Interesting R&R conversation the final hour on Monday 7/29...
- Thread starter zipp
- Start date
I listened to that yesterday. First, on the brink of fall football camp, I was dismayed by the topic. Here we are on the dawn of a new beginning on the grid iron, and the radio guys want to talk about basketball attendance. Not basketball, mind you. But basketball attendance. I left my radio on 790, and when I got in the car this morning, Coffey was talking more basketball... Priorities, people. Priorities.
Anyway, a lot of people gave different reasons why they no longer attend games. The upper deck is awful, scandal fatigue, the cost. The scandals don't bother me. I mean it's an annoyance, but it didn't drive me off. I was already driven off prior to the scandals. It's downtown, mainly, that turned me off. I love Louisville. I love the city. Logistically, going to games is a headache. Parking, the price to park, traffic, overcrowded bars and restaurants, etc. When the Yum opened, I attended as many games as I could. I was a season ticket holder. Cha Ching knew me by name. But, as time worn on, the grind of getting to downtown for a week day game, fighting rush hour traffic, it became too much. I realized I can just go home, save about $80, sit comfortably on my couch and watch the game on the big screen. Also, full disclosure, I live in Oldham County. Not just across the county line, either. I'm out there. It would take me an hour or so to get home after a game. I don't miss that. Strangely, though, I do make that sacrifice for football. But, we're talking 6-7 times a year as opposed to 15-17 times for bball games.
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Fully understand and living in Lawrenceburg, I have the same issues but maybe considering that even if the Cards played on campus or even back at Freedom Hall, wouldn’t we still have the same issues? Traffic and parking haven’t been too much of a problem for me except when there is a major accident on I-64.
Possibly. I did move to OC the same year the Yum opened. However, downtown/Spaghetti Junction at rush hour is a different animal. If you're leaving work at 5pm to get to downtown for a 7pm game, it's a pain in the arse.
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Did they conduct a survey to dive into the decline or was it a casual call in and share your thoughts show?
I usually get off at Mellwood and go west on Main St. The 3rd Street/River Road exit off 64 is completely ridiculous!!! If I don’t get off at Mellwood, I go down to 9th street exit and work my way back east.
They were referencing a survey, then regular callers called in. The survey showed UofL dropped to 6th in the nation in average attendance. We usually hold strong at 3rd. I can't recall the exact number, but average attendance for basketball was in the 16,000's. Capacity is just slightly over 22,000.
Maybe the days of constant sellouts is over, but say we have a 32-4 season or better - what then? I’m saying people will want to be there and we have some good teams on the horizon, time will tell.
Perhaps. But you have to weight that optimism against actual results this past season such as:
Duke @ Bailout 2/12/19: 44 unsold tickets
LPT @ Bailout 12/29/18: 1,208 unsold tickets
UNC @ Bailout 2/2/19: 2,105 unsold tickets
Michigan State @ Bailout 11/27/18: 6,613 unsold tickets
Only Duke on that list is a true sellout when they all would have been in the past. Even at Bailout...
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Sssssshhhhhh! Now everyone will know our secret. I do basically the same except I come down 71 and exit at Zorn Avenue to hit Mellwood. Going west to 9th Street to come back east is a breeze.
Oops... Now why did I have to go and ruin a good thing. My other secret is that I stay until the game is over, which means a lot of people are already in the parking garages or on their way home. I might go in and browse the gift shop or look at the displays. 15 to 20 minutes seems to make a big difference.
U of L needs to get to a point--"Vince" oughta be good at this--where it's analyzing the marginal cost/benefit of trying to sell more tickets. IOW, they have to analyze the consequences of selling an upper arena ticket for $10, or a lower arena ticket for $35. If all that does is move money from one place to another, they're just as well off not selling the ticket.
I can envision a time when the upper arena is closed off for half of the schedule. Why not sell a (half) season ticket up there at $50 per game for the best ten home games on the schedule? Ticket holders in the lower arena won't be cannibalized by that product. And it makes a true "season ticket" more of a scarce commodity, maybe 12,000 or so available. That's the problem now--too much capacity at locations where people don't wanna sit for games very few wanna watch...
I can envision a time when the upper arena is closed off for half of the schedule. Why not sell a (half) season ticket up there at $50 per game for the best ten home games on the schedule? Ticket holders in the lower arena won't be cannibalized by that product. And it makes a true "season ticket" more of a scarce commodity, maybe 12,000 or so available. That's the problem now--too much capacity at locations where people don't wanna sit for games very few wanna watch...
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Putting all the politics aside. Zipp is right. The upper level is terrible. The game is almost unwatchable with broken sight lines, unwatchable score boards and the players look like you're playing xbox. I love the lower level, I love the mezennine, but I would rather watch at a sport bar than set in the upper level. There are a few good seats around the front on the edges, but otherwise no. I think one of the reasons we averaged 17,000 is because that's how many good seats there are plus those that came for the experience.
Lots of unrest in those folks paying some big bucks for the floor in the corners and end zone. Then there’s offers put out there trying to fill holes for $28 a seat.
I don’t think using the black curtains is going to pay the bills.
I don’t think using the black curtains is going to pay the bills.
Getting us back as a top level program with no clouds hanging over our heads will do a lot to fill those seats. Look at the Syracuse Dome. You think our upper level is worse than theirs?
New TV technology is a huge factor with all sports. Just makes TV experience so much better than 10-20 yrs ago.
