How to Increase Attendance?

[cjr3888]

This is going to sound crazy, but I see The Super Dome does it so it must work. What if we have local restaurants that set up booths inside the stadium, you could have 10 different restaurants serving food at games, and I am sure the university would get the majority of the profits.

Have Deano’s, Zeus’s I mean how many restaurants does Lafayette have ?

The pros do it why couldn’t we do the same thing.

Already have locals selling food at games. University doesn't make much off of it but Sodexo sure takes their cut.

[fanof71]

If the availability and price of concessions is what's keeping folks home, that's another in a long line of Lafayette excuses. Its not perfect, but I haven't been in a stadium where perfect is on the menue. You should try to get a popcorn or beer at some professional venues, its every bit as bad of an experience.

[Ragin9221]

Already have locals selling food at games. University doesn't make much off of it but Sodexo sure takes their cut.

I figure the more restaurants serving food the less people would be in the line and less time they would have to wait

[RedTails]

If the availability and price of concessions is what's keeping folks home, that's another in a long line of Lafayette excuses. Its not perfect, but I haven't been in a stadium where perfect is on the menue. You should try to get a popcorn or beer at some professional venues, its every bit as bad of an experience.

If you want a big crowd at Cajun Field, the experience has to be better than the experience is at your house or someone's watch party.

You aren't going to draw big crowds of people that attend in person just for the love of the game anymore. Like everyone has said, this will be the reality for live sporting events moving forward with giant flat screen TVs and streaming options.

Chalk it up as a "Lafayette excuse" but if we want the casual fan to come into the stadium with the 15k diehards, we need to figure out the hindrances and address them.

[CajunNation]

So tailgating spots are free butt you must have tickets to enter? I’m good with that But then all tailgate areas would be first come first serve? Don’t know about that.

No. Tailgating would remain the same. Only thing I am suggesting is requiring and scanning a Game Ticket to enter the fenced area around the Stadium

[Cajun_in_NM]

Why can't we do this like festivals? Have people go to kiosks around the stadium, and buy CajunBucks. They can buy them with cash or card. Now, you've solved 60% of your slowdowns by giving everyone the only accepted currency in the stadium - or you can have half the concessions paying as is, and half using CajunBucks.

At least you give the appearance of trying to make concession management better.

[cjr3888]

I figure the more restaurants serving food the less people would be in the line and less time they would have to wait

The local spots have everything already premade so their lines go much quicker. Regular concessions are making every nacho order & filling every large drink cup so that slows them down.

[CajunNation]

Concessions is a big problem. How is a 40,000 seat stadium not setup to handle 16,000 people efficiently?? Every game should be able to handle 30,000 people in a timely manner. Not wanting more people in the stadium because we can’t handle the crowd is backward thinking.

Concessions/Bathrooms are the biggest problem.

We beg people to come and give them the worst customer service experiment possible. They should feel at home, not Shawshank.

[CajunRage]

If the availability and price of concessions is what's keeping folks home, that's another in a long line of Lafayette excuses. Its not perfect, but I haven't been in a stadium where perfect is on the menue. You should try to get a popcorn or beer at some professional venues, its every bit as bad of an experience.

Apples to oranges. Pro venues don't have a demand problem. We do.

[CajunNation]

A game is a game whether you watch it from your couch or from the cheap seats. People may not leave their house for just a game because they already have it at home. A tailgate makes it an EVENT. Get people believing in and looking forward to these events again. All day outings with your friends and family culminating in damn near the most popular thing in this country…a little college football.

...and all I am saying is make that Game Ticket worth more than just a game. It should be your Ticket to the Event. We invite everybody to the Complex every Home game. 25-35k people show up, yet we only count the ones who are in a particular area of the Complex for a couple of hours. It doesn't make any sense.

[CajunNation]

Why can't we do this like festivals? Have people go to kiosks around the stadium, and buy CajunBucks. They can buy them with cash or card. Now, you've solved 60% of your slowdowns by giving everyone the only accepted currency in the stadium - or you can have half the concessions paying as is, and half using CajunBucks.

At least you give the appearance of trying to make concession management better.

Brilliant Idea.

[zeppelincajun]

Can someone clarify this for me? I’m honestly asking not attacking anyone’s point. If concessions are an infrastructure issue with the stadium design, why were concessions not this bad 15-17 years ago? Look at attendance numbers from 2005-2006. Very comparable to what we draw now. We didn’t even have the endzone concessions back then, the concessions weren’t as bad, and the quality of what was being served was much higher. Were we paying people then? Is this ALL due to credit cards? Why are we having this much trouble handling credit card use in 2022??