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Number of 2019 season tickets

It will be hard getting people back,,,it was
depressing last year and I couldn't take any more of that

Once you move on you fill the gaps with other stuff...and it would take
an unexpected (by me at least) rise in quality of play for me to even consider going to any game this year...RU royally blew it bringing him back

That will be a challenge.

Each week early last season, someone in my tailgate group lamented "I could have done x today instead of being here". As the season wore on, we started doing the other things. This year we agreed to give up our season tickets and just buy game-day tickets for a handful of games we want to attend. But now we can't even find a game that we're all available, because we're filling the weekends with other activities.
 
Wow...reading through this thread makes you realize there is so little loyalty among this fanbase (or at least among those who post here). I guess a little bit of success in the first decade of this century has spoiled a lot of the newer fans. RU joins the BIG East -the top division in college football, and people can't ride out a period of reduced performance. Pretty Sad. The definition of being non-loyal. Oh well, it is what it is.
 
In my book anyone who bought season tickets last year is a loyal fan. Note I renewed this year and I couldn't give away my 3 extra seats to my friends and family last year. That is the reality (approx $2k down the toilet).
 
Wow...reading through this thread makes you realize there is so little loyalty among this fanbase (or at least among those who post here). I guess a little bit of success in the first decade of this century has spoiled a lot of the newer fans. RU joins the BIG East -the top division in college football, and people can't ride out a period of reduced performance. Pretty Sad. The definition of being non-loyal. Oh well, it is what it is.


What is the definition of being "loyal"?

Rutgers has had 1 winning season in the past 6 seasons. We've won 4 conference games total over the past 4 seasons. Even more importantly, we haven't even been competitive the past few years. And it really hasn't been fun to attend games due to a mix of poor on-the-field performance and lack of fan-friendly game-day experience. And there is no indication that anything will improve in the near future. Plus the Athletic Department has apparently whiffed on the opportunity to at least create interest and excitement around the 150th anniversary of the 1st game.

Considering the high cost, what is the incentive to buy season tickets?
 
The ticketing office needs to reevaluate everything in terms of pricing. With demand at an all time low, the ticket prices should reflect that. It would be a good gesture if they slashed prices across the board and offered people the chance to get in on the ground floor and reserve their seats and preferred parking.

But this would make too much sense.
 
The ticketing office needs to reevaluate everything in terms of pricing. With demand at an all time low, the ticket prices should reflect that. It would be a good gesture if they slashed prices across the board and offered people the chance to get in on the ground floor and reserve their seats and preferred parking.

But this would make too much sense.


I'm not sure price of tickets is the issue, as most fans who know how to use stubhub can buy deeply discounted tickets the week before most games. The Price of parking I agree should be reevaluated. Way too expensive.

Bottom line is you can't be as horrible as RU has been the past 4 years and expect a decent turnout. Fans in NJ have too many options.
 
"A loyal friend supports you all the time, no matter what."---even if you lose
 
The notion that customers will remain loyal to any organization, no matter the failings of the organization to continue to deliver a quality product or experience, is a false one. Loyalty is a two-way street. Always be loyal to your customers and they will be remain loyal to you.
 
Wow...reading through this thread makes you realize there is so little loyalty among this fanbase (or at least among those who post here). I guess a little bit of success in the first decade of this century has spoiled a lot of the newer fans. RU joins the BIG East -the top division in college football, and people can't ride out a period of reduced performance. Pretty Sad. The definition of being non-loyal. Oh well, it is what it is.

Let me know when the administration starts being loyal to the fanbase by hiring a competent coach and putting a decent product on the field.

Continuously pissing money down the drain to watch a horrible product just seems insane to me.

I bought one season ticket in the upper deck to maintain my points in case we ever start turning it around. I’ll still make a decent amount of games but I’ll buy tickets for 10 bucks in the parking lot.
 
The notion that customers will remain loyal to any organization, no matter the failings of the organization to continue to deliver a quality product or experience, is a false one. Loyalty is a two-way street. Always be loyal to your customers and they will be remain loyal to you.

The upshot to this is that it may increase the win total that Ash needs to achieve this year to remain as coach. Whereas I thought Hobbs may have had a decision to make with a 3-9 season, with these numbers I think he has to cut ties with Ash at 3-9, and even at 4-8 Ash's job will not be totally safe.

It also puts a bit more pressure to get the next hire right.

There will be short term pain though, as the increased revenues Rutgers gets from other sources in FY 2020 will likely not offset the losses in football ticket revenue. This means that Hobbs will have to manage with a slightly reduced overall budget in FY 2020 as compared to FY 2019.
 
Wow...reading through this thread makes you realize there is so little loyalty among this fanbase (or at least among those who post here). I guess a little bit of success in the first decade of this century has spoiled a lot of the newer fans. RU joins the BIG East -the top division in college football, and people can't ride out a period of reduced performance. Pretty Sad. The definition of being non-loyal. Oh well, it is what it is.
I was going to reply, but I think Upstream nailed it with the part I underlined:
What is the definition of being "loyal"? And it really hasn't been fun to attend games due to a mix of poor on-the-field performance and lack of fan-friendly game-day experience.
Many of us lived through the Shea era and, yes, we still kept coming through 5 years of that drek. Why? Despite the piss-poor record, the administration didn't treat us like dirt. Now, in addition to raising prices as attendance wanes, we're harassed both in the parking lots at our tailgates and when entering the stadium. Fan-friendly experience? Not even close.
 
I finally got around to listening. The numbers he threw out were 11,000 and 15,000. He never said 9,000. Awful either way but just wanted to clarify.

In early April we went through the figures:

In 2015, Rutgers sold 31,168 season tickets.
In 2016, Rutgers sold 28,478 season ticket. -8.6%
In 2017, Rutgers sold 23,812 season tickets. -16.4%
In 2018, Rutgers sold 22,337 season tickets. -6.2% (-28.3% from 2015)
2019 Projection- sell 16,752 season tickets. -25% (-46.3% from 2015)

Calculation:
2015: 31,168 * $400 = $12,467,200
2016: 28,478 * $400 = $11,391,200 (loss of $1.08 million)
2017: 23,812 * $400 = $9,524,800 (loss of $2.94 million from baseline 2015 number; cumulative loss of $4.02 million)
2018: 22,337 * $400 = $8,934,800 (loss of $3.66 million from baseline 2015; cumulative loss of $7.68 million)
2019: projected 16,752 * $400 = $6,700,800 (loss of $5.77 million from baseline 2015; cumulative loss of $13.45 million)

Another way of looking at it is that since Hobbs kept Ash at end of 2018 season, approx $2.2 million in additional revenue has been lost, and $5.7 million will be lost this year alone as compared to before Ash was hired.

*****

Financial figures were later released indicating the ticket revenue numbers were pretty close to accurate. If we use 13,000 for 2019 instead of 16,752, which was already a projected 25% decrease, the numbers are:

2015: 31,168 * $400 = $12,467,200
2016: 28,478 * $400 = $11,391,200 (loss of $1.08 million)
2017: 23,812 * $400 = $9,524,800 (loss of $2.94 million from baseline 2015 number; cumulative loss of $4.02 million)
2018: 22,337 * $400 = $8,934,800 (loss of $3.66 million from baseline 2015; cumulative loss of $7.68 million)
2019: projected 13,000 * $400 = $5,200,000

This will be a loss of more than $3.7 million in football ticket revenue from last year's already depressed number. At the same time, Rutgers will receive an additional $2.2 million from the Big Ten next year.

Rutgers can only break even on a revenue basis this coming season if it increases revenue from other sources by $1.5 million. Perhaps basketball sales will make up for some of this difference.

The sum total of this is that Ash was retained in order to avoid the bad publicity and expenditure of political capital from his buyout and/or because Hobbs feels that he can make a better hire in December 2019 than he could have made in December 2018.
 
Yeah, but think of how tight the secondary market will be this year. Everyone who gave up last year and put their tickets on StubHub has decided not to renew. The remaining season ticket holders are the ones who would never re-sell their tickets.

So I actually think you WON'T be able to get into any game for $10 like last year even if the team is miserable. Instead there'll be thousands listed but it'll just be the Rutgers ticket office selling through StubHub, so look forward to those $50 upper corner UMass tickets.
 
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Yeah, but think of how tight the secondary market will be this year. Everyone who gave up last year and put their tickets on StubHub has decided not to renew. The remaining season ticket holders are the ones who would never re-sell their tickets.

So I actually think you WON'T be able to get into any game for $10 like last year even if the team is miserable. Instead there'll be thousands listed but it'll just be the Rutgers ticket office selling through StubHub, so look forward to those $50 upper corner UMass tickets.

I don't think this is accurate. Look at how many people couldn't give them away last year. Interest in attending has cratered commensurate with ticket sales. There will be fewer tickets available but also less interest.

Incidentally, I have two that will be on sale for every game this year. I kept these two seats as a donation, but it used to be four.
 
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In early April we went through the figures:

In 2015, Rutgers sold 31,168 season tickets.
In 2016, Rutgers sold 28,478 season ticket. -8.6%
In 2017, Rutgers sold 23,812 season tickets. -16.4%
In 2018, Rutgers sold 22,337 season tickets. -6.2% (-28.3% from 2015)
2019 Projection- sell 16,752 season tickets. -25% (-46.3% from 2015)

Calculation:
2015: 31,168 * $400 = $12,467,200
2016: 28,478 * $400 = $11,391,200 (loss of $1.08 million)
2017: 23,812 * $400 = $9,524,800 (loss of $2.94 million from baseline 2015 number; cumulative loss of $4.02 million)
2018: 22,337 * $400 = $8,934,800 (loss of $3.66 million from baseline 2015; cumulative loss of $7.68 million)
2019: projected 16,752 * $400 = $6,700,800 (loss of $5.77 million from baseline 2015; cumulative loss of $13.45 million)

Another way of looking at it is that since Hobbs kept Ash at end of 2018 season, approx $2.2 million in additional revenue has been lost, and $5.7 million will be lost this year alone as compared to before Ash was hired.

*****

Financial figures were later released indicating the ticket revenue numbers were pretty close to accurate. If we use 13,000 for 2019 instead of 16,752, which was already a projected 25% decrease, the numbers are:

2015: 31,168 * $400 = $12,467,200
2016: 28,478 * $400 = $11,391,200 (loss of $1.08 million)
2017: 23,812 * $400 = $9,524,800 (loss of $2.94 million from baseline 2015 number; cumulative loss of $4.02 million)
2018: 22,337 * $400 = $8,934,800 (loss of $3.66 million from baseline 2015; cumulative loss of $7.68 million)
2019: projected 13,000 * $400 = $5,200,000

This will be a loss of more than $3.7 million in football ticket revenue from last year's already depressed number. At the same time, Rutgers will receive an additional $2.2 million from the Big Ten next year.

Rutgers can only break even on a revenue basis this coming season if it increases revenue from other sources by $1.5 million. Perhaps basketball sales will make up for some of this difference.

The sum total of this is that Ash was retained in order to avoid the bad publicity and expenditure of political capital from his buyout and/or because Hobbs feels that he can make a better hire in December 2019 than he could have made in December 2018.

$4.5 million lost now annually in season ticket sales since Ash came on board .........ummmmm
 
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You doubt wrong.
You could be right, let's not forget that this is just renewals. And it's word of mouth numbers. But I would not be shocked if we ended up that low.

I'll also be curious to see if the athletic department counts this $150 deal as a "season" ticket. To my mind it shouldn't be included, but I would not be surprised if they included them in order to not look so bad.
 
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You could be right, let's not forget that this is just renewals. And it's word of mouth numbers. But I would not be shocked if we ended up that low.

I'll also be curious to see if the athletic department counts this $150 deal as a "season" ticket. To my mind it shouldn't be included, but I would not be surprised if they included them in order to not look so bad.

They started offering it after the season ticket renewal deadline so I don't think it will be offered as one. I do wish it was an option though as i definitely would of switched my seats and kept my priority points for just $150 instead of the usual $1K.
I just couldn't justify the $ and just so happens I spent the same amount fixing my A/C a few weeks ago that my renewed tickets would of cost. ;)
 
"A loyal friend supports you all the time, no matter what."---even if you lose


So if you take total advantage of your friend’s caring and consideration and your friend decides they’ve had enough, I guess that means they’re not ‘loyal’ and you have zero responsibilities there, correct?


Joe P.
 
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Wow...reading through this thread makes you realize there is so little loyalty among this fanbase (or at least among those who post here). I guess a little bit of success in the first decade of this century has spoiled a lot of the newer fans. RU joins the BIG East -the top division in college football, and people can't ride out a period of reduced performance. Pretty Sad. The definition of being non-loyal. Oh well, it is what it is.
I disagree completely. Lack of loyalty would be if the fans stopped watching or caring all together. Spending money and investing multiple weekends to go watch the team doesn’t make you not loyal.
 
It will be hard getting people back,,,it was
depressing last year and I couldn't take any more of that

Once you move on you fill the gaps with other stuff...and it would take
an unexpected (by me at least) rise in quality of play for me to even consider going to any game this year...RU royally blew it bringing him back
This x 1000. And when you start to have free Saturdays in the fall and start doing other things and enjoy it you will wonder why you waited so long to get out.
I'll be at a lot of games this fall however just a few at Rutgers. Navy, Princeton, Lehigh and West Point are on my schedule. Maybe 2 Rutgers games this year and I went decades without missing a home game (except when Monmouth Park hosted the Breeders Cup and West Virgina squashed RU in the downpour)
 
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Yeah, but think of how tight the secondary market will be this year. Everyone who gave up last year and put their tickets on StubHub has decided not to renew. The remaining season ticket holders are the ones who would never re-sell their tickets.

So I actually think you WON'T be able to get into any game for $10 like last year even if the team is miserable. Instead there'll be thousands listed but it'll just be the Rutgers ticket office selling through StubHub, so look forward to those $50 upper corner UMass tickets.
I don't have to worry about $50 tickets for UMass. One of the advantages of not buying season tickets is I don't have to pay $55 for UMass or Liberty. Maybe I'll have to pay $55 or even $75 for the 2 or 3 games I attend, but that's ok. And in the unlikely event that the team does well enough that I want to attend more games, I'd be happy.
 
Ticket office is learning that the first and foremost basis for Priority Points should be consecutive years of buying tickets and parking tags, factoring in how many tickets and parking tags. Maybe even rename them Loyalty or Ambassador Points. When we have sustained success and a recognizable product/brand and significant sponsorship, you can raise the significance of annual giving. Right now they are whistling in the wind.
 
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Ticket office is learning that the first and foremost basis for Priority Points should be consecutive years of buying tickets and parking tags, factoring in how many tickets and parking tags. Maybe even rename them Loyalty or Ambassador Points. When we have sustained success and a recognizable product/brand and significant sponsorship, you can raise the significance of annual giving. Right now they are whistling in the wind.
Or pissing in the wind and whistling with a mouthful of crackers
 
Ticket office is learning that the first and foremost basis for Priority Points should be consecutive years of buying tickets and parking tags, factoring in how many tickets and parking tags. Maybe even rename them Loyalty or Ambassador Points. When we have sustained success and a recognizable product/brand and significant sponsorship, you can raise the significance of annual giving. Right now they are whistling in the wind.
The priority point system already significantly rewards holding season tickets. If you held 4 season tickets for 10 years, you get 14 point (4 for 4 tickets and 10 for 10 years) this year. That is the equivalent of a $1400 donation. But next year you have an additional consecutive year so you get 15 points. You'd have to donate another $1500 to get those points.

Because your consecutive years of tickets carry over and increases every year, while your annual donation total resets to zero every year, the tickets are worth a whole lot in donations.

If you held 4 tickets since 2006, your tickets have already provided you more than $15,000 worth of priority points since 2006, and next year you'd get another $1900 worth of points.
 
This does not reward folks who purchased tickets and parking tags before the Priority Points program was put in place, and consecutive years is the same for folks with 1 ticket and folks with 20 tickets. And totally ignores buying parking tags.
 
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To those who have chosen not to renew: That is your unquestioned right. You are a customer and have no obligation of loyalty. It must be earned, and it has not been. You need not defend your decision, nor seek vindication for it.

HOWEVER... I respectfully ask that you refrain from gloating over the wisdom of your decision, and stop reminding the rest of us what chumps we are. From a purely economic standpoint, we probably are chumps. We get that. And we don't care.
 
To those who have chosen not to renew: That is your unquestioned right. You are a customer and have no obligation of loyalty. It must be earned, and it has not been. You need not defend your decision, nor seek vindication for it.

HOWEVER... I respectfully ask that you refrain from gloating over the wisdom of your decision, and stop reminding the rest of us what chumps we are. From a purely economic standpoint, we probably are chumps. We get that. And we don't care.

I think respect should be due all-around and agree with your points...and it also applies on the flip side. Some posters here are at risk of straining their arms patting themselves on the back about what ‘great fans’ they are (kinda like ‘nice people’ that always talk about how ‘nice’ they are).


Joe P.
 
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This does not reward folks who purchased tickets and parking tags before the Priority Points program was put in place, and consecutive years is the same for folks with 1 ticket and folks with 20 tickets. And totally ignores buying parking tags.

Sure it does. You get a point for every year you've been a season ticket holder. I've had tickets for 32 years, I get 32 points.

As for parking - if you park in a premium lot then you have to pay the annual buy-in fee ("donation"). That number becomes part of your lifetime giving total, for which you also get points (1 per $1000).
 
How is Hobbs going to spin it this year on the 150th anniversary. Last year it was the Yankee stadium game. This year, I have no idea what the hell he is going to say.

2015 - 31,168
2016 - 28,478
2017 - 23,812
2018 - 22,337
2019 - ?????

https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2018/09/in-depth_look_at_rutgers_sagging_ticket_sales_as_s.html

Season tickets are definitely on the way down yet again. My blind guess is they end up with down to around 12,000 - 15,000. If you asked me what the chance of the happening in 2015 was I would’ve said less than 1% given the major state universities becoming regular home opponents. Say we lose 20k season ticket holders in 4 years. That’s like $10m a year. This is an epic f up.

You’re either an idiot or masochist if you purchase RU football season tickets at this stage in the program. And if you’re a real “fan” you don’t buy tickets so that the administration can see how bad things really are and can Ash after 2019.
 
You’re either an idiot or masochist if you purchase RU football season tickets at this stage in the program. And if you’re a real “fan” you don’t buy tickets so that the administration can see how bad things really are and can Ash after 2019.
Or maybe people who purchase season tickets do so because they don't turn their back on their alma mater or the team when things get bad. And maybe those who don't buy tickets so that "you" can "teach" the administration a lesson are like little kids who just take your ball and go home. You see how that works? Did you read @Doctor Worm 's post above, or is reading optional? Maybe people should just let people do what suits them and not cast judgment or aspersions on people who behave differently.
 
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