How to Increase Attendance?

[RaginCajun77]

You "add" social media, its not a replacement.

Social media is far to fractured to drop everthing else that is required.

Just like you can never make a deal with a single newspaper, the media market is too fractured for that to be a good move.

Its a good move for the paper because it brings in some new readers. Readers who discovered the draw elsewhere

For the sake of your existing audience never abandon "elsewhere" because social media is just lagniappe

Excellent point Turbine. Social media is extremely fragmented with engagement varying based on demographics, In addition, social media platforms use algorithims that lead to posts being prioritized based on what the platform thinks you should see. Marketing is only as useful as execution on game day. Execution has been a pain point now for many years. Issues with scanners, concessions, parking, etc. aren't new issues. We aren't selling the game only, we're selling experiences and that experience needs to be uniform for each home game year over year. Finally, the best market to develop is already engaged with UL, our students. Go all in on getting students to games, build an attachment to UL athletics that lasts after graduation.

[fanof71]

Sir, $2 Natty is not catering to my demographic. I could give a crap about cheap bear. Parking is readily available, but people want it free. And while I have no problem with a number of your suggestions, people in this area are cheap. Sorry, even the old group have similar views on cost. Why, because when this program was losing frequently people could just drive up and park anywhere except around the parking lot next to the stadium.

With your suggestions and I applaud your efforts, there is no suggestions on how to raise revenue. This program is without student fees and continually robs Petter to pay Paul from the RCAF General Fund. Sorry, but I'm willing to listen to your or anyone else's suggestions but I need to see tangle ways to raise revenue to take any of it seriously. And finding revenue streams usually doesn't began with giving things away to attract the low-end casual fan to walk into Cajun Field.

Have to agree with T....some good ideas, but how do your raise the money to launch all of that. Most of what you mentioned includes people who want to be paid.

RCAF should start targeting (like never before).. Considering the Lafayette MSA (Lafayette, Acadia, Iberia, St. Martin, and Vermillion Parishes) mean HH Income is $58,150 and as many as 45% of the MSA HH make between $25k and $75k a year, 35% make $50-100k while 15% make $100-150k and 12% make $150k+…. Perception is that RCAF is ONLY FOR THOSE IN THE $150k+ AND ABOVE BUCKET.

So, why not be more visible and transparent with the group making in a lower income HH?They're missing out on nearly 50% of the above HH's.

You want better attendance, you've got to start including the middle income folks!

As far as social media goes, anytime you stop serving ads, you've got to pick it up again and that sets the process back. Target gross impressions in the above income levels, but you have to be consistent and have a meaningful call to action. Otherwise, like three quarters of the ads you get served, it just becomes background noise. Social Media posts about game time mean nothing. Also, for SM to be effective, there is a period of time before the ads secure enough gross impressions to be effective. Ads with a call to action won't resonate to attend a game being placed the week of the game. CPM's are $20 or below a thousand gross impressions in this market.

[Turbine]

Getting the people with little money into Cajun Basin at large and into The Swamp specifically is crucial.

(the ones you won't make a dime from)

They are the ones who will create a fantastic atmosphere where others will want to go and actually spend money.

[RedTails]

Best shot we have is to make the best impressions we can when stadium renovations are complete. Both before 2025 season and during the 2025 games. If we can't capitalize and convince Acadiana/Lafayette it's an event worth attending, won't look good long-term.

We need the casuals that choose TSAB over us, whether they are alumni or not. We'll get some of them when renovations are complete, but an impression needs to be made to get them to come back. I think that means making tailgating way more affordable until we have wait lists again.

[Fais do-do]

Valid points.
I drove 4 hrs to go to the App game and brought 10 to the game. The young adults looked at their phones more than the game, then left at halftime. No real interest in the game and they all live in Lafayette! Only the adults stayed until we could not take the extremely loud music in sec 103. Sadly, it was just not that much fun overall. Why does the tail gating band play at the same time as the UL band in the baseball stadium pep rally? You cannot hear crap. It really is the simple things they fail at, not the complex ones.

[ZoomZoom]

Amazing, I’m watching multiple games right now and what do I not hear? Loud PA based music between plays. The bands play, as they should.

[Duckster]

Best shot we have is to make the best impressions we can when stadium renovations are complete. Both before 2025 season and during the 2025 games. If we can't capitalize and convince Acadiana/Lafayette it's an event worth attending, won't look good long-term.

We need the casuals that choose TSAB over us, whether they are alumni or not. We'll get some of them when renovations are complete, but an impression needs to be made to get them to come back. I think that means making tailgating way more affordable until we have wait lists again.

Maybe ten years ago, we had threads about how to get the tailgaters into the stadium at kickoff, fill seats. Tailgating was a bigger thing and fun. The timing of fairly dramatic tailgate price increases coincided with combination of less Saturday night home games/more weekday home games due to TV & winning. Nowadays, TV controls almost every kickoff time and we're winning again (no complaints!) so this era of maybe 3 or 4 Sat. night home games is our future. A Saturday night game tailgate deal or more single game tailgate packages in a certain area might induce more tailgaters. I believe the most surefire way to increase in stadium attendance is increasing season ticket sales. Winning big obviously helps. And be flexible about letting people leave the stadium and return with their ticket if they need.

[RaginScotsman]

Being 6-1 may help. Who knows.

[Turbine]

Maybe ten years ago, we had threads about how to get the tailgaters into the stadium at kickoff, fill seats. Tailgating was a bigger thing and fun. The timing of fairly dramatic tailgate price increases coincided with combination of less Saturday night home games/more weekday home games due to TV & winning. Nowadays, TV controls almost every kickoff time and we're winning again (no complaints!) so this era of maybe 3 or 4 Sat. night home games is our future. A Saturday night game tailgate deal or more single game tailgate packages in a certain area might induce more tailgaters. I believe the most surefire way to increase in stadium attendance is increasing season ticket sales. Winning big obviously helps. And be flexible about letting people leave the stadium and return with their ticket if they need.

Definitely things to consider.

[fanof71]

Fire the bafoon PA guy and whoever is working the music selection...they actually qued up Zepplins "if it keeps on raining levee going to break" during App game...they just went through a flood of biblical proportions....tone deaf to say the least

[Swamp]

And be flexible about letting people leave the stadium and return with their ticket if they need.

Make this change to season ticket holders for certain. This of course will not handle all scenarios (folks coming in from out of town and putting cash into the registers) but its a start.

[Swamp]

Fire the bafoon PA guy and whoever is working the music selection...they actually qued up Zepplins "if it keeps on raining levee going to break" during App game...they just went through a flood of biblical proportions....tone deaf to say the least

The PA IS far too loud. It was piercing loud v App St.

Song selection is an interesting topic. However, we can make great improvements through the audio field (layout). This is something we discuss with pretty good frequency. It is important. Audio possesses far more effects than most any know. Very interesting effects.

[Swamp]

Being 6-1 may help. Who knows.

Absolutely. Beat everything, everyone.

[Swamp]

Valid points.
I drove 4 hrs to go to the App game and brought 10 to the game. The young adults looked at their phones more than the game, then left at halftime. No real interest in the game and they all live in Lafayette! Only the adults stayed until we could not take the extremely loud music in sec 103. Sadly, it was just not that much fun overall. Why does the tail gating band play at the same time as the UL band in the baseball stadium pep rally? You cannot hear crap. It really is the simple things they fail at, not the complex ones.

The two at once completely distorts all effects of music. This can be rectified immediately. No longer should any source interfere with another.

[Swamp]

Best shot we have is to make the best impressions we can when stadium renovations are complete. Both before 2025 season and during the 2025 games. If we can't capitalize and convince Acadiana/Lafayette it's an event worth attending, won't look good long-term.

We need the casuals that choose TSAB over us, whether they are alumni or not. We'll get some of them when renovations are complete, but an impression needs to be made to get them to come back. I think that means making tailgating way more affordable until we have wait lists again.

Absolutely. We have an enormous gap in our fan base. It is serious.