800)%20GO-BEARS](800) GO-BEARS[/url] andpress 3. I agree. Other significant issues include game times and sufficient advance knowledge of when the games will be played.wifeisafurd said:
While I think wining does build attendance I do think interest in Pac 12 football is way down, and winning isn't the only issue to filling the stadium.
Man this is a great post.This is the kind of thing I like with perceived value being shown even if it isnt a major thing in give ups by Cal. They need to think outside thbox but wont since all they look at is the perceived bottom line, which may be less than they think.LunchTime said:
While Wilcox is growing attendance, it doesnt make sense to me to try to move up the dates like they have. Attendance is still low enough that you wont run out of great seats, and going into 2020 is not looking like going into 2004.
Clearly they are trying to drive FOMO, but there is 0% chance you wont be able to get seats in the section you want in 4 months, so the MO part is missing. No MO, no FO.
If I were them, I would drive a bigger incentive to sign up early; large discounts, giveaways for each ticket, food vouchers, etc. I would also announce a loyalty program where you get X% off if you show up to all 7 games in 2020 (Y% off if your tickets are used for all 7 games) with a bump in "donation level" for Rose Bowl etc if you actually use your tickets.
Good ideas. But what they do is move the needle on those who want to buy seats already, which is good to that extent. If I was King, I also would provide incentives to younger fans.oskidunker said:Man this is a great post.This is the kind of thing I like with perceived value being shown even if it isnt a major thing in give ups by Cal. They need to think outside thbox but wont since all they look at is the perceived bottom line, which may be less than they think.LunchTime said:
While Wilcox is growing attendance, it doesnt make sense to me to try to move up the dates like they have. Attendance is still low enough that you wont run out of great seats, and going into 2020 is not looking like going into 2004.
Clearly they are trying to drive FOMO, but there is 0% chance you wont be able to get seats in the section you want in 4 months, so the MO part is missing. No MO, no FO.
If I were them, I would drive a bigger incentive to sign up early; large discounts, giveaways for each ticket, food vouchers, etc. I would also announce a loyalty program where you get X% off if you show up to all 7 games in 2020 (Y% off if your tickets are used for all 7 games) with a bump in "donation level" for Rose Bowl etc if you actually use your tickets.
How do we know there will be "a lot" of night home games? There's the same number of Friday games as last season: one, and even that one is not sure to be a night game since it will be the day after Thanksgiving.oskidunker said:
Winning was never the reason I renewed for 50 years. It was the experience. Day games, band playing and camaraderie.
This year everyone knows there will be a-lot of night games since Friday mandated . People like me are getting older and re evaluating the money being spent for the experience provided, especially retirees on limited income.
LunchTime said:
While Wilcox is growing attendance, it doesnt make sense to me to try to move up the dates like they have. Attendance is still low enough that you wont run out of great seats, and going into 2020 is not looking like going into 2004.
Clearly they are trying to drive FOMO, but there is 0% chance you wont be able to get seats in the section you want in 4 months, so the MO part is missing. No MO, no FO.
If I were them, I would drive a bigger incentive to sign up early; large discounts, giveaways for each ticket, food vouchers, etc. I would also announce a loyalty program where you get X% off if you show up to all 7 games in 2020 (Y% off if your tickets are used for all 7 games) with a bump in "donation level" for Rose Bowl etc if you actually use your tickets.
Have you been to a NBA game recently? Those are music and light shows. Basketball is absolutely secondary to the blasting music that plays all game.LMK5 said:
I'm also worried that the biggest reaction from the crowd is when they have that shuffle game on the videoboard where you have to guess under which object the football is after they scramble them. Really folks? Is that what the smartphone has done to us? Is the game just a distraction?
PRD74 said:
Over the past few years I have gotten an annual free extra parking pass, a nice upgraded parking lot location, and a multiple (up to five) month payment plan for enrolling early.
Going to Cal football games is supposed to be fun, but if you find them to be a hassle (time wise, cost, in game annoyances, weather, whatever), then staying home is understandable. I am getting too old to complain, I guess. Just happy to be healthy enough to handle sitting outside in the late Fall in Berkeley.
Go Bears!
Just for the record, attendance is an issue in every conference, including the SEC. Of course, the reasons vary from conference to conference.wifeisafurd said:Good ideas. But what they do is move the needle on those who want to buy seats already, which is good to that extent. If I was King, I also would provide incentives to younger fans.oskidunker said:Man this is a great post.This is the kind of thing I like with perceived value being shown even if it isnt a major thing in give ups by Cal. They need to think outside thbox but wont since all they look at is the perceived bottom line, which may be less than they think.LunchTime said:
While Wilcox is growing attendance, it doesnt make sense to me to try to move up the dates like they have. Attendance is still low enough that you wont run out of great seats, and going into 2020 is not looking like going into 2004.
Clearly they are trying to drive FOMO, but there is 0% chance you wont be able to get seats in the section you want in 4 months, so the MO part is missing. No MO, no FO.
If I were them, I would drive a bigger incentive to sign up early; large discounts, giveaways for each ticket, food vouchers, etc. I would also announce a loyalty program where you get X% off if you show up to all 7 games in 2020 (Y% off if your tickets are used for all 7 games) with a bump in "donation level" for Rose Bowl etc if you actually use your tickets.
If you want to change the number of potential buyers, look at game day experience (which IMO has improved) and the things '71 mentioned. Falling attendance is just not a Cal issue btw, but a conference wide issue. The conference also for long run purposes needs more competitive teams, so that the regions' best talent stays here, and can be seen live on Saturdays.
Great post. I'm thinking that the demographic skews older when the team has been losing: Only the "old loyals" keep coming. As we begin to notch some consecutive winning seasons, the more recent alums will jump on the bandwagon, even if they're on their phones most of the time. If the games become exciting enough, maybe they even look up!LMK5 said:
Most of you here are knowledgeable veterans and I enjoy taking in your perspective. As the parent of a freshman CalBand member from OC, I went to 4 Cal football games this year: OSU; WSU; at UCLA; and the Redbox Bowl. I enjoyed them all. I've also been to a number of UCLA games at the Rose Bowl, and the crowd demographic and attendance issues there are very similar to those at Cal. So are the game day experience issues.
I'll admit that I'm worried. I'm worried about the, shall we say, mature demographic at these games, for one (that includes me). What does this portend for the future? Where are the legions of students and young alumni that should be at these games? My goodness, at Cal you get a 50 yard line seat! The percentage of students combined with local alumni that attends these games is horrifyingly low.
I'm also worried that the biggest reaction from the crowd is when they have that shuffle game on the videoboard where you have to guess under which object the football is after they scramble them. Really folks? Is that what the smartphone has done to us? Is the game just a distraction? When I was at the Redbox Bowl, 4 guys in their 20s were seated right in front of me in $150 seats and for the whole game they were playing on their phones. The game was just something that happened to be occurring in the background. I wish they were the exception but they weren't. Finally some middle-aged lady got up and whipped the section into a Go Bears! chant. It's the youth in the building that should be leading the charge, not a middle-aged middle manager. The lack of passion, I believe, makes people think twice about coming to the next game as much as the cost of beer.
Sure there are things Cal Athletics must do to ensure the stadium is filled. Their ticket prices are way too high; parking's a ***** and costs you $40. The City of Berkeley seems determined to make it as hard on the fans as they possibly can with their traffic and parking measures. Sure Cal Athletics has work to do, but I am concerned about these things that are not under their control.
Agreed, though I think every Pac team would like to have Florida's problems for example.71Bear said:Just for the record, attendance is an issue in every conference, including the SEC. Of course, the reasons vary from conference to conference.wifeisafurd said:Good ideas. But what they do is move the needle on those who want to buy seats already, which is good to that extent. If I was King, I also would provide incentives to younger fans.oskidunker said:Man this is a great post.This is the kind of thing I like with perceived value being shown even if it isnt a major thing in give ups by Cal. They need to think outside thbox but wont since all they look at is the perceived bottom line, which may be less than they think.LunchTime said:
While Wilcox is growing attendance, it doesnt make sense to me to try to move up the dates like they have. Attendance is still low enough that you wont run out of great seats, and going into 2020 is not looking like going into 2004.
Clearly they are trying to drive FOMO, but there is 0% chance you wont be able to get seats in the section you want in 4 months, so the MO part is missing. No MO, no FO.
If I were them, I would drive a bigger incentive to sign up early; large discounts, giveaways for each ticket, food vouchers, etc. I would also announce a loyalty program where you get X% off if you show up to all 7 games in 2020 (Y% off if your tickets are used for all 7 games) with a bump in "donation level" for Rose Bowl etc if you actually use your tickets.
If you want to change the number of potential buyers, look at game day experience (which IMO has improved) and the things '71 mentioned. Falling attendance is just not a Cal issue btw, but a conference wide issue. The conference also for long run purposes needs more competitive teams, so that the regions' best talent stays here, and can be seen live on Saturdays.
https://www.si.com/college/2020/01/10/college-football-attendance-decline-ncaa
heartofthebear said:
I wonder how much of these issues are not micro but macro for the state of California. When I grew up a mile away from the stadium, the bay area was different. It was more relaxed, it was middle class affordable and the future was bright. California was a target state for families wanting a good education for their kids and affordable University education. These are all qualities that make it easier to follow, afford and enjoy sports.
Fast forward to these days. The standard of living, no matter how great, pales in comparison to the cost of living. Folks, working or retired with a full pension, cannot afford to live here. The middle class, or what is left of it in the country is moving out of California. What used to be a fun day at the beach or the park has become a day sitting in traffic. Blue skies aren't really blue any more. They're kind of milky. If there aren't fires, there are power outages, floods etc. Housing has become a crisis as is the homeless issue. Most households are working two or three jobs. Yeah, we have more technology, but our tech companies are driving up the cost of living by paying high wages that stimulate inflating rents. The quality and affordability of education has plummeted. These are all qualities that make it harder to follow, afford and enjoy sports.
If you look at all of the major pac-12 schools in California, they are all in decline both in attendance and ability to recruit California. Maybe kids are smart to go to places where the cost of living is more reasonable.
This may sound like I am complaining but actually these issues are well documented in our local media. I'm not making them up. It's just very stressful trying to survive in California and, while I do think Cal football is beginning a renaissance, it is a bit too little too late for me.
So, 3 out of 6 home games (50%) become potential problems for people to attend. That's not significant? Add to that usually not knowing until a week or two before the game what the actual game time will be, and you then drive attendance down further since you're losing all the people who need more time than the TV network window to plan to attend. With 7 home games this year, you can guarantee at least 2-3 night games and a wild card the day after Thanksgiving, a Friday that can present other issues. Hopefully, since school will technically be out of session that day, they will let folks reasonably use their parking passes for the campus garages and not restrict arrival times. I gave my tickets away for the Friday game last year since I didn't want to battle Friday night Bay Area traffic and didn't want to be restricted in my arrival time to 2 hours before the game. I don't live a just few minutes from Berkeley and I certainly don't need the added headaches.Cave Bear said:How do we know there will be "a lot" of night home games? There's the same number of Friday games as last season: one, and even that one is not sure to be a night game since it will be the day after Thanksgiving.oskidunker said:
Winning was never the reason I renewed for 50 years. It was the experience. Day games, band playing and camaraderie.
This year everyone knows there will be a-lot of night games since Friday mandated . People like me are getting older and re evaluating the money being spent for the experience provided, especially retirees on limited income.
Last season there were two night games at Memorial. I doubt there will be more than that this season.
There are actually 7 home games this season.C6Bear said:So, 3 out of 6 home games (50%) become potential problems for people to attend. That's not significant? Add to that usually not knowing until a week or two before the game what the actual game time will be, and you then drive attendance down further since you're losing all the people who need more time than the TV network window to plan to attend. With 7 home games this year, you can guarantee at least 2-3 night games and a wild card the day after Thanksgiving, a Friday that can present other issues. Hopefully, since school will technically be out of session that day, they will let folks reasonably use their parking passes for the campus garages and not restrict arrival times. I gave my tickets away for the Friday game last year since I didn't want to battle Friday night Bay Area traffic and didn't want to be restricted in my arrival time to 2 hours before the game. I don't live a just few minutes from Berkeley and I certainly don't need the added headaches.Cave Bear said:How do we know there will be "a lot" of night home games? There's the same number of Friday games as last season: one, and even that one is not sure to be a night game since it will be the day after Thanksgiving.oskidunker said:
Winning was never the reason I renewed for 50 years. It was the experience. Day games, band playing and camaraderie.
This year everyone knows there will be a-lot of night games since Friday mandated . People like me are getting older and re evaluating the money being spent for the experience provided, especially retirees on limited income.
Last season there were two night games at Memorial. I doubt there will be more than that this season.
MugsVanSant said:
I read a comment from a pissed off Raider fan in the SF Comical that said he was going to buy Cal tickets because, even though Cal will never be good, at least Cal will not move. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a couple thousand Raider fans thinking the same way. If so we'll need more police.
The likelihood of multiple night games is enhanced by the expected jump in quality of play.Cave Bear said:There are actually 7 home games this season.C6Bear said:So, 3 out of 6 home games (50%) become potential problems for people to attend. That's not significant? Add to that usually not knowing until a week or two before the game what the actual game time will be, and you then drive attendance down further since you're losing all the people who need more time than the TV network window to plan to attend. With 7 home games this year, you can guarantee at least 2-3 night games and a wild card the day after Thanksgiving, a Friday that can present other issues. Hopefully, since school will technically be out of session that day, they will let folks reasonably use their parking passes for the campus garages and not restrict arrival times. I gave my tickets away for the Friday game last year since I didn't want to battle Friday night Bay Area traffic and didn't want to be restricted in my arrival time to 2 hours before the game. I don't live a just few minutes from Berkeley and I certainly don't need the added headaches.Cave Bear said:How do we know there will be "a lot" of night home games? There's the same number of Friday games as last season: one, and even that one is not sure to be a night game since it will be the day after Thanksgiving.oskidunker said:
Winning was never the reason I renewed for 50 years. It was the experience. Day games, band playing and camaraderie.
This year everyone knows there will be a-lot of night games since Friday mandated . People like me are getting older and re evaluating the money being spent for the experience provided, especially retirees on limited income.
Last season there were two night games at Memorial. I doubt there will be more than that this season.
My ideal number of home night games is zero, although September night games at Memorial are acceptable to me because the weather can still be nice and warm (the Tennessee game comes to mind). My question regarded how we know anything about the number of night games at home this coming year since currently none of the games on the schedule have been announced as night games (and the only weekday game falls on a date that does not preclude a day game)? If oskidunker is simply taking the recent historical average of night games (about two per season) as a predictor and assessing that as "too much" then I think we're jumping the gun on declaring that there will be a lot of night games since there could be fewer than that. Perhaps there will only be one night game; with seven home games, would one night game be too much to warrant buying season tickets even for those who didn't intend to attend any night games?
I would also take into account the likelihood that this coming home season should be very enjoyable to watch from a standpoint of our team doing well.
