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WVU season ticket sales continue to decline

Rootmaster

Rootmaster

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Apr 16, 2011
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WVU has sold around 24,000 season ticket packages with a projection of 25,000-26,000 tops. Five years ago, the Mountaineers were above 33,000 at this time. The Mountaineer drop off is pretty severe.

It is a similar story around the NCAA and with TV viewership as well...declines.

Perhaps the CFP system is sucking the life out of the meaning for games for the vast number of schools. Or, today's flag football style game is boring. Or, young folks today would rather play a video game than the real thing. Just sayin'
 
Or college football programs started splitting up their packages to mini-packs and the fact that people spent the last decade recovering from a recession realized that they get as much enjoyment out of 3 games as they did when they could only buy the full season....

Who cares how the tickets get sold? Game and season attendances matter
 
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Rootmaster said:
WVU has sold around 24,000 season ticket packages with a projection of 25,000-26,000 tops. Five years ago, the Mountaineers were above 33,000 at this time. The Mountaineer drop off is pretty severe.

It is a similar story around the NCAA and with TV viewership as well...declines.

Perhaps the CFP system is sucking the life out of the meaning for games for the vast number of schools. Or, today's flag football style game is boring. Or, young folks today would rather play a video game than the real thing. Just sayin'
Click to expand...

Its definitely all around..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...st-decline-in-history/?utm_term=.98112202f668
 
We have Kst, Baylor, TCU and OK at home

Ticket sales are not an issue come September.

We will average around 57,000 next season if not more. All depends on if the students show up for Youngstown St and Kansas. Those games will throw off the average
 
Take your subject line and shove it where the sun don't shine. F U.
 
Rootmaster said:
WVU has sold around 24,000 season ticket packages with a projection of 25,000-26,000 tops. Five years ago, the Mountaineers were above 33,000 at this time. The Mountaineer drop off is pretty severe.

It is a similar story around the NCAA and with TV viewership as well...declines.

Perhaps the CFP system is sucking the life out of the meaning for games for the vast number of schools. Or, today's flag football style game is boring. Or, young folks today would rather play a video game than the real thing. Just sayin'
Click to expand...
Costs have risen to where it is more difficult for families to attend. Plus, we are told all the time that the population of WV is also declining AND, maybe more importantly, AGING. The latter means that more and more folks are relying totally om retirement income. Noy as much liquidity as when they were gainfully employed. Plus more games are available on TV than they were a decade or two ago.
 
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This issue is with lack of involvement of the college students. They no longer view attending sporting events as part of the university experience.

Arizona State, Kentucky, North Carolina and Penn State are all in the process of downsizing stadiums. In marketing circles, that creates a more intimate experience. Marketers continue to struggle to find a successful balance in stadiums. Across all leagues, that means making the game experience as close to that living room experience as possible.

The reasons are varied and have been discussed at length in recent years. Better television quality and presentation of the games by the TV networks have made staying at home or watching at a sports bar a much more enticing proposition; why would you pay top dollar to fight traffic and crowds to watch a game out in the elements when you could simply stay home and have a much better view at a much lower price? Other observers point to today’s students, fewer of whom see going to football games as an important element of college life.
 
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https://www.cbssports.com/college-f...ion-with-largest-attendance-drop-in-34-years/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...st-decline-in-history/?utm_term=.d2524957016d

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/22422239/college-football-attendance-declines-2017

How to briefly fix college football attendance sort of...

The attendance difference between a winning season and losing season is about 18 percent of stadium capacity. , per one study, which also found that a winning season the year prior is even more important.

https://www.sbnation.com/college-fo.../college-football-attendance-decline-dropping
 
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The rain hurts attendance. A noon game vs Texas last year hurt attendance cause it was forecasted with 100% rain the previous several days and up to the game day. Other than that most WVU games are filled up. If we played in a conference with our border states we would have to expand the stadium. Imagine Ohio State, Penn State, VT, Maryland, Pitt on schedule every year. Wow. We would have to add 10-15,000 seats easy. Population around Morgantown has increased so we would sell out 75,000 with those teams coming in year to year.
 
Pay your mortgage vs Pay for WVU season tickets
Pay for your kids tuition vs Pay for WVU season tickets
Pay for (fill in the blank) vs Pay for WVU season tickets
Invest in your retirement vs Pay for WVU season tickets

The economy in WV sucks (minus the Eastern Panhandle, Morgantown, Clarksburg), and has for probably the last 8 years. The Capitol City Charleston is dying like Huntington (5-10 years behind). Only growth in Charleston has been in homelessness, overdose rate, heroin use, and needles all over the Capitol city-thank you Charleston City Council and your BRILLIANT needle exchange program which finally has went away. The coalfields are really bad economically. The loss of population in WV is real (see census). Many have moved out.

I'm shocked the decline in season tickets isn't higher.

I'm only attending certain games a season because I refuse to pay for 1aa tomatoe can games. I'd rather spend a few more days at the beach instead and watch that GUARANTEED ASS KICKING game locally with folks I know.
Btw my mortgage is paid off but I'm still not watching a WVU vs tomatoe can U game on a Saturday afternoon/evening.

I think it comes down to economics and options for the consumer.
 
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It’s cost $$$. People around America have to work too much to survive with rising cost of living. Sports takes a back seat with people unable to enjoy and do things they like outside of work. The USA has become a angry miserable population full of foreigners and people that don’t care or understand the USA culture. Foreigners don’t care about USA sports much. It’s understandable. Families can’t attend it’s becoming adult thing. Kids can’t afford to come it’s just dad and mom or dad and a buddy. That’s a problem. It is catching up. Kids are future and need to see the culture.

Also the amount of games on TV to watch is huge. It waters down each game ratings cause every state, region can watch their own teams, games. Years ago you could only watch a few channels on Saturday now there are games on 50 channels on Tuesday-Saturday. D1 College football games are now on Tuesday, Wednesday as well. Lol...Thursday, Friday has become big college nights too. Saturday is the big finale day. Just too many games and options. It lowers ratings for each game but increases viewers overall actually.
 
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Since the beginning of the decade, conferences have realigned to create confusing and uninteresting match-ups. Schools have given up storied rivalries and anticipated games for TV money, sacrificing fan interest and student involvement.

CFB rivalries killed by conference realignment

Texas-Texas A&M? Gone. The Backyard Brawl between West Virginia and Pitt? Gone. Nebraska-Oklahoma? Forget about it. The Border War against Kansas and Missouri.

Nobody wants a forced rivalry. They want authenticity. They want to see the rivalries they grew up with and heard their family talking about. They want to pass down the hatred to their kids.

You want people in the seats? Make rivalry games a priority.
 
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3xWVUengineer you could say that about most of the USA. The American South is still full of poverty state wide but college football is huge in their culture. Just like WV there are still people that can afford cause you got the rich, middle, poor everywhere. Get back to regional rivalries and regional conferences and problem is fixed.

Cost of living is rising throughout the USA and people are grinded, stressed more. They can’t enjoy things outside of work like they use to decades ago. Also the consumer isn’t stupid. People don’t want to overpay. The cost of season tickets and overall game day experience is too high. People don’t like being ripped off. Lower the cost and allow families to attend and get back to regional rivalries and the problem is fixed. WVU football is still huge in WV.
 
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WVUallen good point. I like that. It’s ridiculous to see the arms race $ ruin what makes sense. WVU needs to be back in a eastern conference that makes sense and Texas A&M needs back in Big 12 with Nebraska, Missouri. Why the hell is Missouri in SEC????

Let’s get back to 9-10 team conferences and regional rivalries. Imagine WVU playing Penn State, Pitt, Maryland, VT, Virginia or Ohio State every year???? That would be incredible. It would increase interest all across board in every region.
 
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WVpride304 said:
WVUallen good point. I like that. It’s ridiculous to see the arms race $ ruin what makes sense. WVU needs to be back in a eastern conference that makes sense and Texas A&M needs back in Big 12 with Nebraska, Missouri. Why the hell is Missouri in SEC????

Let’s get back to 9-10 team conferences and regional rivalries. Imagine WVU playing Penn State, Pitt, Maryland, VT, Virginia or Ohio State every year???? That would be incredible. It would increase interest all across board in every region.
Click to expand...

And would not weaken the strength of schedule at all. It would be as equal as Big 12. Possibly tougher. I blame the Big East for not being proactive when conferences were realigning. Imagine a conference with..

Pitt
PSU
WVU
Boston College
Maryland
FSU
Miami, Fla.
Rutgers
VT
Louisville
Cincinnati
Temple (everybody needs a Kansas)
 
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I would let the Florida schools stay south with all the NC schools to keep everybody in the regions happy, fair. My football conference would be

1 WVU
2 Penn State
3 Pitt
4 VT
5 Virginia
6 Maryland
7 Rutgers
8 Syracuse
9 Boston College
10 UCONN

add 4-5 Catholic schools from the old Big East for basketball and bring the Big East back.

11 Villanova (Philadelphia market)
12 St. John’s (NYC market)
13 Seton Hall (NJ greater NYC)
14 Providence (Rhode Island)
15 Georgetown (DC market although Maryland already delivers)

This would be a dominant northeastern conference in all sports with low travel cost and regional rivalries. 10 team football conference would be perfect fit. Low travel cost. Could bus to almost entire conference.
 
WVpride304 said:
I would let the Florida schools stay south with all the NC schools to keep everybody in the regions happy, fair. My football conference would be

1 WVU
2 Penn State
3 Pitt
4 VT
5 Virginia
6 Maryland
7 Rutgers
8 Syracuse
9 Boston College
10 UCONN

add 4-5 Catholic schools from the old Big East for basketball and bring the Big East back.

11 Villanova (Philadelphia market)
12 St. John’s (NYC market)
13 Seton Hall (NJ greater NYC)
14 Providence (Rhode Island)
15 Georgetown (DC market although Maryland already delivers)

This would be a dominant northeastern conference in all sports with low travel cost and regional rivalries. 10 team football conference would be perfect fit. Low travel cost. Could bus to almost entire conference.
Click to expand...
Could have had most (if not all) of that had it not been for Pitt balking because Joe Pa was the instigator and they wanted to show their A$$es
 
Forgot about Syracuse. Drop UCONN and pick one of the Florida schools preferably FSU. Need that Florida presence for some Florida recruiting. Kids not going FSU would gladly join a a team from the same conference to play against them.

1 WVU
2 Penn State
3 Pitt
4 VT
5 Virginia
6 Maryland
7 Rutgers
8 Syracuse
9 Boston College
10 FSU

The catholic schools back for Old Big East. That's what ruined the Big East in the first place.
 
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skygusty said:
Twilight Zone.
Click to expand...

Eye of the beholder, once the bandages are unwrapped and the result of the surgery is seen, we realize that, yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The wonderfully gruesome makeup effects.
 
How come the NBA saw attendance increases the last few seasons with folks having money troubles in America?


It’s almost like it’s compounded in a state like WV?
 
West Virginia coming off a 2016 season saw an increase in attendance. The average attendance at Milan Puskar Stadium rose from 54,826 in 2015 to 57,583 in 2016.

Mountaineers saw a slight decline from 2016 to 2017. In 2016 3/7 games at Milan Puskar Stadium were at or above max capacity, while in 2017 that only happened once. In 2017 there were two games with less than 90% capacity, which only happened once in 2016. The least-attended game in 2016 was the final game of the season against Baylor (82.05%). In 2017 the fewest people showed up to watch the Mountaineers beat down FCS opponent Delaware State (85.8%), while the other game under 90% capacity came against Texas (88.56%). With the best returning offense in the Big 12, Mountaineer fans should have plenty of reasons to show up in 2018.
 
Rootmaster said:
lol. Be a better poster...or at least pretend you have a clue.
Click to expand...

At least look at our attendance averages before you make your argument....

Even when we have bad teams, our fans show up if we are playing big names.

The only thing that kills our attendance is hunting season

Our program attendance average is just under 55,000 at our current stadium. Good season or bad, we don’t stray from that much.

http://wvustats.com/sport/football/attendance


Hell we were 3-2 last season and sold out against a bad TTU team, lol
 
Keaton...if you truly believe that your comment that fans showing up for big games is somehow a good thing for WVU football then you are more than clueless and a low IQ poster as well. Last comment from me to you since you are a waste of breath...good for a laugh but not much else.
 
“Wow, sorry. I didn’t know the attendance stats when I made my stupid comment”


That’s what you should have posted
 
KeatonsCorner said:
How come the NBA saw attendance increases the last few seasons with folks having money troubles in America?


It’s almost like it’s compounded in a state like WV?
Click to expand...


Corporate support in NBA cities much higher than Morgantown for starters. Pro sports in big cities dominate entertainment dollar.
 
The NBA has to give away tickets to corporations locally to get people in seats cause people don’t care about NBA enough anymore. NBA has been dead for 20 years. Half of NBA arenas are empty too often.

WVU has excellent attendance in football and basketball even with a terrible coach like Dana Holgorson who loses too much. WVU is just huge in WV and WV folks support. WVU is located in North Central WV which has lots of money. Plus we have many fans, alumni in western PA and eastern panhandle, northern panhandle and down state. If we have a good season it will be sellouts all year in football. It should be. WVU hoops will break attendance record and increase season tickets again. WV is a great state and WVU is king.
 
is Penn State really reducing stadium size? Also when joe pa approached everyone about forming a conference he was greedy and didn't want to split the revenue evenly amongst everyone.
 
Penn State is adding some premium seating and chair backs that will only reduce seating from 107,000 to 104,000. Not a big deal. They are doing modern upgrades which many PSU fans don’t want cause they want to keep the old tradition and old look. Let’s hope college stadiums don’t get small and stupid like the boring NFL liberal thug league. CNN viewers aka fake news loves the NFL. They go hand in hand.
 
WVpride304 said:
Penn State is adding some premium seating and chair backs that will only reduce seating from 107,000 to 104,000. Not a big deal. They are doing modern upgrades which many PSU fans don’t want cause they want to keep the old tradition and old look. Let’s hope college stadiums don’t get small and stupid like the boring NFL liberal thug league. CNN viewers aka fake news loves the NFL. They go hand in hand.
Click to expand...


Trying too hard to be controversial now...


Show some self control
 
? Just the truth.

Penn State fans want to keep the stadium old school. I agree. I was in State College area recently. That area is booming. Very nice. I could see Morgantown area catching up to that over the next decade. Both areas are great. Great college tradition.
 
KeatonsCorner said:
Explain why that matters, how tickets are sold.....

They sell. That’s all that matters. Check our attendance averages
Click to expand...
I agree with Keaton on this. If WVU averages 58,000 attendance, who cares whether it's from season tickets or mini-packages or game-day sales. Oh, I know the AD feels better if 30,000 season tickets are sold before the opener. So do I. But in the long run it's how many $$$ are plunked down to get into Mountaineer Field for the entire season that counts.
 
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WVpride304 said:
? Just the truth.

Penn State fans want to keep the stadium old school. I agree. I was in State College area recently. That area is booming. Very nice. I could see Morgantown area catching up to that over the next decade. Both areas are great. Great college tradition.
Click to expand...

You think Morgantown will turn into State College in a decade?

Do you even realize that PSU’s student populations is QUADRUPLE that of WVU’s?
 
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