Half Price Tickets for UT-Martin

[jsglow]

Opening night.  I trust all of you within reasonable driving distance and no prior commitment will be there.  Last year we started with the season highlight; the unveiling off a championship banner.  It went downhill from there.  This year will be the opposite.  Come out and support your team. 

[Johnny B]

May i ask what you consider "reasonable driving distance."

[jsglow]

Shall we say 90 minutes?

Anyway, in the post game thread there were a couple of mentions of attendance.  It does seem that the season ticket base is off by more than 1000 this year with the announced crowd yesterday apparently in the 12,500 range.  Has anybody looked back at the lowest attendance figure each season over the last decade.  That would give a very good indication.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Shall we say 90 minutes?

Anyway, in the post game thread there were a couple of mentions of attendance.  It does seem that the season ticket base is off by more than 1000 this year with the announced crowd yesterday apparently in the 12,500 range.  Has anybody looked back at the lowest attendance figure each season over the last decade.  That would give a very good indication.

I posted this in another thread that has since devolved into a pissing match...season tickets could be down closer to 2000 vs. last year.

http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=45172.msg662617#msg662617

[MU82]

Marquette fans and Milwaukee college basketball fans are consumers. And when consumers are disappointed in a product, they need to be convinced to buy that product again.

One could argue that being a fan of a team or school is different from being a purchaser of beer, cold cuts and toilet paper -- and I'd agree to a point -- but there is a point where a fan becomes a consumer first and demands a credible product.

The Blackhawks are a very good example. They have a very fervent (albeit still niche) following. They sold out every game for years and years. But when they started sucking big-time in the late-90s, they went through pretty much a decade of fan apathy. There were many games where there were fewer than 6,000 fans in the house and entire sections of the U.C. were empty.

Then they gave their consumers a reason to want to buy their product again, and now the U.C. is sold out for every game. I trust that if they start sucking again, fans again will stay away in droves.

There are plenty of fair-weather Blackhawks fans -- my grown kids are two of them -- but that behavior is perfectly reasonable and acceptable. Staying away sends a message to management: Your product is not acceptable. It would appear that after last season, Marquette fans are sending the same message.

If Wojo's team plays hard and wins a few games, attendance will hang in there even if it wanes somewhat. Then, next season, it should pick up again if everything goes as expected.

It's capitalism at its finest.

[Loose Cannon]

One could argue that being a fan of a team or school is different from being a purchaser of beer, cold cuts and toilet paper -- and I'd agree to a point -- but there is a point where a fan becomes a consumer first and demands a credible product.

Tell it to the Cub Fans!

[MU82]

Tell it to the Cub Fans!

Even Cubbieland isn't immune to this. Attendance has been down in recent years. They also count "ticket sales" as attendance but anybody who has been to Cubbie games the last several Augusts and Septembers will attest to the huge swaths of empty seats.

The same was true of the Bulls. During the post-Jordan embarrassment era, they kept reporting sellouts but the U.C. sometimes was half-empty. I mean, one can only watch so many Kornel David turnovers!

All this being said ...

If I lived in or near Milwaukee, I would be a Marquette season-ticket holder and would be going to every game. For me, being a fan outweighs being a consumer. But I definitely do understand the consumer mentality, especially for the non-alums who make up much of our fan base.

[warriorchick]

Marquette fans and Milwaukee college basketball fans are consumers. And when consumers are disappointed in a product, they need to be convinced to buy that product again.

One could argue that being a fan of a team or school is different from being a purchaser of beer, cold cuts and toilet paper -- and I'd agree to a point -- but there is a point where a fan becomes a consumer first and demands a credible product.

The Blackhawks are a very good example. They have a very fervent (albeit still niche) following. They sold out every game for years and years. But when they started sucking big-time in the late-90s, they went through pretty much a decade of fan apathy. There were many games where there were fewer than 6,000 fans in the house and entire sections of the U.C. were empty.

Then they gave their consumers a reason to want to buy their product again, and now the U.C. is sold out for every game. I trust that if they start sucking again, fans again will stay away in droves.

There are plenty of fair-weather Blackhawks fans -- my grown kids are two of them -- but that behavior is perfectly reasonable and acceptable. Staying away sends a message to management: Your product is not acceptable. It would appear that after last season, Marquette fans are sending the same message.

If Wojo's team plays hard and wins a few games, attendance will hang in there even if it wanes somewhat. Then, next season, it should pick up again if everything goes as expected.

It's capitalism at its finest.

If it's merely a product, does that mean you have 3,800 posts each on message boards that debate the merits of, say, Bud Lite, or Buicks?   Probably not; If you like them, you buy them.  If not, you simply buy Miller MGD or a Ford instead.

[jsglow]

No doubt 82 that last's years disappointment impacts the more casual fan.  Not surprised to see the season ticket base decline this year.  My recollection is that ticket sales didn't necessarily boom after our multiple deep tournament runs so it seems that there might be a top end on what's possible.

Just to be clear, I'm not critical about the reality.  But I am suggesting that the group that assembles here, perhaps MU's most loyal fans, certainly can do their fair share to support our new coach and team.  And half price tickets for an opening game on a Friday night seems like as good a time as any.

See you at the BMO Bradley next Friday.

[MU82]

If it's merely a product, does that mean you have 3,800 posts each on message boards that debate the merits of, say, Bud Lite, or Buicks?   Probably not; If you like them, you buy them.  If not, you simply buy Miller MGD or a Ford instead.

If you read the entirety of what I said, both in the comment you highlighted and my subsequent one, you might not have had this reaction.

I specifically said I agree to a point that being a sports fan is different from being a user of a consumer product.

And in my follow-up comment, I said this:

"If I lived in or near Milwaukee, I would be a Marquette season-ticket holder and would be going to every game. For me, being a fan outweighs being a consumer. But I definitely do understand the consumer mentality, especially for the non-alums who make up much of our fan base."

I stand by all the stuff I said in my two earlier comments. And this one, for that matter.

[DienerTime34]

The casual fan, or even the $125 seat season ticket holder, probably didn't register the difference last year of transitioning from the Old Big East to the New Big East. Now that it's sunk in that Notre Dame, UConn, Louisville, Pitt and Syracuse are not coming through that door, a decline in attendance would be expected.

[jsglow]

The casual fan, or even the $125 seat season ticket holder, probably didn't register the difference last year of transitioning from the Old Big East to the New Big East. Now that it's sunk in that Notre Dame, UConn, Louisville, Pitt and Syracuse are not coming through that door, a decline in attendance would be expected.

Interesting.  I hadn't considered the conference issue.  I suppose the proper empirical test would be to examine attendance for other BEAST teams.  Said another way, if Nova's and GTown's attendance is down this year, there's merit in your assertion. 

[dgies9156]

See you at the BMO Bradley next Friday.

I just bought mine. Want to say I was there when we win it all in a few years!

[Daniel]

The casual fan, or even the $125 seat season ticket holder, probably didn't register the difference last year of transitioning from the Old Big East to the New Big East. Now that it's sunk in that Notre Dame, UConn, Louisville, Pitt and Syracuse are not coming through that door, a decline in attendance would be expected.

t

This is an excellent point. Deep-seated ovaries drive attendance (it's what local conferences used to be about) and MU had great rivalries with ND, Louisville - and as of late UCONN (our first Big East game and win), and Syracuse.  Remove the rivalries and it certainly can impact attendance. Which games in the past were sold out to the rafters?

Another good reason to schedule these back as OOC games.

[We R Final Four]

Chick--is this part bout the ovaries true?

[Johnny B]

Novas attendance was fine last year. Georgetown was atrocious. Is it the conference, or is it just GT fans come when their team is good.?

[Shark]

Just bought two. I'm really excited to watch this team grow. Not expecting a ton but it'll be interesting to see how Wojo does.

[dgies9156]

Chick--is this part bout the ovaries true?

What is a "deep seeded" ovary?"

[warriorchick]

Chick--is this part bout the ovaries true?

Let ye who has never been a victim of auto correct or hasty proofreading cast the first stone.

[muwarrior69]

My freshman year I bought 2 season tickets for all 16 games for 32 dollars. We went 14-12 in Al's second season as coach. Paid the same price for the following 3 years as well as I was grandfathered in as a student season ticket holder.  It pays to show team loyalty especially when the team is down. Back then we knew it wasn't going to be down for long with the recruits Al was getting. Same can be said for Wojo. If I lived near by I would be there.

Go Warriors!

[jsglow]

My freshman year I bought 2 season tickets for all 16 games for 32 dollars. We went 14-12 in Al's second season as coach. Paid the same price for the following 3 years as well as I was grandfathered in as a student season ticket holder.  It pays to show team loyalty especially when the team is down. Back then we knew it wasn't going to be down for long with the recruits Al was getting. Same can be said for Wojo. If I lived near by I would be there.

Go Warriors!

+1

[bilsu]

I have had two season tickets for year's. last year I had 4 season tickets, because a friend wanted tickets. This year I am back to 2, so there was a 50% drop in the tickets I purchased. Also, season tickets include mini-plans and I wonder if any mini plans included the Wisconsin Lutheran game?

[Mr. Nielsen]

Season-ticket totals are not part of mini plans. The two different mini plans don't have Wis. Luth part of that plan.

[bilsu]

Season-ticket totals are not part of mini plans. The two different mini plans don't have Wis. Luth part of that plan.

Maybe so, but they have a bearing on the minimum number of tickets sold for a particular game.

[Litehouse]

I have had two season tickets for year's. last year I had 4 season tickets, because a friend wanted tickets. This year I am back to 2, so there was a 50% drop in the tickets I purchased. Also, season tickets include mini-plans and I wonder if any mini plans included the Wisconsin Lutheran game?

I picked up an extra ticket this year and went from 3 to 4.