Is Big Ten buzz wearing off? Rutgers official explains dip in season tickets

[Tango Two]

"What we've found this year is we have a lot of season ticketholders who are still fans but dropped a couple of seats," Rutgers senior associate athletics director and chief marketing officer Geoff Brown told NJ Advance Media.

"They had increased their seats when we were going into the Big Ten and ... their level is back where they were before."


http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/i..._buzz_wearing_off_rutgers_official_expla.html

 

[ntlrock1]

This only makes sense. Losing sucks

 

[JQRU91]

I don't think it's just the losing. It's how we're losing.

 

[ivan brunetti]

This only makes sense. Losing sucks

Should be compared to the sales of other B10 teams that are having tough years.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

LOL! Absolutely not! The ONLY reason people have dropped ((and my group is evidence) is the debacle created by the former regime. That's it! Turn this thing around and watch what happens. My group is down about 12 seats from 2 years ago. 8 will be back within 2 years. No doubt.

 

[Ole Cabbagehead]

People bought extras for the future and to sell, because they thought they would become unavailable. People have since realized that demand is low. Extras can be bought as needed for lower than face value prices. So there is no need to have "extras."

 

[scarletrider]

impact of inaction through the Flood fiasco will take time to recover.

 

[RU-ROCS]

"What we've found this year is we have a lot of season ticketholders who are still fans but dropped a couple of seats," Rutgers senior associate athletics director and chief marketing officer Geoff Brown told NJ Advance Media.

"They had increased their seats when we were going into the Big Ten and ... their level is back where they were before."


http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/i..._buzz_wearing_off_rutgers_official_expla.html

It could also be due, in part, to the graying of the fan base, without the addition of many new recent fans due to the lack of recent success. I, for one, used to have 6 tickets when my kids were living home. But, this year I dropped to four, as my wife and I are just recently empty-nesters.

 

[newell138]

it has nothing to do w/ the graying of the fan base, its because we suck. Look at any team at any level of sport, the winners have full stadiums and the losers have empty ones.

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

losing coupled with expense, doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to figure this out. Why would you pay what RU is asking when you can buy tix for $10 outside the stadium and $25 for excellent seats?

 

[R1776U]

toooooooo expensive!!!!!!!!

 

[RUsojo]

We tailgate with 20 to 30 people 90% used to get tickets now only 20% go into the game at best. More people have committed to going in for Penn St. so it's very clear the product on the field is keeping non die hard away from spending the extra money. Penn St will maintain its cache because of proximity/local rivalry.

Oh Flood

 

[RedSpartan]

 

[AshSaturday]

Most of this has been touched upon here.

1) Losing and losing big. Some likely turned off by the events of last year.
2) Lots bought extras for friends to make money on and scalp. The for profit market for RU is very bad (for at least apparently the "Rutgers" side of the stadium the market collapsed a bit (yesterday I said in another thread that prime seats on the "Michigan side" were selling at about $70 more than thec opposite side of the stadium. Piscataway Mike and were talking to RU's #1 scalper last week at R tailgate and he was complaining about the market.
3) Lack of Natural rivals/programs Rutgers fans feel really excited about (i.e. Indiana and Illinois).
4) At the end of the year most of the time in the Big East/ACC (and year 1 B1G) were in positon for a bowl game. Kept fans coming out late.
5) I don't think the B1G TV schedule helps=noon starts.

I agree with others who say as the winning increases the market increases with professional broker and perhaps corporate sales increasing.

 

[Rutgers8086]

"What we've found this year is we have a lot of season ticketholders who are still fans but dropped a couple of seats," Rutgers senior associate athletics director and chief marketing officer Geoff Brown told NJ Advance Media.

"They had increased their seats when we were going into the Big Ten and ... their level is back where they were before."


http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/i..._buzz_wearing_off_rutgers_official_expla.html

The article states that the number of tickets went down 8 % but the number of account holders went down 12%. So, it's not just due to existing groups downsizing.

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

Stop blaming Flood, GS left at the 11th hour and the school wasn't prepared. All 3 parties are equally to blame so anyone citing 'blame Flood attitude' is just myopic

 

[Phi_1055]

It could also be due, in part, to the graying of the fan base, without the addition of many new recent fans due to the lack of recent success. I, for one, used to have 6 tickets when my kids were living home. But, this year I dropped to four, as my wife and I are just recently empty-nesters.

Didn't you see what Nuts wrote? The ONLY reason people reduced their ticket orders was because of the previous regime. Nobody got older and found in hard to go to seven games. Nobody experienced a lost job or relocated. Nobody had a change in family situation or other responsibilities. He told you the ONLY reason. And of course, he only uses FACTS to support his arguments. After all his group and the people he knows represent everyone.

 

[JQRU91]

So far we've played eighteen conference games in the B1G. Ten of those have been losses by more than two touchdowns with seven being by more than thirty points. Only hardcore fans are going to sit through that. The fair weather fans aren't going to bother.

 

[gmay8]

Between kids soccer (I know...it's a tired excuse) and just having young kids in general and wives who aren't RU grads and don't love us being gone all day on saturday, my brothers' and I and our 3 season tickets will probably not renew next year.
I buy season's tix for however much they cost, plus donation and parking, and usually end up going to 2 games max, and eating the remainder of the games or selling them for well below face value.
Big screen tvs and a couch and a 3 hour commitment is more appealing to me at this point in my life than a 6 hour+ commitment with tailgate, drive, etc. I can watch a noon game on tv while my daughter takes her afternoon nap and technically not miss a full day away from the family.

Not to mention the lopsided scores lately make it easier to stay home and channel flip.

 

[srru86]

I don't think being in the B1G is that important in setting the floor, but when we do start winning again, the ceiling for fan interest will be much higher than it ever was.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

It happen due to the Flood damage that was cause to this program.

It will pick up again.

 

[Phi_1055]

The article states that the number of tickets went down 8 % but the number of account holders went down 12%. So, it's not just due to existing groups downsizing.

I recall a few years ago RU saying that 4% annual attrition of season ticket holders was to be expected and their job was to make that back with new season ticket holders. It would be interesting to see what the mix was for the past few years. Was there a much higher than expected attrition rate of existing ticket holders or a failure to attract lots of new ones? From the article it seems they were expecting the drop off, but that could be spin.

 

[RUfinal4]

it is about winning.

When we are not winning demand is lower so tickets on stub hub are cheaper.

This also allows fans to cherry pick games without committing to all 6 or 7.

The in demand games include: Ohio St, Penn St, and Michigan
Why buy the FCS game or the low level FBS game if you are only interested in 1 or 2 games.

Fans with outside plans don't want to commit. With ESPN / ABC being able to wait until 2 weeks out for some games it is tough to commit if the game can be 12, 3:30, or 8.

I for 1 liked a couple of Friday night games each year. You suck up a late night on Friday for the game without impacting your weekend plans. I would hope we would schedule a Thurs / Fri game over labor day weekend and then a Fri game for Thanksgiving weekend so that 2 of the 6/7 home games are non-Saturdays. An early November Fri night game occasionally against Maryland or Penn St may be cool too with a great atmosphere.

 

[RUJohnny]

I couldn't give my Iowa tickets away. That really says it all I think.

 

[scarletrat]

Flood is the Fred Gruninger of college football coaches.

 

[theRU]

When is the expansion finally paid off?

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

Flood is the Fred Gruninger of college football coaches.

Starblazers!!!!!!

 

[S_Janowski]

Expect another dip of a couple thousand next year and then it's all up from there once the Ash era kicks into full swing.

If we become a BIG10 contender someday we could easily sell out season tickets.

 

[kupuna133]

LOL! Absolutely not! The ONLY reason people have dropped ((and my group is evidence) is the debacle created by the former regime. That's it! Turn this thing around and watch what happens. My group is down about 12 seats from 2 years ago. 8 will be back within 2 years. No doubt.

I agree. My group of season ticket holders had a high water mark in 2007-08 to a low water mark in 2013. Cost relative to product is the general excuse of the people in my group not renewing or renewing with less tickets. My group is excited by what the future may bring but the previous regime really drained on not only my season ticket group but the people we regularly tailgated with.

Funny the turnover in my section. From 2003-09 it was the same people. From 11-now it has been a revolving door.

 

[MozRU]

This is what happens when you lose

 

[cicero grimes]

Part of the legacy of he who shall remain nameless. Coach overabundance of water is the gift that keeps on giving.

 

[RURM85]

Most of this has been touched upon here.

1) Losing and losing big. Some likely turned off by the events of last year.
2) Lots bought extras for friends to make money on and scalp. The for profit market for RU is very bad (for at least apparently the "Rutgers" side of the stadium the market collapsed a bit (yesterday I said in another thread that prime seats on the "Michigan side" were selling at about $70 more than thec opposite side of the stadium. Piscataway Mike and were talking to RU's #1 scalper last week at R tailgate and he was complaining about the market.
3) Lack of Natural rivals/programs Rutgers fans feel really excited about (i.e. Indiana and Illinois).
4) At the end of the year most of the time in the Big East/ACC (and year 1 B1G) were in positon for a bowl game. Kept fans coming out late.
5) I don't think the B1G TV schedule helps=noon starts.

I agree with others who say as the winning increases the market increases with professional broker and perhaps corporate sales increasing.

Agree with all your points except No. 3. Never felt we had any natural rivalries in the Big East either. I guess we were starting to really hate Syracuse over time, although a Rutgers - Syracuse game can't be considered exciting for a fan. You use Indiana and Illinois as examples. How about USF or Cincy? Blah.

Regardless, we have a better schedule now with more exciting programs to play such as Ohio State, Penn State, western programs such Wisconsin/Nebraska than we ever had before. We play better teams in our regular season schedule compared to any bowl opponents we ever played. The challenge is there with great programs in the B1G. It's a matter of building it.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

LOL! Absolutely not! The ONLY reason people have dropped ((and my group is evidence) is the debacle created by the former regime. That's it! Turn this thing around and watch what happens.

We've lost 8 seats that will be back without question,.

Didn't you see what Nuts wrote? The ONLY reason people reduced their ticket orders was because of the previous regime. Nobody got older and found in hard to go to seven games. Nobody experienced a lost job or relocated. Nobody had a change in family situation or other responsibilities. He told you the ONLY reason. And of course, he only uses FACTS to support his arguments. After all his group and the people he knows represent everyone.

No need to attack. Obviously I was over-emphasizing a single point. That being said its a sensationalized headline done specifically to set RU up for future articles blasting us for moving to the B1G for one reason or another (likely that we aren't gettng a full share yet...).

We aren't losing ticket sales because the glamour of the Big Ten is wearing off. Just trying to be real here.

Looks like most here agree. Common freakin' sense.

 

[brgRC90]

Why is anyone even wondering why sales are down???

 

[Rutgers1976]

I think you can add on the fact that some of the sales were to fans from other B1G schools looking to see their team here in NJ and they'd sell/scalp/eat the rest. They may or may not be the one-time Wisconsin/Nebraska fans, or they could be the every other year visitors who now see it's easy to get tickets to see their team without having to purchase the whole package.

Of course, if Rutgers was more competitive it would be a huge boost too. Let's hope that Ash can turn the ship around.

 

[e5fdny]

Somebody mentioned it earlier. There really was no plan. Parkridge (now Chicago) had a few simple questions when they came for a visit after (and maybe "unofficially" before) the announcement and left not too happy with the answers they got.

Lets hope that is changing.

And it does have to do a little bit with the bloom being off the rose (bowl). Along with the on the field results (see Basketball).

 

[RUfromNJ]

If we're not going to win consistently, we're going to need to pick somebody big off. A signature win, early in the Ash era, would generate a positive buzz. The last two years have seen us hit new low after new low. Something has to happen.

 

[e5fdny]

I don't think being in the B1G is that important in setting the floor, but when we do start winning again, the ceiling for fan interest will be much higher than it ever was.

There were some stakeholders/decision makers at all levels at Rutgers who thought at the time it would be or might be enough.

Almost all of them aren't here anymore.

 

[RUaMoose]

it has nothing to do w/ the graying of the fan base, its because we suck. Look at any team at any level of sport, the winners have full stadiums and the losers have empty ones.

Bingo. Win and they will come

 

[DHajekRC84]

a lot of good points here but I will just add the following question.

Why did the first 2 games of the year with a brand new coaching staff against two teams we would/should beat with fantastic weather have such horrible shows? And then as noted the Iowa malaise. Those weren't going to be beat downs..personally, after a lifetime of support and enthusiasm I am ho-hum about what I see anymore. Nothing to get excited about. Not missing anything special.

IMHO..as debated MANY times here RU just has a core it just can't get past until it wins big time.

For me..I maintained the extras I bought and had a good year moving the extras while eating a bunch too. LUCKY I would say. Looking at next year I fear I am going to get eaten alive as only 1 game looks like a demand ticket. The rest are risky at best regarding getting my $ back for any extras I can't get folks to go to. Disappointing.

 

[cubuffsdoug]

impact of inaction through the Flood fiasco will take time to recover.

This had a bigger impact then the B1G newness wearing off. We are in year three and we still have a few teams to see. Flood did damage on Terry Shea's level in some areas of the program.