Lamar 2017 home opener: what's the plan?

[Harry]

As we are now almost halfway they July It may be a good time to discuss attendance at the opener.

There seems to have been a full court press on season tickets and so that is good.  There are clearly limits to what this can provide based on past performance etc.

Sept 2  6pm is the opener against Lamar.  The Cardinals won't bring many but probably more than MUTS.  They won't set any visitor attendance records.   It's going to be hot as hell.  

So what can we do to up the attendance to a respectable number given a fairly unknown and lower division opponent?  Is there a promotion that could help kick things off in a good footing?  I think the student turnout will be decent as they are pretty optimistic at the start of the year.  But what about alumni?

it just seems to me in years past we might have hoped things would just "work out" and fall into line.  Heck I mean we went to a bowl last season and everything so surely there will be a good amount of walk-ups right?

Perhaps this is an opportunity to think outside the box.  Will we demand full ticket price in the heated corner of the Wing Zone or decide a butt in seat is better than none at all?  Will the admin support us and encourage students to attend?  Will Denton locals and businesses see a value in showing their face?  Here's hoping Wren and company are thinking outside the box on this.  

[MEANGREENCOACH2]

 

what's the plan?

 

THROW THE BALL DOWN THE FIELD

TACKLE THE GUY WITH THE BALL

&

WIN

[meanrob]

Run Jeffrey, run!!!!!

[BTG_Fan1]

What the plan should be is all of the recent graduates that got free season ticket, find out what they want/need for them to come back. If they want free parking, allow them to park over by the science building and then shuttle them over. Yea you don't make the money from parking or tickets, but then it's more a reason for them to come and tailgate/buy stuff inside the stadium. After these alumni do it a few times it will become a habit/normal thing for them to hopefully do leading to them next year hopefully buying tickets and the trend grows.

------------

Pairing with local communities programs as well, what about this idea? 

Find a way to pair up with TWU and bring over the ladies, heck even see if they would do a homecoming weekend and they attended the UNT football game for free... 

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Yes it's not ideal to just give away tickets, but to me it's better to give away a ticket to someone than have the seat be empty. If someone is in the stadium, you can build that apperence it's a cool place to be or the place to be.. also, give you chances to sale good from the concessions and team store as well.

[UNTFan23]

9 hours ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

What the plan should be is all of the recent graduates that got free season ticket, find out what they want/need for them to come back. If they want free parking, allow them to park over by the science building and then shuttle them over. Yea you don't make the money from parking or tickets, but then it's more a reason for them to come and tailgate/buy stuff inside the stadium. After these alumni do it a few times it will become a habit/normal thing for them to hopefully do leading to them next year hopefully buying tickets and the trend grows.

------------

Pairing with local communities programs as well, what about this idea? 

Find a way to pair up with TWU and bring over the ladies, heck even see if they would do a homecoming weekend and they attended the UNT football game for free... 

--------------

Yes it's not ideal to just give away tickets, but to me it's better to give away a ticket to someone than have the seat be empty. If someone is in the stadium, you can build that apperence it's a cool place to be or the place to be.. also, give you chances to sale good from the concessions and team store as well.

I hate giving stuff away for free. When you give stuff away for free your value placed by those receiving the free stuff is NOTHING. They're not invested at any level (emotionally, financially, etc) and so their motivation to attend a game is near zero. If they choose to not go, they lose NOTHING.

I've gotten tickets for sporting events for free and never went. Why? I wasn't invested in the game and so my loss of not going was NOTHING. Guess what, by me not caring one bit and not attending the game, I didn't buy anything since I never went.

Ugh. Why do people insist on lowballing the value of our sports programs.

If you're going to give something away, tie it to the cost of buying season tickets. Perhaps something like "Buy new Graduate Season Tickets and park for free at the Fouts Lot!" Make buying those tickets with something of value tied to it.

[Harry]

25 minutes ago, UNTFan23 said:

Ugh. Why do people insist on lowballing the value of our sports programs.

I didn't say discount for the entire season.  I said for the opening game.  That game sets a tone for the season and having a good atmosphere is important.  A good crowd will help that.  All I am saying is that why are some perfectly ok with seeing an empty wing zone when it could be full of potential season ticket holders who will buy concessions?  Does that not damage the value of the product as well?

[GMG24]

Here is my thought on a new tradition, load all the players fully padded up in busses just like Clemson does, instead of making the laps, make it a pull out of Apogee turn right on Bonnie Brae up service road, turn right into the driveway that leads to the student athlete dorm area think that's red/blue lot.... have the team led by Drumline walk/march through tailgate section 20 minutes before kickoff.  Make the people on the hill see them/feel tied to them, cheer for them as they enter get players hyped and boom a new tradition is born.  Busses obviously must be decked out and obvious Mean Green busses.  Bus drivers honking to get attention etc.  

[UNTFan23]

4 minutes ago, Harry said:

I didn't say discount for the entire season.  I said for the opening game.  That game sets a tone for the season and having a good atmosphere is important.  A good crowd will help that.  All I am saying is that why are some perfectly ok with seeing an empty wing zone when it could be full of potential season ticket holders who will buy concessions?  Does that not damage the value of the product as well?

Still giving away tickets for a single game is no way to fill the endzone. Offer something like a BOGO - Buy a ticket and park at Fouts for free. If a potential fan has no skin in the game in any sense, what's the incentive or reason to put forth the effort to drive up and be there for the game?

Edited July 14, 2017 by UNTFan23

[keith]

When the Stars first moved to Dallas, my wife and I received a pair of free promotional tickets to a game.  I had never been to an NHL game before.  I've been hooked ever since.

[GMG24]

11 minutes ago, UNTFan23 said:

Still giving away tickets for a single game is no way to fill the endzone. Offer something like a BOGO - Buy a ticket and park at Fouts for free. If a potential fan has no skin in the game in any sense, what's the incentive or reason to put forth the effort to drive up and be there for the game?

 Think his point is if it's 98 they're much less likely to come to the game vs if they bought at least one ticket  vs if it's 85 they'll definitely come even if they got the tickets for free. 

[Harry]

22 minutes ago, UNTFan23 said:

Offer something like a BOGO - Buy a ticket and park at Fouts for free. ?

I would be good with that.  Just something.  We've been down this road before and I hope we are going to try some new ideas.

[Ben Gooding]

56 minutes ago, GMG24 said:

Here is my thought on a new tradition, load all the players fully padded up in busses just like Clemson does, instead of making the laps, make it a pull out of Apogee turn right on Bonnie Brae up service road, turn right into the driveway that leads to the student athlete dorm area think that's red/blue lot.... have the team led by Drumline walk/march through tailgate section 20 minutes before kickoff.  Make the people on the hill see them/feel tied to them, cheer for them as they enter get players hyped and boom a new tradition is born.  Busses obviously must be decked out and obvious Mean Green busses.  Bus drivers honking to get attention etc.  

I could get behind this, for sure. 

[GMG24]

1 minute ago, Ben Gooding said:

I could get behind this, for sure. 

https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/10/5/13167362/clemson-tigers-entrance-death-valley-howards-rock-bus-hill

 

obviously numbers will be different but with all the tailgaters no one has to go Far... could easily be 10-12 people deep from walkway to gated entrance by the team LR.  Plus if it's loud enough the visiting teams whose probably in the LR gets to hear a little roar.  

[MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF]

15 hours ago, Harry said:

As we are now almost halfway they July It may be a good time to discuss attendance at the opener.

There seems to have been a full court press on season tickets and so that is good.  There are clearly limits to what this can provide based on past performance etc.

Sept 2  6pm is the opener against Lamar.  The Cardinals won't bring many but probably more than MUTS.  They won't set any visitor attendance records.   It's going to be hot as hell.  

So what can we do to up the attendance to a respectable number given a fairly unknown and lower division opponent?  Is there a promotion that could help kick things off in a good footing?  I think the student turnout will be decent as they are pretty optimistic at the start of the year.  But what about alumni?

it just seems to me in years past we might have hoped things would just "work out" and fall into line.  Heck I mean we went to a bowl last season and everything so surely there will be a good amount of walk-ups right?

Perhaps this is an opportunity to think outside the box.  Will we demand full ticket price in the heated corner of the Wing Zone or decide a butt in seat is better than none at all?  Will the admin support us and encourage students to attend?  Will Denton locals and businesses see a value in showing their face?  Here's hoping Wren and company are thinking outside the box on this.  

I like to have butts in the seat, even if it means shaving a dollar or two off the ticket price for the GA section.  Once you've got someone in, they will spend more than than $2 on concessions, and possibly hats/stuff...especially if they bring their kids. 

Plus, if one generally means two or more when it comes to tickets.  Few people - outside of Lee Harvey Oswald - go to things alone.

[untjim1995]

And the huge issue here is that non-diehards don't want to go watch Lamar or any other FCS spare play here. Its blazing hot at that time of the year and football fans in this area aren't going to skip watching Alabama and Florida State play in a neutral site game from the comfort of their homes. Hell, it isn't even just with FCS spares. Back in 2013, a very good Ball State team played here in an afternoon game that we came back and won, in front of about 12k butts in seats. Meanwhile, A&M and Bama are playing each other in a top five matchup and non-diehards aren't gonna be swayed to go watch us play OOC games against teams that nobody cares about.

RV screwed us royally with the games against Nicholls State, Portland State, Bethune-Cookman, Lamar, Rhode Island, Incarnate Word, and Houston Baptist. Those games don't help you at all with the problems you have. You win against Nicholls State by 70, it doesn't help you beat anyone else. You lose to Portland State by 50+ on Homecoming, your reputation and program are immediately destroyed and the rebuilding has to start over. These FCS spares don't help us--maybe they do other programs, but not us. And we built Apogee with the promise that it would bring in better OOC opponents than we got at Fouts, not worse...

[KRAM1]

I just recall the old promotions adage..."an empty seat never bought a hot dog"... or a beer or parking or anything else for that matter.

I, too, think making tickets free indicates a value of zero.  But, I would be good with "buy one-get one", "one free kids ticket with an adult ticket", some sort of discounted Wing Zone family pack, a section where you get food and drink vouchers, etc., etc. Not just "free".

Edited July 15, 2017 by KRAM1

[AustinFromUNT]

17 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

And the huge issue here is that non-diehards don't want to go watch Lamar or any other FCS spare play here. Its blazing hot at that time of the year and football fans in this area aren't going to skip watching Alabama and Florida State play in a neutral site game from the comfort of their homes. Hell, it isn't even just with FCS spares. Back in 2013, a very good Ball State team played here in an afternoon game that we came back and won, in front of about 12k butts in seats. Meanwhile, A&M and Bama are playing each other in a top five matchup and non-diehards aren't gonna be swayed to go watch us play OOC games against teams that nobody cares about.

RV screwed us royally with the games against Nicholls State, Portland State, Bethune-Cookman, Lamar, Rhode Island, Incarnate Word, and Houston Baptist. Those games don't help you at all with the problems you have. You win against Nicholls State by 70, it doesn't help you beat anyone else. You lose to Portland State by 50+ on Homecoming, your reputation and program are immediately destroyed and the rebuilding has to start over. These FCS spares don't help us--maybe they do other programs, but not us. And we built Apogee with the promise that it would bring in better OOC opponents than we got at Fouts, not worse...

The reason I support playing an FCS team is because we play a body bag game. I would say if you get rid of the FCS game you have to get rid of the bag game. FCS helps balance out W/L. Body Bag = L so FCS = W (See except Portland State). So I would love to get rid of the FCS game and BB game if it meant we got to play 2 mediocre G5 teams where we at least stand a chance of winning both.

[Harry]

And as we debate the pros/cons of promotions, the sands of time keep passing.

I will tell you this, our good buddies down south will have Houston in for their opening game.  Of course it's a better opponent and that has its advantages.  But the home attendance disparity right out of the gate is going to be daunting. 

As a C-USA home attendance comparison for opening week (9/2/17):

Rice plays neutral against Stanford in Australia -- likely a national broadcast but not an attendance factor

FAU gets Navy at home so should be a decent crowd for them

La. Tech gets Northwestern State in Ruston - similar scenario to ours but they have more wins. momentum

Marshall gets Miami of Ohio at home.  No idea.

MUTS get Vandy at home.  That will be a big boon for MUTS attendance.

ODU gets Albany at home but as we know they sell out every game no matter who the opponent.

Southern Miss gets Kentucky at home -- huge boon for Golden Eagles attendance

UAB gets Alabama A&M at home but since they are brand new it will probably be a decent crowd...

UTSA gets Houston as discussed above.  Could be a big crowd coming off their first bowl and a Texas opponent.

Eastern Kentucky at WKU -- not likely a good crowd as typical for WKU.

And I close by asking @UNTFan23 respectfully -- is there not a dollar value applicable to home attendance?   Does that not indirectly impact the value of the program from a marketing perspective and in terms of recruiting etc?  It sure seems that it matters to some of our conference mates.  If you consider our history, most would agree with me that this Lamar game has all the makings of a lower attended game on this schedule. Why would we not try to boost this through creative promotion?

[Tyler Maryak]

15 hours ago, MEANGREENCOACH2 said:

 

what's the plan?

 

THROW THE BALL DOWN THE FIELD

TACKLE THE GUY WITH THE BALL

&

WIN

 

[forevereagle]

9 minutes ago, Harry said:

And I close by asking @UNTFan23 respectfully -- is there not a dollar value applicable to home attendance?   Does that not indirectly impact the value of the program from a marketing perspective and in terms of recruiting etc?  It sure seems that it matters to some of our conference mates.  If you consider our history, most would agree with me that this Lamar game has all the makings of a lower attended game on this schedule. Why would we not try to boost this through creative promotion?

There is a value to the program, but if the ticket has no value to the individual, they may not show up. I gave nothing to get the ticket, thus I lose nothing by not redeeming it. Actual attendance did not increase, no additional revenue was generated, and that seat is not available to sell to someone else. We didn't gain anything. This is not the Cowboys, who can give away a ticket and people know that they got really lucky to get the ticket because it is very valuable. We don't have that value attached, so people don't care if they show up or not. In fact, there is possible long term damage as that person may only attend again if the ticket is free then as well since we have effectively told them that the ticket has no value. That would be damaging to the program. 

[Harry]

5 minutes ago, forevereagle said:

There is a value to the program, but if the ticket has no value to the individual, they may not show up

If they do not have a ticket they will not show up.  Key difference.

You guys are taking this down a rabbit trail I don't mean to go down.  Sure I want to maximize revenue to the program.  But I would like to fans sitting in the Wing more.  I don't like seeing it empty in every picture I see.

Have you been to the upper levels of the wing?  It's hot, and a long way up pretty vertical stairs.  By virtue of its temporary status in the plans,  it does not open itself up to older fans who may have knee issues etc trying to get up and down.  It is crying out for some type of promotion or something to help fill it up.  Someday after many consecutive winning seasons maybe we won't have that problem but we do now.  Why not discuss potential solutions?

[UNTLifer]

Have the players split up and go to the elementary schools with a coach or two.  Meet the kids, because elementary kids think college athletes are awesome, bring along scrappy, give away pom-poms or gimme footballs and give each kid a GA "Tail Section" ticket that says they get in free with a parent.  They will pester their parents to no end.

[UNTFan23]

12 minutes ago, Harry said:

If they do not have a ticket they will not show up.  Key difference.

You guys are taking this down a rabbit trail I don't mean to go down.  Sure I want to maximize revenue to the program.  But I would like to fans sitting in the Wing more.  I don't like seeing it empty in every picture I see.

Have you been to the upper levels of the wing?  It's hot, and a long way up pretty vertical stairs.  By virtue of its temporary status in the plans,  it does not open itself up to older fans who may have knee issues etc trying to get up and down.  It is crying out for some type of promotion or something to help fill it up.  Someday after many consecutive winning seasons maybe we won't have that problem but we do now.  Why not discuss potential solutions?

My thing is if someone doesn't care enough to go and buy a ticket, how are they going to care enough to go if the ticket is free? Each free ticket that is not actually used limits (and reduces) your revenue potential.

I guess the bigger question is which do you care more about in the long term -- attendance or increasing revenue -- because as long as you are giving away tickets for free you can't have both.

[THOR]

10 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

Have the players split up and go to the elementary schools with a coach or two.  Meet the kids, because elementary kids think college athletes are awesome, bring along scrappy, give away pom-poms or gimme footballs and give each kid a GA "Tail Section" ticket that says they get in free with a parent.  They will pester their parents to no end.

i'd hit up the middle schools.  the kids play football there, want to go see a college team and experience what it may be like when they go and play in college.  

 

when i taught elementary, we had the team numerous times (patrick combs and my kid had a picture taken and put in the year book), been at a denton middle school for 5 years and never has a north texas promotion/team/cheerleader/anyone shown up to drum up excitement or support

[UNTLifer]

5 minutes ago, THOR said:

i'd hit up the middle schools.  the kids play football there, want to go see a college team and experience what it may be like when they go and play in college.  

 

when i taught elementary, we had the team numerous times (patrick combs and my kid had a picture taken and put in the year book), been at a denton middle school for 5 years and never has a north texas promotion/team/cheerleader/anyone shown up to drum up excitement or support

Include them as well.  I would also allow them to form a line for the players to run through at the beginning of the second half.  As they exit the field, hand out information on the Jr. Mean Green Club.  Sign up that night and receive a complimentary GA ticket to the next home game and 1/2 price GA tickets for the remainder of the games.  Make it fun and memorable for the kids and they will drive their parents crazy asking about the next game.