How Fulmer aims to solve falling football attendance

#79
#79
Go look at "game day" in Jerry's Place. With a team that seems glued in the middle of the pack, that place looks full most of the time. Camera shots are shown many times with the game "off in the distance" . What I mean is not just literally far away, but far from the minds of the people in the area being scanned. Closer to home, look at the layout of the Titan's stadium.
 
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#80
#80
volsportsfan said:
We'll never know. Money talks and I'm not sure we talked loud enough.
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Agreed, but I still don't think Jimbo would have come here. And, you never know, we may be better off in a couple of years.

**yes I'm aware that some of you think that will never happen with Fulmer or Pruitt or Chaney or anyone unless you think it will.
 
#81
#81
Show genuine improvement and with that will bring hope. Hope will start to fill the empties and then several more wins will begin sellouts like the good old days.
 
#82
#82
VolunteerHillbilly said:
I went to watch Mercer play Bama in 2017. There were areas of empties but still far more full than some of the Vols conference games the past couple of years. Win and they will come still works.
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Coug said:
Wifi throughout the stadium. Schools are already going to it, it's the future.

Interactive Neyland Stadium App(which offers the following):
-Access to an interactive player roster - You see a player do something great or something awful you type in their player number and it brings up their info.
-Maps for all parking locations and prices for all parking locations, it could also tell you if parking is full or not.
-Vending locations - Click on the location and it tells you what they sell and how much each item is. It could also tell you if they are sold out of an item or if they're closed.
-Concourse camera views - Find out how long the line is at your favorite vending spot and/or bathroom before you even get out of your seat.
-In-Seat delivery service
-Contact security or medical - It allows you to either report if you need help or report if you see someone else needs help.
-Cheerleader Camera View?

Season long souvenir cups - Cuts down on plastic and trash.
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Never thought of the "experience" in this "young" way. Really like all your ideas. Now, if I (an old fart) could just learn how to use these innovations before I peed in my pants........
 
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#84
#84
shawnb82 said:
If you win, they will come.
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Maybe, maybe not. Add up the real costs of two tickets (surcharges, parking, etc.) and you're at the same level of a first run Broadway play for each game. Then, there's the deteriorating level of civility you have to deal with from more than just a few so-called fans. Balance all that against the cost of cable or a dish and the comforts of home where you don't have to plead with someone in front of you to sit down. I don't think my rump will ever grace those planks they call seats again.
 
#85
#85
I only managed to go to one game last season, I’ve been several times over the years and it doesn’t matter if it was the first time or last, I’m always in awe with game day experience, nothing like it. That being said, it reminded me that it’s tough on this 55 year old body.
 
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#86
#86
You want better attendance, then win more games. Make the games in October and November meaningful and people will show up.
 
#90
#90
ATLVols said:
It’s pretty simple. Have to win more games and/or lower ticket prices. People don’t want to spend their Saturday watching us get beat by Vandy and South Carolina while paying top dollar. Lowering ticket pricing will help fans to come more frequently. If you get fans to come to one more game a year by making it more affordable, it drastically changes the attendance number. Once the Vols start winning, people will pay higher ticket prices like with men’s basketball.
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This...supply and demand. Not a whole lot of people lined up to fight parking, get gouged for food and drinks, overpay for tickets just to watch the team get smoked by vandy.
 
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#91
#91
The NASCAR comparisons I think are real. It will take longer for the overall decline to happen in college football, but I am afraid that is where it is headed. Aging fan base that has stopped going for all of the reasons already stated here by others. Easier to stay home and way cheaper. Over saturation of games on TV. I gave up my season tickets after 15 years. And eventually the TV money that is keeping everything afloat now will dry up. Winning will bump things up in the short run, but unless younger folks start paying to show up consistently like us old guys did for years, it will all just slowly die, much like NASCAR.
 
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#92
#92
kamoshika said:
The Vols’ announced attendance for seven home games in 2017 totaled 670,454. That represented a 5.1 percent drop compared to announced attendance for 2016. Announced attendance decreased to 650,887 for this season’s seven home games, an additional 2.9 percent drop compared to 2017.

Announced attendance reflects tickets distributed – not the number of fans who actually attend the game. As for actual attendance, Tennessee totaled 545,343 fans in 2018, which equates to an average actual crowd of 77,906. That’s more than the capacity of several SEC stadiums, but it means that, on average, 25,000 seats were empty at Neyland for a home Saturday.

...Fulmer noted that the NFL is moving toward smaller, fan-friendly stadiums to address changes in attendance patterns. Because UT doesn’t plan to decrease Neyland Stadium's capacity, Fulmer is focused on the fan-friendly portion of the NFL’s approach. He also noticed the fan experience while attending a game at Yankee Stadium last summer.
UT Vols: How Phillip Fulmer plans to remedy sagging Tennessee football attendance
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1st thing is winning will bring sale outs.

2nd Go back to incorporating student ticket prices into tuition, bring back student activities card and standing in line for tickets. More students will attend if they don't have to think about price of ticket.
 
#93
#93
President Trump: Please send All Illegal Immigrants to Neyland Stadium, muy rapido!
 
#94
#94
Deliver goodies by Big Orange drone. Wouldn't even have to leave my seat.

Concessions would take such a wild jump, they could lower prices. Kids would be asking for hotdogs just to see 'em delivered.
 
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#95
#95
1. Field a consistently competitive team.
2. Make seating more comfortable. If capacity shrinks so be it.
3. Lower ticket prices to more reasonable levels.

I don't live near Knoxville and cannot attend games very often. I do think the reality is that attendance at all major sports venues/events will continue to decline, pretty much no matter what. There are simply too many things now competing for the consumer dollar. And as other posters have said, a 75" QLED TV makes it almost feel like being in the stadium. In many respects its even way better.
 
#97
#97
vols 30 said:
It certainly helps, but there's other factors too. I'm not paying today's ticket prices when I can stay home and watch on the big screen HD Television. Plus the money you save on gas and food.

Really didn't look at this way until I had kids. Still go to a few VOL basketball games a year, but football has priced me out
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I have a theory. Businesses like Microsoft, cable, and satellite subscription services, along with software companies renting software instead of letting you buy it outright, consistently got away with living in people's pockets. All while raising costs exorbitantly. Other businesses and venues saw this so began following suit. They operate on the so far proven assumption that customers will tolerate this due to being trained that they must have the product or service. So will not rebel against their being fleeced and enriching of these shysters. As long as people prove them correct, they will just continue and increase their robbery by default behavior.

Will a mass rebelling bring down prices? Yes, I believe so and admit it's based only on my own and some friends' experience. Eleven years back, and as a loyal DISH customer for ten years, I tried to get my $150 monthly charges reduced. They had begun as I think a $25/month for two years. I got insulted as in being called names. So I switched to DirecTV for $35/month for two years. The third year my fee jumped to $200+. We're rural so they have no competition here. Except for their fellow shysters DISH. Called, got insulted worst than DISH's rep did. Friends complained of the same. I led the pack in canceling service and installing an OTA coupled with a rotor. I could aim the antenna for the best reception. I got 22 channels but with my new big screen, I now get 33 channels. No, I don't watch them all, never did with cable either. We have a Roku and Netflix and we're happy. If I really want to impatiently watch something, I pay a one time PPV fee to Fandgo, or a live sports channel or Chromecast it. That's rare but does happen. So? Both DISH and DirecTV constantly send us low cost offers to return to their scamming services. Same with my cable cutter friends. I can't wait until a rumored state-run FiOS reaches my rural area so I can cut my Spectrum service. But to be fair, Spectrum might be seeing the handwriting on the wall. They inexplicably knocked $30 off our $80/month Internet fee BUT required us to use their modem and router. They too beg us to add TV and wifi service (which oddly we already have with them). So yes, rebellion, if you have that alternative, can push prices down. People need to jetson the brainwashing and dare to say NO! Then act on it.
 
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#98
#98
Would rather invest money in a good TV and watch better competition at home. Tired of paying to watch OVC and lower conference teams in Neyland.

Not just attendance, but recruiting would improve if you had a more competitive schedule. We recruited much better when we were playing a solid OOC schedule. I get it that we are in the SEC but why screw the fans over with a horrible OOC schedule year in and year out? We act like a weak program, play like one, and struggle to make it both perceptually and financially.

Bowden, at FSU, and Schnellenburger, at Miami, turned both of those programs around in the 70's and 80's by taking the attitude that we will play anybody, anywhere, and at anytime. They soared into the national spotlight in a relative short period of time. Instead we have a program that is perceived to be afraid to take steps to get back to national prominence.

The ball is in Fulmer's court.
 
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#99
#99
Sounds good! But I think more like 80-85 k with upgraded seating and more party suites is more likely to suffice the current market and consumers
 
#100
#100
My thoughts, having been there as a band member, student, and season ticket holder's son-in-law:
  1. Stop trying to be NFL Lite. Some piped-in music is ok, but it's headed overboard.
  2. Bring in a professional sound company to fix the delay issues with the sound system and the PotSMB.
  3. Make your handicap accessibility features easier to find; ADA-compliant restrooms and more elevators to the main concourse would be great for those of us whose legs don't work but can still out-yell most of the crowd.
  4. Partner with multiple wireless carriers to add femtocells or microtowers hidden around the stadium. Having full bars means nothing if the network is oversaturated.
  5. A slight branding emphasis on the stadium's history could help enhance the mystique for new generations of Vol fans. Neyland Stadium is already the Grand Cathedral of College Football; use that to your advantage by promoting it as such.
  6. Win. Then win some more. Then, more winning.
 
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