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Post by yoteforever on Dec 7, 2017 12:59:02 GMT -6
Yote14 I appreciate you posting what you did. I think this is a discussion that needs to take place and talk about to see if there's any type of resolution that could remedy what yote14 said.
So I called the ticket office at USD and got information on pricing, And since I also have season tickets at Iowa State, I went to their website to get ticket prices to make as close of an apples comparison as I could.
Starting with USD. Season tickets with chair backs in the corner of the SCSC are $250/ticket which includes men's and women's games. In looking at the schedule, there are 29 games combined being played in Vermillion not counting exhibition games. If you put equal value to the men's and women's games, that makes it average out at $8.62 per game if you attended all games. If you put a men's ticket at double the value of a woman's game ticket, which would still be less than major schools valuation, the value of the women's tickets at $5.58 per game for 15 games, and the valuation of the men's tickets at $11.88 per seat per game.
At Iowa State. With the understanding that Hiltons size is over double of USD's, and there is a top bowl and lower bowl, if you had men's and women's tickets there in the upper bowl, you would pay $324 per seat, nd having a favorable comparison to USD's arena, you would need to have tickets in the lower bowl and those would run $655 seat, or $400 more roughly. That means in the upper level you are paying $6.60 for women's tickets and 14.06 for men's. In the lower bowl, which would be more of an apples for apples comparison, you'd pay $8.67 for women's games nd $32.81 for men's games. Ok, those are the facts. Now discussion.
One idea that might make some games more affordable was if the athletic department separated men's and women's tickets and sold them separatelay. Under the formula that men's tickets were worth double the women's, that would make a season ticket at USD in the corner with chair back seating $150. Or $10.08 per game. The women's tickets would come in at $5.58 per game. Does that make it more ffordable? Last night on an average would have cost a little over $10/seat. And there is not a bad seat in the arena. Period
Another idea is buyibg single game tickets for anywhere from $8/game to $15/game in the same section and not paying the big total for season tickets. So Sunday's men's game against Eastern Washington are priced at $15. Is that fair, or does that seem to high?
We need to balance revenue vs fan participation. I'd rather have the thing sold out with whatever cheap ticket prices are than to have 1200 people at some higher number, whatever that is. The other thing you have to consider is not offending those that paid for season tickets and maybe next year won't because they can pick and choose games as they wish and lay out less money. That's a thought. The problem with that is we need to have certain revenues to run the department, and pay for officials, teams to come to Vermillion, etc. So what's the fair and equitable way to balance that? I really don't know the answer to that, but all those thing she I pointed out plus many others, are what the administration has to deal with and make decisions on.
I understand the limited disposable income argument, but I also understand the needed revenue generation side of it. If you were to simply poll Coach Smith, I'd bet he'd say the cheaper the better so we are full and the arena is loud and we have major home court advantage. Then if you were to ask Coach Smith the same question during contract negotiations and how ticket sales are somehow measured against his salary, the answer might be different? ๐
What is the right thing to do?
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Post by yote14 on Dec 7, 2017 14:01:20 GMT -6
Men's and Women's tickets separate would be a huge step. That $150/$175 per seat would be a more reasonable price. That would make it $450/$525 plus the $100 howling pack to get my entire family there.
A sizable decrease in the per game price when purchasing season tickets makes it worth it and would also make people more invested in going to a game like last night on a Wednesday night knowing they have season tickets.
I've only missed 2 football games because of weddings in 7 years. Having season tickets makes me very invested in planning my Fall out around games versus going depending on how I feel on a Wednesday night after a crap day of work when the roads may still be shaky from Monday's weather in Sioux Falls.
Thanks for creating the thread YF.
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Post by yoteforever on Dec 7, 2017 14:03:11 GMT -6
You're welcome. I want you at as many games as possible along with thousands of other Yote fans
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Post by kiyoat on Dec 7, 2017 14:31:20 GMT -6
Not related to season ticket prices, but related to how to get butts in seats:
I live in SF and have two kids that are active in many sports and activities. So for me, I'm not going to commit to season tickets in Vermillion. To me the individual game tickets are a reasonable price, since I only go to a handful of games. I'd probably pay more.
Maybe there is a way to have a standard price for single-game tickets that is a little higher, and fans can build up collateral by attending more events (including season ticket-holders by tracking attendence) Thus dropping the price for subsequent events, either same season for single-game or next season for season ticket holders. To me that's better than the "cable TV model" where you attract customers with a low rate, then jack up the price later. I think loyalty should be rewarded with fans, and that behooves the University.
Because we have such a good women's BB program, and because a BB game isn't too long, the double-headers are perfect for me. I don't have to commit to multiple trips down there in a week. I love the fact that there are three this year, and will try to attend all of them, if conflicts don't arise. I'll bring my 11-year old and my buddy and his kid, too.
Also I love the atmosphere of the SCSC. Last year when we went to one of the doubleheaders, my son and his friend got to shoot around on the court after the game with some other kids there. To me, that's like at a High-school game, and adds to the community feel of that venue.
Life, not money is what keeps me from attending all the games. Finding an excuse to prioritize coming down there (like the doubleheaders) is what draws me there. I had considered coming down for the preseason Men/Women scrimmage event, but was busy with youth football. I think that would have been a fun one for the kids.
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Post by Yotes on Dec 7, 2017 19:21:36 GMT -6
I feel like I got hosed paying $300 for this year's slate of games, but I don't think money is what's keeping people away. They could make admission free and I'm skeptical many more people would show up. Apathy and lack of interest are the issue. The majority of people who are going to make it to a game live in Vermillion, and the locals don't seem very interested in attending a game.
I've worked in two different departments at USD and now am at a local business. I make my fandom very well known and get plenty of questions from the dozens of coworkers I've had over the years, but none of them would ever think about going to a game. My current boss is an alum and sports fanatic but hasn't been to a USD game in like 15 years. She keeps up with the Yotes and catches games on Midco but just has zero interest in giving up free time to go to a game.
I don't know how you fix that. Football is simple enough to increase attendance because when the team is good every game is a big event. Win and you can count on drawing people from Sioux Falls. Basketball just isn't that way. There's so many more games, none of them are hugely important, and then the championship is held in Sioux Falls anyways. The athletic department has to find a way to captivate the locals in order to increase basketball attendance.
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obc
Senior Member
Posts: 781
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Post by obc on Dec 7, 2017 20:09:03 GMT -6
IMO whether we are talking about Football or Basketball and getting more attendance I think the focus needs to stay on a few key things.
* Keep putting a quality product on the court and field. The University is coming through big here. (this is not enough however - look no further than attendance numbers for many of the FCS playoff games) * The University needs to continue to work on creating an experience and event at games. Hard core fans go for the games. Marginal fans go for the experience and energy. I think they are doing an exceptional job with this on the higher end. Any of you that have been in the Club areas before and during FB and BB games know it is awesome. How can the experience be enhanced for the rest of the fans that cannot justify the expense of that? I think game day production - music - lights - replay boards can all be enhanced to make going feel more exciting. Like many have also mentioned - finding a way to bring all tailgating together I think would have an enormous effect. * The University and Vermillion need to find a way to work better together. I sense that relationship is better now than at some other times historically (certainly others on this board are more equipped to answer this than me). * My final comment is that some of this is solved just by those of us that do go - just focus on having a great time. Be loud, supportive, have fun and create a festive party atmosphere. High five your neighbor - stand up - cheer the team and just have fun. If you were throwing a party you wont get more people to show up by yelling at your neighbors telling them that your party will suck unless they show. More people show up when others see how much fun the people that are there are having - they will want to be a part of it. And for those that partake, beer doesn't hurt either...
Just keep going to all the games you can, have fun, and tell others what a great time the games are. That is what we can do. I know I started enjoying games much more when I quit worrying about how many or few people were going to show up and I just focused on doing my thing, having fun and cheering my ass off at games whether we are sold out or if the place is empty.
I believe things will keep building.
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Post by gopheryote on Dec 7, 2017 20:28:53 GMT -6
FWIW, cost kept me from getting season tix for BB this year. I need 6 tix for my family ($1800), and was going to just go with 4 tix ($1200), and couldn't justify the cost. CF noted in another thread, but give us a fun halftime show (Quick Change will always be my favorite) or some other kids event (shooting around in the practice gyms at half-time and before/after games?), and we can start to get the value for a family the size of mine.
But I still think discounted senior citizen tickets are good. They don't have the commitments to chase kids to events all over town 6 days a week...
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Post by elcoyote on Dec 7, 2017 20:52:09 GMT -6
I feel like I got hosed paying $300 for this year's slate of games, but I don't think money is what's keeping people away. They could make admission free and I'm skeptical many more people would show up. Apathy and lack of interest are the issue. The majority of people who are going to make it to a game live in Vermillion, and the locals don't seem very interested in attending a game. I've worked in two different departments at USD and now am at a local business. I make my fandom very well known and get plenty of questions from the dozens of coworkers I've had over the years, but none of them would ever think about going to a game. My current boss is an alum and sports fanatic but hasn't been to a USD game in like 15 years. She keeps up with the Yotes and catches games on Midco but just has zero interest in giving up free time to go to a game. I don't know how you fix that. Football is simple enough to increase attendance because when the team is good every game is a big event. Win and you can count on drawing people from Sioux Falls. Basketball just isn't that way. There's so many more games, none of them are hugely important, and then the championship is held in Sioux Falls anyways. The athletic department has to find a way to captivate the locals in order to increase basketball attendance. I don't disagree with anything you said, but factor in that Vermillion is a town with a population of 10,000, by far the smallest of any town in the Summit by quite a large margin. That has to hurt. If USD was located in a Fargo sized metro what would you guess our attendance would be? Even Brookings is roughly 150% larger. I certainly don't have an answer, but if I lived and worked in even Sioux Falls or Yankton I doubt I'd make it to any but the weekend games and when I was still coaching and also I had a daughter who was very active in school sports there simply was no time. Now I have all the time in the world so I go to everything but many of you probably aren't fortunate enough to be in my position. Weather, holiday season, kids events all play a part.
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Post by usdtator on Dec 7, 2017 22:46:35 GMT -6
I have a family of five and we live in Beresford. We get six season tickets for football (two adults and 4 youth) in the family section for $500. My kids are allowed to take turns inviting a friend or cousin to join us at games. We have an absolute blast tailgating and attending the games. Football is a full gameday experience we all look forward to every year. I even invested in a trailer this year to haul all our tailgating stuff.
For basketball, we get two tickets which cost us $600. My wife and I usually go, but we also take turns going with each of the kids one at a time. Youth tickets are so much cheaper and we can always purchase a youth ticket or two or three near where our season tickets are. With youth activities going on, it just doesn't make financial sense to purchase more than our two season tickets.
With our HP membership and season tickets, we are into USD sports for almost $1400 per year... that's a lot of $$ for a school teacher and a social worker, but we do it for the experiences, memories, and to get our kids vested in something that will hopefully last a lifetime.
I made it to every single football game and men's and women's bball game last year. Loved every second of it too.
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Post by yoteforever on Dec 8, 2017 8:46:46 GMT -6
I have a family of five and we live in Beresford. We get six season tickets for football (two adults and 4 youth) in the family section for $500. My kids are allowed to take turns inviting a friend or cousin to join us at games. We have an absolute blast tailgating and attending the games. Football is a full gameday experience we all look forward to every year. I even invested in a trailer this year to haul all our tailgating stuff. For basketball, we get two tickets which cost us $600. My wife and I usually go, but we also take turns going with each of the kids one at a time. Youth tickets are so much cheaper and we can always purchase a youth ticket or two or three near where our season tickets are. With youth activities going on, it just doesn't make financial sense to purchase more than our two season tickets. With our HP membership and season tickets, we are into USD sports for almost $1400 per year... that's a lot of $$ for a school teacher and a social worker, but we do it for the experiences, memories, and to get our kids vested in something that will hopefully last a lifetime. I made it to every single football game and men's and women's bball game last year. Loved every second of it too. Tator.....GOOD FOR YOU This is absolutely one of the best testimonial posts we ever had. This is billboard material. Tator passionately makes the case of what I've tried to say many times in the past, and that what you are buying ( investing in ) is not just the game, but the game day experience. If more people read this and would buy into this, we would solve our attendance issues and HP giving would rise. Not only is Tator and his wife going to a lot of games and having fun doing so, they are experiencing the tailgate party experience in its glory. Good for you. I'm retired now and my wife and I live the ultimate sports life. We watch Coyote football every Saturday, home or on the road, and we get to as many basketball and volleyball games as we possibly can. Not only are the sporting events great, the best experience we have is meeting and getting to know other fans and parents of athletes. Football Saturday in the MVFC is awesome...home or road. For those with families I get the cost issue, that's why I asked for discussion, because my end game is to figure out ways to make our games (events) more accessible and affordable. Anyway, thanks for a great post Tator.๐
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Post by easmus on Dec 8, 2017 13:24:48 GMT -6
My young family lives in SF used to have season tickets for the Stampede hockey team and occasionally attend USD events. In 2016 we had season tickets for football and hockey. This year we dropped the hockey because we were having more fun at football, there were less games, and because USD at least discounts the kids tickets. These werenโt the only factors. But what I will say is USD needs to make sure not to de-value their product by handing out free tickets just to get people in the door. Part of the reason we ditched the stampede seats is we got sick of paying to get in and having the club give the tickets next to me for free and many others all over town.
I agree on the doubleheaders, as we are currently planning a trip down for the day 12-30 against Denver. If we are going to burn a Saturday, might as well get two games out of the deal.
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Post by easmus on Dec 8, 2017 15:05:38 GMT -6
I will add that Midco is a double edged sword. It is good for exposure for both state summit schools. But it has to hurt attendance. It is a net positive in the end though. But the way the league schedule works out this year after iupui left, thankfully midco will allow me to see most home games.
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Post by Coyote Fan on Dec 8, 2017 18:15:47 GMT -6
I will add that Midco is a double edged sword. It is good for exposure for both state summit schools. But it has to hurt attendance. It is a net positive in the end though. But the way the league schedule works out this year after iupui left, thankfully midco will allow me to see most home games. Plus is allows Jay Elsen to cover the team and he is obviously one of the best.
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Post by kiyoat on Dec 8, 2017 21:52:58 GMT -6
I will add that Midco is a double edged sword. It is good for exposure for both state summit schools. But it has to hurt attendance. It is a net positive in the end though. But the way the league schedule works out this year after iupui left, thankfully midco will allow me to see most home games. I agree that having free access to streaming, and cable access to watching home games could be seen as both positive and negative. For the fact that USD's fan base is so casual and fickle at this point, anything that makes it easier for fans to access games is a good thing IMO. Watch a few games on cable, and you start to get into the season. Maybe it makes you want to go watch a live game. Once you experience the live game in the SCSC you are more likely to go again, etc. until you are hooked like crack cocaine.... Ok, maybe that analogy got a little off the tracks... you get the idea.
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Post by yoteforever on Dec 8, 2017 22:01:44 GMT -6
What's everyone's thoughts on continuing to stream the games but have a charge? At least in this scenario there is income coming in. I'm not sure what's right, but has to be frustrating as an AD not to sell some seats, and equally frustrating to the coaches and teams to have a really really good team and not have big time home court advantage.
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