Student Section

What a bunch of *******. You have all week to study. Also: a hangover? Get of bed, make a Bloody Mary or 5, and rub some ******* dirt on it. You're in college. The best way to kill a hangover, in the short term, is to lay back into the booze immediately.

These are kinder, gentler students Al. They wear skinny jeans and listen to their Justin Bieber albums.
 
I was one ripping the students for saturday's performance, but I thought they did a great job last night. They were loud and into the game. The lack of signs was the only dissapointment. That being said, I would say 100% chance the students lose the upper deck seating for next year. Pollard can create more revenue selling those seats and it will look better with them filled.
 
It is pretty clear that the "ideal" Cyclone Alley fits in the lower bowl on the end as students are indicating that, except for a couple games, they would rather throw $130 away than sit above parquet level.

Here's a concept I'll throw out there, maybe we can flesh it out and fix this thing.:

End the farce. Stop the over selling. Return to a scanned paper ticket system. Sell the lower bowl as student season tickets. Upper balcony should be sold a week in advance as non transferable paper tickets from a booth at the MU. If you cannot attend the game you can turn it back in at the MU for a refund, provided it is done ahead of the deadline. Afterward, too bad. Install a point system for priority season ticket purchases, with fewer points given for KU, more points given for TCU, etc. Students who attend all games, especially the less appealing ones, will accumulate more points for the purchase of season tickets the following year. The athletic department can award points to any student's basketball account for helping to create a good atmosphere at games--helping you find out who the real CA leaders are.
 
Makes me chuckle when people pipe up "It pisses me off to see seats open when I'd drop the money to sit there." Congratulations....that seat is already paid for...twice no less.

Like I said last week, adding barriers to entry isn't the solution for getting more students into the games. You take the fringe fans who do show up because they have tickets out of the equation if they have to do additional work to be able to attend. Those are your future donors.

I have season tickets. Should I have to register that "I'm going to be attending XXXXXX game" so they don't resell my tickets? Why are students an exception in that case? I don't like that argument but it's completely valid. They paid for the same seat I did and there's isn't guaranteed.
 
Last edited:
This is exactly true. Although I graduated already, I talked with some friends who are still in school and none of them were having it waiting several hours in the freezing cold for the Iowa and KU games when a bunch of people are just going to budge right before the doors open. The best you get is the upper section of the lower bowl. They are all 21 and decided to just go to the bars to watch the games where they can be warm and drink. It was great that people camped out but now a group of students are reluctant to go now since they are afraid of waiting multiple hours for nose bleeds or not even get in..even though lately that isn't true since we barely fill the lower bowl.
This makes no sense. Not at all a reason for not showing up. Lame *** excuse.
 
I never sat in the upper level of the student section and I was there for the first 3 years of Hoiberg. As others have said its not hard if you juggle your time well.
 
I don't understand the people who say the students are paying for a ticket just like any other season ticket holder... What are they paying, ~100 bucks? What do student season tickets go for these days? As a student you get a big discount. You don't have to donate and you get a really cheap season ticket. With where our program is right now this is unacceptable.

Whatever contest Cyclone Alley is in right now, they do not deserve to win and I personally wouldn't vote for them.
 
The students through the Hoiberg era do not know how good they are getting it. I went to school through the McDoormatt times and only went to select games. They were absolutely pathetic and to look over at an empty upper deck student section last night was very disappointing. I bet Pollard changes it up next year. It's sad that you have a top ranked 25 program throughout the season and can't even fill up even half the upperdeck as the end of the season nears. I don't want to hear that a lot of students had tests, hangover, don't want to sit in the upper deck, etc...that should not take up that many students. I was in the upperdeck and could see the game fine. Hats off to the students who did show up, they were loud and proud to be there.
 
I was one ripping the students for saturday's performance, but I thought they did a great job last night. They were loud and into the game. The lack of signs was the only dissapointment. That being said, I would say 100% chance the students lose the upper deck seating for next year. Pollard can create more revenue selling those seats and it will look better with them filled.
Being able to currently double sell them makes that tough, but turnout would be better, and is needed as a "reboot". It would make student tickets in short-supply, which can be good for popularity by increasing the "value" of going, and with the guaranteed seating, there may be a higher usage rate.

At the very least offer two different student tickets, GA and secured (more $). You could then also somewhat see how much the non-guarantee was contributing to the low-turnout. You could still oversell the GA, and I'd even open it up some of the GA for resell a few days before.

We all know this is not just an ISU issue. ESPN just had and article on it in college football. Really, the AD needs to do a better job targeting students (and even young adults), and that includes more than just glad-handing on campus. With social-media and apps on smart phones, it should be almost a constant information exchange on seat availability, usage, etc. I think weather is an issue as it eliminates the party aspect of going. With Johnny's, think about using the Scheman building to partner with different student groups to host tailgate fundraiser's and throw them a chunk. These are all things CA should be doing and offering already imo. Winning is not a cure to no-shows any more.
 
This is exactly true. Although I graduated already, I talked with some friends who are still in school and none of them were having it waiting several hours in the freezing cold for the Iowa and KU games when a bunch of people are just going to budge right before the doors open. The best you get is the upper section of the lower bowl. They are all 21 and decided to just go to the bars to watch the games where they can be warm and drink. It was great that people camped out but now a group of students are reluctant to go now since they are afraid of waiting multiple hours for nose bleeds or not even get in..even though lately that isn't true since we barely fill the lower bowl.


So, now it is the fault of the best student fans because they camped out? That is the lamest excuse yet!
 
I don't understand the people who say the students are paying for a ticket just like any other season ticket holder... What are they paying, ~100 bucks? What do student season tickets go for these days? As a student you get a big discount. You don't have to donate and you get a really cheap season ticket. With where our program is right now this is unacceptable.
You're selling 2,500 seats 1.4 times at $130 + basketball revenue from 35,000 student fees + being able to sell break games separately. That's a sweet deal if you're the AD.

And the amount you pay doesn't make a damn difference on the principle of a ticket should be a seat. I don't care if it's a Captains level donor or a cheap seats season ticket holder, their ticket entitles them to a seat in Hilton Coliseum does it not? There isn't some ridiculous process they have to go through to get a ticket is there?
 
I will say this to the students. In the past you didn't get every game as a student, and you didn't get the same section either.

That balcony section needs to be full of ISU fans because it can be. This is not a financial issue. The team needs it full of fans.

I don't care how it gets done, but it needs to get done.
 
This is like blaming customers for a business not making any money.

Obviously even though the team is very good, the experience at Hilton for students is not good enough to pull them away from watching on TV or good enough to make them want to skip out on other responsibilities. It is simple.

Students want different things than older donors and in the past 5 years since I started school almost nothing has changed in Hilton except the quality of the team, which is enough for me but probably not enough for some chick who bought tickets at orientation and already had to skip 3 games earlier in the year because she didn't like standing in line.

If you want people to go and they aren't, you obviously have to improve the experience to entice people to come.

My advice would be removing the need for a credit/debit card to print and transfer tickets, improve wifi at games, and find a system that is not a lot of work for students to pick tickets up a week before a game and have a guaranteed seat. If students don't claim all of their seats, sell them as GA.
 
Last edited:
You're selling 2,500 seats 1.4 times at $130 + basketball revenue from 35,000 student fees + being able to sell break games separately. That's a sweet deal if you're the AD.

And the amount you pay doesn't make a damn difference on the principle of a ticket should be a seat. I don't care if it's a Captains level donor or a cheap seats season ticket holder, their ticket entitles them to a seat in Hilton Coliseum does it not? There isn't some ridiculous process they have to go through to get a ticket is there?
Disagree, but the AD should extract the extra utility that comes with a secure seat by having actual student tickets at a higher cost as an option. The student fees "threat" is a non-issue.
 
Disagree, but the AD should extract the extra utility that comes with a secure seat by having actual student tickets at a higher cost as an option. The student fees "threat" is a non-issue.

It wouldn't change anything. The die hards would buy actual seats and the top of the student section would still be empty.
 
JP showed his hand when he tweeted his displeasure with the students a month or so ago. Last night had to be the "straw that broke the camel's back." Top 25 matchup, gorgeous day, 6:00 start... no reason for students not to be there. It's not worth selling all those tickets to fill up for the Iowa and Kansas game. Take the upper section student section away and sell them as $125 season tickets.
 
Take the upper section student section away and sell them as $125 season tickets.

This is an excellent way for the AD to lose a ton of money. Not only will they lose revenue from student ticket sales, where they can sell those tickets twice, but I would be absolutely shocked if the students just went along with this instead of going after the athletics fee that all students pay. The AD would be opening a huge can of worms.
 
Its funny that the students who whined to Pollard because they didn't get into the Iowa game since they got there so late are probably a majority of the students who don't show up for any other games.
This is why we need a points system for big games. You should have to earn the right to a seat to Iowa, KU, etc.
 

Help Support Us

Become a patron