Greetings from Liberty Fans

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Originally Posted by cajun4life

T the bottom line is, as a whole, Acadiana doesn’t support the Cajuns. They support a party. It’s not about cost, we just don’t have a large core base of fans.

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I understand it, it's just hard to come to grips with after all these years. I realize even in the SBC, the programs that have good attendance are located in the middle of nowhere USA. But most of them have tradition, something we really don't have much of today.

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Originally Posted by Cajunsmike

I agree. In this world, it is rare for a G5 school to get attention anywhere. From a pure attendance standpoint, we were better off when the NCAA limited how often you could be on TV. Thousands of UL grads stayed home to watch LSU and Texas last night.

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The game day experience has to change. Win with style, get back under the lights and figure out how to bring the party inside the stadium.

Since we control the ESPN+ games we control the production of them. We could use picture in picture for commercials without slowing the game down. That would literally reduce the game time to a little over 2 hours instead of just shy of 4 hours.

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Originally Posted by CajunT

I understand it, it's just hard to come to grips with after all these years. I realize even in the SBC, the programs that have good attendance are located in the middle of nowhere USA. But most of them have tradition, something we really don't have much of today.

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Our biggest problem was believing we could create tradition by charging for it. It backfired. The first two games of this year, especially yesterday can be the start of building it. Let’s go CAJUNS.

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Originally Posted by CajunT

I understand it, it's just hard to come to grips with after all these years. I realize even in the SBC, the programs that have good attendance are located in the middle of nowhere USA. But most of them have tradition, something we really don't have much of today.

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And a burning passion for their school and their teams...cost of tailgating is way too high and the no readmitted rule looks like it killed tailgating...just another example of Acadiana cry babes..boo f'ing hoo..cant have your way? Grow up...

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Originally Posted by Big Buds

I hate hearing this. I’m not shocked by yesterday’s numbers but I hate to hear it. I assure you 5-7 years ago we had no less than 35,000-40,000 tailgating, not game attendance, on every weekend. We’ll be back...stay tuned.

Seriously though nobody offered you food and drink? That’s a bit strange no matter the low numbers.

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I saw 2 LU fans all day. Rest assured that whenever visiting fans come around our tailgate, they are taken care of. We encourage visitors.

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Originally Posted by fanof71

And a burning passion for their school and their teams...cost of tailgating is way too high and the no readmitted rule looks like it killed tailgating...just another example of Acadiana cry babes..boo f'ing hoo..cant have your way? Grow up...

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Pro Tip: When you have extra tickets, dont give them away or let the ticket scanners scan multiple tickets when you enter (to artificially inflate attendance). Save them so you can go out and come back in for the second half

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Originally Posted by CajunT

Well we've made everything else affordable, if not damn near free when it comes to food and tickets. And now we are even picking up people from downtown and dropping them off at the game for free! At some point, this program has to find some revenue streams to survive. But I guess we can return to the days when everything was cheap, park close to the stadium and play SLC programs every week with in state rivalries. Then we can talk about how great our culture and fan base are when visitors come to Cajun Field.

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I don't want to speak for Rebel, but I don't think he's advocating for free tailgating spots. I think the fact that there's so many empty tailgating spots shows the spots are overpriced. I'm not sure what the sweet spot cost is, but we need to find that equilibrium.

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Originally Posted by CajunT

Well we've made everything else affordable, if not damn near free when it comes to food and tickets. And now we are even picking up people from downtown and dropping them off at the game for free! At some point, this program has to find some revenue streams to survive. But I guess we can return to the days when everything was cheap, park close to the stadium and play SLC programs every week with in state rivalries. Then we can talk about how great our culture and fan base are when visitors come to Cajun Field.

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The world doesn’t have to be black and white. I’m sure there’s a number we can charge between $0 and $1,000 that will get people buying tailgating spots again without sacrificing revenue.

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Originally Posted by CajunRebel

The world doesn’t have to be black and white. I’m sure there’s a number we can charge between $0 and $1,000 that will get people buying tailgating spots again without sacrificing revenue.

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So what then? You reduce revenues in one area, what is your suggestion to replace it? We have a president that stated, "whatever athletics does, it's going to do on it's own." So if the prices are too high for the SBC, what exactly should we pay? Because we were unwilling to do more financially for athletics we are in the SBC today.

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Originally Posted by CajunT

Because we were unwilling to do more financially for athletics we are in the SBC today.

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There it is. For decades.

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Originally Posted by CajunT

So what then? You reduce revenues in one area, what is your suggestion to replace it? We have a president that stated, "whatever athletics does, it's going to do on it's own." So if the prices are too high for the SBC, what exactly should we pay? Because we were unwilling to do more financially for athletics we are in the SBC today.

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So is the answer keep charging $1,000 and when they come, they come?

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Originally Posted by Cajunsmike

I agree. In this world, it is rare for a G5 school to get attention anywhere. From a pure attendance standpoint, we were better off when the NCAA limited how often you could be on TV. Thousands of UL grads stayed home to watch LSU and Texas last night.

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I would bet you are right about that Cajunsmike, Students watched that other game because there was excitement, it was talked about, and it was the social thing to do in the area. It was a party. UL against Liberty, not. That's why it's going to take getting this program up several notches on the field, to be nationally relevant, to have people actually talking about it, and being a really good program. It's going to take time, and we have to hope we are headed that direction and not have a setback.

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Originally Posted by CajunT

So what then? You reduce revenues in one area, what is your suggestion to replace it? We have a president that stated, "whatever athletics does, it's going to do on it's own." So if the prices are too high for the SBC, what exactly should we pay? Because we were unwilling to do more financially for athletics we are in the SBC today.

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Let’s assume there are 100 spots sold, which I’m pretty sure isn’t that far off from the actual number. That’s $100,000 in revenue for the RCAF at $1,000/spot. Let’s say they lower the price to $500/spot. We’re only down $50k. Of course we won’t be down $50k because a lot more people will start buying spots again. And those people will invite friends who will buy game tickets and concessions.

So at worst, you are probably out $25k/year. And at best, you are making more money from selling more spots, having more people show up, and having a better atmosphere.

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Originally Posted by CajunRebel

Let’s assume there are 100 spots sold, which I’m pretty sure isn’t that far off from the actual number. That’s $100,000 in revenue for the RCAF at $1,000/spot. Let’s say they lower the price to $500/spot. We’re only down $50k. Of course we won’t be down $50k because a lot more people will start buying spots again. And those people will invite friends who will buy game tickets and concessions.

So at worst, you are probably out $25k/year. And at best, you are making more money from selling more spots, having more people show up, and having a better atmosphere.

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One thing has been unequivocally proven at this point - $1,000 is not the optimal price point. It was probably never the optimal price point. I hope some day it is, but as long as it stays there, we may never know what the optimal price point may be.

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Originally Posted by CajunRebel

Let’s assume there are 100 spots sold, which I’m pretty sure isn’t that far off from the actual number. That’s $100,000 in revenue for the RCAF at $1,000/spot. Let’s say they lower the price to $500/spot. We’re only down $50k. Of course we won’t be down $50k because a lot more people will start buying spots again. And those people will invite friends who will buy game tickets and concessions.

So at worst, you are probably out $25k/year. And at best, you are making more money from selling more spots, having more people show up, and having a better atmosphere.

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But we've already reduced season tickets and food, so you have to replace that revenue as well. You see, once you start down this road, additional revenues have to be found when you reduce cost elsewhere. Until we get more butts in the stadium, that revenue goes down a black hole never to be seen again. If you reduce prices, you have to increase traffic in the stadium or, we have done nothing to replace those revenues.

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Originally Posted by CajunVic

What does this mean. 🤔

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It means we aren’t as friendly as we claim or even as friendly as what he’s used to from other venues.

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Originally Posted by CajunRebel

Let’s assume there are 100 spots sold, which I’m pretty sure isn’t that far off from the actual number. That’s $100,000 in revenue for the RCAF at $1,000/spot. Let’s say they lower the price to $500/spot. We’re only down $50k. Of course we won’t be down $50k because a lot more people will start buying spots again. And those people will invite friends who will buy game tickets and concessions.

So at worst, you are probably out $25k/year. And at best, you are making more money from selling more spots, having more people show up, and having a better atmosphere.

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My tailgate spot was $900, counting the required RCAF donation. I didnt drop it because of cost; I dropped it because for 2 years at the end of the Hud era, nobody showed up but me. Mostly they quit showing because they moved away with their jobs or became disillusioned with the administrations failure to sieze the moment during the 4 year run of success at the beginning of the Hud era. Both the athletic administration and the university administration were totally apathetic about promoting our brand while the iron was hot.

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Originally Posted by CajunVic

So is the answer keep charging $1,000 and when they come, they come?

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Tailgate spots are not $1,000. Our spot just went up to $500. It was much lower for a long time.

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Originally Posted by VObserver

My tailgate spot was $900, counting the required RCAF donation. I didnt drop it because of cost; I dropped it because for 2 years at the end of the Hud era, nobody showed up but me. Mostly they quit showing because they moved away with their jobs or became disillusioned with the administrations failure to sieze the moment during the 4 year run of success at the beginning of the Hud era. Both the athletic administration and the university administration were totally apathetic about promoting our brand while the iron was hot.

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Sometimes you and a few others. But that's the sum of it over the past 4 years. All the momentum was gone and wasted because our AD and President didn't have a clue.

One big problem is that culture in America is becoming lazier. There’s a reason amazon, Netflix stock, and Pizza Hut etc.. continue to do well. A company like Waitr becomes worth hundreds of millions because people are willing to pay for convenience. People are less and less inclined to get out and do things the way we did them for years. This trickles over into tailgating and attending football games. I don’t think this is the entire reason but it’s definitely part of it.

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Originally Posted by BeauCajun

Tailgate spots are not $1,000. Our spot just went up to $500. It was much lower for a long time.

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$500 is too much if nobody is buying. We have created reverse cynergy between pricing, product and circumstances. We can only adjust with the things in our control. I don’t think anyone can fathom to calculate the negative effect and impact of losing the CC game around the thrashing we took from Bama and Miss St last year. It is very unfortunate that happened the way it did because it took the wind out of the sails created with the new coaching staff and even the success on the field latter in the season. I hope we excel as we can this year and the SMART people figure out how to maneuver the finances to make sure we maximize the success.

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Originally Posted by CajunT

Sometimes you and a few others. But that's the sum of it over the past 4 years. All the momentum was gone and wasted because our AD and President didn't have a clue.

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That is what is so frustrating now with attendance. Maggard and crew do have a clue. I wish we had them a few years earlier when the iron was hotter locally.

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Originally Posted by CajunT

But we've already reduced season tickets and food, so you have to replace that revenue as well. You see, once you start down this road, additional revenues have to be found when you reduce cost elsewhere. Until we get more butts in the stadium, that revenue goes down a black hole never to be seen again. If you reduce prices, you have to increase traffic in the stadium or, we have done nothing to replace those revenues.

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When did Season Tickets get reduced??...I’ve surely never noticed a decrease

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Originally Posted by CajunJeaux

When did Season Tickets get reduced??...I’ve surely never noticed a decrease

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They are offering packages now that amount to discounted tickets in sections were people have already paid more by sending in payment before the season. Perhaps you should try following social media and you might learn something new.

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Originally Posted by CajunT

They are offering packages now that amount to discounted tickets in sections were people have already paid more by sending in payment before the season. Perhaps you should try following social media and you might learn something new.

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I wonder why?