Attendance

[Critical Thinker]

Student's need to reserve their season pass for each sport online now. That means athletics can now claim those students for attendance because they have a season ticket. That certainly helps the numbers.

They use the number of students who scan their tickets at the gates. In fact, it probably hurts attendance because students now have another excuse not to come to games because they don't want to go through the hassle of claiming a ticket.

[jpfalcon09]

Seems to me BG can bank on 2-3 games per year to draw well in actual attendance, the home opener, Homecoming and the Toledo game every other year. For some reason, people just don't seem to really care when the UMass and Kent State's of the conference come to town. Perhaps if BG ever gets ranked again things will pick up, but the fact that national TV now staggers when Ohio State, Michigan and Notre Dame play, we're sadly going to be the 4th or 5th best option on Saturdays.

The university needs to improve the game day atmosphere and festivities to get people in the stadium. I saw numerous people who showed up to tailgate last week that didn't even bother going to the game, we'll have the same situation this week for Homecoming.

[hammb]

I was absolutely STUNNED when we pulled in Saturday. We actually hit our 9 AM ETA (wow that rarely happens!), and when we pulled in the lots there was almost nobody there. I was shocked. It was a beautiful morning (working on the BBQ Beef Ribs for the tailgate had me up to see the sunrise, which was awesome!), and the forecast was calling for an even more perfect day as it warmed up. I figured that there would, at the very least, be a parking lot full of campers enjoying some early morning coffee (beer?). I was real disappointed.

Of course as the day went on the tailgate lots filled up, but I think that pretty much set the tone for a disappointingly low attendance figure given the quality of our team, and the day's weather.

Like others have said, I just don't let it get to me anymore. I'm part of the problem. This was my first game of the year due to a wedding on the first, and the truth is that I just don't plan my fall around BG football anymore. I still love going to the games, still love the team, still follow all the games I don't attend on my phone/radio/tv, but college football has taken a back burner for me (and most of the country). Attendance figures are down nationwide, and I think it would be folly to expect anything but a magnification of that at a place that has traditionally struggled to maintain attendance in the best of times.

Keep winning and I have a feeling that UT game will push the envelope for our current stadium capacity. Even if it is a primetime weeknight game.

Really hoping that we can be blessed with another day like Saturday this week. You cannot ask for better fall weather in NW Ohio...one more day of it would be falcon awesome.

[Redwingtom]

I had a ton of stuff to do this morning and early afternoon...i took care of what I had to do and watched most of the game online. If I didn't know I could watch the game, I might...might..have reworked my schedule to see the game in person

Exact same thing for me Flip. And I still think tickets are too expensive...yeah I get the watching D1 football at that price argument.

Of course I live almost 2 hours away.

[Redwingtom]

Keep winning and I have a feeling that UT game will push the envelope for our current stadium capacity. Even if it is a primetime weeknight game.

That's because we'll have close to 7-8,000 fans coming down from up north.

[Falcon137]

I had a ton of stuff to do this morning and early afternoon...i took care of what I had to do and watched most of the game online. If I didn't know I could watch the game, I might...might..have reworked my schedule to see the game in person

And I still think tickets are too expensive...yeah I get the watching D1 football at that price argument.

Of course I live almost 2 hours away.

I understand every argument for not going to games....except this one. If you want to argue everything is to expensive...gas to get to and from a game, food at a restaurant, parking (though, you can do that for free) + tickets, then I can understand. But, just tickets?

You could buy a east side season ticket for, $55 or $11 per game. A single game, day of ticket to UMass for $15, or bought on stubhub for $10 after fees, if you bank at Huntington, claimed free tickets.

BTW...if there are people without tickets and want to go to the OU game, season ticket holders can purchase them for $1.

[Falcon137]

Keep winning and I have a feeling that UT game will push the envelope for our current stadium capacity. Even if it is a primetime weeknight game.

That's because we'll have close to 7-8,000 fans coming down from up north.

Even if they are undefeated and ranked in the top 15, they aren't filling a 1/4 of the stadium. Although, I hope they bring that many, it will be good for the rivalry and BG's pocketbook.

I think Hammb is right, BG and Toledo are on a collision course of 8-2 vs 9-0. That game would be sold out or very close to.

If they were both to get to Detroit, I wouldn't be surprised to see a crowd in access of 30,000.

[jpfalcon09]

Keep winning and I have a feeling that UT game will push the envelope for our current stadium capacity. Even if it is a primetime weeknight game.

That's because we'll have close to 7-8,000 fans coming down from up north.

Even if they are undefeated and ranked in the top 15, they aren't filling a 1/4 of the stadium. Although, I hope they bring that many, it will be good for the rivalry and BG's pocketbook.

I think Hammb is right, BG and Toledo are on a collision course of 8-2 vs 9-0. That game would be sold out or very close to.

If they were both to get to Detroit, I wouldn't be surprised to see a crowd in access of 30,000.

If ESPN decides to start the BG/Toledo game at 6:00pm, good luck even getting 15,000 butts in the seats. Hopefully it's a 7:00pm kick so it allows people another hour to travel and get to the game in the case of traffic.

[hammb]

I had a ton of stuff to do this morning and early afternoon...i took care of what I had to do and watched most of the game online. If I didn't know I could watch the game, I might...might..have reworked my schedule to see the game in person

And I still think tickets are too expensive...yeah I get the watching D1 football at that price argument.

Of course I live almost 2 hours away.

I understand every argument for not going to games....except this one. If you want to argue everything is to expensive...gas to get to and from a game, food at a restaurant, parking (though, you can do that for free) + tickets, then I can understand. But, just tickets?

You could buy a east side season ticket for, $55 or $11 per game. A single game, day of ticket to UMass for $15, or bought on stubhub for $10 after fees, if you bank at Huntington, claimed free tickets.

BTW...if there are people without tickets and want to go to the OU game, season ticket holders can purchase them for $1.

I don't think our tickets are too expensive.

I do think we have historically done a pretty terrible job of giving season ticket holders the sort of perks that make people want to remain season ticket holders. Comparatively, UT has been giving season ticket holders vouchers for team gear, concessions, free parking in the areas where you want to tailgate, etc. I don't know what they did for season ticket holders this year since I didn't get tickets, but I imagine it still lags behind what UT has been offering their fans for years.


For hoops, I'm not sure what, if anything, I'm getting with my tickets. I believe they said that each ticket stub is worth $1 off concessions at the game...that's a nice start if it's only for season ticket holders. If any ticket is worth that then they should just lower their damned prices at the stand. I do know that this year I'm getting a parking pass to the Stroh lot, but that is a perk for Falcon Club members, which I'm required to be for my level of season tickets. A voucher to the team store would be a nice additional perk to throw in.

Either way, the price is the least of my worries when it comes to whether or not I'll attend a game. I don't mind paying the full price if need be, and cheap(er) tickets are readily available through various channels. And obviously the Huntington thing is a nice perk as well.

[jpfalcon09]

I had a ton of stuff to do this morning and early afternoon...i took care of what I had to do and watched most of the game online. If I didn't know I could watch the game, I might...might..have reworked my schedule to see the game in person

And I still think tickets are too expensive...yeah I get the watching D1 football at that price argument.

Of course I live almost 2 hours away.

I understand every argument for not going to games....except this one. If you want to argue everything is to expensive...gas to get to and from a game, food at a restaurant, parking (though, you can do that for free) + tickets, then I can understand. But, just tickets?

You could buy a east side season ticket for, $55 or $11 per game. A single game, day of ticket to UMass for $15, or bought on stubhub for $10 after fees, if you bank at Huntington, claimed free tickets.

BTW...if there are people without tickets and want to go to the OU game, season ticket holders can purchase them for $1.

I don't think our tickets are too expensive.

I do think we have historically done a pretty terrible job of giving season ticket holders the sort of perks that make people want to remain season ticket holders. Comparatively, UT has been giving season ticket holders vouchers for team gear, concessions, free parking in the areas where you want to tailgate, etc. I don't know what they did for season ticket holders this year since I didn't get tickets, but I imagine it still lags behind what UT has been offering their fans for years.


For hoops, I'm not sure what, if anything, I'm getting with my tickets. I believe they said that each ticket stub is worth $1 off concessions at the game...that's a nice start if it's only for season ticket holders. If any ticket is worth that then they should just lower their damned prices at the stand. I do know that this year I'm getting a parking pass to the Stroh lot, but that is a perk for Falcon Club members, which I'm required to be for my level of season tickets. A voucher to the team store would be a nice additional perk to throw in.

Either way, the price is the least of my worries when it comes to whether or not I'll attend a game. I don't mind paying the full price if need be, and cheap(er) tickets are readily available through various channels. And obviously the Huntington thing is a nice perk as well.

This!

I contemplated buying season tickets this year but felt like there wasn't much being offered as perks besides the pre-season banquet (which I wouldn't have been able to attend) and obviously being able to guarantee my seats. Even offering some sort of discount on the new Nike gear would've sufficed as enough of an incentive.

There seems to still be a major disconnect between the ticket office and the fans. The university appears content with the usual amount of fans who will show up to the weekend games in September and October and then rely on sponsorships to purchase a certain number of tickets to boost sales for the November games.

I had a friend come to the UMass game who was underwhelmed with the amount of interactive things to do at the game. There's very little fan engagement, we don't have a PA announcer who gets excited on big defensive plays, encouraging the fans to get off their butts and make some noise. As he put it, the atmosphere at times feels like a glorified high school game and BG should be striving to be better than that.

Even in Buffalo, they had a DJ on the field playing re-mixed popular music and a guy with a mic and portable speakers who was getting the students fired up. BG needs to wake up and start getting a more interactive game experience, the casual fan will feel more entertained and inclined to come back if there are those outlets.

[Flipper]

I used to go to just about all of the home games...even bought season tickets for a few years. The switch to a three game home schedule the last few years ( I don't count mid week games since no one who works and lives more than 20 minutes from BG can easily go) really put a damper on things for me.

[hammb]

I used to go to just about all of the home games...even bought season tickets for a few years. The switch to a three game home schedule the last few years ( I don't count mid week games since no one who works and lives more than 20 minutes from BG can easily go) really put a damper on things for me.

Same here.

Those weeknight games are brutal for the fanbase, and really hurt season ticket sales. And then once you stop buying season ticket holders it becomes pretty easy to make excuses to not go to the Saturday games as well.

[Falconfreak90]

Keep in mind UMass brought, what, 75 fans?

I already have a 1/2 day vacation for the tsun and a 1/2 day the next day. Spending the night in BG for that one.

Weather is looking good for Saturday at Sunny and 56. Perfect football weather.

RIP ZIPPY A NEW ONE