10-03-2011, 06:53 AM
I would argue that getting those families in, even if they leave at halftime, is a big deal. Yes, it is important to think about the here and now, but attendance is a long-term issue. You have to get non-alums like myself interested. This year is a rare opportunity to accelerate the pace of product sampling and get people hooked on going to games in larger numbers than virtually any other year in the school's history has afforded.
The problem so often in the past has been, new fans (some families with little ones) would come to see the team play when they were good and entertaining, but then the school would demonstrate it didn't care about winning, and royally suck for several years, killing off interest in formative fans, and eliminating new potential sampler fans. Who wants to commit to a product or go sample one that isn't appealing? This is exactly what happened to me as a Stanford season ticket holder from 2000-2002.Â
Me and a friend went to a game in 1999 after getting free tickets to the WSU game. Stanford won something like 51-24 and it was really entertaining. So we went to two more games. Then we got season tickets in 2000. We renewed in 2001. After Ty left, we re-upped for 2002. One year of Buddy Ball was enough to turn us off. My mentality was if the school is not going to commit to winning and putting a great product on the field - by letting T.W. go and replacing him with a joke of a coach - when I am asked to continue my commitment to pay for the privilege of watching the team play, why should I make my commitment?
If the team continues playing entertaining football, those young families will get hooked. The parents and the kids. But it takes probably a good solid 5-10 years to build the fan base. You can't build one with flash in the pan teams once a decade. You need to have a program with sustained commitment to winning and putting out a quality product in order to build a loyal fan base. It's OK to have a down year every so often, but you better be entertaining, even when you lose, and you can't have any 1-11 seasons.Â
The game ticket cost is not the issue, it is the time commitment it takes to go to a game that is the bigger price people have to pay. You can't ask people to take at least four hours out of their Saturday (and probably more) to come watch your team play unless you put an entertaining product on the field and your fans believe the team has a meaningful achievement it can realistically achieve. Yes, now you will get your bandwagon fans and have some sell-outs with a Top 10 team with a Voldemort hopeful QB/future NFL #1 pick, but the key is not what happens this year so much as what happens next year, and the year after. It's way easier to turn on the TV and watch literally dozens of other games from the comfort of your own home. So you better put out a consistently good product on your home field and provide a good game day experience if you want people to fill the stadium.
Speaking of, the stadium is phenomenal. It blows the doors off where the local NFL outfits play and can really play a role in keeping people coming back. This year you have a draw to get large numbers of people to try it out, and the opportunity to sell them on the idea of making going to Stanford football games a tradition. To me, now is the time to start selling season tickets for next year. I would take this opportunity to offer next year's season tickets for a heavy discount and/or provide an extra benefit experience to people who put down deposits, at games this year. It is important for Stanford to promote the future, emphasize David Shaw isn't going anywhere, have him sell people on his vision for a consistently winning program, and the standard of performance he is setting for it. Sell what Stanford football is, what sets it apart and why people should care.
The problem so often in the past has been, new fans (some families with little ones) would come to see the team play when they were good and entertaining, but then the school would demonstrate it didn't care about winning, and royally suck for several years, killing off interest in formative fans, and eliminating new potential sampler fans. Who wants to commit to a product or go sample one that isn't appealing? This is exactly what happened to me as a Stanford season ticket holder from 2000-2002.Â
Me and a friend went to a game in 1999 after getting free tickets to the WSU game. Stanford won something like 51-24 and it was really entertaining. So we went to two more games. Then we got season tickets in 2000. We renewed in 2001. After Ty left, we re-upped for 2002. One year of Buddy Ball was enough to turn us off. My mentality was if the school is not going to commit to winning and putting a great product on the field - by letting T.W. go and replacing him with a joke of a coach - when I am asked to continue my commitment to pay for the privilege of watching the team play, why should I make my commitment?
If the team continues playing entertaining football, those young families will get hooked. The parents and the kids. But it takes probably a good solid 5-10 years to build the fan base. You can't build one with flash in the pan teams once a decade. You need to have a program with sustained commitment to winning and putting out a quality product in order to build a loyal fan base. It's OK to have a down year every so often, but you better be entertaining, even when you lose, and you can't have any 1-11 seasons.Â
The game ticket cost is not the issue, it is the time commitment it takes to go to a game that is the bigger price people have to pay. You can't ask people to take at least four hours out of their Saturday (and probably more) to come watch your team play unless you put an entertaining product on the field and your fans believe the team has a meaningful achievement it can realistically achieve. Yes, now you will get your bandwagon fans and have some sell-outs with a Top 10 team with a Voldemort hopeful QB/future NFL #1 pick, but the key is not what happens this year so much as what happens next year, and the year after. It's way easier to turn on the TV and watch literally dozens of other games from the comfort of your own home. So you better put out a consistently good product on your home field and provide a good game day experience if you want people to fill the stadium.
Speaking of, the stadium is phenomenal. It blows the doors off where the local NFL outfits play and can really play a role in keeping people coming back. This year you have a draw to get large numbers of people to try it out, and the opportunity to sell them on the idea of making going to Stanford football games a tradition. To me, now is the time to start selling season tickets for next year. I would take this opportunity to offer next year's season tickets for a heavy discount and/or provide an extra benefit experience to people who put down deposits, at games this year. It is important for Stanford to promote the future, emphasize David Shaw isn't going anywhere, have him sell people on his vision for a consistently winning program, and the standard of performance he is setting for it. Sell what Stanford football is, what sets it apart and why people should care.