Idea to get butts in seats....

[TwolfHerdfan]

Low attendance is a problem at 95% of schools around the country.

It's up to Marshall to work hard and figure out how to get more butts in seats.

Each person is a potential customer.

 

[MStap]

I'm all for bringing in the local vendors, however, are there contractual obstacles to this with our primary food/beverage supplier (I believe Sodexo)?

 

[raleighherdfan]

Lowering the prices to that level is not going to help the finances of the AD. Its the same approach Marcum did at UMass and it basically financially ruined them.

I do like the idea of local businesses being able to sell food, but Sodexo pays a huge amount to MU for selling their crap product. Can local businesses generate more than what Sodexo pays? If so, then I am all for it.

Local vendors wouldn't make any money by the time Marshall took their cut. Simply not enough games or fans to take on the financial cost/risk to set up temporary operations like this in the stadium.

 

[raleighherdfan]

I'm all for bringing in the local vendors, however, are there contractual obstacles to this with our primary food/beverage supplier (I believe Sodexo)?

Its a "lose money" proposition for smaller outside food vendors to sell in this size stadium. Over the years Gino's and Stewarts offered cheap low cost food options with high margins. Most locals don't have the ability to scale into that type of venue.

 

[All4TheHerd]

Four more words: Tarp South End Zone

2 words...bad idea.

 

[herdfan1999]

One idea is to not lose to teams like FIU at home. Avoid the buzzkill first because if people aren't jazzed up the other stuff doesn't matter. With that said, I've heard many say the price of the tickets is too high for them to afford. When 15-20k are empty every game it isn't hard to figure out the price is too high. Very simple supply and demand.

 

[The Real SamC]

But think of it like this: Let's say your product is some new phone app. Would you rather sell 10 apps for $1 each, or 100 apps for 20 cents each?

Filling the stadium should be a priority for this program.

It does not work that way. You are making two assumptions that just are not so.

First, how much does you app cost to develop? If your app costs 90c/unit, I would way rather sell 10 for $1 and make $1 profit as sell 100 and lose $70.

Second, what is your app about? If your app is how to translate Latvian into Swahili, maybe 10 is your market. Maybe you could give it away and not find more than the 10 takers at $1.

That is reality. As they said at NASA, "no bucks, no Buck Rodgers". Marshall football costs. Scholarships costs, equipment costs, facilities cost, staff costs, travel costs, etc. Those have to be covered. Second, there just is not any evidence that prices are keeping folks away. I am not convinced that we could GIVE tickets away and fill the stadium consistently.

The priority for MU sports, is to reach a price point where the maximum $$ are generated. That might be 20K @ $40/per.

 

[TwolfHerdfan]

The two aren't mutually exclusive. Marshall can generate the cash needed by charging higher prices as they do for the better seats. People will pay that because they can afford it and see value in a better seat.

They can also attempt to build the fan base which is sorely needed by offering a standard $10 ticket for upper end zone seats. This appeals to young families , local HS students, church groups, etc.

While Marshall must keep an eye on the check book , no question; their main goal at this point should be building the fan base for the future. If they can't or won't do that, don't bitch about attendance when it continues to dwindle in a area where discretionary income is small and most can't or won't buy a $40 ticket.

It's a tough problem that only Marshall will be able to fix. Winning would certainly help.

 

[CarolinaHerdzilla]

The two aren't mutually exclusive. Marshall can generate the cash needed by charging higher prices as they do for the better seats. People will pay that because they can afford it and see value in a better seat.

They can also attempt to build the fan base which is sorely needed by offering a standard $10 ticket for upper end zone seats. This appeals to young families , local HS students, church groups, etc.

While Marshall must keep an eye on the check book , no question; their main goal at this point should be building the fan base for the future. If they can't or won't do that, don't bitch about attendance when it continues to dwindle in a area where discretionary income is small and most can't or won't buy a $40 ticket.

It's a tough problem that only Marshall will be able to fix. Winning would certainly help.

You hit it out of the ballpark....GREAT comments.

HerdZilla22

 

[JudgeDD]

First, how much does you app cost to develop? If your app costs 90c/unit, I would way rather sell 10 for $1 and make $1 profit as sell 100 and lose $70.

The danger of any analogy on this board is that it will be taken too literally. That's why I added the disclaimer that the analogy wasn't bullet-proof. I realize it isn't EXACTLY the same. Your point above has no meaning for Marshall football. There is no "cost" to make a single seat in the stands. 100 people at $100 equals $10,000. It doesn't cost more to have 500 people at $50 to make $25,000. As a matter of fact, the extra people add also to the concession sales. Marshall's cost of business is the same whether there are 20,000 in the stands or 30,000.

Your other point about supply/demand may be right. I don't know if attendance would be affected by a lower ticket price. You may be correct that we can't give tickets away. But doing nothing will usually result in nothing. It might be worth a try.

 

[joeyb184]

When we start looking to Kent State for marketing ideas, it is time to flatten the stadium and start a dental school.

MEMO:

It costs to run a program at this level. The tickets cost what they cost. The concessions are a corporate deal and are what they are. We are not going to run some Food Network contest. We are not going to pay people to come to the games. It is what it is. It costs what it costs. If you cannot afford it, well that is life. If you don't like it, then don't come.

It can "cost what it costs" all day long but if you charge what it costs now then get an empty stadium is it still paying the bills? To make up for this are we going to charge $50 general admission next year bc it costs what it costs to make up for it? Continue this trend and it will continue to drive attendance down. I would rather lower the price and fill more seats and ultimately make more money. More butts in seats creates a better atmosphere which draws even more in and eventually you run out of discounted tickets and people will pay for better seats to just get in or will buy season tickets to guarantee they get to sit where they want. No it won't change over night but id rather increase the odds of people going in as opposed to increasing the odds of them not buying tickets at all. I mean i have literally seen it when people are at a tailgate with no intention of going in but someone with an extra ticket sells it to them for $10 and they end up inside the stadium. I know most on here will only read that they were tailgating with no intention of going in and completely overlook that they ultimately ended up inside the stadium but in our area people will not pay for something they feel is overpriced by that much.

 

[The Real SamC]

There is no "cost" to make a single seat in the stands.

Of course there is. You take the cost of running a football program, subtract the money for other sources (media, ads, student fees, state subsidy, conference, whatever) and the seats MUST generate that much money or it all collapses..

The only question is, since we KNOW that many people will pay $40/per (and our stadium is so small that there is no real point to having a discussion of "people will pay more for better seats", yes there is some of that but not worth talking about), the question is will TWICE as many pay $20/per? The answer to that, IMHO, is clearly no. We have found the price point where our set of seats generates enough to be OK.

If you want $5, State is only 30 miles away.

 

[MarshallManiac]

Agree on all counts.

Fat Patty's is horrifically overrated.

I haven't been to Fat Patty's since I tried Ale House & Oscar's.

 

[ARandomHerdFan]

I haven't been to Fat Patty's since I tried Ale House & Oscar's.

I've said this in the past, but Ale House is top notch.

 

[JudgeDD]

Of course there is. You take the cost of running a football program, subtract the money for other sources (media, ads, student fees, state subsidy, conference, whatever) and the seats MUST generate that much money or it all collapses..

Certainly there is a cost of running a program. My point was that there is not an additional cost for filling a seat. Having more fans in the stands does not "cost" Marshall more, it actually generates more money in concessions and alcohol sales. And, to my point, a lower ticket price may encourage better attendance and thus a higher gross revenue per game.

As to the exact price point most effective, I concede I don't have a clue.