Ticket sales under Hud were a result of people starving in the desert being given the Manna of Bowl Games and 9 win seasons, a VERY good Oil and Gas economy, and the perfect Salesman at the Helm to sell it all. It was a perfect storm.
When the wins left and the economy slipped, so did the attendance.
Enter Napier. Wins came back, but Bowl games are yesterday's news, the local economy is worse and a 2 year pandemic further screwed it up.
That’s why we need to come back with a vengeance !!
I really think it takes all of this working in tandem together ! We need to be able to do it all.
Let’s get wins let’s enhance the game day experience, and let’s try to get quality opponents to Cajun Field !
It's true. A series of unfortunate events happened to this program.
-Hud won, but got docked for cheating. I know fans that finally believed we could be a player in CFB and became deflated when went through that. Felt betrayed.
-Hud let the locker room fall into complete toxicity
-FDT video and political climate killed our momentum
-Napier had pedigree, but unproven and didn't engage the community like Hud did.
-Losing to Coastal early on at home turned some off (I know its dumb, but it happened)
-Covid and then following crap that followed
-Very poor home schedules and too many midweek games
-Constant failures and inconsistencies with RCAF hires
-Lack of splash hire after Napier (Again, dumb, but people think like this)
-NIL, collectives, unlimited transfers, realignment and changing collegiate landscape
Very little we can do about most of those things.
Midweek games are an abomination for building your season ticket base and average attendance.
The sad part is that the supposed upside of midweek exposure is mitigated in today's world of midweek NFL and unlimited viewing options.
The absolute best thing that could happen for our Conference members would be to develop our own streaming platform, contract only Saturday games with other platforms, and develop our own Bowl games. It's time to end midweek games and the espn contract.
Before you guys reply back with "what about the 2 mill..", we just need to schedule properly. If you want to be treated like a top football program, act like it. Ditch the training wheels.
So here are some of the big questions:
What are we really doing to push for season ticket sales? And I am talking within this 50 mile radius of ~700,000 people. Do we have a marketing team? Do we have a 3rd party making the rounds calling up locals and potential fans to support the program? What have we done to promote two straight years of being ranked in the Top 25 and being defending Sun Belt Champions?
The fact is that we need to reach out to everyone, not just those who renew or give the most money. Go to any game. Where do the loudest fans sit? Usually at the top. They're the blue collar fans who might not give a lot of money, but they make your stadium look full. We need to cater to those people more consistently because even though they may not give the most dollars, they still buy concessions, they tailgate, and they overall generate revenue. We also need a staff to put forth the effort of reaching out the community kind of like what Learfield does with sponsorships. Take a look at how well that has worked recently. It's been a success.
Also, have the UL Alumni Association and RCAF work together to lure in alumni and supporters even in other cities. In Houston, besides just one crawfish boil once a year, rent out a few islands at Top Golf and have a "Ragin' Cajun Night." Purchase a few hundred Astro tickets and rent out a section at Minute Maid. Do the same in Dallas or Atlanta, and it'll compound to donations and support.
Obviously, these aren't the ultimate solutions, but there's so much low hanging fruit for our program. We just have to go and get it.
The biggest thing that will help is getting the renovation done. I saw yesterday that an Architect and Engineering group has been selected, hopefully we can get some updates soon.
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