"Season tickets sold are often a fair indicator of fan belief in a program. Not always. But most of the time.

And Texas has never had season tickets drop in three consecutive years during the Mack Brown era … until now.

David Ash and the 2011 recruiting class stuck together through a storm.
According to numbers obtained from Texas by Orangebloods.com, the Longhorns' football season tickets sold are down 8,200 over the past three seasons from a record high of 84,500 sold for the 2010 season, when Texas followed up a BCS national title game appearance against Alabama by finishing 5-7.

The season tickets sold dropped by 2,900 for the 2011 season to 81,600; dropped by 2,800 for 2012 to 78,800; and are currently down 2,500 from last season at 76,300 for 2013.

Texas lists a single, Tier 1 season ticket (the lower-level seats along the sidelines in DKR) at $405; Tier 2 (lower end zones and some upper deck) at $395; and Tier 3 (upper deck north end zone and corners of upper deck on the west side) at $325.

When you consider Texas had only 38,100 season tickets sold for the 1998 season, Mack Brown's first year as coach, UT is still double that number 16 years into the Mack Brown era."

(07-31-2013 07:35 AM)bevotex Wrote:  "Season tickets sold are often a fair indicator of fan belief in a program. Not always. But most of the time.

And Texas has never had season tickets drop in three consecutive years during the Mack Brown era … until now.

David Ash and the 2011 recruiting class stuck together through a storm.
According to numbers obtained from Texas by Orangebloods.com, the Longhorns' football season tickets sold are down 8,200 over the past three seasons from a record high of 84,500 sold for the 2010 season, when Texas followed up a BCS national title game appearance against Alabama by finishing 5-7.

The season tickets sold dropped by 2,900 for the 2011 season to 81,600; dropped by 2,800 for 2012 to 78,800; and are currently down 2,500 from last season at 76,300 for 2013.

Texas lists a single, Tier 1 season ticket (the lower-level seats along the sidelines in DKR) at $405; Tier 2 (lower end zones and some upper deck) at $395; and Tier 3 (upper deck north end zone and corners of upper deck on the west side) at $325.

When you consider Texas had only 38,100 season tickets sold for the 1998 season, Mack Brown's first year as coach, UT is still double that number 16 years into the Mack Brown era."

I don't remember what it was in 1998, but in 1996, last year of the SWC, season tickets were $85 with no donation required even for OU tickets. Now you have to do a donation to get new season tickets.

The next wave of stadium renovations will be reducing capacity. Maybe 70,000 should be the limit instead going for 100,000+ with chair seating instead of tight fits.

For all these programs that have soared beyond 100,000 in capacity what they are going to find when the team is losing is its too hard to stay up there and the numbers start to walk back down.

Tennessee is now averaging in the 80's after years of so-so performance.

The home viewing experience has improved so much over the last few years that I expect this trend to continue across the sport.

I'd say it probably has more to do with a bad draw for home games this year. Their schedule overall is pretty decent but most of the best games are not at DKR.

Agree with the above. Because TV has improved so much, is so much more inexpensive, and is very easy to access, I believe stadiums will get smaller (but have more fan features) to provide more of an "experience."

There is some insulation from this for the mega-schools with 40k+ students, lots of history, and rabid fanbases but even they will feel the effects when they aren't racking up the wins, as the Longhorns are discovering.

To only sell 76,000 very expensive season tickets. What a problem to have. I think a better OOC schedule would get them back up to 84,000+.

(07-31-2013 08:49 AM)BaylorGuy314 Wrote:  Agree with the above. Because TV has improved so much, is so much more inexpensive, and is very easy to access, I believe stadiums will get smaller (but have more fan features) to provide more of an "experience."

There is some insulation from this for the mega-schools with 40k+ students, lots of history, and rabid fanbases but even they will feel the effects when they aren't racking up the wins, as the Longhorns are discovering.

Baylor got it right....awesome stadium you are building off I-35. Is it going to be 50k seats?

(07-31-2013 08:21 AM)Kittonhead Wrote:  For all these programs that have soared beyond 100,000 in capacity what they are going to find when the team is losing is its too hard to stay up there and the numbers start to walk back down.

Tennessee is now averaging in the 80's after years of so-so performance.

psu & um havent seen to have an issue with that in down years......

tennessee on the other hand.......

(07-31-2013 09:02 AM)TexanMark Wrote:  

(07-31-2013 08:49 AM)BaylorGuy314 Wrote:  Agree with the above. Because TV has improved so much, is so much more inexpensive, and is very easy to access, I believe stadiums will get smaller (but have more fan features) to provide more of an "experience."

There is some insulation from this for the mega-schools with 40k+ students, lots of history, and rabid fanbases but even they will feel the effects when they aren't racking up the wins, as the Longhorns are discovering.

Baylor got it right....awesome stadium you are buildig of I-35. Is it going to be 50k seats?

well baylor has a small fanbase to start out with. but point taken. the NFL knows they have a serious problem here and are trying to make some big changes.

It's not just down years. It's down years and bad scheduling (I like to call it "rehabbing"). And cost (duh). I'm sure in Texas' case, I'm sure the loss of games with Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri, and Texas A&M are catching up with them. You can't expect games that didn't exactly serve as bright spots in the schedule to suddenly step up as such.

I think home viewing experience is a cop-out.

Most major programs now play a 7 game home slate. That's one game shy of an NFL home schedule.

Twenty years ago it wasn't unusual for a major program to play 5 home games in at least a few seasons (Texas did so regularly) and no more than 6 home games. Even with no per game price changes, going from 6 to 7 games results in about a 17% price increase.

There are 14 permitted playing weeks most seasons. Fans are now asked to give up half of those weekends to support the team rather than just less than half.

A young alum just getting started in the world could generally buy a season ticket and if their career advanced they could move to better seats later. Today few 25-29 year old alums are in a career position to afford a season ticket. Holding season tickets is less feasible for the young starting out family than it once was. It is no longer easily affordable family entertainment.

Throw in the fact that for the bottom four quintiles of income in the US that disposable income has been on a stead march downward, the number of people who can afford to be season ticket holders is falling while costs to be a season ticket holder are climbing.

It is easy to say, "Well for $700 for a good TV and $100 a month in cable or satellite you can have a great game day experience" but you really can't replicate what it is like to attend a college game for that money. That is an outlay people are pretty much going to make because they are using that same $700 TV and $100 cable bill to watch "Game of Thrones" and "American Idol" and "Sponge Bob" and whatever sports they watch. That expenditure is versatile and available 24/7/365.

Season tickets are a luxury in an economy where most people have less available to spend on luxuries than they did 5 years ago or 10 years ago.

(07-31-2013 09:40 AM)john01992 Wrote:  

(07-31-2013 09:02 AM)TexanMark Wrote:  

(07-31-2013 08:49 AM)BaylorGuy314 Wrote:  Agree with the above. Because TV has improved so much, is so much more inexpensive, and is very easy to access, I believe stadiums will get smaller (but have more fan features) to provide more of an "experience."

There is some insulation from this for the mega-schools with 40k+ students, lots of history, and rabid fanbases but even they will feel the effects when they aren't racking up the wins, as the Longhorns are discovering.

Baylor got it right....awesome stadium you are building off I-35. Is it going to be 50k seats?

well baylor has a small fanbase to start out with. but point taken. the NFL knows they have a serious problem here and are trying to make some big changes.

Agreed...I think your biggest schools still will have stadiums around 80-100k. I'm just not sure going to sit among 100k+ fans in a cramped stadium is that appealing. I saw Cuse crush Michigan in 1998 in front of 111k fans and despite the great game for me personally it was the most uncomfortable stadium ever. I think you will see the trend continue with most of the Biggest Stadiums getting away from cramming as many fannies in there as possible.

(07-31-2013 10:13 AM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  It's not just down years. It's down years and bad scheduling (I like to call it "rehabbing"). And cost (duh). I'm sure in Texas' case, I'm sure the loss of games with Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri, and Texas A&M are catching up with them. You can't expect games that didn't exactly serve as bright spots in the schedule to suddenly step up as such.

this is a very good point, the size of the fanbases the b12 lost is something that people dont know about and has been overlooked

b12 fanbase size

b12 departures
6th aggie 2.0 mill
18th nebraska 1.2 mill
23 mizzouri 1.0 mill
56 colorado 564k

b12 additions
29th wvu 950k
65th TCU 370k

other b12 schools
5th texas 2.25 million
19th ou 1.2 mill
33rd texas tech 911k
40th ku 768k
52nd ISU 535k
60th ksu 427k
85th baylor 209k

b12 fans like to dismiss the 4 schools they lost as nothing. but the reality is that 3 of those schools were your 2nd, 3rd, & 5th largest fanbsaes and replaced them with schools who would have been 6th & 13th in those rankings had the b12 been at a hypothetical 14 members

(07-31-2013 10:21 AM)TexanMark Wrote:  

(07-31-2013 09:40 AM)john01992 Wrote:  

(07-31-2013 09:02 AM)TexanMark Wrote:  

(07-31-2013 08:49 AM)BaylorGuy314 Wrote:  Agree with the above. Because TV has improved so much, is so much more inexpensive, and is very easy to access, I believe stadiums will get smaller (but have more fan features) to provide more of an "experience."

There is some insulation from this for the mega-schools with 40k+ students, lots of history, and rabid fanbases but even they will feel the effects when they aren't racking up the wins, as the Longhorns are discovering.

Baylor got it right....awesome stadium you are building off I-35. Is it going to be 50k seats?

well baylor has a small fanbase to start out with. but point taken. the NFL knows they have a serious problem here and are trying to make some big changes.

Agreed...I think your biggest schools still will have stadiums around 80-100k. I'm just not sure going to sit among 100k+ fans in a cramped stadium is that appealing. I saw Cuse crush Michigan in 1998 in front of 111k fans and despite the great game for me personally it was the most uncomfortable stadium ever. I think you will see the trend continue with most of the Biggest Stadiums getting away from cramming as many fannies in there as possible.

the NFL is gonna have a bigger issue with this going forward because their tailgating/game experience is nowhere near the level as the major cfb programs with their student sections, bands, cheerleaders, traditions, campuses etc. the NFL teams are adding wifi, tv screens and trying to lower prices to stay competitive.

even in down years psu, osu, & um have never had attendance issues. the only other 100k stadium (tennessee) on the otherhand is having issues, but it took 5 years of tanking + lane kiffin for it to come down to that.

the biggest stadiums are not struggling attendance wise. with both bama/aggie breaking the 100k and texas being expected to follow, plus um just finished an upgrade to keep on track with psu's upgrade, and now osu is doing an upgrade of their own to catch up. i really dont see a stadium downgrade coming. a lot of it is driven by schools egos of wanting to stay where the are on the stadiums ranking list.

(07-31-2013 10:13 AM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  It's not just down years. It's down years and bad scheduling (I like to call it "rehabbing"). And cost (duh). I'm sure in Texas' case, I'm sure the loss of games with Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri, and Texas A&M are catching up with them. You can't expect games that didn't exactly serve as bright spots in the schedule to suddenly step up as such.

I can agree with NU and aTm. but Colorado and mizzou are you kidding me? Colorado and (Mizzou except for 2 seasons) were always snooze fests

The way I read this is that Texas is going to have either improve its non-conference schedule each season or find a new conference with exciting opponents. I can't see the Big XII expanding because the teams available won't move the needle for Texas or Oklahoma.

The Big XII took a bigger hit than people realize during realignment. Most of the conference is made up of schools that are nice complimentary parts but not huge names. You could put Texas and Oklahoma in the American Athletic Conference and it would probably equal to the Big XII on every level. If Texas went west it would solve a lot of issues for them. I could imagine a PAC-16 division that included Arizona, Arizona State, USC, UCLA, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, plus one more Texas school which is likely going to be Tech becoming a huge draw from the Longhorns.

(07-31-2013 10:46 AM)john01992 Wrote:  

(07-31-2013 10:21 AM)TexanMark Wrote:  

(07-31-2013 09:40 AM)john01992 Wrote:  

(07-31-2013 09:02 AM)TexanMark Wrote:  

(07-31-2013 08:49 AM)BaylorGuy314 Wrote:  Agree with the above. Because TV has improved so much, is so much more inexpensive, and is very easy to access, I believe stadiums will get smaller (but have more fan features) to provide more of an "experience."

There is some insulation from this for the mega-schools with 40k+ students, lots of history, and rabid fanbases but even they will feel the effects when they aren't racking up the wins, as the Longhorns are discovering.

Baylor got it right....awesome stadium you are building off I-35. Is it going to be 50k seats?

well baylor has a small fanbase to start out with. but point taken. the NFL knows they have a serious problem here and are trying to make some big changes.

Agreed...I think your biggest schools still will have stadiums around 80-100k. I'm just not sure going to sit among 100k+ fans in a cramped stadium is that appealing. I saw Cuse crush Michigan in 1998 in front of 111k fans and despite the great game for me personally it was the most uncomfortable stadium ever. I think you will see the trend continue with most of the Biggest Stadiums getting away from cramming as many fannies in there as possible.

the NFL is gonna have a bigger issue with this going forward because their tailgating/game experience is nowhere near the level as the major cfb programs with their student sections, bands, cheerleaders, traditions, campuses etc. the NFL teams are adding wifi, tv screens and trying to lower prices to stay competitive.

even in down years psu, osu, & um have never had attendance issues. the only other 100k stadium (tennessee) on the otherhand is having issues, but it took 5 years of tanking + lane kiffin for it to come down to that.

the biggest stadiums are not struggling attendance wise. with both bama/aggie breaking the 100k and texas being expected to follow, plus um just finished an upgrade to keep on track with psu's upgrade, and now osu is doing an upgrade of their own to catch up. i really dont see a stadium downgrade coming. a lot of it is driven by schools egos of wanting to stay where the are on the stadiums ranking list.

Texas went to 100,119 in 2009. Just want to make sure you know it's the aggies keeping up.

(07-31-2013 11:11 AM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  You could put Texas and Oklahoma in the American Athletic Conference and it would probably equal to the Big XII on every level.

Let's not go overboard.