Season tickets cost and attendance

#1

Smallvol#1

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#1
Just purchased our season tickets. Cost us $1,155 (I think...UT has put up the new site but it is basically nonfunctional..and we want respect for our university...oh gosh:cray:). Anyway, I think that is about a $100 increase - plus paying $145 for parking. The increase got me to thinking; why a price increase when the product is basically deteriorating? Then I wondered about attendance, we all know our attendance is dropping. So I looked at Cockytalk. Another thing we know is they have been crowing:) about beating us in attendance. It looked like a family of four could attend the whole season for less than one UT season ticket. Apples to apples, I checked for center court seating, donation required. Looked like just about any amount, but that $650/year total would easily get anything you wanted. Center court required donation for new tickets for WBB at UT is now $1,000/seat.

So how much does this high cost affect attendance? Or is the drop in attendance because the "product" is not as good? Or both? It seems to me that a lot of young families would now find attending games to be cost prohibitive. When I remember how hard Pat worked to get people in the seats and interested in the game!, this is worrisome.

Maybe one of the Gamecocks on site could verify how much it costs, donation required, area of seats, etc. Hopefully I'm wrong and their tickets aren't really that cheap:ermm:.

Either way, we might just be shooting ourselves in the foot, unless we just don't care if fans attend the game or not.
 
#2
#2
I attended the UT vs SC game two years ago, at SC, and SC was giving tickets away for free.
 
#3
#3
South Carolina will continue to lead the nation in attendance because their tickets are way cheaper than UT. I think they only charge a general admission and I hope UT will come down on their prices. As much as fans loved the Lady Vols they packed TBA to see the legendary Pat Summitt walk the sidelines. We are in a new era and there will never be another Pat Summitt plus this program has lost a lot of its swagger. Hopefully things will turn around soon and we'll be a regular at the Final Four instead of being just the SEC Champion.
 
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#4
#4
Just purchased our season tickets. Cost us $1,155 (I think...UT has put up the new site but it is basically nonfunctional..and we want respect for our university...oh gosh:cray:). Anyway, I think that is about a $100 increase - plus paying $145 for parking. The increase got me to thinking; why a price increase when the product is basically deteriorating? Then I wondered about attendance, we all know our attendance is dropping. So I looked at Cockytalk. Another thing we know is they have been crowing:) about beating us in attendance. It looked like a family of four could attend the whole season for less than one UT season ticket. Apples to apples, I checked for center court seating, donation required. Looked like just about any amount, but that $650/year total would easily get anything you wanted. Center court required donation for new tickets for WBB at UT is now $1,000/seat.

So how much does this high cost affect attendance? Or is the drop in attendance because the "product" is not as good? Or both? It seems to me that a lot of young families would now find attending games to be cost prohibitive. When I remember how hard Pat worked to get people in the seats and interested in the game!, this is worrisome.

Summitt was the draw - Summitt and the excellence of the product. There's no way around that. Raising prices in the face of recent changes is unwise. Perhaps unavoidable? But very unwise.
 
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#5
#5
A few more years with Holly and low attendance should make ticket prices drop. Of course then you probably won't want tickets anymore.
 
#6
#6
South Carolina will continue to lead the nation in attendance because their tickets are way cheaper than UT. I think they only charge a general admission and I hope UT will come down on their prices. As much as fans loved the Lady Vols they packed TBA to see the legendary Pat Summitt walk the sidelines. We are in a new era and there will never be another Pat Summitt plus this program has lost a lot of its swagger. Hopefully things will turn around soon and we'll be a regular at the Final Four instead of being just the SEC Champion.

You can always have hope, not likely though.
 
#7
#7
South Carolina will continue to lead the nation in attendance because their tickets are way cheaper than UT. I think they only charge a general admission and I hope UT will come down on their prices. As much as fans loved the Lady Vols they packed TBA to see the legendary Pat Summitt walk the sidelines. We are in a new era and there will never be another Pat Summitt plus this program has lost a lot of its swagger. Hopefully things will turn around soon and we'll be a regular at the Final Four instead of being just the SEC Champion.
I remember back in the day when you could get cheap tickets at LV game and sit anywhere you wanted. With each success came a price increase. Let's check and see how this affects SC. Do any of you remember all the give aways at the games. There used to be a lot more T shirts and basketballs and a lot more entertainment.
 
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#8
#8
I remember back in the day when you could get cheap tickets at LV game and sit anywhere you wanted. With each success came a price increase. Let's check and see how this affects SC. Do any of you remember all the give aways at the games. There used to be a lot more T shirts and basketballs and a lot more entertainment.

I can remember when we had covered dish "receptions" after the games and all the girls and coaches came:). The NCAA:crazy: decided that was an impermissable benefit. There was also the Boost Her Club, don't know what happened to it, just sort of disappeared one year. Maybe it was political correctness (there was no Boost Him Club), they felt Pat was getting too much of her own infrastructure, or money. Who knows. Practices were open, receptions before SEC Tourney, anything to keep the fans involved and committed. Don't know if it was power, money, or NCAA, but that is all gone. There is no opportunity to know the girls or coaches. Some of that may be because of fear the NCAA rules will be infringed upon.

But when I look at the cost, I wonder. We will probably keep buying, after so many years it's hard not to support them. But I have to admit, the feel and the anticipation for the games are different. And the mood in the arena is very different. I know some of it is losing Pat like we did, but some of it...
 
#9
#9
I used to go to the tipoff banquet with my aunt. Do they still have that. The one that sticks out in my mind Robin Roberts was the speaker. She said pat called to ask her to speak that she heard what she always wanted to hear. Pat SUMMITT saying "I want you to come to TN"
 
#10
#10
Do any of y'all have a tailgating tradition, and gather before games? Might be helpful to start. Can you bring grills to Pat's plaza? Meet up at Calhoun's? Go for the party, stay for the game.
 
#11
#11
The price of our season tickets plus parking pass is exactly the same as last year. No increase.
 
#12
#12
A story from an old fan who watched the LVs originally from back of and above the basket at Stokely. And most games there weren't ten people in the end zone which were by far better seats than the poorly elevated sideline seats.

When the "new" facility opened we had two of the first 400 plastic credit card tickets. And then got a second one. So I could sit on the seventh row on one side or the third row right behind the bench. And it was into the second year before it was corrected and until we moved to St Louis now ten years ago we retained our seats behind the bench.
 
#13
#13
A story from an old fan who watched the LVs originally from back of and above the basket at Stokely. And most games there weren't ten people in the end zone which were by far better seats than the poorly elevated sideline seats.

When the "new" facility opened we had two of the first 400 plastic credit card tickets. And then got a second one. So I could sit on the seventh row on one side or the third row right behind the bench. And it was into the second year before it was corrected and until we moved to St Louis now ten years ago we retained our seats behind the bench.

So you knew Hugh and Louise and all their "crew"? They are the ones that got us going. It was a great bunch of people. We sat behind the bench the first year, then moved to center court, view was better. It was so quiet (not many people) you could hear Pat talk during time outs.

Edit...I remember we paid $33/season pass. Got 3 the first year for $99:). After that year we always got four.
 
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#14
#14
The price of our season tickets plus parking pass is exactly the same as last year. No increase.

You're right. I found a receipt, the increase was from $1064 to $1155 in 2014. Don't have one for 2015 but it must have been $1155.
 

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