Which is one of the biggest flaws in your argument imo. You should start by just talking about Iowa State. It’s the most relevant model to discussing Iowa State. Next are you going to reference NFL attendance numbers?
Our Jack Trice stadium
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Alright. I’m done with the argument. You keep thinking Iowa State is magically different than the trend of almost every university’s ticket sale trends in the country.
Sure but i'm not sure you can look at ours that way.
Ours were depressed compared to what they should have been due to the 'lost generation' effect we had in our fanbase. Since the 90s, as we have grown past that, have done a better job turning students into fans (and have seen a growth in the size of the student body), have done a better job of keeping people coming to games after graduation, and then have done a great job at making it easy for families to bring their kids to games (all of these things through offering varied price points that hit all parts of the pipeline). And even then, its still depressed. If this program even got to the point where it was 6-6 regularly at this point, i imagine it could justify another 10k seats quite easily, and you may want to do that to keep the ability to offer the varied price points we do to keep the fan pipeline flowing.
http://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=3204246
If you have ESPN3, the TD is at the 1:06:00 mark, review shortly after. Sounds awesome! (You're welcome
)
You’re just regurgitating the fallacies mindlessly posted when the SEZ was discussed, so yes, let’s stop.
Has the local population increased, too? And further, it’s not even really about expansion. The difference between 61k and 65k is negligible in terms of downside risk reduction imo.
...might have had the watchESPN app going too....for my co-pilot to watch.
Yes. Ames has gotten about 20% larger over the last 10 years, and the des moines metro has seen quite a bit of growth as well, which helps grow the fanbase especially given the inroads ISU has made into the des moines area over the last 20 years (particularly in the rapidly growing suburbs. i swear i see more ISU than Iowa in ankeny)
Thinking about it more, when comparing to NFL and other college attendances, maybe there's something to think about there. Many of them have priced themselves out of the markets that would allow the development of lifelong fans, and theyre paying the price for the lack of fan development they did in the past. We haven't, and have always offered lots of options to draw fans in (and then as an athletic department, try to move people up the pay-scale). In this way, despite the almost cliche of 'why expand a stadium you don't fill', maybe its actually a bad thing long-term to not have a little extra capacity to play with (if you use it correctly). You obviously don't want to go overboard with it, but as you say, a few thousand more would hardly be doing that.
Right. The increase in Iowa State graduates had to go somewhere (besides out of state).
Agree, regardless of what they do, I hope they are able to maintain an “investment and development” ticket price. Add premium seating, but have enough capacity for the hillside or nothing crowd. I know others scoff, but I don’t see tangible risk to 65k when the downside is having to use a tarp or add video boards to block out seats.
Something you aren't grasping in your argument is that prior to the SEZ project the average attendance for a game was somewhere in the upper 40,000s range, with the max sellout being in the mid 50,000s. Now the average attendance is in the low to mid 50s, with max sellout in the low 60s. With the on field product being a recent boost, otherwise the only thing that can be attributed to the change is the SEZ. Building the SEZ has not only attracted more fans, but also attracted Higher paying ones. As it replace at minimum 6,200 of the cheapest tickets with higher value tickets, and some being some of the highest value tickets in the stadium. Right now we are averaging close to or above what would have been a sellout at before the SEZ with the with those tickets being much higher revenue generating tickets. With right now on average 2 games per year selling out at the higher capacity.
Nothing shows me that no matter what capacity we add it will not sell out for certain games, so in turn will be an instant increase, and replacing the lowest value with the highest value tickets in the stadium generates much more revenue. So no matter what we build if it removes low revenue seats and replaces them with High revenue seats even if we average the same number of attendees we come out way ahead.
But as the SEZ has shown, just by building it, can increase the amount of tickets sold. So on average our attendance could increase to the 60,000 range just by building it, if the same model of the SEZ attendance holds true to the NEZ. That wont be a sellout on average but I see no sign that we wont sell out games like Iowa, Northern Iowa, or possibly other early big games. But No matter what we would be replacing the 6200 cheap seats with higher value seats, not to mention the giant leap in atmosphere.
I still don't see it happening for several years, but I don't say there is no need or reason for it. There are some good reasons for it, but of course there are some to not do it as well. Mostly, being the cost to build. Attendance numbers are not one of them.
I'm curious to see what the crowd sounded like on TV. This was epic live. Gave me goosebumps then and after watching this.
It was great on TV, even if less than a sellout and cold. This sounds weird, but honestly the band sounded great on TV.
Haha, that's because they're amazing. Most of our fans know that our band is good, but not a ton realize it's probably one of the best in the country.
Sounded great on TV and only added to the drama of a great football game atmosphere.
People need to keep in mind that the Cyclone Power chant has also been pretty great even with bad teams.
I'm neutral on the expansion issue. But I'm not neutral on keeping family friendly pricing. You get to have young alumni/fans and those little kids come and have fun you develop fans and possibly the next generation of students. Let the "suite life" subsidize fan growth.
I do agree no matter what they do for future expansion/renovation, they need to continue the Jr Cyclone club, and its benefits. Whether that means keeping the hillsides in some form, or designating/adding a specific section or area for the Jr Cyclone, parent pass members. I am sure there are smarter people than me that know how to make that happen.
Cyclone Power was cool, but I smiled while hearing the Lets Go State chant on TV. We hear that one a lot for basketball, but I don't think I've heard it clearly on a football broadcast. It was loud.
I was lucky enough to have a sideline pass so before the game went in to press box Bob Bowlsby introduced himself snd said he was staying until half time then catching a flight to Sooners game. Thinks DM is the real deal but wouldn't give me his prediction. Able to walk the sidelines and get right up close to the players as well. They're huge up close! Anyway I was standing near TCU bench the last 6-7 minutes of game and I'm telling you all it was LOUD down there and I believe it had an affect on TCU's offense. Then nearly got trampled trying to make a run for it afterwards!
Isn't that a "visitors" section? If so, not our fault our opponent's fans aren't buying tickets.
