There are many articles on many bowls having trouble with ticket sales, with the bad economy and high travel costs blamed. Well, that is certainly true.

But I would like to toss in another couple theories.

First, I think a lot of college fans are getting fed up with the demands placed by athletic departments to keep donating and, if you want a season ticket, then donate for the privilege of buying a season ticket. As part of the new psychic, I think fans are responding, if you demand high donations and tix prices, then put a high quality product on the field. But for a bowl game, the tools for selling bowl tickets are not there as they are for selling season tickets. Technology is now a competitor too in this respect, that is, the high tech of Stub Hub. Then there is the other high tech aspect of bowl ticket sales.

Second, the high quality of sports broadcasting, combined with these new huge HD tvs provides an alternative to a going to a bowl game. I had a friend who is going to the Cotton Bowl tell me that he spends most of his time "watching the game" by looking up at the huge screen rather than watching the football field. He told me that I will probably get as good a view if not better off my new 70 inch HD tv as he gets with the seat he has in Jerry's World.

Add up the cost for a airfare, hotel, and the price of a ticket, heck use this money to buy a nice large HD tv!

A friend and I attended the last two Orange Bowls. We bought tickets with a $150 face value for $40.

I'll add that bringing your kid to a game is not worth the face value of the ticket when he and his friends just really aren't all that excited about attending a game. Contrast that with my trips to Wrigley as a kid when tickets were affordable and my friends wanted to go.

These games are television inventory, and there just isn't a compelling reason to travel to most of them. Given that they are tv product and they don't really need any kind of a crowd to exist, I'm not sure why we even need to care about ticket sales at this point, other than to point out the continual absurdity of schools being forced to buy tickets.

It's the ticket prices that get me. Empty seats, but ticket prices stay high.

With the NFL blackout rule getting looked at maybe there will be some relief down the road. Or not.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-foot...ckout-rule

Or you can end up going to the same site 3 years in a row, with the worst record you've had in that span, and once again be asked to pull the kids from a day of school. Sales killer.

(12-23-2013 03:52 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  Or you can end up going to the same site 3 years in a row, with the worst record you've had in that span, and once again be asked to pull the kids from a day of school. Sales killer.

To be honest, the GDB didn't want to have the same team 3 years in a row either. But it was either you or WKU, who was leaving, and pretty much already c*ped the bed in their game in Mobile, and finished below you in the standings.

Next year, there will be a lot more choices for the top SBC schools.

Airfare Costs and the actual dates of the games are the two biggest factors.

(12-23-2013 02:22 PM)Tallgrass Wrote:  There are many articles on many bowls having trouble with ticket sales, with the bad economy and high travel costs blamed. Well, that is certainly true.

You seem to be assuming tix sales this year are worse than in other years. Not sure why ...

Its apathy.

The idea of going to a bowl game used to be special. Now its nothing special.

You might as well just let teams have their choice to either schedule another home game or go to a bowl game.

(12-23-2013 02:22 PM)Tallgrass Wrote:  There are many articles on many bowls having trouble with ticket sales, with the bad economy and high travel costs blamed. Well, that is certainly true.

But I would like to toss in another couple theories.

First, I think a lot of college fans are getting fed up with the demands placed by athletic departments to keep donating and, if you want a season ticket, then donate for the privilege of buying a season ticket. As part of the new psychic, I think fans are responding, if you demand high donations and tix prices, then put a high quality product on the field. But for a bowl game, the tools for selling bowl tickets are not there as they are for selling season tickets. Technology is now a competitor too in this respect, that is, the high tech of Stub Hub. Then there is the other high tech aspect of bowl ticket sales.

Second, the high quality of sports broadcasting, combined with these new huge HD tvs provides an alternative to a going to a bowl game. I had a friend who is going to the Cotton Bowl tell me that he spends most of his time "watching the game" by looking up at the huge screen rather than watching the football field. He told me that I will probably get as good a view if not better off my new 70 inch HD tv as he gets with the seat he has in Jerry's World.

Add up the cost for a airfare, hotel, and the price of a ticket, heck use this money to buy a nice large HD tv!

A friend and I attended the last two Orange Bowls. We bought tickets with a $150 face value for $40.

Cant disagree with this. FWIW--I know the P5 hammered the bowls in this latest round of bowl negotiations and won a lot of concessions--lower ticket allotments, reduced room occupancy requirements, plus they supposedly eliminated some of the other ways the bowls have been routinely ripping off the schools.

Im hoping the G5 won some similar concessions. That said, the MAC and Sunbelt were hard up for bowls---so I don't know how hard a bargain G5 schools could really drive when 2 conferences would probably be willing to promise anything.

Just speculation on my part---but could it be that the reason it seems the AAC underperformed in terms of what they ended up with in the new bowl cycle may be that they insisted on better terms? CUSA, which seems to have done better in the new bowl cycle than many expected, may have pulled that success at the cost of agreeing to higher ticket allotments and room occupancy requirements. Like I said---just speculation, but I will be interested in seeing how these side issues play out in 2014.

(12-23-2013 02:22 PM)Tallgrass Wrote:  A friend and I attended the last two Orange Bowls. We bought tickets with a $150 face value for $40.

This isn't anything new. Fifteen years ago I attended the first BCS national title game, the Fiesta Bowl with Tennessee vs FSU. Bought a ticket outside the stadium for $15 an hour before kickoff, and there were plenty like that for sale.

(12-23-2013 03:28 PM)justinslot Wrote:  These games are television inventory, and there just isn't a compelling reason to travel to most of them. Given that they are tv product and they don't really need any kind of a crowd to exist, I'm not sure why we even need to care about ticket sales at this point, other than to point out the continual absurdity of schools being forced to buy tickets.

Hear, hear!

(12-23-2013 04:36 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(12-23-2013 02:22 PM)Tallgrass Wrote:  There are many articles on many bowls having trouble with ticket sales, with the bad economy and high travel costs blamed. Well, that is certainly true.

But I would like to toss in another couple theories.

First, I think a lot of college fans are getting fed up with the demands placed by athletic departments to keep donating and, if you want a season ticket, then donate for the privilege of buying a season ticket. As part of the new psychic, I think fans are responding, if you demand high donations and tix prices, then put a high quality product on the field. But for a bowl game, the tools for selling bowl tickets are not there as they are for selling season tickets. Technology is now a competitor too in this respect, that is, the high tech of Stub Hub. Then there is the other high tech aspect of bowl ticket sales.

Second, the high quality of sports broadcasting, combined with these new huge HD tvs provides an alternative to a going to a bowl game. I had a friend who is going to the Cotton Bowl tell me that he spends most of his time "watching the game" by looking up at the huge screen rather than watching the football field. He told me that I will probably get as good a view if not better off my new 70 inch HD tv as he gets with the seat he has in Jerry's World.

Add up the cost for a airfare, hotel, and the price of a ticket, heck use this money to buy a nice large HD tv!

A friend and I attended the last two Orange Bowls. We bought tickets with a $150 face value for $40.

Cant disagree with this. FWIW--I know the P5 hammered the bowls in this latest round of bowl negotiations an won a lot of concessions--lower ticket allotments, reduced room occupancy requirements, and they eliminated some of the other ways the bowls have been routinely ripping off the schools.

Im hoping the G5 won some similar concessions. That said, the MAC and Sunbelt were hard up for bowls---so I don't know how hard a bargain G5 schools could really drive when 2 conferences would probably be willing to promise anything.

Just speculation on my part---but could it be that the reason it seems the AAC underperformed in terms of what they ended up with in the new bowl cycle may be that they insisted on better terms? CUSA, which seems to have done better in the new bowl cycle than many expected, may have pulled that success at the cost of agreeing to higher ticket allotments and room occupancy requirements. Like I said---just speculation, but I will be interested in seeing how these side issues play out in 2014.

It could. It could also be why ESPN bought the Heart of Dallas Bowl and created three other new bowls. And I'm sure that the American-created Miami Beach Bowl would also have reduced ticket allotments since the conference owns that game.

(12-23-2013 04:36 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(12-23-2013 02:22 PM)Tallgrass Wrote:  There are many articles on many bowls having trouble with ticket sales, with the bad economy and high travel costs blamed. Well, that is certainly true.

But I would like to toss in another couple theories.

First, I think a lot of college fans are getting fed up with the demands placed by athletic departments to keep donating and, if you want a season ticket, then donate for the privilege of buying a season ticket. As part of the new psychic, I think fans are responding, if you demand high donations and tix prices, then put a high quality product on the field. But for a bowl game, the tools for selling bowl tickets are not there as they are for selling season tickets. Technology is now a competitor too in this respect, that is, the high tech of Stub Hub. Then there is the other high tech aspect of bowl ticket sales.

Second, the high quality of sports broadcasting, combined with these new huge HD tvs provides an alternative to a going to a bowl game. I had a friend who is going to the Cotton Bowl tell me that he spends most of his time "watching the game" by looking up at the huge screen rather than watching the football field. He told me that I will probably get as good a view if not better off my new 70 inch HD tv as he gets with the seat he has in Jerry's World.

Add up the cost for a airfare, hotel, and the price of a ticket, heck use this money to buy a nice large HD tv!

A friend and I attended the last two Orange Bowls. We bought tickets with a $150 face value for $40.

Cant disagree with this. FWIW--I know the P5 hammered the bowls in this latest round of bowl negotiations an won a lot of concessions--lower ticket allotments, reduced room occupancy requirements, and they eliminated some of the other ways the bowls have been routinely ripping off the schools.

Im hoping the G5 won some similar concessions. That said, the MAC and Sunbelt were hard up for bowls---so I don't know how hard a bargain G5 schools could really drive when 2 conferences would probably be willing to promise anything.

Just speculation on my part---but could it be that the reason it seems the AAC underperformed in terms of what they ended up with in the new bowl cycle may be that they insisted on better terms? CUSA, which seems to have done better in the new bowl cycle than many expected, may have pulled that success at the cost of agreeing to higher ticket allotments and room occupancy requirements. Like I said---just speculation, but I will be interested in seeing how these side issues play out in 2014.

I wish there were 2 bowls in the west for AAC/West teams. Then, I would be okay with traveling to FLorida or Hawaii once in 3 years. However, given how Tulsa performed this past season, the bowl issue may be a mute point for Cane fans.

I think the bowls that eventually signed with CUSA...knew CUSA was a sure thing and, with large public schools like UTSA, UNT, UTEP, the bowls would be nicely attended. I am speculating CUSA pursued these opportunities while Arseco was shooting for bigger goals, goals that were unreachable. For CUSA to get these nice local bowls, it may have been an issue of timing. CUSA said here I am! I am ready to sign on the dotted line bowl commitment agreement today! So the bowls did.

A point was made before in this thread in which I totally agree. If these NonBCS bowls were played after Xmas, they would probably be much more better attended. Playing before Xmas is just a killer.