Embarassing for a top 10/15/20 team. I would have killed to have a team like this to support in college.
Student Section
- Thread starter allfourcy
- Start date
How many die-hard fans out there are unaware of the secondary ticket markets? Please. That's as ridiculous as the majority of the arguments for why students don't attend games.
I'm mostly concerned about getting rid of the people who only show up to the big games. Giving priority seating to people who go to the most games would be another great option, imo.
Don't go to the 'boring' games, don't get to sit in the lower level for the fun ones.
The AD can make a lot more money if they convert the entire student section into donor seating
The "Green Hills Retirement Home Section" has a nice ring to it
Because every other school in the country does it. Because the future of donations for Iowa State basketball is currently sitting on the ends of the court in Hilton Coliseum.
Tuition and prices have absolutely nada to do with each other. Discounted tickets for students are a way of trying to get you attached to Iowa State basketball so you remember Iowa State basketball in 20 years when you're making a boatload of money.
Pollard is dealing the drugs to you right now at a "get you hooked" price for future benefit. Do you think if tuition shot up 30% he'd lower ticket prices to help students? No. Do you think if tuition dropped 30% he'd raise ticket prices to bridge the gap? No.
I'm not talking diehards, I'm picturing a random family who comes to maybe one game/year. They aren't going to pay over face value, they just quit trying when the ISU site says there aren't tickets left. Not an excuse, just a fact.
I'm guessing those are the ones Jamie worries about the least. They don't make enough money for the AD for him to spend much time worrying. He wants as many people as possible with season tickets. That hurts for games like Kansas where he could sell tickets at 2-3 times the face value on the season ticket but he makes a killing on the early games and lower demand conference games.
Seems like a simple solution but, why doesn't ISU just take away the one upper deck section from the students (except for Iowa and Kansas) and sell that section as single game tickets to the general public for a discounted price equivalent to what students would pay? Students could still buy in those sections for a cheap price and the general public would have access to the section instead of it sitting empty.
I agree, not really talking about making money. My original point was that you seemed to be scoffing at those who can't get in and pointed out that the seat was paid for more than just once already (insinuating they shouldn't be upset). In the end I know everyone's goal is to have the seats full.
Put me in this camp. I have two boys who I would love to be able to take to games but I can't afford to spend $34 a piece minimum for nosebleeds against WVU.
If they could sell those empty student seats for 10-15 a piece I would bring my boys to multiple games a season.
It's also important to note that the attendance looks worse than it is since all the empty seats are right next to each other. Still bad though.
Hopefully the end up selling the empty student seating to the general public for the last 2 games... makes perfect sense and its been done before.
If they offered discount tickets you wouldn't get them anyway. The secondary market would suck them up in ten minutes and you would be paying $35 out in front of Hilton anyway. Discounted tickets have to be non transferable.
The fact of the matter is that, for everyone else in Hilton except the students, there is more people who want tickets than there are available. That means you are going to pay more. I understand the plight of those who want to attend one or two games a year, but from an athletics department's viewpoint they would rather every ticket was a season ticket.
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How about selling 500 general admission tickets to the public with disclosure that they will be shared with students on a first come first served basis? This would raise extra revenue, fill the balcony student section, and only be a problem for a few big games (maybe exclude the Iowa and KU games).
No one disagrees with this.
However, what incentive does the AD have to go through more work to sell the tickets for a small price when they can sell them multiple times and get $175 for each seat in the section?
I know in the past people have used the argument that "They're my tickets, I can do with them what I want" when it comes to poor attendance in the early year games. How is that any different from students? You can't have it both ways.
For the early year games I'd love to sit in the seats in a donor section in the lower level. If Jamie would just sell those for $25 since someone bought the ticket but didn't use it I would do that for the non-conference games.
And I'm also taking a wild leap here in guessing that the thought of dragging your boys over to Hilton, only to find out that the scalping out front results in you paying more than you can afford, and turning around to head home, doesn't appeal much either.
I guess I don't understand the "he can oversell them so he's making a ton of money" argument. Ok, fine then, sell the corners to the students too. Let's just make the entire upper bowl a student section and oversell it.
I guess at some point JP has to balance out the money side and the practical side. It's great to generate revenue by overselling tickets. I get that. However, if we want to continue to call ourselves one of the best home courts in America, it is embarassing to see a section of 2,000 seats sitting glaringly empty.
I guess at some point JP has to balance out the money side and the practical side. It's great to generate revenue by overselling tickets. I get that. However, if we want to continue to call ourselves one of the best home courts in America, it is embarassing to see a section of 2,000 seats sitting glaringly empty.