driver anymore. It's all about television, advertising, telecom market reach, network access, etc.
This is NOT to say the athletic department doesn't care about ticket sales. We know that they still do. But the big money TV era has transformed the game into one that's better to watch from home (if you disagree, that's fair and we can discuss). A full length, network televised CFB game probably contains +1.5 hours worth of ads. That amount of time and structure of the viewing experience is better spent at home.
If CFB went to a less commercialized model (think soccer - fewer ads and more consistent flow of the game), ticket sales would skyrocket and overall revenues would decline. Obviously, this won't happen.
racerhawk
Well-Known Member
That.Is.Awesome.
