An open letter to LoSuRs everywhere: Of Tirades and Attendance

[soonerboy_odanorth]

I love it.

Largely because I'm guessing you of the traffic cone orange-clad contingent have simmered down a bit since Troy exposed “The World’s Most Powerful Offense.” And it's always nice to see another Stunned Aggietm or two after a debacle like that.

But now this. Mike “The Pout” Gundy gets your school big time publicity. Of course, it’s of the I’m-not-laughing-with-you-I’m-laughing-at-you variety… but at least he found a way to get your name in the paper.

Oh, and did you peek at the stat lines of your game against Tumbleweed Tech? The situation is this: You’ve gotten off to a rough start, been exposed by a college football “have-not”, and the only way to right the ship is to make a strong run through your conference starting with the conference opener against a high octane opponent in what everyone is guessing will be an exciting shootout on national TV. As a true bleeding-orange fan what do you do in this situation?

Stay home.

In droves.

^^some Jenni Carlson stylings, just for your pleasure^^

Capacity: 50,616

Attendance: 37,850

By my estimates you only have 12,766 people to go to get a full house. That is until the expansion is complete. Then you’ll only need 32,150.

Let's think of some ways for your man Gundy to manufacture a full house:

1.) Reschedule all home games to Friday night. Go over to the barn, fire up the tractor, hitch up a plow, and till all the Tulsa big school fields so that they are completely unplayable. Get the word out that Jenks, Union, Broken Bow, etc. can all reschedule their games for Friday night in Stillwater. You can be their warm-up act.

2.) Reschedule all home games to Sunday morning at 10:00am and advertise a Billy Graham Sunday Revival to be held at “the Boone”.

3.) Steal a page from MLB’s Angels and rename the team “The Wichita State Shockers at Oklahoma State”.

4.) Require all visiting teams to wear OU replica uniforms.

5.) Let the OU scout team play out the rest of your schedule for you.

Really, it bears repeating: You’re expanding to 70,000? Why? So that we can turn your stadium half crimson like we did Tulsa’s?

Actually this is good for the conference.... in that all the other Big XII member schools picked up another home game when they're on your schedule in the coming years.

So... Thanks!

And hey, do keep us up-to-date with goings-on up there at the Laughing Stockyards. We can always use a chuckle.

[cheezyq]

Good post. It's also helped me figure out why they keep raising the ticket prices at their games....they want to keep the other team from showing up. :D

[SoonerStormchaser]

Now that's funny...SPEK!

[StanberryWasIn]

Laughing Stockyards

Allsome.

[fadada1]

you've listed five options there, soonerboy. do we get to vote on one? or can i donate an assload of money and pick my own? can we try all five and decide which works best? have you conducted a "mock up" in real-life situations to determine which scenerio will work best?


i think all have merit and show potential.

i'm not sure which one will work best, but it sure will be fun to watch.

[devOUt]

You are a better writer than anyone at the Daily Oklahoman.

[Sooner_Havok]

You are a better writer than anyone at the Daily Oklahoman.


Way to complement the guy:rolleyes:

[auto]

funnny shiaaat there.

[CatfishSooner]

hehje

[85sooners]

hahahahahahahaha

[OSUAggie]

Capacity: 50,616

Attendance: 37,850

By my estimates you only have 12,766 people to go to get a full house.

Nice calculator work, but capacity is a few thousand less than 50,616. Not that I'm excusing people not going to the game, just trying to get some facts straight for you.


That is until the expansion is complete. Then you’ll only need 32,150.

Pretty solid calculator work again, but capacity will be 60,000 after the expansion.


Really, it bears repeating: You’re expanding to 70,000?

Really, it bears repeating: Expansion is going to 60,000.

[bluedogok]

My wife asked why they were expanding and raising ticket prices when they can't fill up what they already have.

I told her I think it is because they have a country club AD who hangs out with a pension robber so they think everyone has the level of money that the circles that they run in.

[Sooner_Havok]

My wife asked why they were expanding and raising ticket prices when they can't fill up what they already have.


One word answer: Aggie

Two Word Answer: Dumb @ss

Three Word Answer: Mother of Children

Four Word Answer: To much Hair gel

[hairGel]

[SanDiegoSoonerGal]

Nice calculator work, but capacity is a few thousand less than 50,616. Not that I'm excusing people not going to the game, just trying to get some facts straight for you.



Pretty solid calculator work again, but capacity will be 60,000 after the expansion.



Really, it bears repeating: Expansion is going to 60,000.

Okay, I was an English major, but sometimes just for fun I like to try math.

Let's assume that 50,616, minus a generous "few thousand" of 5,000 = 45,616

45,616 -37,850 = an empty seat count of 7,766

which means

a post-expansion 60,000 - 37,850 = an empty seat count of 22,150.

OK, so it's 10K off from Sooner Boy's estimate. But filling 60,000 seats still means increasing attendance by nearly 2/3.

hahhahahhahahhah <wiping eyes>

And sorry, no, I'm not a mother of children...

--Calculator Queen of San Diego

[goingoneight]

Can we start another thread on OSU? Please?

I mean... we only have fielded the most impressive team in three or four years under Stoops, solid 4-0 and making another run at the crystal ball. Nothing special or anything, right?

[Sooner_Havok]

Can we start another thread on OSU? Please?

I mean... we only have fielded the most impressive team in three or four years under Stoops, solid 4-0 and making another run at the crystal ball. Nothing special or anything, right?


Hey, perfection is boring, didn't you get the memo? :rolleyes:

http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100189

[SanDiegoSoonerGal]

Can we start another thread on OSU? Please?

I mean... we only have fielded the most impressive team in three or four years under Stoops, solid 4-0 and making another run at the crystal ball. Nothing special or anything, right?

Ah, you're right, but can't we have our fun for just a little while longer?? I know it's like shooting fish in a barrel, but then again, its...OSU.
[hairGel]

[Sooner_Havok]

Ah, you're right, but can't we have our fun for just a little while longer?? I know it's like shooting fish in hair gel, but then again, its...OSU.
[hairGel]

Fixed :P

[insuranceman_22]

Now this is d@mn good thread!

[goingoneight]

I have to admit... [hairGel] makes it funny.

[Crucifax Autumn]

I'm tired of sheephumper threads too, but this one was pretty good!

Great Job Sooner Boy!

[Sooner in Tampa]

Come after me...I'm a 40 yr old kid [hairGel]

[Jacie]

From Saturday night's broadcast was the report of how TU was remodeling their stadium and the finished product would lower capacity. Now that folks is an example of addition through subtraction. It is too bad that T-Bone doesn't understand the economics of football attendance in Stillwater as well as he does the natural gas market because all he's doing is creating a lot of empty seats.

[guzziguy]

From Saturday night's broadcast was the report of how TU was remodeling their stadium and the finished product would lower capacity. Now that folks is an example of addition through subtraction. It is too bad that T-Bone doesn't understand the economics of football attendance in Stillwater as well as he does the natural gas market because all he's doing is creating a lot of empty seats.


But won't those shiny new unused seats look good on TV?

No?

Never mind.

[hgarmorer]

I love the fact that Aggie knocked your math skills but said NOTHING to the statements you made about EVERYTHING else. I guess you can't argue with logic. Classic!

[sooneron]

I like option #4.

The fans would lose their voices by the 3rd game. Stupid gooners!! [hairGel]

[soonerwalt]

Don't know if this has been posted in another thread but I thought this was PDF!!!!

Dennis Dodd from CBS Sportsline.com

http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/10368451

[OSUAggie]

I love the fact that Aggie knocked your math skills but said NOTHING to the statements you made about EVERYTHING else. I guess you can't argue with logic. Classic!

I wasn't really knocking the math skills. More like knocking his Carlson-esque "facts" that were presented - ya' know, some **** he heard somewhere from his 'peeps', and what not.

And it's like this regarding the addition by subtraction thing:

TU doesn't have to compete in the Big XII for $.

When a school that has been an also-ran in the world of college football has aspirations of consistently competing for conference championships and there stand Oklahoma and Texas in the way of those championships, said school will need some comparable cash in its operational budget. In order to increase the operational budget without having ridiculous ticket prices, more seats need to be added.

I'll give you a for instance:

The University of Texas' football program generated somewhere around $60-million for FYE 2006 (the last year before the first ticket hike @ OSU), by far the most in conference. That same year, the University of Oklahoma's football program was in the $35-million range of generated cash, or 3rd in the conference (behind A&M).

Oklahoma State, on the other hand, had a football budget that consisted of $16,917,935.00 worth of black figures. That'd be down there with the have-nots, ranking ahead of only Baylor, Kansas, Iowa State, and Missouri.

How does one address this?

Well, there is more than one way to do it. It appears most (if not 100%) of you folks aren't in agreement with Mike Holder's idea of raising ticket prices before the product on the field appreciates (assuming it ever will) to a more competitive level. I think it will be fine once the WEZ project is complete because roughly 15,000 new seats will become affordable options for those that are on a tighter budget.

The value of the "average" ticket @ BPS has to be among the highest in the conference because there are so few seats. I understand the simple logic of "you know your prices are too high when people don't come to the games," but I don't think that's applicable in this case.

People have never come to the games in droves. There hasn't really ever been anything for the casual fan to come and experience. I think that will change once everything is completed. Not saying we'll sell out every game for the first 15 seasons, or anything, but I am saying that the crowds will approach sellout status for much of 2008 and 2009, then in future years depending on the success of the program over the next few seasons.

The administration and/or athletic department is asking the fan base to take the first step and to trust that the product on the field will follow. That's fine.

But they get a very limited window to accomplish something substantial because of this strategy.

[jwlynn64]

Dennis Dodd from CBS Sportsline.com

http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/10368451

Now imagine that, a sports columnist taking up for another sports columnist! Who would've thought. ;)

I love how he puts himself into the "you can't touch me, I'm the free press." position. I guess he can't see that he is doing the same thing that Gundy did, except in print and not on video.

Mr. Kettle, meet Mr. Pot.

[sitzpinkler]

the product on the field will follow.

Not gonna happen. Ever.

[soonerx]

1.) Reschedule all home games to Friday night. Go over to the barn, fire up the tractor, hitch up a plow, and till all the Tulsa big school fields so that they are completely unplayable. Get the word out that Jenks, Union, Broken Bow, etc. can all reschedule their games for Friday night in Stillwater. You can be their warm-up act.


Dude, you can't be from Oklahoma and get Broken Arrow and Broken Bow mixed up!

[Stoop Dawg]

The value of the "average" ticket @ BPS has to be among the highest in the conference because there are so few seats. I understand the simple logic of "you know your prices are too high when people don't come to the games," but I don't think that's applicable in this case.

The only way that this can be true is if every game does, in fact, sell out but the ticket holders simply don't show up. I hear that's the case at OU basketball games.

If, on the other hand, every game is *not* a sell out, then the notion of expanding the stadium to generate more $$$ is illogical.

I'm sure they offer at least one econ class up there. If not, pick up any entry-level econ book and skip the chapter on "supply & demand". It'll bring things into focus for you.

[OSUAggie]

I'm sure they offer at least one econ class up there. If not, pick up any entry-level econ book and skip the chapter on "supply & demand". It'll bring things into focus for you.

Let's say the average OSU ticket costs $85 (which is close to accurate).

Let's say the 2007 OSU average attendance drops 5% from last year - which was 40,954 - to 38,906.

What's 38,906 x $85?

$3,307,010.00

* 6 home games = $19,842,060 worth of ticket sales

----------------------------------------

Demand appears to be saying that ticket prices are too high in relation to the quality of the product.

So we'll assume that an average ticket price of $60 will likely entice a sellout of 43,500.


What's 43,500 x $60?

$2,610,000.00

* 6 = $15,660,000.00

Which # is greater?

--------------------------------


If, on the other hand, every game is *not* a sell out, then the notion of expanding the stadium to generate more $$$ is illogical.

This assumption would be based on the idea that people don't want to come to games.

Based on the relative success of the Miles tenure, this ideology appears to be inaccurate. Season ticket sales were at an all-time high because we were winning 7-9 games a year. Then came the ticket hike after a 4-7 season. There is a healthy fanbase in Oklahoma that wants competitiveness out of its football program and will come support a product if it is competitive and affordable.

The addition of seats allows for prezactly 16,500 fat asses to be placed inside the stadium at an affordable price (it will actually be more than that, but I don't want to get into trying to explain that aspect).

It also lowers the average ticket price so we don't appear to be emulating Texas without the results on the field as a source of valor.

[Stoop Dawg]

As you have astutely stated, demand is influenced by more than just price. In football, I'd say it's relatively price in-elastic. I don't know that for a fact, but you're using lots of shaky assumptions so I will too. I'm not at all sure that lowering your price to $60 per ticket will entice a sell out crowd. As you state later, a winning team is what entices fans to come watch. In order to determine price elasticity you'd need to modify price while "wins" remain static and see what happens to demand. Raising prices at the same time that the "wins" go down really keeps us from knowing for sure which one was primarily responsible for lower demand.

I'm sure that Pickens and the OSU ath dept have done plenty of research, and I'm not really here to second-guess it. What I will say, however, is that the only thing I can imagine that they are hoping for is a better team to help fill up those new seats. And if they don't get it, I think they're going to be in some trouble (i.e. there are going to be even more empty seats). If on the field performance remains static, I don't think any amount of price movement will put bodies in that fancy new stadium.

[RedGiant]

After wandering into Orangepower.com to see what the Pokies were saying about Gundy, I can comfortably say that the OU fan base has a good 60 or 70 IQ points on those morons over there. My god, people yapping on about chanting Gundy, Gundy, Gundy or replacing the word thunder with Gundy in ACDC's Thunderstruck I'm pretty sure I got stoopider from my brief few moments of WTF is going on in here awe. I now am firmly assured that OSU will never achieve a thing in college football. It was like reading a high school board. Those people don't get it and they're not smart enough to hire someone who does.

[sooneron]

Based on the relative success of the Miles tenure, this ideology appears to be inaccurate.
IT'S INAKERUT!!!! [hairGel]

[tnraider1]

replacing the word thunder with Gundy in ACDC's Thunderstruck


Gundystruck?? OMG!!! That might be OK if they were lining up against 11 lesbian reporters, but come on.

[wishbonesooner]

I don't need a market analysis Aggie. When folks that have stood by OSU when they were tragically bad, not like now just embarassingly bad, have had season tickets for 30 years, and chose not to renew because they had gotten so high, that's a disgrace.

[bmrsnou]

Well, there is more than one way to do it. It appears most (if not 100%) of you folks aren't in agreement with Mike Holder's idea of raising ticket prices before the product on the field appreciates (assuming it ever will) to a more competitive level. I think it will be fine once the WEZ project is complete because roughly 15,000 new seats will become affordable options for those that are on a tighter budget.


Come on, take off the orange colored glasses for a minute. The aggies have a 'bring a kid to the game for free day' and don't even fill it up with [B]FREE SEATS.[B]

lOSUr has NEVER really filled Booger Picker stadium. Even in the years they have a good team, they haven't been able to fill it. During the 'heyday' of Gundy, Sanders, and Dykes, they'd hardly sell out.

Your fantasy of affordable seats is funny. It will just be more seats that they will sell a 3 game mini-pak of tix w/OU included so that we can buy them up again. Also, those empty seats will look great to a recruit when they come in for a visit. How impressed they will be!!

Face it, lOSUr has a hardcore base of about 35,000 that will attend their games, anything over that is visitors who bought tix.

[douxpaysan]

Dude, you can't be from Oklahoma and get Broken Arrow and Broken Bow mixed up!
I have seen Broken Arrow play...and I think Broken Bow can take them.:pop:

[douxpaysan]

People have never come to the games in droves. There hasn't really ever been anything for the casual fan to come and experience. I think that will change once everything is completed. Not saying we'll sell out every game for the first 15 seasons, or anything, but I am saying that the crowds will approach sellout status for much of 2008 and 2009, then in future years depending on the success of the program over the next few seasons.


Bandwagon uo gooner fan here. It sounds like you are asking me for a dance.:rolleyes:

[Piware]

:eek:
Good grief! Your long time season ticket holders will be dead, the mothers of children will be creaky grandmas and the Pop Warner stars will have already graduated from college. Now there is somethin' to look forward to.

[OSUAggie]

I don't need a market analysis Aggie. When folks that have stood by OSU when they were tragically bad, not like now just embarassingly bad, have had season tickets for 30 years, and chose not to renew because they had gotten so high, that's a disgrace.

Those same people will be back once the product improves. They got used to paying **** for tickets for 30 years and sitting on the 50. Instead of paying the same amount and taking a lesser seat, they said **** it and didn't re-up for anything (or at least that's what happened to a lot of folks by me).

Our 8 football/basketball tix went from $8,000/year to $22,000/year in 24 months, so the change was pretty sharp, but the bottom line isn't awful.

[SanDiegoSoonerGal]

Those same people will be back once the product improves.

If they're still living.

Sorry, couldn't resist....

[goingoneight]

Let's say the average OSU ticket costs $85 (which is close to accurate).

Let's say the 2007 OSU average attendance drops 5% from last year - which was 40,954 - to 38,906.

What's 38,906 x $85?

$3,307,010.00

* 6 home games = $19,842,060 worth of ticket sales

----------------------------------------

Demand appears to be saying that ticket prices are too high in relation to the quality of the product.

So we'll assume that an average ticket price of $60 will likely entice a sellout of 43,500.


What's 43,500 x $60?

$2,610,000.00

* 6 = $15,660,000.00

Which # is greater?

--------------------------------



This assumption would be based on the idea that people don't want to come to games.

Based on the relative success of the Miles tenure, this ideology appears to be inaccurate. Season ticket sales were at an all-time high because we were winning 7-9 games a year. Then came the ticket hike after a 4-7 season. There is a healthy fanbase in Oklahoma that wants competitiveness out of its football program and will come support a product if it is competitive and affordable.

The addition of seats allows for prezactly 16,500 fat asses to be placed inside the stadium at an affordable price (it will actually be more than that, but I don't want to get into trying to explain that aspect).

It also lowers the average ticket price so we don't appear to be emulating Texas without the results on the field as a source of valor.


78 or 16... which number is greater? ;)

7 or 0... which number is greater? :confused:

I could play this note all night, Evan...

[snp]

Those same people will be back once the product improves. They got used to paying **** for tickets for 30 years and sitting on the 50. Instead of paying the same amount and taking a lesser seat, they said **** it and didn't re-up for anything (or at least that's what happened to a lot of folks by me).

Our 8 football/basketball tix went from $8,000/year to $22,000/year in 24 months, so the change was pretty sharp, but the bottom line isn't awful.

You're still assuming a coach that has half of his wins from Sun Belt or lower teams will succeed.

I don't buy that they will fill up that stadium as long as Gundy is there; the product will remain the same.

[Crucifax Autumn]

But these 2 will always be there:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v153/ulijon/330479copy.jpg

[Cam]

Those same people will be back once the product improves.
But, but the pokes don't have bandwagon fans. :eek: