Podcast answers to Student Ticket prices and more...

[2432Hawk]

While listening thought I'd look it up...

Ticket Types and Prices, 2016-17
General public season ticket: $365
General public single-game ticket: Prices range from $18 to $33 per ticket for adults, $5 to $20 per ticket for youth.
UI faculty and staff season ticket: $315
UI student season ticket: Full season: $100
UI student single game tickets: Prices range from $5 to $20
Discounted tickets for groups: Available for select games, contact Rachel Bedell, the UI's group ticket sales coordinator, at (319) 384-4299 or by e-mail at rachael-bedell@hawkeyesports.com.

 

[2432Hawk]

And also on the "what did Bohannon average in conf. play"

in 18 conf. games:
10.6 ppg
4.4 apg
61-157 from field (38.9%)
45-113 from three (39.8%) 2.5 mpg
24-28 from line (85.7%)

 

[DavenportHawk8]

While listening thought I'd look it up...

Ticket Types and Prices, 2016-17
General public season ticket: $365
General public single-game ticket: Prices range from $18 to $33 per ticket for adults, $5 to $20 per ticket for youth.
UI faculty and staff season ticket: $315
UI student season ticket: Full season: $100
UI student single game tickets: Prices range from $5 to $20
Discounted tickets for groups: Available for select games, contact Rachel Bedell, the UI's group ticket sales coordinator, at (319) 384-4299 or by e-mail at rachael-bedell@hawkeyesports.com.

I would like them to re-seat the arena and put all the "Season ticket" holders on one side. Then leave the rest of the arena as GA (except student section). Then on the late nights you can sell the GA tickets for 5-10 bucks as opposed to leaving them empty.

 

[H4wkfan4life]

I would like them to re-seat the arena and put all the "Season ticket" holders on one side. Then leave the rest of the arena as GA (except student section). Then on the late nights you can sell the GA tickets for 5-10 bucks as opposed to leaving them empty.

I can see selling off the worst seats for whatever you can get, but why would they get rid of all that $ from season ticket holders....makes no sense.
GA....no.

 

[DavenportHawk8]

I can see selling off the worst seats for whatever you can get, but why would they get rid of all that $ from season ticket holders....makes no sense.
GA....no.

The NIT games we're GA. Those two games were the best atmosphere in Carver in a LONG time. Sorry but that's the only way they will sell out the Arena and get any atmosphere back.

Iowa basketball has a choice to make! More fans or please the donors.

 

[IaHawks03]

The NIT games we're GA. Those two games were the best atmosphere in Carver in a LONG time. Sorry but that's the only way they will sell out the Arena and get any atmosphere back.

Iowa basketball has a choice to make! More fans or please the donors.

The NIT games were not general admission. Season ticket holders had first access at their season seats. Those that didn't renew, those seats became available for the public to buy. However, they were still assigned seats. It wasn't general admission where you can sit anywhere you want.

 

[ih8iast8]

The NIT games we're GA. Those two games were the best atmosphere in Carver in a LONG time. Sorry but that's the only way they will sell out the Arena and get any atmosphere back.

Iowa basketball has a choice to make! More fans or please the donors.

As long as we have to support Women's athletics like rowing & Lacrosse, then the answer will be please the donors.

 

[hawk-i bob]

Making radical changes to seating after Iowa established the premium seating levels & $$$ to own...makes it virtually impossible to consider moving people...its not that easy & yes some people have financially supported athletics for a long time.

Student Section ... said before its time to stop charging students to attend their own schools events...including athletics. If the student section doesnt fill..thats on them,,they cant blame it on cost.

Staff Section ..its time to stop discounting their tickets..was on staff for years...we didnt need the break then & they dont need it now...yes there would be some bitching..they will get over it...or grandfather it in. The money gained can offset the $100.00 student ticket.

In end..from what I understand..prior to the non-conference season..they were plenty of tickets available as well as B1G ten games once they became available.

 

[hawkifann]

So much of the money coming in comes from the B1G through media rights sharing, that I totally agree with making student tickets free. Make it an event. Make student seating general admission. Create an identity for the student section. It won't go from 0-60 overnight, but create that demand. Started down that road with Alford's Army/Hawk's Nest, but it didn't quite stick. You want to create buzz and demand. The money from the student tickets is almost literally nothing in the athletic budget. Create atmosphere and noise in the stadium and the rest of the arena will start to follow suit. If they want to fundamentally change seating, they can do that by phasing in different donation levels or phase donation levels out completely for a brief period. Create electronic markets where people can easily sell tickets. If someone in DSM has season tix, but can't make a mid-week game with an 8 pm tip, make it easy for that ticket to be bought by someone local. Pro teams do this and it's a good source of secondary revenue and helps minimize empty seats. You're still going to have half-full games against nobodys in the pre-conference season, but it would really help keep the house full in conference play.

 

[theIowaHawk]

The NIT games were not general admission. Season ticket holders had first access at their season seats. Those that didn't renew, those seats became available for the public to buy. However, they were still assigned seats. It wasn't general admission where you can sit anywhere you want.

Yeah, this. GA won't sell out anything, people like having, you know, seats and knowing where they sit.

 

[theIowaHawk]

Making radical changes to seating after Iowa established the premium seating levels & $$$ to own...makes it virtually impossible to consider moving people...its not that easy & yes some people have financially supported athletics for a long time.

Student Section ... said before its time to stop charging students to attend their own schools events...including athletics. If the student section doesnt fill..thats on them,,they cant blame it on cost.

Staff Section ..its time to stop discounting their tickets..was on staff for years...we didnt need the break then & they dont need it now...yes there would be some bitching..they will get over it...or grandfather it in. The money gained can offset the $100.00 student ticket.

In end..from what I understand..prior to the non-conference season..they were plenty of tickets available as well as B1G ten games once they became available.

Students complain about price (well, everything) even when it has been free and even at just $5. In isn't a cost issue, imo your solution just seeks to remove the excuse to more point the finger at them. If they still don't fill up, "it's on them" is no different than our discussion today.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

In end..from what I understand..prior to the non-conference season..they were plenty of tickets available as well as B1G ten games once they became available.

I went to the walk up ticket window for each of the 4 games I attended this season. Had no problem getting tickets for any of them, including the nebraska and psu games. The psu tickets were the best I had all year.

 

[theIowaHawk]

So much of the money coming in comes from the B1G through media rights sharing, that I totally agree with making student tickets free. Make it an event. Make student seating general admission. Create an identity for the student section. It won't go from 0-60 overnight, but create that demand. Started down that road with Alford's Army/Hawk's Nest, but it didn't quite stick. You want to create buzz and demand. The money from the student tickets is almost literally nothing in the athletic budget. Create atmosphere and noise in the stadium and the rest of the arena will start to follow suit. If they want to fundamentally change seating, they can do that by phasing in different donation levels or phase donation levels out completely for a brief period. Create electronic markets where people can easily sell tickets. If someone in DSM has season tix, but can't make a mid-week game with an 8 pm tip, make it easy for that ticket to be bought by someone local. Pro teams do this and it's a good source of secondary revenue and helps minimize empty seats. You're still going to have half-full games against nobodys in the pre-conference season, but it would really help keep the house full in conference play.

Students are GA.

Opening up ticket exchange to everyone would be good and remove its cost.

 

[hawkifann]

Yeah, this. GA won't sell out anything, people like having, you know, seats and knowing where they sit.

Agreed. I'd keep students GA so that whoever is there fills out below first, but if I'm someone coming from DSM, CR or the QC, I'm probably not always going to be able to drive out for the game such that I get there in time to stand in line and race to the best seats. I'd rather pay for my seats and know that I have them.

The goal with free student tickets + GA would be to create demand. Make the games an event they don't want to miss. Incent people to come early. If the students get motivated and you get people there that want to be there and want to be loud, it'll help fuel everything else. There's still the "sit down!" factor, but if there's enough juice in the arena, there will be noise.

Electronic ticket exchanges are just as big. We had season hoops tix when I was growing up in the 80s. We gave some away to friends, but there were other days when something would come up at school or work for my parents and we couldn't go. No reason with today's tech, that fans shouldn't have a marketplace so those tickets don't go unused.

 

[hooper56]

Here are my ideas which I have expressed nearly every season for the last 15 years or so.

*Make the best 250 student seats available for season ticket purchase. Make the next 1750 free or very low cost but require them to show up 1 hour before game time to get in free.
*Slightly increase the cost of season tickets to offset this cost. I would gladly pay more to get more students in the building
*Stop discounting staff tickets. They often don't show up anyway.
*Stop giving free premium seats to the janitor, maintenance and security drones. These are low level University employees that sit there every game. They sit on their behinds, rarely cheer and just take up space. Those valuable seats can be sold for big bucks because they are right behind the scorer's table and are primo. If necessary these people can be relocated to seats directly behind the baskets. They don't need to be behind the scorer's table to do their jobs. Heck I have observed the janitor guy actually sleeping during some games.
*Have organized pregame activities for the students with prizes and incentives. (Could be sponsored by local businesses)
*Get an organized student cheering section. They can practice that game's cheers during the 1 hour before each game.
*Whoever is in charge of Hawks Nest, get them down to Wichita State, Maryland, Northern Arizona, MSU, Duke or other places where student participation is great. Bring back and implement some great ideas.

I think doing this would be good for 2 or 3 more home wins each year and might allow us to play a tougher more interesting non conference schedule. The ONLY reason not to do this is laziness and complacency.

 

[theIowaHawk]

Here are my ideas which I have expressed nearly every season for the last 15 years or so.

*Make the best 250 student seats available for season ticket purchase. Make the next 1750 free or very low cost but require them to show up 1 hour before game time to get in free.
*Slightly increase the cost of season tickets to offset this cost. I would gladly pay more to get more students in the building
*Stop discounting staff tickets. They often don't show up anyway.
*Stop giving free premium seats to the janitor, maintenance and security drones. These are low level University employees that sit there every game. They sit on their behinds, rarely cheer and just take up space. Those valuable seats can be sold for big bucks because they are right behind the scorer's table and are primo. If necessary these people can be relocated to seats directly behind the baskets. They don't need to be behind the scorer's table to do their jobs. Heck I have observed the janitor guy actually sleeping during some games.
*Have organized pregame activities for the students with prizes and incentives. (Could be sponsored by local businesses)
*Get an organized student cheering section. They can practice that game's cheers during the 1 hour before each game.
*Whoever is in charge of Hawks Nest, get them down to Wichita State, Maryland, Northern Arizona, MSU, Duke or other places where student participation is great. Bring back and implement some great ideas.

I think doing this would be good for 2 or 3 more home wins each year and might allow us to play a tougher more interesting non conference schedule. The ONLY reason not to do this is laziness and complacency.

Yes, big problem with students is that they've had no one to learn from and would take a significant undertaking - by students - to get it going again. Once it does it will get handed down each year (presuming no Lickliter years again). But how do you get it going? Artificial always feels artificial (see NBA pa guys). Imo, it needs an alum group from, say, the 80s and local who can take them under their wing and show them the ropes, show how good it can be. Or simply hire a "hype" guy away from another school to get it running. We all know "those guys", have the school pay that bill a few years. Can't cost more than $100k, and they'll blitz the social medias far better and more organically than an AD could ever do just through promotions.

Basketball is unlike football in that there isn't a pre-game built right in. Although I drank/pre-gamed before and during games my experience was that few outside my group ever did. I'm not saying alcohol is a necessity, I'm saying the pre-hype party and excitement is, and it has to be created from scratch.

 

[hawkifann]

Yes, big problem with students is that they've had no one to learn from and would take a significant undertaking - by students - to get it going again. Once it does it will get handed down each year (presuming no Lickliter years again). But how do you get it going? Artificial always feels artificial (see NBA pa guys). Imo, it needs an alum group from, say, the 80s and local who can take them under their wing and show them the ropes, show how good it can be. Or simply hire a "hype" guy away from another school to get it running. We all know "those guys", have the school pay that bill a few years. Can't cost more than $100k, and they'll blitz the social medias far better and more organically than an AD could ever do just through promotions.

Basketball is unlike football in that there isn't a pre-game built right in. Although I drank/pre-gamed before and during games my experience was that few outside my group ever did. I'm not saying alcohol is a necessity, I'm saying the pre-hype party and excitement is, and it has to be created from scratch.

They get that at Duke because it's a small arena and seats are limited. Students have to camp out for seats, so naturally if you're going to dedicate to that level, you're going to be ready to go when the game starts. Build the buzz and create excitement. It will be a bit contrived at first, but that's how things get started.

 

[wneff]

I have two suggestions to improve the atmosphere at CHA. I throw these same two out every six months or so in these threads because they still haven't been implemented for some reason. Pretty sure this time is the one.

1. Over 10% of the undergraduate population is from China. Actively (starting with Fran) court those students to attend the games. We have many years of experience that Ned from Naperville isn't going to show. Let's try somebody different.
2. Create atmosphere with non-students (see Ned in #1). What I would like to see them get started (also could be used for football) is something akin to the American Outlaws. At least when it comes to the men, US soccer fans are so much better than their team.
for you non-soccer folks
(at least make it to the :17 mark)

The I-Club is great for fundraising, but does very little, especially for recent grads for "funraising."
Set up behind the basket opposite the student section a general admission section that is reserved for this group to which anyone could belong, but would primarily solicit recent graduates and or non-students. Possibly discount these tickets to get these people in the habit of buying tickets (and paying off their student loans). Likely would be a standing section, and (as long as they keep it "clean") they can do whatever they want.