Interesting article on attendance

[SDHawkDoc]

Live game attendance has more challenges to overcome than in the past.
I don't see the swing going the other way; it's likely the trend of declining attendance continues.

 

[Rustys Dad]

I would guess it is many reasons - company tickets, free tickets, student tickets, or simply just season ticket holders that can't, or don't want to, go to the game. I imagine that there are folks that just buy season tickets out of tradition or habit, but only want to go to a few games. They keep renewing so they can keep their priority and their good seats when they do go.

Weather, conflicts, start times that don't work for them - but I'd bet the single biggest reason is ambivalence - people that are just not motivated to go.

This is why expanding the number of seats in stadiums like Kinnick makes no fiscal sense.

Well said

 

[mtdew_fever]

Actually probably not. One could argue Iowa St has done a superior job of marketing their football program in comparison to most of their peers....including Iowa.

The reasoning is that Iowa St's football record over the past decade and beyond isn't great in comparison to the likes of Iowa/Nebraska. For Iowa St to be able to sell 60k in tickets with their track record on winning speaks volumes to their marketing of the program.

Wait, Iowa does something better than ISU? Can’t be true.

 

[Slappy Pappy]

Actually probably not. One could argue Iowa St has done a superior job of marketing their football program in comparison to most of their peers....including Iowa.

The reasoning is that Iowa St's football record over the past decade and beyond isn't great in comparison to the likes of Iowa/Nebraska. For Iowa St to be able to sell 60k in tickets with their track record on winning speaks volumes to their marketing of the program.

Or just being the only close proximity football option for a large metropolitan area.

 

[mtdew_fever]

That is entirely true. I would imagine a lot of football/beer drinking fans from DSM opt to head to Ames.

For a school that hasn't really won anything to be able to draw enough interest from donors to build onto their little stadium to make it look like a legit Power-5 is very surprising.

Or just being the only close proximity football option for a large metropolitan area.

 

[TheTruthTheWholeTruth]

Or just being the only close proximity football option for a large metropolitan area.

Not to mention the price of going to an ISU game vs other P5 programs.

https://blog.ticketiq.com/blog/uga-leads-nation-as-most-expensive-college-football-tickets

 

[mtdew_fever]

Pollard knows what he is doing and he prices the tickets according. Ex - Men's Basketball. Get them in the door.

Barta hasn't figured that out yet.

Not to mention the price of going to an ISU game vs other P5 programs.

https://blog.ticketiq.com/blog/uga-leads-nation-as-most-expensive-college-football-tickets

 

[hoffmkr]

So two years ago for Nebraska, the person I was supposed to go with backed out. Asked around but no-one else wanted to go. I get to Kinnick and price people are offering for a single is $25.
It's worth more to me to have two seats for myself than $25 sitting next to a Nebraska fan.

 

[cidhawkeye]

Pollard knows what he is doing and he prices the tickets according. Ex - Men's Basketball. Get them in the door.

Barta hasn't figured that out yet.

In certain situations, the Penn State game LY that didn't sell($95) out produced revenue beyond a sell out at lower prices.

 

[cidhawkeye]

Scanned tickets is a bit misleading as well, in the student section very few actually get scanned.

 

[TheTruthTheWholeTruth]

Pollard knows what he is doing and he prices the tickets according. Ex - Men's Basketball. Get them in the door.

Barta hasn't figured that out yet.

I don’t want to go too far off topic but, when it comes to basketball, Iowa’s attendence definitely needs help. Last year they were 11th in the B1G in attendence % wise vs capacity.

 

[theIowaHawk]

There are, what, 79 rows on each sideline? Roughly speaking if 100 people were “missing” from each row, I’d doubt TV would notice much, and there’s ~15,000. It would disappear pretty quick.

Now, having said that, with seatbacks and knowing the people immediately around me, rarely are people missing, so that would run counter.

Students are the hardest to judge, as they are sold out and then mash down tight, leaving what can appear to be sparse areas.

Who knows.

 

[leiserom]

No way are those numbers correct for Iowa. But I've been complaining for years about the intentional lying that pro and college sports organizations have engaged in for years by announcing "attendance" as "tickets sold." As the article notes, they are often two very different things, and the terms are not synonymous. Honesty would require that BOTH numbers be reported: actual attendance AND tickets sold.

A much better example at Iowa would be men's basketball where tickets sold often is a much larger number than actual attendance, often because of weak opponents, bad weather, and school vacations...or all three.

I would guess it is many reasons - company tickets, free tickets, student tickets, or simply just season ticket holders that can't, or don't want to, go to the game. I imagine that there are folks that just buy season tickets out of tradition or habit, but only want to go to a few games. They keep renewing so they can keep their priority and their good seats when they do go.

Weather, conflicts, start times that don't work for them - but I'd bet the single biggest reason is ambivalence - people that are just not motivated to go.

This is why expanding the number of seats in stadiums like Kinnick makes no fiscal sense.

There are free tickets given away. For example the Friday before homecoming there is a national meeting of the Iowa Clubs from around the country(Iowa clubs are volunteer groups outside the state-not the I Club(inside the state).). anyway if someone comes to the meeting on their own dime it includes two free tickets. I have been to this meeting the last two years. I have never used the tickets offered as I prefer to buy my own where I want to sit, not what they have. I just got the agenda today. I guess if you sit in a meeting all day and you come on your own money its the least they can do.