UMaine Hockey 2014-15: The Road from Alfond to Boston

[FiveHole12]

Re: UMaine Hockey 2014-15: The Road from Alfond to Boston

Do you guys pay attention to the news at all? THEY HAVE NO MONEY.How do hire anyone when you don't have 2 nickels to rub together?

Can start by getting rid of folks that are not getting the job done (liability) and replace them with people that can get the job done (asset). It's all about business sense, common sense and math. Of course, if the liabilities are political hires, you're probably pizzing into the wind.

[all bear]

Re: UMaine Hockey 2014-15: The Road from Alfond to Boston

Its not that simple. Reducing prices somewhat does not necessarily put people in the seats. If they don't want to come and watch college hockey anymore, guess what, no amount of price reduction will do the trick. No, to put fannys back into the seats they need to win consistently, create another statewide buzz about the teams success and make Maine Hockey once again the States darling child. Right now its ho hum because we had so many consecutive years of mediocre to lousy hockey masquerading as trademark Maine hockey. Fans saw through the illusion in short order and gave up on them. It will take several years of consistent success to fill that arena again.... unless they just give tickets away.

It used to be the crowd energized the team considerably... Red has to find a way to succeed with a lot less help from the fanbase unfortunately. We can all thank Timmy time for that.

[amherstblackbear]

Re: UMaine Hockey 2014-15: The Road from Alfond to Boston

Can start by getting rid of folks that are not getting the job done (liability) and replace them with people that can get the job done (asset). It's all about business sense, common sense and math. Of course, if the liabilities are political hires, you're probably pizzing into the wind.

Yeah, I think you file this one under "just pay attention." No need to hire some Silicon Valley whiz. Don't even need an eager kid fresh out of B-school. you just need someone to care enough to bother. Given budget constraints, it probably will take some selling to the AD or Univ pres. to get them to go along with ticket price cuts. But it's not rocket surgery.

Full house = more engaged fanbase = better environment for the team + more concessions and merch.

Main arguments for keeping ticket prices high = (1) price signals quality, don't want to tarnish brand, (2) inelastic demand means hardcore fans will pay whatever, and won't respond to price changes; neither will non-fans who won't attend at any price, or (3) don't want set set expectations too much lower than the price you hope to charge in the future - avoids complaints when you ultimately do raise ticket prices.

(1) Sorry, that ship sailed.
(2) Uhh, no. The empty seats are already there. Plus, past sellouts show that there are 5200+ potential ticket buyers. You just need them to want your tickets.
(3) Some people will always complain about price hikes. Let them. As long as the hike follows increased demand, and doesn't precede it, other people will be happy to buy those tix.

It seems obvious to us, but there may be some in admin who don't appreciate the magnitude of the challenge facing Red. Even if he turns out to be great, that hire is the start of a plan, not the end of it. Doesn't make any sense to fire a guy, hire a new one, let him hire the staff he wants (presumably) and NOT support him with fans. Hypothetically, even if high ticket prices *did* increase revenue, it wouldn't be by much. Penny-wise, pound-foolish. On the other hand, if pricing is causing you to lose revenue, lose fans, and makes Red's job harder (however slight it is, there's still an advantage when Alfond is rocking, even if it's just to impress recruits) . . . that's just pants-on-head stupid. Swallow your pride, admit you're overpricing, and get people back in the building.

If you're reading this, Red, you know your check cleared

[DoubleA]

Re: UMaine Hockey 2014-15: The Road from Alfond to Boston

Reducing prices somewhat does not necessarily put people in the seats... No, to put fannys back into the seats they need to win consistently, create another statewide buzz about the teams success and make Maine Hockey once again the States darling child... It will take se3veral years of consistent success to fill that arena again....
It used to be the crowd energized the team considerably... Red has to find a way to succeed with a lot less help from the fanbase unfortunately.

Right on all bear. Win, and they will come. Creep into the USCHO top 20 and they will come. Win playoff games, and they will come. It will take consistent sustained winning. Walsh used to go to the dining halls, get up on the tables and scream Maine Hockey. Everyone got fired up. Alfond was packed. This is a different day and time. Red will build and build. He has a plan and it's not a two year plan unfortunately. Can't be.

[FiveHole12]

Re: UMaine Hockey 2014-15: The Road from Alfond to Boston

Its not that simple. Reducing prices somewhat does not necessarily put people in the seats. If they don't want to come and watch college hockey anymore, guess what, no amount of price reduction will do the trick. No, to put fannys back into the seats they need to win consistently, create another statewide buzz about the teams success and make Maine Hockey once again the States darling child. Right now its ho hum because we had so many consecutive years of mediocre to lousy hockey masquerading as trademark Maine hockey. Fans saw through the illusion in short order and gave up on them. It will take several years of consistent success to fill that arena again.... unless they just give tickets away.

It used to be the crowd energized the team considerably... Red has to find a way to succeed with a lot less help from the fanbase unfortunately. We can all thank Timmy time for that.

Good point. But at 15 bucks, you should get fanny's back in the seats. If not, hit the magic number... $13., $12., $10.? Build up hope in the NEW Maine Black Bears. Agree, the team would need to win to keep them there.

Big problem I see is that a lot of the state wide fan base has disappeared because of lack of tv/radio exposure. Gonna be tough getting those folks back. They have replaced their hockey fanaticism with other interests. With the loss of those folks, there's also a trickle down effect in regards to lost revenue in advertising dollars, team apparel, etc.

Maine had their hockey world by the balls, and then some bad business decisions really hurt the program, which also trickles down to the other athletic programs. Maybe those decisions put good money in the coffers short term?, but over the long haul? Throw in a slumping economy and the problem is multiplied. My thought is if Maine had made better business decisions in it's recent past, a few bad losing seasons don't hurt as much, if at all.

Winning will help short term, but for long term financial success, Maine needs someone that sees the big picture. As always, it all starts at the top.

[walrus]

Can start by getting rid of folks that are not getting the job done (liability) and replace them with people that can get the job done (asset). It's all about business sense, common sense and math. Of course, if the liabilities are political hires, you're probably pizzing into the wind.

I agree with getting rid of liabilities. But if that was going to happen I'd think the new AD would have already done that.they can't even come up with a video feed worth watching let alone market a team that was driven in the dirt.

[amherstblackbear]

Re: UMaine Hockey 2014-15: The Road from Alfond to Boston

Its not that simple. Reducing prices somewhat does not necessarily put people in the seats. If they don't want to come and watch college hockey anymore, guess what, no amount of price reduction will do the trick. No, to put fannys back into the seats they need to win consistently, create another statewide buzz about the teams success and make Maine Hockey once again the States darling child.

Maybe the truth's in the middle. If I'm too optimistic about the benefit of reducing prices, I think this might be too pessimistic. I'm not talking about creating a waiting list for season tickets that's hundreds of names long. Just getting the building full. If that means pricing your lowest tier on par with, say, a movie ticket, why not?

Like movies, putting on a hockey game pretty much costs what it costs. Maybe you need more security or ticket takers with a full house, but that difference is peanuts. Concessions - there's a much tighter relationship between cost of selling food and shirts and how many you sell. Better to have lower ticket prices and higher concessions/merch than to have cheap popcorn and promotions on souvenirs in a half-empty building.

If it means upping the amount of student tickets available per game, do that, too. At least for now. It just seems like there should be some way to get 4500+ people in the building without taking a huge hit.

[DoubleA]

Re: UMaine Hockey 2014-15: The Road from Alfond to Boston

Winning = "Full house = more engaged fanbase = better environment for the team + more concessions and merch."

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Small addition...

[amherstblackbear]

Re: UMaine Hockey 2014-15: The Road from Alfond to Boston

Small addition...

Full house --> promotes winning (better impression with recruits, better chance of crowd raising energy level, maybe even becoming intimidating for opponents (though that requires winning, and will take time)

Winning --> promotes ticket sales

They're mutually reinforcing, not mutually exclusive. And when they're both working together, THAT's when you cash in with higher prices. I just don't think it makes sense to start with high prices and hope you luck into a product that justifies them.

[BBDiehard14]

Full house --> promotes winning (better impression with recruits, better chance of crowd raising energy level, maybe even becoming intimidating for opponents (though that requires winning, and will take time)

Winning --> promotes ticket sales

They're mutually reinforcing, not mutually exclusive. And when they're both working together, THAT's when you cash in with higher prices. I just don't think it makes sense to start with high prices and hope you luck into a product that justifies them.

We were lucky as heck to escape with 4 points. Wins are wins but Red can't be satisfied

[rufus]

Re: UMaine Hockey 2014-15: The Road from Alfond to Boston

That was great to Maine come back. After the let downs last season it was nice to see Maine come back for a change.

Agreed. They may not have played their best hockey, and still have a ways to go, but this was a good step along the way. Down 2-0 and not playing particularly well, and red got them to come out in the third with their best effort of the game. Confidence builder, and now the players can see what can happen if they don't give up and just keep working hard.

[umhockey91]

Re: UMaine Hockey 2014-15: The Road from Alfond to Boston

I think that those of us that saw the "big picture" early on during Whitehead's journey into the abyss were called "crazy" by more than a few fans, media and administrators. As it turns out, Whitehead was NOT the man for the job from the very beginning......the losses in the FFs to Minnesota and Denver were early warning signs not because they lost........but how they lost. Certainly Whitehead deserved a chance to drive the program despite those stinging losses though........but the last 5 years of TIMMAY TIME really hurt this program. It destroyed recruiting.......and now we are finally seeing the effects of a once passionate and loyal fan base finally eroding (if fans had only jumped ship much sooner so that the administration couldn't use continued strong attendance as a crutch!)......anyway, Gendron has his work cut out but it will be much more enjoyable watching the program evolve with a renewed sense of appreciation for the loyal fans that remain. I still think that it is easier to build a program up than to maintain it at the top (unless you are BC of course )

[BBDiehard14]

I think that those of us that saw the "big picture" early on during Whitehead's journey into the abyss were called "crazy" by more than a few fans, media and administrators. As it turns out, Whitehead was NOT the man for the job from the very beginning......the losses in the FFs to Minnesota and Denver were early warning signs not because they lost........but how they lost. Certainly Whitehead deserved a chance to drive the program despite those stinging losses though........but the last 5 years of TIMMAY TIME really hurt this program. It destroyed recruiting.......and now we are finally seeing the effects of a once passionate and loyal fan base finally eroding (if fans had only jumped ship much sooner so that the administration couldn't use continued strong attendance as a crutch!)......anyway, Gendron has his work cut out but it will be much more enjoyable watching the program evolve with a renewed sense of appreciation for the loyal fans that remain. I still think that it is easier to build a program up than to maintain it at the top (unless you are BC of course )

Can we use any other program besides BC as an example? So sick of BC this BC that

[all bear]

Re: UMaine Hockey 2014-15: The Road from Alfond to Boston

Ultimately, its the guys coming into the program now like Hamilton , Hayes, Pecararo, Romeo, Vesey ,etc who have the opportunity and responsibility, for that matter, to begin the resurrection of a marquee program from a near ash heap. Maybe a bit harsh, but no doubt we were struggling a few years ago. I believe Red is recruiting the right people to get this done; been very impressed with his recruits so far. So as they reestablish the pride in this program through good solid winning hockey, I believe the fans will come back in droves and keep coming back. But we have to continue winning 75% + of homes games and win on the road ...crucial. If we do that, we can be consistently in Beantown and make regular NCAA appearances. We can make Alford once again the most electric college hockey atmosphere and experience in all of college hockey. We know this because we have experienced it before and know what it takes. If and when we make that step, ticket prices become almost irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

Ps... and if this happens, I might bum someone's tickets for a weekend and drive all the way up there to see them play Sokol Kiev or some other interesting team

[FiveHole12]

Re: UMaine Hockey 2014-15: The Road from Alfond to Boston

Can we use any other program besides BC as an example? So sick of BC this BC that

Of course you can. Strive for mediocrity... but I thought that's what everyone is beeatching about.