Excellent Post on Iowa's Current Season Ticket Sales (and what it means to their program!)

[BeantownKnight]

If you haven't already read this post on Off Tackle Empire, you should. The post covers how displeased Iowa fans have been these last few years with the state of their program (and their coach, in particular), yet the Athletic Department has done little or nothing. So, what did the fans do? They have started to vote with their wallets. Season ticket sales have been on the decline the last few years. They currently have around the same number of season ticket holders as we do (but in a larger stadium).

Also, a nice comparison of season ticket pricing, for each B1G team, is provided.

http://www.offtackleempire.com/2015/6/16/8724577/b1g-2015-on-iowa-the-b1gs-season-tickets

 

[RC1978]

Very interesting article. Thanks for the post.

They had one mistake about RU. Students do not have to pay for tickets. They can buy one if they want to guarantee a seat.

 

[BeantownKnight]

Good catch, '78!

In particular, I enjoyed reading about how upset the fanbase was in the team and in Coach Ferentz (claiming that he's overpaid) and they've decided to stop buying tickets. It reminded me of a lot of the chatter that was going on around here over the last years of Schiano's tenure and the beginning of Flood's.

 

[Upstream]

Once other correction. $43 is not the average price of tickets at Rutgers. Rutgers has 5 price points, and $43 is the average of the 5 price points. But there aren't the same number of seats in each price point. The actual average price of tickets is about $48 (excluding student seats and club seats). R Fund donations are additional.

 

[RUJMM78]

Fan bases are fickle and they will lose interest if their teams don't perform to their expectations.Such situations even happen for perceived elite programs when they have disappointing/losing seasons.

 

[MikeRU1766]

If you haven't already read this post on Off Tackle Empire, you should. The post covers how displeased Iowa fans have been these last few years with the state of their program (and their coach, in particular), yet the Athletic Department has done little or nothing. So, what did the fans do? They have started to vote with their wallets. Season ticket sales have been on the decline the last few years. They currently have around the same number of season ticket holders as we do (but in a larger stadium).

Also, a nice comparison of season ticket pricing, for each B1G team, is provided.

http://www.offtackleempire.com/2015/6/16/8724577/b1g-2015-on-iowa-the-b1gs-season-tickets

Thanks for posting this article OP!

 

[RUnumber1]

One other correction, it is the RutgerS Scholarship Fund. Not the RUTGER Scholarship Fund. When are people going to realize that Rutgers always has an "S" at the end. It is a proper name and not plural.

 

[RUJohnny99]

I am bookmarking this story and look forward to posting a link to it every time someone refers to Rutgers having "one of the cheapest tickets in the Big Ten".

 

[RU4Real]

I am bookmarking this story and look forward to posting a link to it every time someone refers to Rutgers having "one of the cheapest tickets in the Big Ten".

Church.

I will admit, I was actually surprised to learn that we're right up near the top.

 

[Upstream]

Church.

I will admit, I was actually surprised to learn that we're right up near the top.

How do you figure that we are near the top. When you add in required donations, we are in the cheaper-third of the B10. Even excluding required donations, there are 4 schools listed in that column with lower average ticket prices than Rutgers (or if you use the real average ticket price at Rutgers, which is different than what the column says, there are 7 schools with lower average ticket prices).

 

[RUskoolie]

I'm blown away that Maryland tickets are that expensive and they were still so broke.

 

[MozRU]

1. Their coach is soooooooo over paid

2. When you have a 50in TV it is easy to stay home. Also, when you have more commercials than play time, it is as easy to turn it off.

It will be interesting to see how all sports, pro and college deal with saturation of athletics on TV and lack of bottoms in the seats, in the 21st century.

 

[BeantownKnight]

There were two main points in the article that I was most struck by.

First (from the Cedar Rapids Gazette), on the Iowa Athletic Department :
"For the 2015* season, Barta said Iowa has sold in the neighborhood of 30,000 general public season tickets and has another 500 new buyers waiting for orders to be served. In 2014, Iowa sold 37,823 season tickets to the general public, its lowest number since selling 37,125 in 2009."
A stadium which has nearly 20,000 more seats than High Point Solu ... (oh, F*ck it, it's still "Rutgers Stadium" to me!). Anyway, demand for Iowa season tickets - a team firmly entrenched in the B1G, and has been for years - is equivalent to (if not slightly lower than) what ours is. I would remind those folks who say that we should already be at Nebraska-levels (of sellouts) that, by comparison, we're not doing too bad.

Second, on student ticket sales: "Approximately 7,000 were sold in 2013 and then just more than 6,000 last season." This is a serious decline in just four years (2011) when student ticket sales exceeded 10,000. I would say, again, that having the system that Rutgers has set up for students guarantees getting the kids in the seats (whenever they roll out of bed), instead of guaranteeing empties.

None of this is, at all, meant as any disrespect to Iowa. I think that what they have gone through is something of a cautionary tale of how Athletic Departments should market themselves and their product. If you keep on raising prices and not listen to your customers while, at the same time, the quality and value of the product that you put on the field declines, you're going to have a pissed-off fan base and a lot more empty seats.

 

[Sir ScarletKnight]

I thought this was interesting. "Also, Ohio State uses a ranking system based upon accumulated credit hours to determine who gets first dibs on student tickets as they have assigned seats." So seniors get first dibs.

 

[derleider]

If you haven't already read this post on Off Tackle Empire, you should. The post covers how displeased Iowa fans have been these last few years with the state of their program (and their coach, in particular), yet the Athletic Department has done little or nothing. So, what did the fans do? They have started to vote with their wallets. Season ticket sales have been on the decline the last few years. They currently have around the same number of season ticket holders as we do (but in a larger stadium).

Also, a nice comparison of season ticket pricing, for each B1G team, is provided.

http://www.offtackleempire.com/2015/6/16/8724577/b1g-2015-on-iowa-the-b1gs-season-tickets

No way. Only NJans treat sports like a product instead of a religion. Or so this board would have you believe.

 

[fanhawk19]

Fan bases are fickle and they will lose interest if their teams don't perform to their expectations.Such situations even happen for perceived elite programs when they have disappointing/losing seasons.

Iowa hasn't had fewer than 58,000 people at a football game since November of 1978, and that's in a very rural, small population state that also competes with another Power 5 football program about 150 miles away inside it's own state borders. And there have been plenty of really bad, poor, and mediocre football teams during that span of time. At the time that streak began, Iowa was nearing the end of setting the all-time NCAA record for consecutive non-winning football seasons (20, 1961-1980). This has since been broken by both Oregon State and Northwestern. Even during the dark years, Iowa routinely had crowds in the 40,000-50,000 range in a 60,000 seat stadium.

You will not find a more dedicated, patient,and generally positive-outlooking fanbase for any sports team anywhere else in America. "Fickle" does not come anywhere close to describing what is happening here. People in Iowa measure their time spent purchasing season tickets in decades, not years.

 

[vkj91]

Iowa hasn't had fewer than 58,000 people at a football game since November of 1978, and that's in a very rural, small population state that also competes with another Power 5 football program about 150 miles away inside it's own state borders. And there have been plenty of really bad, poor, and mediocre football teams during that span of time. At the time that streak began, Iowa was nearing the end of setting the all-time NCAA record for consecutive non-winning football seasons (20, 1961-1980). This has since been broken by Oregon State. Even during the dark years, Iowa routinely had crowds in the 40,000-50,000 range in a 60,000 seat stadium.

You will not find a more dedicated, patient,and generally positive-outlooking fanbase for any sports team anywhere else in America. "Fickle" does not come anywhere close to describing what is happening here. People in Iowa measure their time spent purchasing season tickets in decades, not years.

Having lived in Iowa i would agree, sometimes numbers don't tell the whole story. I've been reprimanded on here for this before but if we became historic Iowa I'd be damn happy.

 

[Knight_Light]

Iowa hasn't had fewer than 58,000 people at a football game since November of 1978, and that's in a very rural, small population state that also competes with another Power 5 football program about 150 miles away inside it's own state borders. And there have been plenty of really bad, poor, and mediocre football teams during that span of time. At the time that streak began, Iowa was nearing the end of setting the all-time NCAA record for consecutive non-winning football seasons (20, 1961-1980). This has since been broken by both Oregon State and Northwestern. Even during the dark years, Iowa routinely had crowds in the 40,000-50,000 range in a 60,000 seat stadium.

You will not find a more dedicated, patient,and generally positive-outlooking fanbase for any sports team anywhere else in America. "Fickle" does not come anywhere close to describing what is happening here. People in Iowa measure their time spent purchasing season tickets in decades, not years.

I was fortunate to attend 2 football games at Iowa...vs Michigan and vs Miami some 20 plus years ago. One of those games (believe the Miami game), I had front row end zone seats where your feet were on the end zone grass! (Nothing at the time separated the field of play from those end zone stands and the field).

Hard to find more diehard fans than those in Iowa...especially when for many years they haven't experienced great seasons.

Now that Kinnick Stadium has been renovated and improved...along with a very friendly fan base...its one destination that should be on any Big Ten fan's Bucket List.

 

[sodakboy93]

Iowa hasn't had fewer than 58,000 people at a football game since November of 1978, and that's in a very rural, small population state that also competes with another Power 5 football program about 150 miles away inside it's own state borders. And there have been plenty of really bad, poor, and mediocre football teams during that span of time. At the time that streak began, Iowa was nearing the end of setting the all-time NCAA record for consecutive non-winning football seasons (20, 1961-1980). This has since been broken by both Oregon State and Northwestern. Even during the dark years, Iowa routinely had crowds in the 40,000-50,000 range in a 60,000 seat stadium.

You will not find a more dedicated, patient,and generally positive-outlooking fanbase for any sports team anywhere else in America. "Fickle" does not come anywhere close to describing what is happening here. People in Iowa measure their time spent purchasing season tickets in decades, not years.

Having spent the better part of 15 years in a neighboring state, I can echo this sentiment. The loyalty that folks in this part of the country have to their college programs is pretty remarkable.

 

[derleider]

Having spent the better part of 15 years in a neighboring state, I can echo this sentiment. The loyalty that folks in this part of the country have to their college programs is pretty remarkable.

Its only remarkable if you consider them college teams instead of the highest level of sports in the state - i.e. basically the pro team.

 

[hawkssox1]

1. Their coach is soooooooo over paid

2. When you have a 50in TV it is easy to stay home. Also, when you have more commercials than play time, it is as easy to turn it off.

It will be interesting to see how all sports, pro and college deal with saturation of athletics on TV and lack of bottoms in the seats, in the 21st century.

I was a 25 yr season ticket holder and got tired of not only what was happening on the field but the crackdown on tailgating and the overall attitude of the Athletic Dept which will either change on its own or the new U President will change.

 

[srru86]

Reading this from the Iowa fans reminds me of the Virginia Tech fans complaining that Frank Beamer was past his prime back when we were lead by Terry Shea.

 

[Knight_Light]

Its only remarkable if you consider them college teams instead of the highest level of sports in the state - i.e. basically the pro team.

No really, as being a fan of a pro team usually can't come anywhere close to the ties one has with their own alumni...which is the joy of returning to campus for games...where you once walked those grounds years and decades earlier as a student.

Everyone can cheer for pro teams (and do), but the pride one has for their own university is usually unmatched.

Heck, Fantasy Football has taken over millions of interest in their "own' pro teams...as millions now watch NFL games for personal stats...and not because their favorite team might win or lose.

 

[Upstream]

No really, as being a fan of a pro team usually can't come anywhere close to the ties one has with their own alumni...which is the joy of returning to campus for games...where you once walked those grounds years and decades earlier as a student.

No school has enough living alumni to provide full support of their athletic teams. The University of Iowa has about 180,000 living undergraduate alumni. Many of them aren't football fans (less than half of all Americans consider themselves even casual football fans, college or pro). So only a portion of Iowa alumni could be expected to watch Iowa football on TV, and only a sliver of them would be passionate enough Iowa football to make the donations and purchase season tickets.

Colleges looking to fill their stadiums/arenas and get television viewership, need to attract a sizable number of non-alumni fans. Alumni might form a small core of loyal fans, but that's not enough to support the programs. More than 95% of Americans did not attend a P5 university. Successful P5 football programs have built their fanbases with mostly non-alumni.

 

[MikeRU1766]

No school has enough living alumni to provide full support of their athletic teams. The University of Iowa has about 180,000 living undergraduate alumni. Many of them aren't football fans (less than half of all Americans consider themselves even casual football fans, college or pro). So only a portion of Iowa alumni could be expected to watch Iowa football on TV, and only a sliver of them would be passionate enough Iowa football to make the donations and purchase season tickets.

Colleges looking to fill their stadiums/arenas and get television viewership, need to attract a sizable number of non-alumni fans. Alumni might form a small core of loyal fans, but that's not enough to support the programs. More than 95% of Americans did not attend a P5 university. Successful P5 football programs have built their fanbases with mostly non-alumni.

Very true point. Never thought about that, but it is true. Most viewers did not attend P5 colleges, but they still watch some college football. The trick is to get them to watch YOUR college football game.