New Arena

[skyvue]

Boom

How many people were at OU softball games before they became dominant? A few parents and a couple of squirrels? LOL

But women's sports in general didn't attract crowds at OU (and many other places) then. And unlike basketball, OU had never been good in softball before Coach Gasso put them in the top tier, so arguably not an apt comparison.

It'll be interesting to see what happens when Patty retires, especially if the next coach keeps the program on a solid footing but something less than top tier.

 

[BoulderSooner]

But women's sports in general didn't attract crowds at OU (and many other places) then. And unlike basketball, OU had never been good in softball before Coach Gasso put them in the top tier, so arguably not an apt comparison.

It'll be interesting to see what happens when Patty retires, especially if the next coach keeps the program on a solid footing but something less than top tier.

Softball is still very very niche

 

[skyvue]

Interest in women's sports is said to be growing, and softball especially. OU's playing a role in that--a dominant team often draws attention to a sport and a star player like Alo certainly helps too.

I watch OU's women basketball team and the players interact with the fans and you can see on TV young girls who are thrilled to be meeting the players--they're showing the same enthusiasm the guys on this board did when we were kids, but it's really the first chance they've had to be that excited about women athletes. Women's sports are decades behind, but gaining in popularity.

And I think to describe softball--at least as it applies to OU--as niche is wrong. I think a large percentage of Sooner fans do follow OU softball with great interest. And as far as attendance, not only do they sell out the stadium, but people line up two hours early to get in. I'm not there to confirm it, but I'm guessing that doesn't happen for OU basketball. I don't think the Love family would donate $50 million to a niche sport. They're fans but they also saw, I'm sure, a good chance for a solid financial return on their donation.

 

[BoulderSooner]

Interest in women's sports is said to be growing, and softball especially. OU's playing a role in that--a dominant team often draws attention to a sport and a star player like Alo certainly helps too.

I watch OU's women basketball team and the players interact with the fans and you can see on TV young girls who are thrilled to be meeting the players--they're showing the same enthusiasm the guys on this board did when we were kids, but it's really the first chance they've had to be that excited about women athletes. Women's sports are decades behind, but gaining in popularity.

And I think to describe softball--at least as it applies to OU--as niche is wrong. I think a large percentage of Sooner fans do follow OU softball with great interest. And as far as attendance, not only do they sell out the stadium, but people line up two hours early to get in. I'm not there to confirm it, but I'm guessing that doesn't happen for OU basketball. I don't think the Love family would donate $50 million to a niche sport. They're fans but they also saw, I'm sure, a good chance for a solid financial return on their donation.

the loves family didn't donate 50 mil ..
they gave 9 plus 3 mil more as a match for 12 total ..


as as far as selling out .. if OU basketball had 1,500 seats they would be sold out also ..

the new softball stadium will have 3,000 seats ..

 

[skyvue]

Good grief, what a mess my post was. I don't know where I came up with that $50 million figure. I also meant to compare softball attendance to baseball attendance, not basketball.

Believe it or not, I hadn't been drinking when I wrote that.

All that said, I stand by my point. OU softball is, I'm convinced, easily the third most popular Sooner sport right now and it's arguably second. They can only sell the seats they have but they sell out and people without tickets come and watch the game from outside. If the stadium had had a larger capacity all along, I think they'd have been selling out 5k seats or more for many years. Hall of Fame stadium has 13,000 seats and on the days OU plays, well over half of it is filled with OU fans.

And the Love family wouldn't, I'm convinced, have donated even $12 mil to a niche sport.

This year's WCWS had better viewership than the MCWS, so unless you also view college baseball as a niche sport, I think you're underestimating softball's appeal.

I think OU made a mistake in limiting the seating at the new stadium to 3K, but it's being designed so that it can be expanded if needed. The question, I think, is how much longer till Coach Gasso retires and who will take over--and how successful will they be--when she does.

 

[BoulderSooner]

Good grief, what a mess my post was. I don't know where I came up with that $50 million figure. I also meant to compare softball attendance to baseball attendance, not basketball.

Believe it or not, I hadn't been drinking when I wrote that.

All that said, I stand by my point. OU softball is, I'm convinced, easily the third most popular Sooner sport right now and it's arguably second. They can only sell the seats they have but they sell out and people without tickets come and watch the game from outside. If the stadium had had a larger capacity all along, I think they'd have been selling out 5k seats or more for many years. Hall of Fame stadium has 13,000 seats and on the days OU plays, well over half of it is filled with OU fans.

And the Love family wouldn't, I'm convinced, have donated even $12 mil to a niche sport.

This year's WCWS had better viewership than the MCWS, so unless you also view college baseball as a niche sport, I think you're underestimating softball's appeal.

I think OU made a mistake in limiting the seating at the new stadium to 3K, but it's being designed so that it can be expanded if needed. The question, I think, is how much longer till Coach Gasso retires and who will take over--and how successful will they be--when she does.

college baseball is a niche sport as well ..

i really enjoy OU softball .. but we as OU fans have an outsized view of college softball because we have the best coach of all time and the best program in the country

 

[skyvue]

I think which sports are niche varies from region to region and school to school. It could be argued that at OU right now, softball is no more niche than men's and women's hoops.

 

[bob the nailer]

A niche sport would not sell out for fall games that don't even count and are either intrasquad or against division 3 opponents. A softball game is a totally different experience- you are right next to the field, the players interact with the fans, it's fast, there is very little down time- at least until the WCWS when television ruins that. Softball is one of the things that I think hurts baseball attendance- if it were possible to stagger so that when baseball is home softball is not.

 

[BoulderSooner]

A niche sport would not sell out for fall games that don't even count and are either intrasquad or against division 3 opponents. A softball game is a totally different experience- you are right next to the field, the players interact with the fans, it's fast, there is very little down time- at least until the WCWS when television ruins that. Softball is one of the things that I think hurts baseball attendance- if it were possible to stagger so that when baseball is home softball is not.

you can't compare mens basketball that has 6k season tickets in a down year with a sport that will only have 3k seats in their new stadium

the regular season tv numbers are massively different

 

[skyvue]

you can't compare mens basketball that has 6k season tickets in a down year with a sport that will only have 3k seats in their new stadium

the regular season tv numbers are massively different

You also can't compare a sport that been around as a collegiate sport for far less than half as long as basketball.

In general, you can't compare women's sports with men's sports--as far as building interest, a fan base, tradition, familiarity, financial support, media coverage, you name it, men's sports got a head start by nearly a century.

I'll let it go at that. Not sure why we're going round and round like this. Discounting OU softball seems an odd hill to take a stand on.

 

[bob the nailer]

Your point brings up the issue of so many people buying season tickets and not using them. I am not sure a new arena will fix that there may be people who buy tickets just for done points and have no interest at all in using them. I don't really know how many sooner club points you get for buying basketball tickets, if any, or if the points are just for the donation you make to get the seats. When I gave up my season tickets, I kept making the same amount of donation.

 

[BoulderSooner]

Your point brings up the issue of so many people buying season tickets and not using them. I am not sure a new arena will fix that there may be people who buy tickets just for done points and have no interest at all in using them. I don't really know how many sooner club points you get for buying basketball tickets, if any, or if the points are just for the donation you make to get the seats. When I gave up my season tickets, I kept making the same amount of donation.

1 total point for buying other sport tickets. That’s it

 

[MJSooner]

1 total point for buying other sport tickets. That’s it

Yeah, I am not sure why this is such a common misconception.

It's pretty simple. For every $100 donated to the Sooner Club for seating, it is 1 point. For every $100 donated in excess of seating requirements, it is 3 points. You get 1 point for each season ticket that you attend.

The idea that a football season ticket holder will buy basketball season tickets, just to improve their Sooner Club standing, is not mathematically accurate, especially with the revised Point system a couple of years ago.

If a donor gives a seat donation and buys a season ticket they get fewer points than a straight donation without buying tickets. For example, for $1000, one could donate and buy a season ticket and a total of 10 points. If they give that straight to the Sooner Club without buying tickets, they get 30 points. No incentive at all to buy tickets just to help the Sooner Club status.

We have a good number of people supporting basketball that buys tickets. Approximately 7K each year. And it is the only other sport other than football that is profitable and still draws more fans in a bad year and bad schedule, than all the other non-revenue sports COMBINED, regardless of how successful the other sports are and number of championships won. Football is king on campus, but men's basketball is the prince and no other sport is close in terms of revenue, national publicity, and importance to the health of the athletic department.

Which leads us to the original point of the conversation. We have support and tickets sold, they just need a reason to show up consistently. Like all the fruits that are produced from having a newer and more exciting facility.

 

[gwydion]

I just took that survey. If I read it correctly, my men's season tickets would more than double for the equivalent of the seats I have, and I don't have the most expensive seats now. Same with women's BB and gymnastics. If OU chooses to move to this new arena, I bet a lot of people will no longer be season tickets holders, just go to the occasional game. I will be one of them. And no way students will continue to get in free. Pick your poison. Shiny new arena which will quickly wear off with the new pricing or at least keep your current season ticket holders in the LNC. By the way, I have had MBB season tickets for 25 years, women's for 20.

 

[mict085]

I just took that survey. If I read it correctly, my men's season tickets would more than double for the equivalent of the seats I have, and I don't have the most expensive seats now. Same with women's BB and gymnastics. If OU chooses to move to this new arena, I bet a lot of people will no longer be season tickets holders, just go to the occasional game. I will be one of them. And no way students will continue to get in free. Pick your poison. Shiny new arena which will quickly wear off with the new pricing or at least keep your current season ticket holders in the LNC. By the way, I have had MBB season tickets for 25 years, women's for 20.

The LNC is a dump. Something has to be done. Dumping more money into that money pit doesn’t make sense. It’s the worst arena in the Big12.

 

[MsProudSooner]

The LNC is a dump. Something has to be done. Dumping more money into that money pit doesn’t make sense. It’s the worst arena in the Big12.

It's not a dump but it's not an ideal basketball arena, either.

I honestly don't know what the best location is. How many of the students who regularly go to the games today actually walk to LNC? Would the game tickets be more expensive as gwydion said? If the city and county are footing most of the bill for the arena, why would that be the case?

 

[MJSooner]

I just took that survey. If I read it correctly, my men's season tickets would more than double for the equivalent of the seats I have, and I don't have the most expensive seats now. Same with women's BB and gymnastics. If OU chooses to move to this new arena, I bet a lot of people will no longer be season tickets holders, just go to the occasional game. I will be one of them. And no way students will continue to get in free. Pick your poison. Shiny new arena which will quickly wear off with the new pricing or at least keep your current season ticket holders in the LNC. By the way, I have had MBB season tickets for 25 years, women's for 20.

I thought the same thing about some of that survey. A lot there to indicate they are looking to raise costs for season seating privileges. Most troubling was the idea of requiring a 5 yr seat license commitment.

In my case, equivalent tickets would be a little more expensive depending on which option they end up choosing. That’s why I put no interest on the first two options and went with the third, least expensive, on every seating option. And the survey was so focused on seating options most fans could never afford or experience.

My guess is most of us would be willing to pay a small increase for better facilities and amenities. But knowing Joe C, who somehow finds ways to grab a dollar here or there from concession prices, to tailgate tents, ticket prices, donor points and any other gameday experience, he will find ways to shift extra costs to season tickets holders at a new arena. Great AD but we as fans certainly pay for success too.

Just hope it doesn’t price fans out when we need them the most.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

It's not a dump

i'd love to hear what is a dump. I know its highly subjective but the LNC is like an old cave. They could fix the perception a lot by just increasing the lighting

 

[MJSooner]

i'd love to hear what is a dump. I know its highly subjective but the LNC is like an old cave. They could fix the perception a lot by just increasing the lighting

I agree, for the most part, that the LNC is a dump is hyperbole and is not as bad as it is made out to be. However, it is in desperate need of reno and updates outside the lighting. Easier accessible concessions and RR for the LL, close in the concourse around the upper walkway to make it more intimate and better sound, lighting, new seating, lower bowl close to the floor, mid-level suites or club seating option, etc, etc. All could be done to make LNC a nice arena for today's time, not 1974.

But to do that, based on what similar bowled arenas in Houston, Wyoming, and Michigan have done, it would be in the neighborhood of probably $100MM. The University and donors do not have that nor willing to commit that to the LNC.

That is why the UNP location is a necessity as the University or donors do not have to commit $100MM for a major update to the LNC, or $200MM + for a new arena, as they will not have to bear the cost.

There is an option to get a better facility on the table. Norman, the University, and OU fans can't let this one go this time. It is past time for it.

 

[gwydion]

All the people here complaining about LNC, are you season ticket holders now and willing to pay what could be double what you are paying now?

I am in the LNC for just a little over two hours for each event. It's clean. The bathrooms are clean. I have no problems getting what concessions I need if I want them. I like the fact I can pull in, find easy parking at the last minute and get to my seat fast. But I'm not going to foot the cost of the rental fees Norman will be charging OU in the form of big season ticket increases and I believe most other season ticket holders feel the same.