Herd game update - Thursday

[AppSt94]

So you are saying the sun belt office dictates our ooc games

In a sense, yes. They have a say in what OOC games are televised per agreement with the tv contract.

[WASU 93]

Are we hitting the NASCAR conundrum? In the late 90's and early 00's, NASCAR had an opportunity to grow the brand and started making decisions to enter new geographies and to chase the casual sports fan. These changes adversely affected many in their loyal Southeastern traditional fan base. It worked in the short term, but the long term effect sees the sport in decline, tracks removing seats and some of the "new" geographies being abandoned.

September and October Saturdays are special. In my mind, nothing beats a Saturday tailgate on the mountain followed by an afternoon game in a packed Kidd Brewer Stadium. This year, we get to play at BOA (I've never been a fan of playing a college game in an NFL stadium), plus have a Thursday home game against Marshall and a Wednesday home game against Coastal (Both of these games would have been BIG Saturday Crowds)

Our Saturday Home Games in September are Elon on Sept. 18th and ULM on October 30 (almost November). An FCS game and an almost FCS game.

After a year with minimal fans, 2021 is the first season for many to experience the "new" Rock. To see the new configuration, to see the new turf for the first time, etc.

Looking back to 2007 (after opening at Michigan),
HOME September 8--Lenoir-Rhyne 28,802
HOME September 15--Northern Arizona 27,104
HOME--October 6--Gardner-Webb 27,428
HOME-October 20--Georgia Southern (Black Saturday) 28,202

We are hosting much better opponents, but we are getting half the quality Home Saturdays as a fanbase.

The National exposure is great. Our Brand is recognized. We have a top G5 program. But, is the scheduling a detriment?

Is it scheduling or accessibility? I agree that the lack of true local foes and familiar rivals does affect the size of the gate. However, given that all games are available on some sort of media outlet, could this be a bigger root cause? I mean you can watch every game played at the Rock on TV for the price of a single game ticket. That is a huge cost benefit for the casual fan.

This isn’t directed solely at you, but a general question about mini season packets. Less say the Ticket Office offered a mini package composed of three games each. For sake of argument, let’s say the packages are the following: 1) Marshall, USA and ULM (Homecoming), 2) Elon, Coastal, and Georgia Southern. Both decent options when the opponents are presented, but what happens when you buy a packet and the attractive games get moved to a weeknight and you can’t go? Say Southern gets moved to Friday night after Thanksgiving. That’s two non-Saturday games and a FCS opponent. How does the AD and ticket office handle the process of providing a quality customer service experience for those with buyers remorse?

Perhaps, it is just one mini game packet (Elon, ULM, GaSo) and it is not rolled out until mid-summer. Include parking ((Legends?) and provide a focused tailgate experience with cheerleaders, the band, maybe a band in Legends, etc). Even if you sell 1K more, you plant the seeds and develop the fan base. Better than not trying

[AppSt94]

Are we hitting the NASCAR conundrum? In the late 90's and early 00's, NASCAR had an opportunity to grow the brand and started making decisions to enter new geographies and to chase the casual sports fan. These changes adversely affected many in their loyal Southeastern traditional fan base. It worked in the short term, but the long term effect sees the sport in decline, tracks removing seats and some of the "new" geographies being abandoned.

September and October Saturdays are special. In my mind, nothing beats a Saturday tailgate on the mountain followed by an afternoon game in a packed Kidd Brewer Stadium. This year, we get to play at BOA (I've never been a fan of playing a college game in an NFL stadium), plus have a Thursday home game against Marshall and a Wednesday home game against Coastal (Both of these games would have been BIG Saturday Crowds)

Our Saturday Home Games in September are Elon on Sept. 18th and ULM on October 30 (almost November). An FCS game and an almost FCS game.

After a year with minimal fans, 2021 is the first season for many to experience the "new" Rock. To see the new configuration, to see the new turf for the first time, etc.

Looking back to 2007 (after opening at Michigan),
HOME September 8--Lenoir-Rhyne 28,802
HOME September 15--Northern Arizona 27,104
HOME--October 6--Gardner-Webb 27,428
HOME-October 20--Georgia Southern (Black Saturday) 28,202

We are hosting much better opponents, but we are getting half the quality Home Saturdays as a fanbase.

The National exposure is great. Our Brand is recognized. We have a top G5 program. But, is the scheduling a detriment?

Is it scheduling or accessibility? I agree that the lack of true local foes and familiar rivals does affect the size of the gate. However, given that all games are available on some sort of media outlet, could this be a bigger root cause? I mean you can watch every game played at the Rock on TV for the price of a single game ticket. That is a huge cost benefit for the casual fan.

This isn’t directed solely at you, but a general question about mini season packets. Less say the Ticket Office offered a mini package composed of three games each. For sake of argument, let’s say the packages are the following: 1) Marshall, USA and ULM (Homecoming), 2) Elon, Coastal, and Georgia Southern. Both decent options when the opponents are presented, but what happens when you buy a packet and the attractive games get moved to a weeknight and you can’t go? Say Southern gets moved to Friday night after Thanksgiving. That’s two non-Saturday games and a FCS opponent. How does the AD and ticket office handle the process of providing a quality customer service experience for those with buyers remorse?

Perhaps, it is just one mini game packet (Elon, ULM, GaSo) and it is not rolled out until mid-summer. Include parking ((Legends?) and provide a focused tailgate experience with cheerleaders, the band, maybe a band in Legends, etc). Even if you sell 1K more, you plant the seeds and develop the fan base. Better than not trying

As a concept, I do agree with this. Good option all around and it really does target specific events to show the fan experience.