How do you increase attendance?

[206BULL]

It usually takes a couple of years of winning to bring the bandwagoners back. The big problem is we sucked at the worst possible time, we had momentum and were bringing in good crowds and then we were relegated to G5 and started sucking all at once which killed momentum. Keep winning and the stands will become more full, however I don't see us getting back to 40,000 plus until we are P5(except for big matchups ie FSU, Texas and the likes) which is unfortunate as this team deserves a packed house. 

[WoolyBully]

This attendance thing is a tough business. Like a lot of other things, identifying the problem is easy...implementing a solution is difficult.

Advertising / Marketing: I'm pretty sure the bright boys and girls of Fowler avenue have ascertained how much to spend on marketing - before it becomes money down the drain. You can put up all the billboards you want, but on Saturday, if you're teeing it up against Tulsa or Uconn or FAU, it's doubtful that the billboard campaign is gonna yield sufficient ROI. Just because you put out x-number of commercials, there's no guarantee that that effort will prompt people to buy your product. Especially if your product has the perception of being second tier. 

Remember, we're not the only game in town. On any given Saturday, there's plenty of entertaining, quality football to be had. The big screen can yield FSU and Clemson or Florida and Tennessee. When you live in a football rich state, football fans get the joke. And a lot of our alumni were raised on Big-3 football, so I think we've exhausted drawing from that population. If they're not here by now, they're not gonna show up. 

Conference Games:  We draw pretty good for entertaining OOC games...wonder why? Because even we recognize the demarcation between G5 & P5. The 'casual fan' (is that defined as a non-season ticket holding individual? I'm guessing they're football knowledgeable.) is probably there to see the marquee team, whereas 'we' are there hoping for an upset.  

OOC: It will have an initial bump in attendance (as do all shiny objects) but will a relentless schedule of AAC teams and a decrease in P5 opponents sustain any great attendance level? Do I think we need one...sure, it'd be great for the program and provide a completely different atmosphere.

But what if...what if...+/-30K is pegging our meter? What if that volume of attendance is what the market is willing to bear for our product...indefinitely, given our environment (and the associated items over which we have no control)?  I'm just not sure there's much that ISN'T ALREADY BEING DONE that will result in more flippin' of the turnstiles. We need paying customers - not sections of the stadium filled with pee-wee football players and chaperones who got in free...hoping that fourteen years hence they're so enamoured with the Bulls that they buy season tickets. We've seen that offering something free and then trying to charge for it later on has less than positive results. Do we have reason to believe that gimmicks work for the bottom line? Do you sit through USF v ECU just for the post-game county fair-circuit level band concert? I'm just asking...do people do that? I'm just there for the game, so maybe my demographic perspective is not what needs to be considered. I don't think there's any one magical missing ingredient in the attendance cure, but I do think there comes a point when you may have to accept that there's a finite market for your product.

Now, had we actually gotten to the other side of the velvet rope, I doubt we'd be having this discussion. Big time Saturdays against teams that people have heard of as the norm. Something like that maybe, just maybe, might bump attendance. But if anyone expects people to show up and sit through AAC games because it looks good on paper in the hopes that we make the cut next time around...that may be asking a wee bit too much.

[NewEnglandBull]

I have two words that saves the day:

FREE BEER!!!!!!!

[MMW]

 

40 minutes ago, NewEnglandBull said:

Fair point. But that does mean we will need about thirty more years just to have "decent" attendance. Can we wait that long assuming conference expansion happens before then (which I know is a big assumption).

I don't know.  I just think people should consider that when they discuss attendance.  

What is inadvertently being discussed on this thread is how to increase the band wagon.  

Edited November 29, 2016 by MMW

[JTrue]

34 minutes ago, Ned A Starr said:

Driving around the Bay Area during football season, I see about 10 other college banners for every Bulls banner hanging on homes, and businesses.  They aren't just UF, FSU, and Miami.   Ohio State, Nortre Dame, UCONN, UofL, UK, Tennessee, Georgia, Oklahoma, LSU, Bama, etc, etc.

What?!? Are you saying people from outside of Florida often move here?!? If that's true, which I can't believe it is, that would make us one of the fastest growing states in the entire union!

[IBulleve]

1 hour ago, thatBULL said:

Ok I'll bite.  Before I start, I've always been a proponent of an OCS, and will always be.  I think that increases student attendance during winning seasons by 20-30% if not more compared to where we are now.  However for this convo I'll assume we are talking about 2017:

1. ) with the schedule we have, and although we have very little control, start working with conference and tv to schedule night games.  While I understand big programs play day games, if the AAC thinks we can be a flagship, they can help.

2.) Youth league and high school outreach.  We need to build fans, can't just expect them to show up.

3.) I'll get burned for this, but I think we have always done a poor job accommodating the Greek population.  Need to make the atmosphere more "party" outside to get them to the game.

4.) post game concerts - they cost money but always draw crowds.  This is busch league, but all middle market baseball teams do this to draw crowds.

5.)  Make student parking free or appear free (include in fees or have lot sponsors).

6.) Build some sort of partnership with local pro teams - discounts, packages, etc.  Also, include more marketing.  

7.) social media for athletics is on point, but followers lag.  This needs to be a focus of off-season.

8.) They need begin a campaign regarding being tampas team.  Start now, build off bay made.  Give packages to local business owners to bring clients, friends, family. Extend to the school systems and city employees.  This needs to start yesterday.

I can do this all day, but I get paid to do this for a leaving and need to get back to work.

This. Not just some of it, all of it. Build partnerships, extend outreach and increase engagement. 

[ambienknights]

1 hour ago, Bear said:

Let's be honest, would an OCS be better for us?

 

Does UCF pull more fans to their stadium (with better tailgating and atmosphere) -- when they have a winning season?

 

They just went 0 - 12... How many of our fans would show up after a 0 - 12 season?

I'll admit that Attendance was disappointing this season and that 0-12 had more of an effect than I expected. The season ticket base went down bc I guess many went with a 'wait and see' approach on the turnaround and relying on walk up sales is more difficult with AAC opponents(even a bad BIG team Maryland was a packed house).

 

The Tailgating Atmosphere remains great and rivals any Big Time Program. The last home game vs Tulsa was a huge tailgating crowd(definitely enough to sell out the stadium) but then at kickoff only 30kish actually enter the gates. I think many fans are coming around to the idea to  allow Alcohol sales to the entire stadium to help attendance and bring in more revenue. I hope new AD will consider it for next season with no B12/P5 Invite coming anytime soon.

 

[Bull94]

Same solution for both rays and Bulls. lower your ticket price. Casual fans aren't willing or able to pay what they are charging. Casual fans shouldn't have to go to stubhub and pay their ridiculously high fees. Season ticket sections should be condensed into the middle of the field. Hey maybe it would actually look full. Then other sections should be sold to general public at whatever price the market will bear. Say $15 per ticket. Heck open top level and sell them at $7 per ticket. Whatever the market clearing price

 

It's basic economics. There is a price disequilibrium . You can't just set your price and expect the market to pay it.

 

The law of demand states that, if all other factors remain equal, the higher the price of a good, the less people will demand that good. In other words, the higher the price, the lower the quantity demanded.

Excess Supply
If the price is set too high, excess supply will be created within the economy and there will be allocative inefficiency.

Edited November 29, 2016 by Bull94

[IBulleve]

1 hour ago, thatBULL said:

Ok I'll bite.  Before I start, I've always been a proponent of an OCS, and will always be.  I think that increases student attendance during winning seasons by 20-30% if not more compared to where we are now.  However for this convo I'll assume we are talking about 2017:

1. ) with the schedule we have, and although we have very little control, start working with conference and tv to schedule night games.  While I understand big programs play day games, if the AAC thinks we can be a flagship, they can help.

2.) Youth league and high school outreach.  We need to build fans, can't just expect them to show up.

3.) I'll get burned for this, but I think we have always done a poor job accommodating the Greek population.  Need to make the atmosphere more "party" outside to get them to the game.

4.) post game concerts - they cost money but always draw crowds.  This is busch league, but all middle market baseball teams do this to draw crowds.

5.)  Make student parking free or appear free (include in fees or have lot sponsors).

6.) Build some sort of partnership with local pro teams - discounts, packages, etc.  Also, include more marketing.  

7.) social media for athletics is on point, but followers lag.  This needs to be a focus of off-season.

8.) They need begin a campaign regarding being tampas team.  Start now, build off bay made.  Give packages to local business owners to bring clients, friends, family. Extend to the school systems and city employees.  This needs to start yesterday.

I can do this all day, but I get paid to do this for a leaving and need to get back to work.

This. Not just some of it, all of it. Build partnerships, extend outreach and increase engagement. Although I think a pre game concert of sorts would work better than post. 

[BDYZR]

2 hours ago, Ned A Starr said:

Can't do that at the RJ, but free parking for MBB might help.  IMO, it was stupid to double the cost of parking while attendance is down.  It only punishes the people who support the team during lean times and regardless of the opponent.

 

It ain't often, But I agree with Ned on this one. We also increased football ticket prices during Skippy's rein.

2 hours ago, MaltLiquorBull said:

1.  Be undefeated.  I bet if we went 4-0, 5-0, 6-0, etc. there would be more people showing up for every game as we came closer to running the table.  After one loss, however, we'd be back to just the same old die-hards.

It sounds silly, but being undefeated and/or having a big win is what gets ESPN talking about rankings, new years bowls, etc.  We don't have a potential "big" win on our schedule next year, and we blew our chance this year with FSU.  Only possible choice it to run the table.  Casual Tampa fans will come out for an undefeated team.  They'll even by a shirt or a hat cause USF would be "cool' again.

KInd of sad that is has to be this way, but I think it would work.  

 

 

And if we don't crap the bed on THAT game. We did it twice this year.

1 hour ago, Bear said:

Yeah, and that thinking is a great way for us to stay in the G5...

 

We need to be the exception to the rule... 25k/yr isn't good enough

 

and our marketing team needs to know this

I still think our marketing department is woefully inefficient. If they can't find a way to generate excitement within the student body, they're certainly not going to get the casual fan out that doesn't even know we have a game.

I'm shocked almost weekly by people asking me if we have a game tonight simply because I have on a BULLS shirt.