Please, Danny: Change CFE ticket pricing plan!

[darccity]

The Sentinel, including today Bianchi column, keeps justifying their paper's lack of UCF hoops coverage (even in their online blog) by inadequate funding and institutional support or that Floridians don't care about college basketball (as if Miami is at all like Orlando or Jacksonville).
Wrong! We both attended consistently deafening, packed houses even for C-USA opponents like Marshall during Donnie's first years. Yet when we stepped up to the near-NBA level star quality entertainment of AAC hoops in its first year (with 4 ranked teams), attendance was way down. What happened? Probation? UCF quality? Not the main reason! The big factor was athletic program ticket policy that ensured that one sideline of the arena ($1000 and $5000 gift seats) was empty and the other sideline (mostly $500 donor) was quiet and late-arriving, thus throwing away all home court advantage and making the game experience no longer exciting or "in." An irritating DJ, kiss cam, and WaWa t-shirts nobody wants doesn't bring out screaming and loyal fans or students. Danny: restrict the donor-class seating to the skyboxes, on-court chairs, and a limited number of prime club seats til we can get the old excitement back! http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...search-mike-bianchi-0313-20160312-column.html

 

[Nyght Shadow]

This year I made the biggest ticket purchase I ever made in my entire life, and bought a pair of club seats in 115. And they were completely worth it. Price is not the issue - product is. I love basketball, and this hurt to watch.

Regardless, I just don't understand where my neighbors were. When we did the '"pick 'em" night, there were hardly any seats available in the club sections. But, throughout the season, the guys to our right showed up for maybe five games near half time (and left at the 10 min mark of the 2nd), there was never anybody to our left, and the folks in front and behind were the actual owners maybe 1/3 of the time. (Thank God, the twats behind me were complete, and mouthy, idiots) The club seats as a whole are 2/3rds empty at all times.

This does not count the times when the club seats were full of fans from opposing teams (U Conn), which is an entire other rant.

If we want to mount a program, this has got to stop. The sideline seats have got to be full of UCF fans. People have got to want to see the product. Price is not the issue - anyone can get in (scalpers or otherwise) for a very little bit of money. Witness the student section (which is an entire other rant).

 

[goodknightfl]

What is this basketball you speak of??

 

[(Art_Vandelay)]

Student tickets are free and there are no students. It's not a pricing problem, but a marketing problem. I honestly think the Michael Jordan effect was huge in the "golden years". You need a reason to go to these games, when it's on TV and the product is bad, even going to the game for free is a waste of time to most people. Also, students don't read the Future anymore because of smartphones, so minimal advertising that UCF used to do in the newspaper is completely worthless now.

 

[22knights_era]

I'm about to be a student this coming fall and I can tell you I will be at every game that I can possibly make. Everybody says winning cures all. While this is true, UCF doesn't have to win the conference every year to draw students. They shouldn't have to anyways. AD White will make changes to this program. Basketball should be part of UCF's culture. I'm sure AD White wants it to be and that can all start with an exciting coaching hire. Getting students out to games should be a big priority. Makes the atmosphere fun. Next year's non conference slate should include some winnable ones that could help build excitement for conference play. The team should be talented. No reason to not be a perennial top 5 team in the conference.

 

[darccity]

Student tickets are free and there are no students. It's not a pricing problem, but a marketing problem. I honestly think the Michael Jordan effect was huge in the "golden years". You need a reason to go to these games, when it's on TV and the product is bad, even going to the game for free is a waste of time to most people. Also, students don't read the Future anymore because of smartphones, so minimal advertising that UCF used to do in the newspaper is completely worthless now.

All good points. Not saying it's all about price, but it's not nearly fault of marketing either, as so many believe (I used to feel that way, too). Even a little thing like switching to scan card ticket makes it too hard to give individual tickets away (because you have to retrieve your cards). We need people in the seats. For example, why not give your ticket away to students if not scanned within 10 minutes of game start? Nice lower-level sideline would be a reward for the high student fees poor students have to pay. Or how about corporate donors could have a box to check off on the purchase screen that awards their cushy seating to students and university employees: a kind of thank you (or the university could use those as prizes for outstanding performance).

 

[Oldest Man]

The Sentinel, including today Bianchi column, keeps justifying their paper's lack of UCF hoops coverage (even in their online blog) by inadequate funding and institutional support or that Floridians don't care about college basketball (as if Miami is at all like Orlando or Jacksonville).
Wrong! We both attended consistently deafening, packed houses even for C-USA opponents like Marshall during Donnie's first years. Yet when we stepped up to the near-NBA level star quality entertainment of AAC hoops in its first year (with 4 ranked teams), attendance was way down. What happened? Probation? UCF quality? Not the main reason! The big factor was athletic program ticket policy that ensured that one sideline of the arena ($1000 and $5000 gift seats) was empty and the other sideline (mostly $500 donor) was quiet and late-arriving, thus throwing away all home court advantage and making the game experience no longer exciting or "in." An irritating DJ, kiss cam, and WaWa t-shirts nobody wants doesn't bring out screaming and loyal fans or students. Danny: restrict the donor-class seating to the skyboxes, on-court chairs, and a limited number of prime club seats til we can get the old excitement back! http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...search-mike-bianchi-0313-20160312-column.html

STEP 1
put a good product on the floor
STEP 2
get the students out....I don't care what it takes, promise 'em something free like Bernie Sanders does...that approach seems to work....once they start coming the word will spread
STEP 3
put a good product on the floor

if the "big" donors still don't show, separate football and basketball donors...have an additional fee for basketball (lower but basketball specific) and then we'll quickly find out who wants to attend basketball games....then we can fill the best seats with fans who are willing to pay a lower donor fee and really want to be there....

it's time to fill up the arena by removing the dead weight from the best, but unfortunately empty seats....

 

[KNIGHTTIME^]

This year I made the biggest ticket purchase I ever made in my entire life, and bought a pair of club seats in 115. And they were completely worth it. Price is not the issue - product is. I love basketball, and this hurt to watch.

Regardless, I just don't understand where my neighbors were. When we did the '"pick 'em" night, there were hardly any seats available in the club sections. But, throughout the season, the guys to our right showed up for maybe five games near half time (and left at the 10 min mark of the 2nd), there was never anybody to our left, and the folks in front and behind were the actual owners maybe 1/3 of the time. (Thank God, the twats behind me were complete, and mouthy, idiots) The club seats as a whole are 2/3rds empty at all times.

This does not count the times when the club seats were full of fans from opposing teams (U Conn), which is an entire other rant.

If we want to mount a program, this has got to stop. The sideline seats have got to be full of UCF fans. People have got to want to see the product. Price is not the issue - anyone can get in (scalpers or otherwise) for a very little bit of money. Witness the student section (which is an entire other rant).

Right with you. Spent $2,300 on 3 tickets in 115. Definitely a lot of cash, but hopefully it will be a respectable team soon. It is nice getting food, dessert, parking, etc so it was still worth it.

 

[mattropolis]

If the product on the court was better, more people will show up. It's just that easy. Hard to shine up a turd and make it appealing.

 

[darccity]

STEP 1
put a good product on the floor
STEP 2
get the students out....I don't care what it takes, promise 'em something free like Bernie Sanders does...that approach seems to work....once they start coming the word will spread
STEP 3
put a good product on the floor

if the "big" donors still don't show, separate football and basketball donors...have an additional fee for basketball (lower but basketball specific) and then we'll quickly find out who wants to attend basketball games....then we can fill the best seats with fans who are willing to pay a lower donor fee and really want to be there....

it's time to fill up the arena by removing the dead weight from the best, but unfortunately empty seats....

Amen. Didn't know the football-hoops package deal was the problem.
Oh, and by the way, if we ever got into the Big12, the free TV issue would disappear. The AAC cable package has been a disaster for attendance all around the league.

 

[UCF.Citronauts]

It's hard to judge the past 3 years. The product was unwatchable. They haven't even been a middle-of-the-pack team -- it's bad, bad basketball. If a new coach improves the product, the attendance will increase. If it doesn't increase much, then it will be fair to analyze the ticketing and marketing.

 

[darccity]

It's hard to judge the past 3 years. The product was unwatchable. They haven't even been a middle-of-the-pack team -- it's bad, bad basketball. If a new coach improves the product, the attendance will increase. If it doesn't increase much, then it will be fair to analyze the ticketing and marketing.

We can "sell" all the tickets we want but the sidelines will still remain empty. Also, Houston, a storied program since the 1960s (Elvin Hayes, Sampson, Elijahwan, etc.) had no higher attendance than UCF despite running roughshod through opponents like tournament-bound UConn, Cincy, and Temple this year. In addition, they played entertaining ball and a high-scoring offense.

 

[(Art_Vandelay)]

It's hard to judge the past 3 years. The product was unwatchable. They haven't even been a middle-of-the-pack team -- it's bad, bad basketball. If a new coach improves the product, the attendance will increase. If it doesn't increase much, then it will be fair to analyze the ticketing and marketing.

Yeah, even watching it on TV is painful. The number 1 issue is quality.

 

[cnsaguy]

For example, why not give your ticket away to students if not scanned within 10 minutes of game start? Nice lower-level sideline would be a reward for the high student fees poor students have to pay.

Bernie?