3000 Season Ticket Holders

[9Legs]

MM in an earlier post reported there are approximately 3000 season ticket holders! In evaluating the health our fan base, it got me to wondering what % of those are purchased by fans over 60 years of age (who appear to represent the core)? How many are corporate tickets? Of people who buy two or more how many of those attending are devoted Spider Fans? ( I know my wife is not very enthusiastic and merely attends for the social aspect and if she doesn't go, it is tough to find someone who is interested in attending). IMO our fan base has dwindled based on the recent demographic changes in our students and there are not many loyal fans like ULLA who would drive a 150 miles to see the Spiders. I have alumni friends of my era who live out of the area who watch on TV but they too like me are getting older. I would like to get the views of our younger fans as to where we are headed! Do fans of your era share the same enthusiasm as the older crew? I wonder if our athletic department has studied this or whether they should. Maybe a question for KG?

This post was edited on 2/17 1:40 PM by 9Legs

This post was edited on 2/17 1:43 PM by 9Legs

 

[MolivaManiac]

Plenty of young people sit around me. We just need to win Or the boobirds get louder and louder.

 

[I-M-UR]

Unfortunately 9 legs I'm with you (part of the grey haired, 'red sweater' group.) Part of what bothers me is I have lots of classmates who are season ticket holders and still attend games, BUT many of them lived in the area before college. I certainly don't like the trend. The only way out is to WIN and attract basketball fans that have no other attachment to the University. By the way it's usually so hot in the Robins Center I don't know how anyone can wear a sweater.

By the way I was watching the Creighton Butler game (Yes I know I mentioned it before I'm not that old) but one thing came out that did surprise me. Creighton a school of 8000 Has been in the top 10 for basketball attendance for 3 straight years (18,000) and in the top 20 virtually for the last 10. It can be done.

This post was edited on 2/17 2:42 PM by I-M-UR

 

[Spidersssssss]

Of course, since our admissions refuses to admit students from Virginia, we have nothing but a bunch of Yankees who return to the North, never attend games and that leaves us with the Red Sweaters...Woe is our Beloved University.

How did I do?

 

[Spiders05]

There are a good number of students that stick around after graduation, but they don't go. They have good, free tickets as undergrads and didn't go. They graduate and have no desire to sit with a bunch of 60+ fans and feel like the youngest people at the game.

I suggested a "young alum" section a number of years ago (discounted tix, all younger people) but idea never got anywhere. Ultimately, as was mentioned, we need to win, but until then, we can do thing to make our ticket more attractive (I have a 2.5 year old, so can't make all games, but still can't GIVE away tickets when I can't make it).

 

[Eight Legger]

I have two season tickets for myself and my wife/son and 4 corporate tickets that I give away to clients. 05's young grad section idea is a winner. Did the athletic department not think that they could pull it off or just never give it legs? There must be enough alums who graduated within the past 10 years in Richmond to sell 100 tickets, at least. (Cue FRS)

 

[97spiderfan]

I don't see the "red sweater" contingent as being accurate anymore. Have had season tickets for a number of years in several different sections of the RC and am always surrounded by a nice mix of folks, from more seasoned folks to younger families with kids and a fair amount of twenty or thirty somethings.

The cure to this ill, if it is one, is to win. If we were competing for NCAA at larges consistently, there would be a lot more fans in the seats and a lot more interest in the program in general.

I don't get the student situation, never have, never will. They don't come except for one or two big games a year and I think the admin has done a good job of giving them a variety of incentives to come out. They don't, that is a shame, but it is not for lack of trying.

 

[PhiDeltaSpider]

Agree, 97. You make excellent points.

 

[MrTbone]

i'm not sure i understand why people wouldn't want to "sit with a bunch of 60+ fans". that seems silly, i mean, you are either a fan of UR bball or not, you can't really dictate who else comes or what their age brackets are.

i've been a season ticket holder since returning to Richmond in 2003 and have only had one "red sweater moment" when a guy told me to stop clapping in his ear. But he was just crotchety.

Go to the games people, they're fun as a general rule.

 

[FrontRoyalSpider]

Spiderssssss you hit the nail on the head! Y'all know my views on this subject!

 

[Anachnoid]

If my failing memory serves me correctly, I thought there are 30k UR alums in the central va area. Out of my class, I can't think of anyone with season tickets. My confession-I stopped last year. It's just boring bb, there is no improvement or getting better, and I don't need another reason to sleep at 7 pm. Frustrating.? Not really as I don't usually watch a complete game anymore. I like all our guys and the staff but there is something incongruous with the result. I was very happy with the VCU game for all of us who wear red and blue. But there are ten players on the court at any one time...and five for our team, really.

 

[AnnapSpider]

We've had games where we drew 7000 fans, and not the VCU game that hasn't been played yet.
Where do all those folks come from?

 

[MolivaManiac]

We have a great facility, we advertise, we offer various deals and we generally win at home. That's why people show up.

If we competed at an NCAA tourney level, weeknights would be more full.

 

[FrontRoyalSpider]

I guess I will have to get over the taunts of opposing fans concerning our mostly over age 60 fan base.

One scathing comment was our cheerleaders were seen tossing packages of Depends into our crowd!

 

[SpiderGuy]

Originally posted by AnnapSpider:
We've had games where we drew 7000 fans, and not the VCU game that hasn't been played yet.
Where do all those folks come from?

They do a lot of marketing (example - 2 for 1, etc.) for reduced ticket prices for a bunch of games throughout the season (not all games but probably more than not).

 

[Spiders05]

Tbone, I've had season tix since graduation, so I couldn't tell you (just report what I've been told by others I encouraged to buy tix when we graduated), but I've had more "red sweater" run ins than you have apparently. A few people who made more noise re: the fans around them as opposed to the game.

Noid, last I heard (~5 years ago) it was 10k alums in the area. If you think you have ~50 years worth of alums, you'd have to have 600 per year in the Richmond area for your number. That seems REALLY high.

 

[Spider B]

I am 34. I have been attending Spider football and basketball games since i was 8 or 9 yeats old. I was fortunate enough to attend UR and have 2 young kids who have been attending every game their entire lives. My wife, kids, and I have a great time at the games. Its not all old people. There are plenty of people my age around me that attend every game. The notion that all our fans are wearing sweater vests is simply not true. I think we have done a great job in the past couple years attracting younger fans. I agree, when we win consistently, the RC will be full.

 

[ur2K]

Weekends are no issue. We put a ton of young kids and families in the stands. The midweek games against the Iupuis if the world are a tough sell outside of us diehards. We win more and you'll see more butts in the seats for those games.

I'd guess we come close to capacity on our remaining home games... 2 Saturdays and RPI.j

 

[MidloTrader]

05, I also recommended that they give a "young grad" discount or a special package for the sections near and around the student section. But that was just to fill those seats that seem somewhat empty at times. But have to agree with those saying that it shouldn't matter what age people you're around. Sections throughout RC seem pretty diverse to me. The rows around me reflect all ages for sure.

 

[SpiderK]

FRS,

"One scathing comment was our cheerleaders were seen tossing packages of Depends into our crowd! "

No worse that the Obamacare applications thrown to the Seagull center crowd!!

 

[localspider]

I am a '72 grad, the wife '73, daughter '01, sister 88. I have 7 season tickets, primarily me, wife, daughter, son- in- law, and 3 grandkids. When the daughters' group can not make it my sister and her group including two teenagers are there. Without a doubt the younger crew out number us geezers.
The red sweater rumor is a misnomer for my family. Suspect the same for others. BTW Spiders win in Olean.

 

[SpiderK]

This post was edited on 2/17 9:57 PM by SpiderK

 

[SpiderK]

Local, the average age for my group of 4 tickets is 29.5 .

 

[PASpider]

I think grads can afford the tickets, so I do not think the discount is necessary. I am glad that the 60+ year olds attend, but maybe that's why, up until the stadium renovations, our stadium always felt like a funeral home. A bunch of older, sweater clad grey hairs who never stood up to cheer and would golf clap when we did well. I felt uncomfortable raising my voice because I felt like I was in a church. Bottom line is if we win, people will come. If we are tourney bound, even more people will come. And if we do it year in and year out, we will have crowds year in and year out just like Creighton has been able to do.

This post was edited on 2/17 10:04 PM by PASpider

 

[localspider]

K, that is odd, the 11 that use my tickets average 30.6 years. So much for us geezers.

 

[MidloTrader]

Don't assume all grads can afford when they're just starting out, unless they're not really out on their own but living back at the parent's. We give special deals for young grads (5 years or less) for other things. I'd rather fill the seats, even if it's 1/2 price for a few years. We give discounts to faculty, staff and kids, so what's the difference? Keeping them connected and coming is the key.

 

[SpiderK]

Midlo, I am all for that.

 

[urfan1]

I agree with Midlo. I've always felt the corners (or end) should be young grads and Rowdy section. An area that you acknowledge and agree to be extra loud, cheer, etc. If the two sections are side by side they may influence one another

 

[BillyWayne]

I've been attending football and basketball games on either my Dad's or my own season tickets for 66 years. My parents took me as an infant. My earliest memory is standing in a line at Benedictine when Frank Selvy and Furman came to town. When my Dad died in 1971, I began buying my own. Have four. Have seen good teams and bad over the years. Although we are frustrated now, there have been much worse times.

 

[SpiderK]

Billy, the Dooley years were the toughest!!

 

[Eight Legger]

Of course there have been worse times. I was in school for three of Dooley's four years, and they were horrible. But we also weren't paying him $12M over 10 years, and we also were not in a multi-bid league, and we also hadn't just invested $20M in a renovated arena and we also weren't on a national sports network 6 or 7 times a year. And on and on and on.

We can't keep looking to our "bad" past and proclaiming that things really aren't that bad now. It's a pointless comparison. Everything is different now, and our expectations need to be, too.

 

[SpiderK]

Eight, you are exactly right, we had no expectations in the Dooley years. It is nice to have expectations now, as expensive as they maybe. The school and alumni have done their part, it's time to recruit some talented players, coach them up, and win!

 

[SpiderGuy]

Originally posted by Eight Legger:
Of course there have been worse times. I was in school for three of Dooley's four years, and they were horrible. But we also weren't paying him $12M over 10 years, and we also were not in a multi-bid league, and we also hadn't just invested $20M in a renovated arena and we also weren't on a national sports network 6 or 7 times a year. And on and on and on.

We can't keep looking to our "bad" past and proclaiming that things really aren't that bad now. It's a pointless comparison. Everything is different now, and our expectations need to be, too.

Absolutely! You nailed it.

 

[I-M-UR]

Being both a of red sweater age and a loud fan, my inclination is to keep clapping. You could ask if he would just turn his hearing aid down.

 

[Ferrum Spider]

I am a young non alum who has a pair of season tickets in section 15. Around me there are young alumni, older local fans, and a few older alumni sprinkled in my section. Most of them show up to every game. We can be pretty rowdy at times and when we are no one tells us to sit down. Of course we're closer up to the nosebleeds.

We haven't had a consistent electric weeknight crowd since the beilein era. That's when the students would actually show up AND cheer. Despite the gym being 2/3 full tops there was always loud chants and jeers. I remember the "fundamentals", "state school", and "JC blocked you" chants from the students and they were relentless. Anyone remember the streaker when Providence was blowing us out in the NIT or the Rowdies showing up in force at the Seagull Center each year.

Not trying to knock the students but atmosphere begins and ends with them. Period. There young and full of energy (and presumably alcohol). It's a dead horse but it's also the elephant in the room and you should expect to see much of the same until they show up in droves consistently and cheer regardless of our record. The crowd will follow their lead. Theres simply many options for the kids during games and that's after you take academics into account. I don't see a great effort from our administration to engage the students, either. It's a two way street. Honestly I don't expect that to change even if we start winning every game, nor do I think they should be required to attend the games. There's no silver bullet here.

 

[SpiderK]

Ferrum, UVA puts the students in the good seats and they lead the crowd. Of course they are winning and #2 in the country.

 

[SpiderTrap]

I know we all hate talking about it but just look down the street at VCU. Before their move to the A10 and even when they were in the CAA with that final four run - they were not selling out every single home game like they do now. And they certainly did not have that many students show up for games when we played them as part of the CAA. What happened - they are winning and competing for NCAA each year. Sure - having the "Havoc" brand helps, having a very good and energetic band helps, having 30,000 students helps...But if they sell out each and every night - are you seriously telling me that every single one of those seats is filled by a VCU alumnus? No way. But the casual fan has a choice in Richmond now and the choice is VCU.

And I am sick of hearing we don't have enough people stick around Richmond after they graduate.

Break down the numbers - total enrollment (undergrad and graduate) is 4,000. Of that 3,000 are undegrad - I am willing to bet close to 90% (if not more) live on campus, meaning they are within a 10 min walk to the game and tickets are free.

Then about 750 graduate each year - I got to imagine about 10% of those graduates, 75 each year stay in the Richmond area. Add that up year to year - and I am sure you have at least 5,000 UR grads in the Richmond area. 05 is spot on - do something with the young grads. Get them involved - even if they were not involved when they attended school, lets try to get them back.

Faculty and staff - we have about 1,600 full time FTE's. What is the incentive for them to get tickets? They work at the school, should have some pride in attending games, or at the very least - give them something to do to support the school on a Wed. night.

And then each of the above have neighbors, friends, co-workers, family, etc. So the people are out there - its just right now the product is not very good.

 

[wr70beh]

One bad hire by VCU and they'll be drawing flies again. Remember when Mason went to the final 4? Right now the Patriot Center is a ghost town. The Bonnies went to the Final 4 in the 70s. Right now they're pathetic. It's a cyclical thing.

 

[LKNSPIDER]

9legs...there are not many loyal fans like ULLA who would drive a 150 miles to see the Spiders"

My wife and I drive 300 miles north and 300 miles south in the same day to see Spider football and basketball games! Only spend the night in Richmond if our return home time is after 1 AM. We are in the red sweater crowd and it is one of our two favorite past-times. We'll see you at the GW, VCU St Louis games and in Brooklyn. Great to be a Spider Fan!!

 

[SpiderFan26]

Awesome to hear LKN. Love hearing stories like that about Spider fans