Tickets Sold, 4,400

[BucnBull]

Hell, they could of had the players divy up the season ticket holder list and made personal phone calls.  I've heard that we only have 4k season ticket holders so they could have call every one over a 2-3 day period.  

[BullsFanInTX]

BucnBull, how come we can think of these ideas, and they can't.  I'm not trying to knock whoever marketed this, but it seems some ideas for ticket sales were left on the table.

[hbryan]

We just need to get people hooked onto this bulletin board    ECU Eats It along with alot of other posters got me to cover my season ticket amount and then I talked 4 people who were going to be in Atlanta to go to the game.  That's 13 tickets above my previous years bowl ticket committment. Advertise thebullspen.com more :o

[mutt]

Mutt,

FYI on the Chick-fil-a Bowl below. You are comparing the Papajohns.com to the Chick-fil-a Bowl.  I really hope you are kidding.  

"Entering the 2006 contest, the Chick-fil-A Bowl has enjoyed nine straight sellouts, and 12 in the last 14 years, making it the highest attended bowl game outside the Bowl Championship Series. The television ratings were the highest among the 20 bowl games televised on ESPN, and was the third-highest rated bowl ever on the network."

I'm sorry, but I'm not really saying it right.  It's the whole name thing that gets me, I don't wanna be in some g-d "John's Bargin Store .com" bowl...    It's silly to say the least.     I know that we have to pay our dues, and don't get me wrong, I had a helluva time last year in Charlotte,  I'd just like it so that the BULLS don't have to settle for a lesser bowl that's sponsored by tampax.            

We need to strive for bigger and better things, next year, the Rose bowl.

[WoolyBully]

...IF WE MUST PURCHASE 10,000 TICKETS, why did the students only get 500? I'm not advocating total sponsorship by the school. I'm just curious as to where the remainder of the tickets go....

Sooo...of a pool of 10K how many tickets do YOU think should be

eaten (and that is the correct term) by the University and in turn handed to

students? Remember, the object of the game is to generate revenue,

by sales.

Nothing is ever free. Just because the funds don't come directly from the

student's pocket, doesn't mean the tickets were miracled - gratis - into their

hands. 500 x $30/head looks like a $15,000 value for the students. How much

more do you think should be spent?  Not being a smart ass, just asking what

you think a fair dollar value should be.

[SANJAY]

The problem with giving away large blocks of tickets is that people who might otherwise buy will wait for free ones.

[BDYZR]

I wasn't, and don't, advocate giving away large chunks of revenue.

Simply asking a question, and wondering which is more important at this juncture of our growth?

I guess the question is, "IF I give you a ticket, WILL your butt be in the seat?"

And is that really that critical to the to the future bowls when we can say we took xx,000 to the bowl in 2006?

[WoolyBully]

Fair 'nuff.

My experience has been that when I give something away,

human nature being what it is, the value of that item is not

the same as when I've charged for it.  And I do agree that

there is a percentage of the population out there that would

lounge about, waiting for a free ticket, rather than part with

$30.

To be honest, I think the folks in charge, both at USF and at

these bowl games are fully aware of the issues associated with

"traveling well", in particular given our current fan base. The

nut - going forward - is to find ourselves in one of the BCS

bowls, by virtue of positioning in the Big East, or accept the

fact that Big East bowl tie-in's are what they are.  

If you're sponsoring or building a bowl game - and you really

want a boat load of out-of-towners...then your bowl game

should attempt to draw accordingly. Don't complain that the

bowl game pits USF against ECU, and they're NOT bringing 75K

fans to Birmingham.

There's only so many season tickets sold and only so many

bowl tickets sold as well, and it boils down to our fanbase.

We're only ten years out...give it another ten or fifteen and

see how things shake out.  8-)

[Guest]

Hell, they could of had the players divy up the season ticket holder list and made personal phone calls.  I've heard that we only have 4k season ticket holders so they could have call every one over a 2-3 day period.  

1) There might be some NCAA rules about player-booster contact (and yes, season ticket holders are 'boosters').

2) Players had practice, voluntary workout schedule, and final exams.  Coaches had game preparation AND recruiting.

3) I would expect nearly all of the 4000 season ticket holders know there's a bowl game and those that could go to a game 2 days before Christmas have bought tickets already.

---

The problem is NOT a lack of marketing ... it is a lack of a market.

[BucnBull]

I agree that our market has not stepped up to support this team as they should.  However, that does not afford the school to forego basic outreach tactics.  A recording from CJL to be used on an "automated dialer" campaign would not take away from game prep.  I know of other schools who have done this.  I'm not absolving our market of responsiblity but I think the athletic department needs to step up as well.  There is low hanging fruit to be picked.