The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

[MaizeRage]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

On a different note..

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>RT <a href="https://twitter.com/Fenton_JC">@Fenton_JC</a>: Looking forward to 8 <a href="https://twitter.com/TheNCHC">@TheNCHC</a> teams in action this weekend including a couple old <a href="https://twitter.com/CCHAhockey">@CCHAhockey</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/wchahockey">@wchahockey</a> teams battling!</p>— WCHA Hockey (@wchahockey) <a href="https://twitter.com/wchahockey/statuses/403924395405901825">November 22, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

This was seriously the only thing the WCHA could find to tweet about the men's side last weekend. Nothing about the teams actually in the league. Just a retweet of another conference bragging about the teams that begged their way out of the WCHA.

 

[aparch]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

This was seriously the only thing the WCHA could find to tweet about the men's side last weekend. Nothing about the teams actually in the league. Just a retweet of another conference bragging about the teams that begged their way out of the WCHA.

Yeah, not to impressed. The NCHC spams Twitter re-tweeting all of their teams tweets. The WCHA started doing that, but then gave up. Would be nice to have some more timely tweets and re-tweets.

 

[aparch]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

I think that most teams have their prices set right... There isn't a place where tickets are in the "Hell No!" category... With most teams here in the WCHA, winning is going to be key... Just win, and the rest should take care of itself...

I've heard the MQT locals think the NMU ticket prices are too high. Compared to the rest of the league they're right there in terms of price.


I think there is flexibility that NMU could do to draw more fans in. But that discussion is more suited for the NMU thread.

 

[gmann]

Okay, so the ugly topic of attendance and ticket prices has been brought up over on my BeaverPond Message Board. Thought I would bring it over here, but it does look like BSU's prices are out of line when compared to everyone else:
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I did a little digging and these number are from each school's official webstie. These are just the adult prices for reserved seating. Some offer youth tickets and general admission.

BSU: $25 to $40
Michigan Tech: $17
Mankato: $16 to $32
Alaska: $15 to $19
Bowling Green: $15
Northern: $14 to $16
Ferris: $14
Anchorage: $13 to $18
Huntsville: $13
Lake Superior: $12

Average without BSU: $14.33 to $17.33

A couple of thoughts:
1. The Sanford Center is the newest arena in the league.
2. No one really knew for sure how the new WCHA would shake out, so the prices are comparable to last year.
3. You have to make Season Tickets look like a viable option. They did reduce those a bunch this year, down to $275 for 19 games, or just under $15 a game.

Do I have an answer, no. I have heard some season ticket holders are upset with the Family Four Pack being less expensive than their season tickets, plus the family gets hot dogs or pop corn. I haven't heard how the Flex Packages went over or have I priced them out to what they would be a game.
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My .02 worth.

I attended the Saturday BSU vs UAA game in Bemidji a few weeks ago. Walked up and purchased tix just before face off. Myself and my two boys ages 7 and 5. I asked for the cheapest tix in the arena. Ended up paying $55 for all three tix. Add in food and beverages and the evening quickly approached $100. To expect a family of say four to pay those types of prices in Bemidji is ridiculous especially (and no offense to any particular school) when you are paying those prices to watch the likes of the schools comprised of the nWCHA. Aside from Minnesota and UND it was difficult to justify prices (a bit higher than current ones by the way) with the old WCHA but people were ok with it because it was the "WCHA" and things were new and exciting.

In fact, while speaking with the locals I specifically asked them their opinions on tix prices. The majority of people commented that they were priced out of attending games and these are people who follow BSU and the hockey program. Imagine what the person who doesn't nessecarily follow BSU/hockey thinks about tix prices?

Granted, BSU's situation is unique due to building a new arena to meet the specifications of the (old)WCHA but something needs to be done with tix prices. The novelty of the new arena has worn off and now reality has set in. Not sure what the financial models indicate but changes need to be made and I'm not sold that winning is the only answer.

 

[beaverhockeyfan]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

gmann, you should have just gotten the Family Four Pack and ate the extra ticket. The boys could have had either a popcorn or hot dog and you would have gotten by cheaper!

It is a difficult balancing act due to everything going on right now, the new WCHA and the "new" arena. The arena needs to be paid off, and BSU's hockey teams (men's and women's) have rent to pay. I am not sure of the numbers that make that happen and I am not 100% sure how the revenues are divided up between the arena, city and school.

I know there have been two recent events cancelled at the Sanford Center due to lack of ticket sales. One was the upcoming Eddie Money Concert and the other was a "rave" sort of thing. They do have The Band Perry coming in February, and I have heard those tickets have been flying out at $31 and $42. But I also heard that the day of The Blue Man Group, they needed to sell about 100 more tickets by show time to break even.

I think next year you will see some adjustment in single game prices. I feel the season tickets are priced accordingly, and if I could, I would still buy those.

 

[gmann]

gmann, you should have just gotten the Family Four Pack and ate the extra ticket. The boys could have had either a popcorn or hot dog and you would have gotten by cheaper!

It is a difficult balancing act due to everything going on right now, the new WCHA and the "new" arena. The arena needs to be paid off, and BSU's hockey teams (men's and women's) have rent to pay. I am not sure of the numbers that make that happen and I am not 100% sure how the revenues are divided up between the arena, city and school.

I know there have been two recent events cancelled at the Sanford Center due to lack of ticket sales. One was the upcoming Eddie Money Concert and the other was a "rave" sort of thing. They do have The Band Perry coming in February, and I have heard those tickets have been flying out at $31 and $42. But I also heard that the day of The Blue Man Group, they needed to sell about 100 more tickets by show time to break even.

I think next year you will see some adjustment in single game prices. I feel the season tickets are priced accordingly, and if I could, I would still buy those.

That's the effed up part I failed to mention. I walked up to the tix office and made what I thought was a simple request. "I would like to buy three of your cheapest tix you have." The lady working the window and another person she asked to help with the transaction (which I assume was her manager) were stumped by my request. It took about 10 minutes and I'm still not convinced I got the the cheapest seats in the place. I think the issue was caused by all the available seats. They had too many options to choose from and couldn't see the forest because all the trees were in the way.

 

[purpleinnebraska]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

I know there have been two recent events cancelled at the Sanford Center due to lack of ticket sales. One was the upcoming Eddie Money Concert

Bummer. He was really working to sell those tickets. http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7L6Y/geico-featuring-eddie-money

 

[moose97]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

Alright - I'll throw my 2 cents on the BSU situation.

First off, as to last weekend, I've got two words for you: deer opener. Go back historically and note what happens to attendance when BSU has home games on the weekend of the opener. I'll give you the best example I can think of - '09-'10, the last year at the Glas, and what was attendance like that year? How about a sell out for almost every home game. What were the two exceptions? RMU on 11/6-7, when announced crowds were 1,915 and 1,590. Every other home date has a sell out of 2,414 listed. Not saying it's an answer beyond that weekend, but clearly the opener takes a huge amount of people away.

Second, and more controversially, ticket prices/cost of paying off the building. Many of you here know that I was involved with the planning of the building of the Sanford Center. I helped pick the architect and was on a City of Bemidji Sanford Center design committee (actually, was the chair of said committee for part of the planning). Anyway, when I got involved with that process, I think it's fair to say that there were many who expected the new building was going to be similar to, say, NMU's Berry Events Center, but with some upgrades (more suites, a club room, bigger concourses, etc) and there were the folks who won out, who wanted a "mini-Ralph." I personally never felt as though BSU needed what they ended up with.

That all is neither here nor there. I do think that prices are higher than they should be for a town Bemidji's size. They took a great step with lowering season ticket prices this year, but need to do more. While I'd love to see they back in the $ teens, close to $20 for most games (with the typical extra for Gopher and UND games thrown in) would be much appreciated in town. I know many are excited about the new indoor football team, but I wonder too there how ticket prices will affect attendance...

 

[beaverhockeyfan]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

Moose, you've been in Michigan too long. Minnesota deer hunting was over as it was the weekends of the 9th and 16th.

 

[Jeff]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

Hey Guys, Deer season in Bemidji didn't end until the 24th.

 

[beaverhockeyfan]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

Hey Guys, Deer season in Bemidji didn't end until the 24th.

My bad. I was going off of Zone 2, which ended on the 17th. I forgot that Bemidji and points to the north and east were in Zone 1 and got an extra week.

 

[moose97]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

Moose, you've been in Michigan too long. Minnesota deer hunting was over as it was the weekends of the 9th and 16th.

Hey Guys, Deer season in Bemidji didn't end until the 24th.

My bad. I was going off of Zone 2, which ended on the 17th. I forgot that Bemidji and points to the north and east were in Zone 1 and got an extra week.

Eh, I was off on the opener part (it was opener on what, the 15th here?), but still. The point remains - attendance sucks during deer hunting season

edit - and just to point out, BSU is 22nd in the nation in attendance, and every school above them is either in a bigger town or has a larger enrollment.

 

[hattrick16]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

edit - and just to point out, BSU is 22nd in the nation in attendance, and every school above them is either in a bigger town or has a larger enrollment.

How does a team average more than capacity? Like Penn State at 8,000 average for a 6,000 seat arena. Is that suites and standing room?

 

[beaverhockeyfan]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

How does a team average more than capacity? Like Penn State at 8,000 average for a 6,000 seat arena. Is that suites and standing room?

Penn State played a "home" game with Vermont at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia (17000+) and RIT played a "home" game with Michigan at Rochester's Blue Cross Arena (10000+).

 

[RaceBoarder]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

NMU is offering $10 tickets to all hockey games for Black Friday... Just an FYI if anyone is planning on traveling up there for future games...

Anyone else doing ticket deals?

 

[LSSULaker889294]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

Anyone else doing ticket deals?

LSSU is doing free admission for local High School students Saturday.

 

[MissThundercat]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

NMU is offering $10 tickets to all hockey games for Black Friday... Just an FYI if anyone is planning on traveling up there for future games...

Anyone else doing ticket deals?

Northern never did anything like this when I was there. It's about time...

 

[gfmorris]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

Anyone else doing ticket deals?

We're doing all sorts of stuff as we re-build our fan base. http://uahchargers.com/schedule.aspx?path=mhockey& One thing that isn't listed is that kids who wore their Halloween costumes on 11/1 got in for free. That was on there at one point, but they pulled it.

Our reserved prices have edged up this year by $1 (and I think that GA did as well). Our attendance has stayed pretty even despite that. We will see better numbers starting with the Mankato series since we won't be counter-programming college football on Saturdays. I ran an analysis (that I never published) a few years back that showed that we do better on Saturdays than Fridays once CFB is done. The Mankato series falls between the SEC Championship Game and the start of bowl season, so we should be good there, even though we'll lose student attendance due to classes being complete for fall semester.

Who owns the Sanford Center?

GFM

 

[hattrick16]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

Penn State played a "home" game with Vermont at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia (17000+) and RIT played a "home" game with Michigan at Rochester's Blue Cross Arena (10000+).

Wow, 17,000 for a new team in Philadelphia vs. Vermont. I'm impressed!

 

[beaverhockeyfan]

Who owns the Sanford Center?

GFM

The City of Bemidji.

And Happy Thanksgiving!