"Sold out" means nothing if the tickets aren't used.
Wrt building a new arena, I just don't see it. No one is going to donate/invest $100mil+ for a building only 4k-5k people will use. A new building will not cure what ails falling attendance.
Comments on disappointing attendance
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"Sold out" means nothing if the tickets aren't used.
Wrt building a new arena, I just don't see it. No one is going to donate/invest $100mil+ for a building only 4k-5k people will use. A new building will not cure what ails falling attendance.
BoulderSooner
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It never really did
Max Power
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To our ad and our old president that’s all that mattered. They sold the tickets so they had the money
Wow something new an attendance thread! The last few years getting progressively worse. Unlike my opinion from just 2 years ago, a new arena would not have the same impact as it would have had 15 or 20 years ago, social changes especially TV/DVR the biggest reason plus we are not a blue blood program. Bottom line a new arena would not pay for itself with seats sold like it might have done in 2001. So IMO any new arena or redesign should be about game presentation and atmosphere not seat income. So would money spent get you value in product and name.
Sweetest OU Girl
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There was a time about 3-4 years ago when you could buy a season ticket - upper deck - for $100. I bought that for several years and felt it was a reasonable deal since if I could attend 10-12 games a year it was a reasonable deal.
Then they bumped that to $160 or so, and I realized I could buy about the same # of single game tickets for the same price - so why pay for a season.
Of course it is lots easier to decide to just stay home and watch on TV when you don't already have the motivation of a paid ticket. Their greed cost them money and someone in the seats - plus ten to fifteen bucks in concessions every game - multiplied by all the folks who approached the price increase like I did.
Really foolish thinking on their part. Greed seldom pays off in the long run.
If your games are all sold out - get greedy. Otherwise - use you brain and get people to attend. Think about it. It cost them NOTHING to sell me that $100 season ticket. Not doing it cost them in a number of ways. Joe C needs to start thinking about the teams - which are motivated by good crowds - and the fans.
Then they bumped that to $160 or so, and I realized I could buy about the same # of single game tickets for the same price - so why pay for a season.
Of course it is lots easier to decide to just stay home and watch on TV when you don't already have the motivation of a paid ticket. Their greed cost them money and someone in the seats - plus ten to fifteen bucks in concessions every game - multiplied by all the folks who approached the price increase like I did.
Really foolish thinking on their part. Greed seldom pays off in the long run.
If your games are all sold out - get greedy. Otherwise - use you brain and get people to attend. Think about it. It cost them NOTHING to sell me that $100 season ticket. Not doing it cost them in a number of ways. Joe C needs to start thinking about the teams - which are motivated by good crowds - and the fans.
MJSooner
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Sold out means everything to the athletic department and budget. This is where the real problem is. The attendance issue- butts in the seats- isn't a simple one to solve.
I've had season tickets for 18 years and live in Tulsa. When there is an 8:00 tip against a team with 2 conference wins, it's raining, and the game is on TV, I am not real motivated to drive 2 hours and get home at midnight. It's hard to get rid of those tickets and the university doesn't make it any easier.
Attendance is on the decline everywhere, even in the NFL. TV, and even social media, is a big part of that. Everyone wants a smaller arena, but the reality is there are consistently at least 8000 tickets sold, even if only 4500 show up. Why would you have a new 8,000 seat arena if you are already selling more tickets than capacity? Personally, I would like to see them go through with the remodel of the LNC they talked about 3-4 years ago where the hired the same company that remodeled Michigan's arena. You could update it, add suites, reduce capacity a couple of thousand, add mid-level concessions and restrooms, and still be connected to the new parts of the facility on the south end. The problem with that, as well as a new arena, is there aren't donors willing to raise the necessary dollars to do either one. And the reality is, both would be temporary fixes as attendance isn't just because of where we play. It's a multitude of issues.
Bottom line, I have come to accept, as much as it sucks, our attendance in basketball is what it is. Some years it is really good. But most of the time, we have around 5K die hard fans that show up game in and game out.
cowboysooner
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All good points mj. With every game on tv, casinos and the rising cost of games, attendance at games will be challenging
Sooner Cal
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Want attendance, start winning. I was excited about this team. Not anymore. I have a hard time watching them tv.. it simply isn’t fun or interesting. Same goes for all of college basketball. Even the better teams aren’t that entertaining. The game is in peril.
Students aren't interested in supporting the team. Haven't been for many years. And it's getting worse every year.
It's getting more and more difficult to devote time to watch a team that really won't be playing for anything.
Also, when a handful of teams get the best players year after year, many by way of cheating, and then populate the final 4 most years, it's difficult supporting the sport. Lots of people are going to be turned off. Probably has already started happening in football too.
OU was coming off a Final Four season a few years back and the stands weren't full.
OU was IN a Final Four season and the stands weren’t full.
So you blame lack of winning then admit it has little to do with winning, all in the same paragraph.
Impressive stuff!
2nd half of the season was full most games but that was a fantastic product with a star
WTSooner
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It's that way across the country. When blue blood programs start having attendance issues, at least for some games, you know it's not something affecting just OU.
The Thunder hurt. The mediocrity of the program hurts. The younger kids, the kids that are students are a) just not that into the college game, and b) generationally, it's just not as "cool" to attend games.
Lon Kruger is a good coach, but there isn't anything about him that draws people to the game. Some fans hated Kelvin, or didn't like him, but his intensity was something people related to and wanted to see. Capel had the draw being from Duke and being the cool, young AA coach. Kruger is just an old dude that shows no emotion and puts a solid/decent product on the floor most years. Nothing flashy. Nothing particularly entertaining to draw those fans on the fence into coming.
When OU football makes changes related to getting fans to the games, you know it's not just a matter of the product being put on the field/court. This new generation just values things differently. I can't really relate, but I see it everyday in the work place.
The Thunder hurt. The mediocrity of the program hurts. The younger kids, the kids that are students are a) just not that into the college game, and b) generationally, it's just not as "cool" to attend games.
Lon Kruger is a good coach, but there isn't anything about him that draws people to the game. Some fans hated Kelvin, or didn't like him, but his intensity was something people related to and wanted to see. Capel had the draw being from Duke and being the cool, young AA coach. Kruger is just an old dude that shows no emotion and puts a solid/decent product on the floor most years. Nothing flashy. Nothing particularly entertaining to draw those fans on the fence into coming.
When OU football makes changes related to getting fans to the games, you know it's not just a matter of the product being put on the field/court. This new generation just values things differently. I can't really relate, but I see it everyday in the work place.
thebigabd
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Agree with some of the points made by WTsooner.... Values of the younger folks are different these days. Entertainment options are endless, and these people grew up in front of a screen.
The younger people at my company (and I'm 36, fyi) that graduated from TU, OSU, and OU seldomly attend games. They talk about it... Check scores on the net... Fill out NCAA tournament brackets, and watch on TV... But they aren't going to the games. They are either too busy, too poor (paying off $50k in student loans, have an apartment, a car, bills, etc on entry level salary), or just simply not interested enough... It's so easy to watch on TV. Even the cord cutters can watch. You don't even need cable anymore.
Plus... You have all these alums in Tulsa and Dallas, and let's face it... Going to Norman or Stillwater is a pain in the ass in the winter to watch a game you can watch from your couch, phone, or laptop.
New incentives to attend must be created. I don't know what those are, but they need to be thought of.
The younger people at my company (and I'm 36, fyi) that graduated from TU, OSU, and OU seldomly attend games. They talk about it... Check scores on the net... Fill out NCAA tournament brackets, and watch on TV... But they aren't going to the games. They are either too busy, too poor (paying off $50k in student loans, have an apartment, a car, bills, etc on entry level salary), or just simply not interested enough... It's so easy to watch on TV. Even the cord cutters can watch. You don't even need cable anymore.
Plus... You have all these alums in Tulsa and Dallas, and let's face it... Going to Norman or Stillwater is a pain in the ass in the winter to watch a game you can watch from your couch, phone, or laptop.
New incentives to attend must be created. I don't know what those are, but they need to be thought of.
100% agree and I have no explanation how with nearly 10,000 male students attending OU we can’t get more than 100 to a basketball game. Of course why wouldn’t the football players come. There was about 15 of them there for the KU game.
They haven’t made it friendly for the elderly but they should as it is easily 75% of the crowd in Norman.
