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SLU Attendance Discussion


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3 hours ago, brianstl said:

We averaged 5,517.  That number should be a wake up call for the athletic department that they need to do something different to get people in the building. It wasn't just the result of COVID.  There has been a steady long term decline in the attendance numbers for a couple decades now.  

That was are lowest average attendance number since 1985-86.  36 seasons ago.  The 85-86 season was the first winning season the Billikens had in 13 seasons.  

Covid and more importantly SLU’s inane policies made a significant difference.

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Just now, willie said:

Totally antidotal but I work with 2 people who are buying season tickets for the first time because they think we are going to be good. 

That is great to hear and they are correct.  We are going to be really good.

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20 minutes ago, brianstl said:

I think the biggest thing hurting SLU's attendance is not ticket prices, the Chaifetz experience, lack of enough big time opponents or not winning big enough.  We didn't average 85% capacity when we were ranked in the top 10 and had a loaded schedule during the Majerus and Crews run.  Ticket prices for the general public are actually less that they were before.   Maybe improving the Chaifetz experience would help marginally, but I think any college program in Major League sports town is going to have an almost impossible task competing against the pro teams when it comes to attracting the audience that is looking for the experience atmosphere event.

The problem is that you don't have as many family with kids going to the games as you used to have.  This has become a even harder demographic to compete for and you really aren't going to compete for them with the concession prices being what they are.  The unpleasant feeling a parent gets when they feel they are constantly being took for every dollar possible leaves you with a bad impression of the whole event and no real desire to return.  You could charge higher ticket prices and have parents feel like the are getting a better family experience if they didn't feel like they were getting held up when the buy a pretzel and a bottle of water for their kid.

 

I don't know what attendance numbers were like during our top 15 Majerus teams but I do remember how hard it was finding 6 seats together for the conference game I took my uncle and cousins to. Haven't had that problem in several years. 

I also don't think winning consistently would equate to a record-breaking streak of sold out games but I think it at least prevents any future conversation over SLU filling just 52% of Chaifetz. I can't speak for anyone else but right now I'd sure be happy with 8,500/game (80%). 

Going back to my pervious post...why deal with the "hassle" of driving down to midtown, paying for a ticket, parking, food, and drinks when you can just watch every game at home on your 70 inch flat screen? Now multiply some of those costs by a family of 4. 

One of my fondest childhood memories is spending the night at a friend's house every Saturday there was a Billiken home game down at Kiel Center. His dad was take a bunch of our friends down to the games and then we would return to home and play basketball in his room with the mini balls they would launch into the stands.

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9 minutes ago, willie said:

Totally antidotal but I work with 2 people who are buying season tickets for the first time because they think we are going to be good. 

For anyone that was at the open practice, they marked the seats of new season ticket holders with a white piece of paper. Wasn’t a huge amount of them but enough to be noticeable (at least to me)

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1 minute ago, NoCoBillsFan said:

For anyone that was at the open practice, they marked the seats of new season ticket holders with a white piece of paper. Wasn’t a huge amount of them but enough to be noticeable (at least to me)

Wondered what those white papers were. 

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9 minutes ago, Slu let the dogs out? said:

I don't know what attendance numbers were like during our top 15 Majerus teams but I do remember how hard it was finding 6 seats together for the conference game I took my uncle and cousins to. Haven't had that problem in several years. 

I also don't think winning consistently would equate to a record-breaking streak of sold out games but I think it at least prevents any future conversation over SLU filling just 52% of Chaifetz. I can't speak for anyone else but right now I'd sure be happy with 8,500/game (80%). 

Going back to my pervious post...why deal with the "hassle" of driving down to midtown, paying for a ticket, parking, food, and drinks when you can just watch every game at home on your 70 inch flat screen? Now multiply some of those costs by a family of 4. 

One of my fondest childhood memories is spending the night at a friend's house every Saturday there was a Billiken home game down at Kiel Center. His dad was take a bunch of our friends down to the games and then we would return to home and play basketball in his room with the mini balls they would launch into the stands.

SLU addressed this somewhat inadvertently by having to reduce the arena's capacity because they forgot about the practice facility.  Also, TV is a double edge sword.  It might keep some people home, but it exposes your product to a large amount of potential costumers.  The key is marketing the product correctly to give those people a reason to sample the product in person and then delivering a product that makes them willing to pay again after they attend in person.  Plenty of pro and college programs have been successful in doing it.

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10 minutes ago, Slu let the dogs out? said:

I don't know what attendance numbers were like during our top 15 Majerus teams but I do remember how hard it was finding 6 seats together for the conference game I took my uncle and cousins to. Haven't had that problem in several years. 

I also don't think winning consistently would equate to a record-breaking streak of sold out games but I think it at least prevents any future conversation over SLU filling just 52% of Chaifetz. I can't speak for anyone else but right now I'd sure be happy with 8,500/game (80%). 

Going back to my pervious post...why deal with the "hassle" of driving down to midtown, paying for a ticket, parking, food, and drinks when you can just watch every game at home on your 70 inch flat screen? Now multiply some of those costs by a family of 4. 

One of my fondest childhood memories is spending the night at a friend's house every Saturday there was a Billiken home game down at Kiel Center. His dad was take a bunch of our friends down to the games and then we would return to home and play basketball in his room with the mini balls they would launch into the stands.

For the 3 Majerus-constructed tournament teams the average attendance was as follows:

2011-12   7,757
2012-13  7,673
2013-14  8,428

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55 minutes ago, slu72 said:

Is the Student section full for all games or just the big name games? I would start there, ie drum up student attendance.

In the salad days of Spoon the team got the attention of the general public. Largely due to Spoon’s good old boy aw shuck’s personality, and we were winning in a solid conference with long time well known rivals. However, Travis can’t be Charlie, and LaSalle ain’t Louisville. So, the only answer is winning winning winning and win some more to give the public the idea they are missing something special. 

I don't remember many home games being televised when Spoon was here.  The television situation is a big deal.  I have not  been to a Cards game for a few years simply because it is too much of a hassle to go when I can get all the games on my TV.

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7 minutes ago, brianstl said:

SLU addressed this somewhat inadvertently by having to reduce the arena's capacity because they forgot about the practice facility.  Also, TV is a double edge sword.  It might keep some people home, but it exposes your product to a large amount of potential costumers.  The key is marketing the product correctly to give those people a reason to sample the product in person and then delivering a product that makes them willing to pay again after they attend in person.  Plenty of pro and college programs have been successful in doing it.

Curious what you think this would be if not enhancing the Chaiftez experience or winning on the court?

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-if we are going to look at attendance moving from Scottrade to Chaifetz I know of 8 seats that were not renewed at Chaifetz because of parking, these were older people (5 of whom are no longer with us) who parked in the Scottrade garage, were protected from the elements and didn't have far to walk to get into the arena and to their seats, probably my only two issues with Chaifetz from a physical aspect are the parking especially for those with mobility issues and no place for folks to park for 10-15 minutes to visit the box office to purchase tickets

-sorry to repeat but imo our single game ticket prices are beyond belief, was it $30 per ticket last season for upper level center section tickets? this wasn't just VCU or SVU, this was Mercer and the rest.  If a young couple has an 8 and 10 year old for the ADept to expect them to pay $120 to get in the building is nuts and imo we want 8 and 10 year olds in the crowd to become Billiken fans for life - it does no good for those upper level seats to gather dust, price them so they will get bought and give kids $5 admission 

-I used to be in the camp that winning would cure the attendance decline, I have changed my tune, I'm not certain of all of the factors impacting attendance but just winning isn't a cure all but I give this caveat, we haven't won when it really counts and that is in March

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Let's go back to  the comparison of UK (Lexington, KY) with SLU (St. Louis). Lexington is a small city and other than horse racing has no professional sports events or arenas. Sports events in Lexington KY are provided by UK's teams. In these terms they are comparable to Dayton which is also not well provided with sports events.

SLU (St. Louis) is located in a city with multiple professional sports teams (Cardinals, Blues, MLS) and has no lack of sports events, sometimes taking place simultaneously.

I think fans in Lexington may be more like those in Dayton, both cities have limited availability of sports events. St. Louis fans have a broader base of sports events to choose from.

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3 minutes ago, Cowboy II said:

-if we are going to look at attendance moving from Scottrade to Chaifetz I know of 8 seats that were not renewed at Chaifetz because of parking, these were older people (5 of whom are no longer with us) who parked in the Scottrade garage, were protected from the elements and didn't have far to walk to get into the arena and to their seats, probably my only two issues with Chaifetz from a physical aspect are the parking especially for those with mobility issues and no place for folks to park for 10-15 minutes to visit the box office to purchase tickets

-sorry to repeat but imo our single game ticket prices are beyond belief, was it $30 per ticket last season for upper level center section tickets? this wasn't just VCU or SVU, this was Mercer and the rest.  If a young couple has an 8 and 10 year old for the ADept to expect them to pay $120 to get in the building is nuts and imo we want 8 and 10 year olds in the crowd to become Billiken fans for life - it does no good for those upper level seats to gather dust, price them so they will get bought and give kids $5 admission 

-I used to be in the camp that winning would cure the attendance decline, I have changed my tune, I'm not certain of all of the factors impacting attendance but just winning isn't a cure all but I give this caveat, we haven't won when it really counts and that is in March

Parking of course is an issue. 

Really wish the lot at HS by their baseball fields was a parking garage.  Also, wish SLU had 2-3 more golf carts to take people from SLU parking garage and back.  

figures crossed Humps has a bus like old times. 

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Not a pleasant observation, but I know several people who no longer attend sporting events of any kind downtown because of fear of street crime in our fair city.  
 Some of these are SLU alums. They will watch a SLU game on TV, depending on the opponent.  
I wonder what attendance would be if the SLU campus were in St Louis  county?

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Just now, SLUMS81 said:

Not a pleasant observation, but I know several people who no longer attend sporting events of any kind downtown because of fear of street crime in our fair city.  
 Some of these are SLU alums. They will watch a SLU game on TV, depending on the opponent.  
I wonder what attendance would be if the SLU campus were in St Louis  county?

im not denying there are instances of crime in the downtown area, but i have been going to cardinal and billiken games since the late 70's and have never witnessed a crime being committed.   i am sure there have been times.   but that is the exception more than the rule.  particularly if you come are there and leave when the crowds are thick.   now if you stay till 3 am, sure you might be a target.  

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3 minutes ago, wgstl said:

Parking of course is an issue. 

Really wish the lot at HS by their baseball fields was a parking garage.  Also, wish SLU had 2-3 more golf carts to take people from SLU parking garage and back.  

figures crossed Humps has a bus like old times. 

More golf carts to run people from the parking garage to Chaifetz and back seems easily doable.  Maybe there is a place for a lot or garage down by the Med campus that they could run busses or shuttles between them? Maybe work with Humps or any other bar/restaurant to get buses to shuttle people to/from Chaifetz? Maybe a shuttle bus from say West County Mall, or St Charles or Arnold like the one from St Clair Square to Busch? 

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18 minutes ago, cheeseman said:

I don't remember many home games being televised when Spoon was here.  The television situation is a big deal.  I have not  been to a Cards game for a few years simply because it is too much of a hassle to go when I can get all the games on my TV.

The Cardinals are averaging more fans per game this season with every home game broadcast in one manner or another than they did in the early 2000's in a bigger stadium without every home game broadcast.  

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2 hours ago, ACE said:

This is a key point that is often lost in these discussions. There are way more games on tv now and a lot more other things competing for the entertainment dollar. A better measure is how is SLU comparing against our peers - similar programs.

There are always things that can be tweaked to try to drive attendance, but to sustain it will require sustained success on the court. Multiple tourney bids, plus a couple of deep runs. When we play big games, the fans usually show up - Butler, VCU games back in the day and always Dayton. The key is to have a good team that is playing important games. If we crack the Top 25 this year and stay there for a long time, the crowd will respond. 

I agree the attendance was good for Auburn and Dayton last season.

The A10 will never be The Great Midwest or Conference USA when crowds were huge and SLU was in the top 20 in attendance.

Attending the games is so much better than watching on TV.

If SLU can get in the top 25 early in the season and stay in the top 25 to March then I think more fans will show up.

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Well an inflation rate of 9% ain’t gonna help matters, is it? That plus the Covid vaccine that doesn’t prevent it, only limits the severity, doesn’t help either. And the TV factor only adds to the problem. Still, it’s likely one of the best entertainment values in STL if you’re winning. Just got to make it more fan friendly I guess. I will say it’s depressing to see all those empty seats in the lower bowls. You know they’re sold but no arses in the seats is sad to see. 

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Just now, CBFan said:

The A10 will never be The Great Midwest or Conference USA when crowds were huge and SLU was in the top 20 in attendance.

Attending the games is so much better than watching on TV.

the a-10 lack of allure is all on brenda.   maybe the worst conference commish in the history of college sports.  she thinks small time.   there has been no effort that i have seen for her to make the conference more.   

no doubt being there is the best.  

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2 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

the a-10 lack of allure is all on brenda.   maybe the worst conference commish in the history of college sports.  she thinks small time.   there has been no effort that i have seen for her to make the conference more.   

no doubt being there is the best.  

I agree with in person being better than TV. I hope to make it to the Fetz this season, because the Temple game I went to was a lot of fun. Even though we lost. 

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