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WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

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I would much rather attend a game with large groups of students and working class fans in team gear than see hockey price itself to where a whole lot of suits sit there clueless about the sport simply because they were comped tickets. Nothing worse than sitting at a sporting event where people are more interested in being seen rather than the event itself. Heck I would like to see BSU have all leftover tickets at game time sold to the students at $10 bucks a head than empty seats because they're too spendy for fans.
 
Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

I attended both UNO/MSU games in Mankato last weekend.

I was utterly shocked that these games weren't close to being sold out either night. I bought my tickets the day they went on sale (September 28th) because I thought I might not get any if I didn't. Turns out I could have bought them the day of game at the box office and saved myself the Ticketmaster fees.

Opening night, against an opponent that was a Frozen Four team from last season and is preseason top 10, and, you are the reigning #1 seed from last year's NCAA tourney, the pre-season consensus to win your conference, and are ranked in the top 5, and, you can't sell out your building? Either night?

The announced crowds both nights seemed to be pretty liberal numbers, too, looking around the arena.

What is Mankato fan looking for? This carried over to the games as, as respectfully as I can put it, the crowds that were there were........tepid. That's the best way that I could describe it. I thought it would be a pretty hostile environment.

Not very.

Anybody else there either night and have thoughts on this?
 
Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

Red Cows said:
I attended both UNO/MSU games in Mankato last weekend.

I was utterly shocked that these games weren't close to being sold out either night. I bought my tickets the day they went on sale (September 28th) because I thought I might not get any if I didn't. Turns out I could have bought them the day of game at the box office and saved myself the Ticketmaster fees.

Opening night, against an opponent that was a Frozen Four team from last season and is preseason top 10, and, you are the reigning #1 seed from last year's NCAA tourney, the pre-season consensus to win your conference, and are ranked in the top 5, and, you can't sell out your building? Either night?

The announced crowds both nights seemed to be pretty liberal numbers, too, looking around the arena.

What is Mankato fan looking for? This carried over to the games as, as respectfully as I can put it, the crowds that were there were........tepid. That's the best way that I could describe it. I thought it would be a pretty hostile environment.

Not very.

Anybody else there either night and have thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

Well, in Mankato's case, the bandwagon has a short memory, and March was several months ago.
 
Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

Andrew J Carter said:
Hammer & Shirtless are both right. We should be broadening the base since we are not filling the Sanford Center. What I don't know (and my BSU athletic administration probably doesn't either) is what is the ideal ticket price for to maximize both revenue and attendance. Again, I like the variable ticket price strategy and would go $40 (sorry Hammer) for UND & UM (tier 1), $30 for UMD, SCSU, & maybe Mankato (tier 2), and the $20 for the rest in tier 3 (no offense to anyone). Unfortunately, I don't have a data set to validate my strategy, only perceived logic. I suspect my BSU administration would come back and say that we can't lower individual prices or we will lose season ticket holders. Good point, but it sure seems we need to recalibrate this because we don't seem to be maximizing this situation.

Imagine that; a UMD Bulldog, a MTU Husky(ie), and a BSU Beaver who's a NMU Wildcat grad generally agreeing on something.
Click to expand...

If you're worried about alienating current season ticket holders, you really should re-evaluate your pricing structure before you send out season tix.

Also, if you can sell out a game at $100/ticket, by all means, go for it, if that's what the market will bear. But at the same time, you can't be pricing fans out of the arena, especially in a sport like this. The proof will be in the pudding; just look at the attendance for the higher-dollar games when the time comes. If you're 500-1,000 fans short of a sellout during a high-dollar game, then you've screwed up, plain and simple.
 
Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

Hammer said:
Also, if you can sell out a game at $100/ticket, by all means, go for it, if that's what the market will bear. But at the same time, you can't be pricing fans out of the arena, especially in a sport like this. The proof will be in the pudding; just look at the attendance for the higher-dollar games when the time comes. If you're 500-1,000 fans short of a sellout during a high-dollar game, then you've screwed up, plain and simple.
Click to expand...

3300 people at $40 a ticket is still more revenue than 5000 people at $25 a ticket. There's greater long-term consequences to that type of decision, but most hockey programs aren't in a financial position to worry about that far down the road.
 
Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

Red Cows said:
I attended both UNO/MSU games in Mankato last weekend.

I was utterly shocked that these games weren't close to being sold out either night. I bought my tickets the day they went on sale (September 28th) because I thought I might not get any if I didn't. Turns out I could have bought them the day of game at the box office and saved myself the Ticketmaster fees.

Opening night, against an opponent that was a Frozen Four team from last season and is preseason top 10, and, you are the reigning #1 seed from last year's NCAA tourney, the pre-season consensus to win your conference, and are ranked in the top 5, and, you can't sell out your building? Either night?

The announced crowds both nights seemed to be pretty liberal numbers, too, looking around the arena.

What is Mankato fan looking for? This carried over to the games as, as respectfully as I can put it, the crowds that were there were........tepid. That's the best way that I could describe it. I thought it would be a pretty hostile environment.

Not very.

Anybody else there either night and have thoughts on this?
Click to expand...
Saturday's attendance was 4898. Now, I'm guessing that includes all season-ticket holders, and I know there were some around me who weren't there, so empty seats got counted. But it was still a pretty good crowd.

As far as the environment, I think the crowd was pretty deflated pretty quickly. We're now winless after an exhibition and two NCAA games. However, my 8-year-old granddaughter did ask how come the other side had better cheerers than we did.
 
Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

I'm thinking that I'm going to be rooting real hard for BGSU the next time they play western. That game just got really big.
 
Last edited:
true2BSU said:
I would much rather attend a game with large groups of students and working class fans in team gear than see hockey price itself to where a whole lot of suits sit there clueless about the sport simply because they were comped tickets. Nothing worse than sitting at a sporting event where people are more interested in being seen rather than the event itself. Heck I would like to see BSU have all leftover tickets at game time sold to the students at $10 bucks a head than empty seats because they're too spendy for fans.
Click to expand...
The suit scenario sounds like a Gopher game.
 
Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

Last night was ugly. As good as Nell was Saturday night, he was that bad last night. Of course the D, or lack of, didn't help much either....
 
Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

Broseph Stalin said:
Mariucci is like Wrigley Field. 75% of people have no idea what's going on, 15% aren't even there, 10% are watching the game.
Click to expand...
Some die-hard MN Goofs enjoying the game.
Ryan J
<img src="http://www.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/201591/rs_500x265-151001110935-selfie3.gif">
 
Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

Broseph Stalin said:
You don't still have a few of those lying around do you? I remember you posted about them a while back.
Click to expand...
I think I pretty much sold off everything I was willing to part with before leaving MN, but I can take a look and see what, if anything remains.
Ryan J
 
Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

Looks like the WCHA was 3-1-1 in non conference play yesterday (not counting the LSSU-NMU "non conference" game).
 
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