Re: Bemidji State Beavers Hockey 2012-2013
beaverhockeyfan, thanks for posting. Hopefully the program will get better support from the alumni and the men's team can start to draw more fans if they cab be successful in the "new WCHA". There is no question that they'll have a better chance to advance in the playoffs and earn a spot in the Frozen Four, which should help.
But I have to admit I was surprised at how much they charge for the men's regular season games! $30+ per ticket seems like a lot for a smaller community like Bemidji. My thought would be to make more of the seats affordable for the "average Joe", just to the point where they are selling out the building for just about every game. It seems to me that the immediate goal should be to increase attendence and thereby create a more exciting atmosphere for everybody; i.e. make it a "hot ticket" in the community at large.
Here were my thoughts from when the articles first came out, pertaining mostly to the mens side of the hockey equation from a conversation on another message board:
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1. Winning. As the Beavers proved in the Glas with the CHA teams, it doesn't really matter who you are playing, consistent winning will put butts in the seats. The average sports fans are fickle and want to watch winners. Us diehards will show up no matter what, but bottom lines are determined by the average or casual fans.
2. Ticket prices. Had BSU priced themselves out of the market? I could argue yes. If you look at Michigan Tech and Lake State, their tickets for the non-big boy games are around $12-$15. And if you go online and try to buy, Ticketbastard throw almost another $10 at you in fees. Those of us that are not in the Bemidji area, that makes it tough on the old pocketbook and the number of games they may attend.
3. Creativity in ticket plans. We had to let our season tickets go this year as Fridays just got to rushed trying to make it up to Bemidji from the Alexandria area. We are just making up to Bemidji for Saturday games now. Take a look at Lake State, they have a Friday season ticket, a Saturday season ticket, a full season ticket and a "Snowbird" plan (Home games through December 15).
I know part of the plan with the Sanford Center and the WCHA was that there would be big names schools coming to Bemidji on a regular basis. And in defense of the powers that be, that was true in 2009-10. No one could have forsaw that Penn State was going to start up hockey, Barry Alverez was going to throw his weight around the Big Ten Offices and force the six members into a Big Ten League, and then the NCHC would break out on their own. We will still get North Dakota for one home game a year, at least in the near future, and the Gophers will be in Bemidji once every few years with the agreement regarding the Minnesota Cup.
But now is the time to start making the changes. With the revamped WCHA coming into play, would it be better to lower ticket prices and have a better chance at filling the place?
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Is the new WCHA going to be able to make up the $1 million plus that the hockey teams are expected to lose? I knew womens hockey didn't make money (I don't think it does at any school, maybe Minnesota and Wisconsin), but I didn't realize that it lost $800,000 +.
The athletic department has it's work cut out for themselves. Hockey is in the hole and the NSIC sports are not funded to the AVERAGE NSIC school level. That's average, not top levels.
I said it earlier that the main key to getting butts in the seats is winning on a consistent basis. BSU proved that in the CHA with the John Glas as its home rink. Marquee names help, but that is only one or two series a year. You have those other 6-9 weekends that you have to get people there. Creativity is going to be the key.
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One thing we need to remember right now is that the mens team is in year three of having to pay WCHA admission fees (I believe they were spread out over three years at $200,000 a year) and during that time, they do NOT get a cut of WCHA tournament revenue, which typically runs 6 figures. That is hurting the bottom line as well. Now next year, those admission fess will be gone, BUT so will be the WCHA Tournament and the money it generates as we know it.
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