Increasing Attendance at Our Sporting Events

[ManAboutTown]

You can make all the suggestions you want but WINNING cures all. WINNING and winning a lot. WINNING games against quality opponents in all major sports. Football has beaten no one since Texas A&M. If you want to count Iowa St on the road, go with that. Point is, people [FANS] want a good product to spend their time and their money on. If you think this newly renovated stadium is the cure all, think again. At first like anything new in Lafayette, people will go see and experience early on but that will wear off real quick. Too many examples of that in the past. If this administration doesn't get their schitt together quickly for the fans sake [especially for football] we'll be rockin and rollin in D1-A. It's really pathetic times that we're witnessing.

Winning requires commitment. Not just sometimes. Not just when the economy is right. Not just when the booster clubs fall in love with the coach. Not just when academics/enrollment are down.

Consistent commitment.

[Turbine]

The problem before if it was a problem was we were not capitalizing on tailgating.

Their defintion of capitalizing is the traditional one "make more money" off this phenomenon.

Capitalizing should mean cap it all off with something even better.

[babysitter]

Winning requires commitment. Not just sometimes. Not just when the economy is right. Not just when the booster clubs fall in love with the coach. Not just when academics/enrollment are down.

Consistent commitment.

Is there such a word as "Commitment" around here ? I get what you're saying. But that would require that dirty little four letter word [WORK].

[jaxmc1023]

And if enough butts (donors) aren’t in the pews, the church closes. It’s the business part of religion.

Except that's not UL's model They want the donations from the congregation but really couldn't care less if the people actually show up to pray

You can make all the suggestions you want but WINNING cures all. WINNING and winning a lot.

No it doesn't. The veil is lifted. There was always this imaginary hump that we were SO CLOSE to getting over Hud was close, going to our first bowl game. Napier was closer, with our first national ranking. But in the end, the end result was the same -- lame bowl game against a mid-tier G5 team. There is no corner, there is no hump. The system is designed to keep G5 teams where they are -- fighting over one or two scraps, while churning out talent -- players and coaches -- for P5 teams to poach when necessary. Advertising players and coaches is pointless because they will rarely stay long enough to have a lasting effect.

Some people can only make one or two games a year, that is why it is so important to reach a wide array of people.

MOST people can only make one or two games a year. Yet the school relies completely on using season ticket pricing as the main 'promotion' to get people to games.

I would bet my house that their big marketing push this season will be to buy season tickets so that you have a spot in line to renew them for the new stadium. They'll sell about 5-6k of them.

People continue to comment that tickets are too expensive, and are always met with "season tickets average out to $18 per game!". The only way that deal works is if by some miracle you can free up 5 Saturdays and a Thursday night to use them all.

It’s not about the price it is about the experience, the price is just the excuse because they really don’t want to go to the game .

When I say price I am not willing to drop 1,500 for one game to tailgate for one game.

This is why we need to have festival type atmosphere where I may drop 100 on drinks, food and tailgating before I even walk into the stadium.

We are always going to have coaching and roster turnover. We are always going to have crummy home games. There is no magical season coming where we reach a playoff spot, then suddenly we're in the national conversation every year. We will always regress to the ebb and flow of G5 football inconsistency.

Focus your attention on building Cajun Gameday. The football program will always rise and fall, but the one thing you CAN control is the fan experience on Saturday.

Saw a comment say tailgating is not a money maker. In what world is that true?

Every Saturday you could turn Cajun Field into a giant cash machine. A stage playing local music, surrounded by local drink and food vendors (festival int.). A row of local vendors selling their wooden spoons, soaps, etc. (Moncus farmers market). A row of local amateur cooks, in a chili/gumbo/bbq cookoff each Saturday -- $10 gets you a tasting sample from each tent and a vote.

The Lafayette model is proven year after year -- get people in the door, and they'll spend money.

Get people into Cajun Field, and they'll shoulder some of the cost of reducing single game ticket prices.

[Ragin9221]

Except that's not UL's model They want the donations from the congregation but really couldn't care less if the people actually show up to pray



No it doesn't. The veil is lifted. There was always this imaginary hump that we were SO CLOSE to getting over Hud was close, going to our first bowl game. Napier was closer, with our first national ranking. But in the end, the end result was the same -- lame bowl game against a mid-tier G5 team. There is no corner, there is no hump. The system is designed to keep G5 teams where they are -- fighting over one or two scraps, while churning out talent -- players and coaches -- for P5 teams to poach when necessary. Advertising players and coaches is pointless because they will rarely stay long enough to have a lasting effect.



MOST people can only make one or two games a year. Yet the school relies completely on using season ticket pricing as the main 'promotion' to get people to games.

I would bet my house that their big marketing push this season will be to buy season tickets so that you have a spot in line to renew them for the new stadium. They'll sell about 5-6k of them.

People continue to comment that tickets are too expensive, and are always met with "season tickets average out to $18 per game!". The only way that deal works is if by some miracle you can free up 5 Saturdays and a Thursday night to use them all.



We are always going to have coaching and roster turnover. We are always going to have crummy home games. There is no magical season coming where we reach a playoff spot, then suddenly we're in the national conversation every year. We will always regress to the ebb and flow of G5 football inconsistency.

Focus your attention on building Cajun Gameday. The football program will always rise and fall, but the one thing you CAN control is the fan experience on Saturday.

Saw a comment say tailgating is not a money maker. In what world is that true?

Every Saturday you could turn Cajun Field into a giant cash machine. A stage playing local music, surrounded by local drink and food vendors (festival int.). A row of local vendors selling their wooden spoons, soaps, etc. (Moncus farmers market). A row of local amateur cooks, in a chili/gumbo/bbq cookoff each Saturday -- $10 gets you a tasting sample from each tent and a vote.

The Lafayette model is proven year after year -- get people in the door, and they'll spend money.

Get people into Cajun Field, and they'll shoulder some of the cost of reducing single game ticket prices.

Amen to this !!

[HoustonCajun]

Hud got it.he relentlessly oozed and projected confidence. People gravitate to this.Can't be a leader without followers. As HC He is not just leader of a dozen coaches and 105 playersif he doesnt embrace his role as leader of the entire Cajun Nation, he will be the next Bob Marlin. Des' press conference persona is not just bad, at an executive level (which he now is) it is quite poor. He needs to fix this immediately.

Hud did get it and he was able to excite the fan base. Des' personna is no different than Napier or even Saban. Low key and nothing said to get people excited about. The difference is, that is not needed at Florida or Alabama. It is greatly needed at Louisiana and it has not been deliverable since Hud left. Winning alone won't do it as Napier was successful in winning but not in enticing fans to attend. Too bad we couldn't entice Hud to return and head up RCAF. Maybe with the right money tied to fund raising. He could easily turn this around.

[CajunNation]

Best way to lower season ticket prices?

Trade in the 6th home game for a P4 game.

[jaxmc1023]

Best way to lower season ticket prices?

Trade in the 6th home game for a P4 game.

Everyone has to sit together next year luxury suite people, 50 yard line people, the band, students, the press, the concessions, and the broke people

It's a great opportunity to go all in on fan engagement, and promote the hell out of just how goofy next season will be.

I fully expect the admin to run something like this, and somehow charge even more

[Swamp]

I know we have talked about this many times on what, when, and how to do increase attendance numbers besides winning at attracting good opponents; but I wanted to really learn the ways to get this done with the Cajun culture. We are obviously different than our conference peers with "the way we do things." As everyone knows, the way we make money around here is inside the gates of festivals, parades, and parks to where admission is almost "free." At the same time, Cajun Athletics charges gate prices to make their money up front from tailgating to tickets to where there may be a number of locals who feel "priced out."

So, here is my question for Cajun fans. In your opinion, is there a way to change the formula in order to draw more to our games?

Eliminate all the nice, soft crap. Less family friendly.

Turn up the Rock/Rap/Country.

LFG.

[CajunNation]

Eliminate all the nice, soft crap. Less family friendly.

Turn up the Rock/Rap/Country.

LFG.

I don't think Rap is still a thing. The modern version of Hip Hop destroyed Rap. I would be down for some old school DMC, LL, Beastie Boys.

That garbage they blare these days? They can flush that with the rest of the crap.

[Swamp]

I don't think Rap is still a thing. The modern version of Hip Hop destroyed Rap. I would be down for some old school DMC, LL, Beastie Boys.

That garbage they blare these days? They can flush that with the rest of the crap.

Agree. 2pac/Cypress hill/too short

[CajunNation]

Agree. 2pac/Cypress hill/too short

Funny story.

1990. Me and my friend, C4Me, are walking across campus, and we hear Too Short being played loudly by this little bitty truck coming down the street. It stops at the stop sign just as we are crossing the street. All we see in the windshield are a a pair of knees.

Somehow, Kevin Brooks had squeezed himself into the smallest Toyota truck I ever saw.

[Turbine]

Let me try again

MAT for AD!!!

OR

MATADOR

[fanof71]

Let me try again OR

MATADOR

Dr. MATgard

[ManAboutTown]

OR maybe he can stop deleting posts and things might get fixed around this bih