OT: Michigan Football Season Ticket Sales

[DiamondM]

Not all of this is relevant to SMU, but it is a cautionary tale in light of rising ticket prices and donation levels in Moody, and an interesting read.http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/road-saturday/201406/college-football-fan-stadium-students-business-tv-ncaa-michigan-tickets

I particularly like this bit:

If you treat your fans like customers long enough, eventually they'll start behaving that way, reducing their irrational love for their team to a cool-headed, dollars-and-cents decision to buy tickets or not, with no more emotional investment than deciding whether to go to the movies or buy new tires.

After a friend of mine took his kids to a game, he told me, "Michigan athletics used to feel like something we shared. Now it's something they hoard. Anything of value they put a price tag on. Anything that appeals to anyone is kept locked away -- literally, in some cases -- and only brought out if you pay for it. And what's been permanently banished is any sense of generosity."

[CoxMustangFan]

SMU bball prices and donation levels are just fine. It's a top 15 program, with a small gym, located in one of the largest cities in America, with an affluent fan base, with a good chunk of your cost being tax deductible (for most). There are costs to running a top program.

When you're selling a ticket to a single game for 2x of what you paid for the whole season, pricing is way too fan friendly.

[smudubs]

Not all of this is relevant to SMU, but it is a cautionary tale in light of rising ticket prices and donation levels in Moody, and an interesting read.http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/road-saturday/201406/college-football-fan-stadium-students-business-tv-ncaa-michigan-tickets

I particularly like this bit:

If you treat your fans like customers long enough, eventually they'll start behaving that way, reducing their irrational love for their team to a cool-headed, dollars-and-cents decision to buy tickets or not, with no more emotional investment than deciding whether to go to the movies or buy new tires.

After a friend of mine took his kids to a game, he told me, "Michigan athletics used to feel like something we shared. Now it's something they hoard. Anything of value they put a price tag on. Anything that appeals to anyone is kept locked away -- literally, in some cases -- and only brought out if you pay for it. And what's been permanently banished is any sense of generosity."

I understand your point, but there is a fundamental difference between Michigan football and SMU basketball. The article makes several references to Michigan's tradition and the fact that people have held season tickets for decades. Further, it references the fact that there was a waiting list for tickets following their sub-par seasons. SMU basketball, on the other hand, lacks that tradition and consistent fan base. I do not love the increase in ticket prices because I was at Moody during the Doh era and can remember how it was a ghost town for most games. SMU basketball is the "cool" ticket in town right now and people will pay to say they were in Moody. If we drop below .500 or, heaven forbid, Larry decides to move on, you will no longer see the demand for the tickets or the attendance at games. We will return to fan apathy as we have seen for the past 20 years I've been going to games. Betterhalf and I will continue to go to games, but how many of these Johnny-Come-Lately's will be there with us?

[East Coast Mustang]

Anyone [deleted] about SMU bball ticket prices for this season needs to get a grip. Would ya'll prefer the days of Doh when 2,000 bothered to show up to Moody?

[PoconoPony]

This same article could have been written about Penn State starting before the down fall of Paterno. Greedy athletic department, big prices for tickets, season tickets only renewed with a $650 contribution per ticket to the boosters unless you wanted to be moved to the end zone....etc. Penn State attendance has dropped dramatically the past 3 years and all the old time ticket holders walked away from the program. New alums not interested in beating up on very low tier programs any more. It will be interesting to see if they ever match their attendance figures from 10 years ago. Fortunately for huge schools like Penn State they potentially have the alums to pick up the slack until they think they are being gauged and used.

[stl.pony]

There's a natural ebb and flow as teams get better, teams get worse. However I'd much rather SMU get the money from the basketball seats then the scalpers. There were like 800 tickets on stubhub for that final NIT game. In that instance the scalpers got crushed in the end, but I'd rather SMU enact a barrier to entry.

[Big12Mustang]

Anyone [deleted] about SMU Football ticket prices for this season needs to get a grip. Would ya'll prefer the days of June when 12,000 bothered to show up to Ford?

I hope we get to say this for football as well one of these years.

[gostangs]

There is no program that can stay top ten forever, but anyone who thinks we will go back to the old days in basketball doesn't know David Miller very well. At this point it is his team - and if Larry leaves we will be re-loading quite well. We are in this game to stay.

[Ponyneighbor]

I think there is a factor that is being missed here. The duration of college football games is seriously degrading the product at its attractiveness as an entertainment option. I would love to know the average length of SMU's home games last year - I'd be shocked if it was much below 3:30. The NCAA really should address this. Every play for a team like SMU results in either first down, incomplete pass, TV timeout or end of quarter, any of which stops the clock

[PoconoPony]

I think there is a factor that is being missed here. The duration of college football games is seriously degrading the product at its attractiveness as an entertainment option. I would love to know the average length of SMU's home games last year - I'd be shocked if it was much below 3:30. The NCAA really should address this. Every play for a team like SMU results in either first down, incomplete pass, TV timeout or end of quarter, any of which stops the clock

Football at any level has become boring. Coaches call every shot on every play, players relegated to mere pawns is a chess game, creativity and spontaneity totally lacking, TV time outs the worst, video tape reviews taking forever and only an average of 8 1/2 minutes of total actual action/play time in the average NFL game timed from snap to whistle. Football really needs to make some huge changes.
Just imagine what it would be like for hockey, soccer, basketball or lacrosse to stop the game after every single pass then huddle up to decide what to do next.

[smusic 00]

I think there is a factor that is being missed here. The duration of college football games is seriously degrading the product at its attractiveness as an entertainment option. I would love to know the average length of SMU's home games last year - I'd be shocked if it was much below 3:30. The NCAA really should address this. Every play for a team like SMU results in either first down, incomplete pass, TV timeout or end of quarter, any of which stops the clock

Great point.

[OhioBrownFan]

I agree OP. Anyone that is naive to think SMU won't double them again next year just has their head in the sand. There's a lesson in there. As for the guy that mentioned all the NIT Final tickets that scalpers ate, that's exactly why you don't try to figure out market price as an athletic department. The athletic department would've ate those tickets had they sat there and tried to chase the dollar and instead lost all that revenue. That's not their job to figure out the market. And if you really want to get technical, scalpers are a good thing because they ensure that games like Eastern Washington will be sold out next year on paper and the athletic department "sold" the tickets while maximizing revenue on their end.