Big announcement from Kruger

[sooner182]

Big announcement from Kruger (Student tickets reduced to$40)

"Have you heard? Coach Kruger is making a BIG announcement tomorrow at noon in the union food court. Be there!"
This was on the Union programming board facebook wall. Any ideas about what the announcement could be?

 

[OUHoops]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

I'll take a guess and say he's going to pick up the tab on student season tickets so they can come free all year.

 

[DenverSooner]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

I'll take a guess and say he's going to pick up the tab on student season tickets so they can come free all year.

I think that is a good guess except for the part about Kruger picking up the tab. OU might waive the fee.

 

[MNsooner]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

That would be good news.

 

[Soonerman]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

If that's the case...then what about the students like me who bought student tickets the first day they were available? I assume we would get the fee waived too?

 

[DenverSooner]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

The only negative is that sometimes things that are free or easy are percieved to have little value. About the only exception I know of to this rule is one of the Kardashian sisters.

 

[geeoh]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

This doesn't seem very likely to me; don't students still get their money back if they attend 90% of the games?

 

[MNsooner]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

The only negative is that sometimes things that are free or easy are percieved to have little value. About the only exception I know of to this rule is one of the Kardashian sisters.

This is a good point, but I coming off a poor season like last year and with our fan base I doubt it could do much to lower the perceived value of the product. My hope is that getting people out to the games to see that this team really is better will increase the perception for the long run.

 

[Sooner_In_MI]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

The only negative is that sometimes things that are free or easy are percieved to have little value. About the only exception I know of to this rule is one of the Kardashian sisters.

You realize programs like Florida also make student tickets free, correct?

 

[ksSooner13]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

You realize programs like Florida also make student tickets free, correct?

Don't forget the Show at SDSU

 

[Sooner_In_MI]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

Also, if OU makes all student basketball tickets free I will be happier than if Taylor Swift asked me to the Sadie Hawkins dance.

 

[Sooner_In_MI]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

This doesn't seem very likely to me; don't students still get their money back if they attend 90% of the games?

This is true, and also the timing of this announcement is really weird (wouldn't they want to build goodwill by just offering them free off the bat instead of selling them for the same price as last year?), but my guess is that ticket sales haven't been going nearly as well as they hoped. I'm also not sure what else could be termed a "big annoucement" relating to student tickets, either. So my guess is that at the minimum they are going to make several non-con games free for students, with the entire season being free also a realistic possibility. We shall see.

 

[DenverSooner]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

You realize programs like Florida also make student tickets free, correct?

I did not know Florida made tickets free. I was somewhat joking but there is truth to the fact that people do have a tendency to devalue things that are priced low. Shoes are a perfect example A company could easily make a shoe comparable to Nike and sell them way cheaper but society probably wouldnt purchase them

I have actually been an advocate of cheap or free tickets for students for several years. I think they should get better seats too. I would donate money to OU to help make this happen (not like my donation would matter but if a couple thousand alumni donated it would cover any lost revenue).

 

[Sooner_In_MI]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

I did not know Florida made tickets free. I was somewhat joking but there is truth to the fact that people do have a tendency to devalue things that are priced low. Shoes are a perfect example A company could easily make a shoe comparable to Nike and sell them way cheaper but society probably wouldnt purchase them

I have actually been an advocate of cheap or free tickets for students for several years. I think they should get better seats too. I would donate money to OU to help make this happen (not like my donation would matter but if a couple thousand alumni donated it would cover any lost revenue).

Alright. I figured your comment might have been tongue in cheek but I also figured I may as well make my point that it's not only bottom of the barrel programs that make student basketball tickets free. Also, I will say that I do feel that *if* student tickets are made free for all basketball games, we would have an intimidating student section. If you've ever been to an OU volleyball game, hundreds of students come out, stand up, and cheer during those as tickets are free. I have nothing to gain in a monetary sense if student tickets are free, as I attend all of the games while class is in session, and get someone else to use my tickets over winter break so I get the full refund, so my interest is solely in seeing a better atmosphere at the LNC.

I do have to say I am unsure about moving student seats, as the LNC is really not a basketball facility, and I honestly think that student seats are better positioned to make an impact behind the basket where we currently are, than behind the benches where we would be rather far away from the action.

I am one who believes that OU may start a campaign to get a new on-campus arena in place of McCasland if Kruger builds some positive momentum and consistently gets us back to the tournament during his tenure here at OU. Hopefully if that happens then they will engineer the place with students in mind, like the arenas at Michigan, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, and Oregon.

Back to the original topic, these are my guesses on what the announcement tomorrow is about.

40% - A type of rewards program for student season ticket holders; basically a more focused version of the SoonerNation rewards program for students who go to OU athletics events.

30% - Free student tickets for all non-conference home games.

25% - Free student tickets for all home games.

5% - Something that I haven't thought of.

I am unsure why I am so pessimistic about this announcement being free student tickets for all home games. I think it's because I have in general held negative stereotypes when it comes to OU's athletic department making games an enjoyable experience for students in the time that I've been at OU. However I do feel that Kruger is truly trying to change the OU student experience for the better, so perhaps I should be more positive. In any case, this cannot be a bad thing with regards to promoting basketball for OU students, so I look forward to tomorrow's announcement, whatever it may be.

 

[skyvue]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

If you've ever been to an OU volleyball game, hundreds of students come out, stand up, and cheer during those as tickets are free.

Really? Volleyball games get more students than basketball games?

That blows my mind, I have to say. I mean, good for the volleyball team and all, but the student hoops tickets aren't that pricey (or am I wrong?) and there's a refund available if a student just attends most of the games. Right?

 

[Sooner_In_MI]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

Really? Volleyball games get more students than basketball games?

That blows my mind, I have to say. I mean, good for the volleyball team and all, but the student hoops tickets aren't that pricey (or am I wrong?) and there's a refund available if a student just attends most of the games. Right?

I wouldn't say volleyball games get more students than basketball games. However, the volleyball crowd is louder, as the students are packed together, whereas since we never sell out student tickets for basketball games, the students are all spread out and don't make any noise.

Student hoops tickets are $140. There is a $50 refund available if a student attends 12/16 of the home games this year, and a $140 refund available if they attend 14/16. However, considering that 4 home games are over winter break, it is difficult for most students to get any sort of refund unless they stay in Norman over winter break or live close to Norman.

Bottom line IMO is that college students jump at anything that is free. I believe the basketball student section has a theoretical capacity of around 1500 students. My guess is that if tickets were free, we would see around 1000 of those seats filled for non-conference home games, and then we would see all of those seats filled for conference home games (see as an example the Texas game last year, where my guess is that we had about 2000 students attend that game, when the free ticket announcement was made less than 12 hours before the game started).

 

[McJacknife]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

MI, I think you're on the right storm track.

And Lon Kruger is picking up strong signals on the Gentner.

 

[Sam]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

Bottom line IMO is that college students jump at anything that is free. I believe the basketball student section has a theoretical capacity of around 1500 students. My guess is that if tickets were free, we would see around 1000 of those seats filled for non-conference home games, and then we would see all of those seats filled for conference home games (see as an example the Texas game last year, where my guess is that we had about 2000 students attend that game, when the free ticket announcement was made less than 12 hours before the game started).

1200 is the number I believe the current student section is, or at least tickets allotted.

I think you need to put a mulligan on the Texas game student attendance, that was Texas. OU students, especially with the high number of Texas based students, also show up for OU-Texas. Find the number from the Baylor game last year and you'll get about what would show up for conference games.

Also I dont see anyway 1,000 students show up for East Popcorn St on a cold Dec weeknight unless OU is winning (ranked) or OU gets Oprah to show up and give prizes to the students.

 

[Sooner_In_MI]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

1200 is the number I believe the current student section is, or at least tickets allotted.

I think you need to put a mulligan on the Texas game student attendance, that was Texas. OU students, especially with the high number of Texas based students, also show up for OU-Texas. Find the number from the Baylor game last year and you'll get about what would show up for conference games.

Also I dont see anyway 1,000 students show up for East Popcorn St on a cold Dec weeknight unless OU is winning (ranked) or OU gets Oprah to show up and give prizes to the students.

I disagree with your assessment. The main reason I think 2000 students showed up to the Texas free game last year, as opposed to 500 students showing up to the Baylor free game, was due to word of mouth. I honestly don't think I remember anyone promoting the Baylor free game. On the other hand, every student who signed up to receive alerts from OU got a mass phone call from Boren during early afternoon on the 9th saying that school would not be cancelled on February 10th, but that there would be free admission to the basketball game against Texas on the night of the 9th. This soon spread around the entire school and everyone came out to the game.

I have to believe that if by any chance OU makes student tickets free tomorrow, it will be a major news story and again pretty much everyone at OU will find out via word-of-mouth. Furthermore, I would hope that OU would continue promoting this throughout the season.

In any case, hopefully we'll get a chance to see who is right.

 

[Sam]

Re: Big announcement from kruger

I disagree with your assessment. The main reason I think 2000 students showed up to the Texas free game last year, as opposed to 500 students showing up to the Baylor free game, was due to word of mouth. I honestly don't think I remember anyone promoting the Baylor free game. On the other hand, every student who signed up to receive alerts from OU got a mass phone call from Boren during early afternoon on the 9th saying that school would not be cancelled on February 10th, but that there would be free admission to the basketball game against Texas on the night of the 9th. This soon spread around the entire school and everyone came out to the game.

I have to believe that if by any chance OU makes student tickets free tomorrow, it will be a major news story and again pretty much everyone at OU will find out via word-of-mouth. Furthermore, I would hope that OU would continue promoting this throughout the season.

In any case, hopefully we'll get a chance to see who is right.

Even if there was more word of mouth on Baylor I dont think you see more than 1k max, because its Baylor. OU students dont get excited for Baylor, they get excited for Texas. Thats simply the point I was trying to make, the Texas game is an unfair expectation for measuring the impact of free tickets on the student because even if you charge, a lot of people will still show up.