Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time
Welcome aboard WiscDC!
While beer and hockey go together like... well... Beer and everything else-- I'm not sure a beer garden does much for attendance, as personally, I've never run into a shortage of beer on Hockey Nights in Madison. Drinking in the Coliseum was like visiting your favorite dive bar; drinking in the Kohl equates to me more like drinking in Andy North's living room. The beer is nice but I'm always worried about spilling on his $30k gopher skin duvet. It would be another revenue stream though, which is fine.
Personally I'm for a 'Fridays with Phil' promotion. A Phil clone in every section to light a little fire under the too comfortable asses of the 'old people.'
Personally, I couldn't care less about a beer garden. I've just been afraid that the athletic department doesn't notice/care, or more realistically, will just take their fans for granted. (i.e. making
no effort to ignite or even just maintain enthusiasm in the fan base.) Most people probably didn't think much of the "This Fall Belongs To Ball" bus driving around campus, which became a "Wisconsin Hockey - 50th year in the modern era" bus in the second semester. It drives on a campus route. Mainly students see it, not the general public. So why wouldn't they advertise Wisconsin Hockey when student season tickets were still on sale (especially considering that random drunk kids who don't give a rat's *** about the Badgers buy football tickets to watch the 2nd and 3rd quarters, so they sell out quickly)? Football didn't need that - it was a waste of ad money.
Hockey and basketball enthusiasm in the general student body are lower than you'd think. Football is a weekly event in the fall. But basketball and hockey? The athletic department fails to ignite any enthusiasm in the students. Look at the Wisconsin Badgers facebook page. This is one way casual fans subscribe to UW Badgers news, and they can go weeks without seeing even a mention of hockey. It seems small, but it's indicative of how out-of-touch the athletic department is with the fans, at least where students are concerned. Big hockey fans (like everyone on this board) have to go out and seek their news. Random people in Madison don't notice it.
The Wisconsin Hockey experience should really sell itself. That means getting butts in the seats (or better yet, in the air in front of the seats) is a priority. I know many people (other students) who went to 1 or 2 hockey games, and they want to come back. Some buy season tickets the next year, some just keep coming to more games. Buying someone else's student ticket doesn't affect attendance, but it does spread the Wisconsin Hockey brand. Obviously, it depends on the elasticity of demand, but I'd rather have more people at a lower price than fewer people at a higher price. Why are glass seats (or center-ice 200-level seats, whatever your preference) $24, while back row, obstructed-view seats are an amazing $4 less? Somewhere on the last thread, someone floated the idea of $10 300-level seats, which makes way more sense to me.
All in all, I like the idea that they want to maintain Wisconsin Hockey as this grand event, not just some extra thingy. Because it is a grand event!
