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Post by 00hmh on May 1, 2017 12:22:32 GMT -6
The only time Indiana State draws over 1000 fans is when they get IU, which is less then an hour away. It was 80 degrees in Terre Haute when they played Purdue, it was 40 in Muncie when we played them. They also have some visiting teams that travel well, especially Southern Illinois. What we need mainly is lights. Students would definitely show up in better numbers.People could come to the ballpark after work. ISU's best attendance is almost always Friday night. The other thing is beer sales. If any of you went to the Purdue game you saw how packed it was. $2 Tuesday's was a hit. I agree on lights. I thought it was a huge mistake not to be sure to include lights in the rennovation. (a video board woulda been good too) But, I'm not too sure how much input Rich was allowed to have in the planning..... It wasn't exactly that. If you plan on more attendance you can plan on more amenities and better game experience. It's a little bit chicken and egg. But if your forecast is that you cannot draw, then you don't have the money for the things that aren't needed beyond a good playing environment, surface, locker rooms, and so on. My question in this discussion is what does the marketing research show, and what is the marketing plan. Unfortunately you cannot count on "build it and they will come," not when you actually have to spend money on the building part.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2017 12:32:56 GMT -6
Lights are definitely needed. - When weather causes a delay, it is good to have an option to play after dusk or after dark.
- Summer tournaments look for quality facilities to play their games. Games begin at 8:00 am and do go on until midnight. Having lights would draw more tournament rental revenue.
- Night games give better scheduling options for fans to attend. More fans would add to the revenue stream.
- Lights would also make BSU a potential host to a summer college program. The Terre Haute Rex rent out ISU's Bob Warn Field, another revenue stream for them.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2017 12:36:01 GMT -6
I agree on lights. I thought it was a huge mistake not to be sure to include lights in the rennovation. (a video board woulda been good too) But, I'm not too sure how much input Rich was allowed to have in the planning..... It wasn't exactly that. If you plan on more attendance you can plan on more amenities and better game experience. It's a little bit chicken and egg. But if your forecast is that you cannot draw, then you don't have the money for the things that aren't needed beyond a good playing environment, surface, locker rooms, and so on. My question in this discussion is what does the marketing research show, and what is the marketing plan. Unfortunately you cannot count on "build it and they will come," not when you actually have to spend money on the building part. Quit overthinking this. $5 is what baseball fans in Indiana are used to paying for HS and travel games. They will be willinging do it immediately. They've already been conditioned to do so, especially if they know it will help build a program. The other things that you mention are great, but can be thought and planned for the future. Best way to continue to draw fans is to win. People will pay to help a program build a winner.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2017 12:39:13 GMT -6
The only time Indiana State draws over 1000 fans is when they get IU, which is less then an hour away. It was 80 degrees in Terre Haute when they played Purdue, it was 40 in Muncie when we played them. They also have some visiting teams that travel well, especially Southern Illinois. What we need mainly is lights. Students would definitely show up in better numbers.People could come to the ballpark after work. ISU's best attendance is almost always Friday night. The other thing is beer sales. If any of you went to the Purdue game you saw how packed it was. $2 Tuesday's was a hit. Maybe ISU got lucky with the weather on a couple of game dates, but Terre Haute is not a balmy climate relative to Muncie. They are drawing better than us, even on bad weather days, and are charging admission. They have lights. They have a summer league team that also charges admission (increasing game day gate receipts.) If we served beer at First Merchants Ballpark, I would buy a block of season tix.
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Post by rmcalhoun on May 1, 2017 14:04:21 GMT -6
No one is not going to show up if we charge 5 bucks. The only reason they might is if they have a herd of kids. If that is really a concern let kids under 12 in free
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Post by 00hmh on May 1, 2017 14:16:34 GMT -6
$5 is what baseball fans in Indiana are used to paying for HS and travel games. They will be willinging do it immediately. They've already been conditioned to do so, especially if they know it will help build a program. The other things that you mention are great, but can be thought and planned for the future. Best way to continue to draw fans is to win. People will pay to help a program build a winner. The baseball fans are willing to pay if they are already fans, those traveling teams and HS teams draw from local family and friends of players. They get bigger visitor's gate than we will get as a college team. ISU is a fair comparison and if the issue was simply charging the fans who now show up, and maximizing current revenue from that base, charging would net a small profit, it is true. We would lose some fans, have some expenses, so the net is not as great as the total revenue you project, but I'll agree we gain in the short run. And I'll even agree every little bit helps. However, I think we are in the situation where we need to build fans. Bargain baseball and appeal to a broader audience is the way you do that. Promotion and selling fan experience is essential. FREE tickets as a promotion might help, even if the regular price is "free" now, after all almost nobody really knows that except the fans that now come. Word of mouth is not expanding the fan base. We are winning enough now to draw better if we promote, and assuming Maloney's plans for world domination can be achieved, we can draw more. And charge more once we get a fan base. I still reject "build it and they will come" without some market research to back it up, research in our market. The ability to draw enough to pay for and to justify lights is questionable, right now. But. I really like the idea of marketing the park for summer. I know that is a little easier said than done, because I have discussed that with the AD. But, if we want improvements, that is the best pitch, right now, until we draw more fans. And it might be a good one, regardless of charging admission. If there is money in that, we could build it, pay for it, and afford to hope the fans come for BSU.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2017 14:36:27 GMT -6
The fact our administration is not charging for bb games already is another case in point of them sleeping behind the wheel.Damn these petty internal practices are frustrating as hell to hear about from afar.
They should also be renting the facility to travel tournaments and regional high school "rivalry" games while charging admission. People who go to those games are going. They don't say let's go to the BAll U baseball game because it's free.
Lights are a must. Why did they renovate a stadium and not put in lights? What did they spend the money on?
Who has the roach coach to set up in the parking lot selling beer and sandwiches? Which one of you guys likes to make money?
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2017 16:09:02 GMT -6
No one is not going to show up if we charge 5 bucks. The only reason they might is if they have a herd of kids. If that is really a concern let kids under 12 in free Thats exactly why ISU, Purdue, IU, Evansville and Notre Dame are drawing crowds to their baseball games, because nobody goes when you charge $5 or more.
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Post by rmcalhoun on May 1, 2017 18:13:18 GMT -6
No one is not going to show up if we charge 5 bucks. The only reason they might is if they have a herd of kids. If that is really a concern let kids under 12 in free Thats exactly why ISU, Purdue, IU, Evansville and Notre Dame are drawing crowds to their baseball games, because nobody goes when you charge $5 or more. I agree with you 5 bucks is nothing
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2017 18:38:07 GMT -6
Little Leagues have lights. Our middle school girls softball team has lights. The Baptist church down the road has lights for their church summer league.
Maybe we shouldn't have athletic teams.......🤔
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Post by rmcalhoun on May 1, 2017 19:01:49 GMT -6
Well hey it only took the football team 50 years to get lights
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Post by 00hmh on May 1, 2017 20:02:39 GMT -6
We want better lighting than the church diamond has. It will happen.
It's just crazy to compare to Purdue and ND in their budget, facilities, or their draw.
Besides the little league doesn't have to worry about paying for the football practice field as higher priority.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2017 6:27:23 GMT -6
We want better lighting than the church diamond has. It will happen. It's just crazy to compare to Purdue and ND in their budget, facilities, or their draw. Besides the little league doesn't have to worry about paying for the football practice field as higher priority. It's not crazy. Only five years ago, Purdue was playing on a high school grade baseball field (Lambert Field, much worse than our old Ball Park) and were charging admission ($5). The program had one NCAA regional appearance, but was for the most part, a marginal program and on par with Ball State (even though we consistently beat them). Notre Dame just built Frank Eck Stadium in 1994. It has been built in phases, utilizing donations and, get this, gate admissions. Here's some simple math: - You charge $0 admission and the ballpark fills to capacity, you make $0.
- You charge $5 admission and no one comes to the games, you make $0.
- The odds of both happening are extremely remote, but I favor the first scenario to happen before the second.
- Even if initially no one showed up for a game, they would eventually come back (baseball fans are used to paying at every level), and if you have an admission charge, you will begin to make $$$. If there is no charge, you'll never make $$$.
- For those that are outraged at paying $5 to watch D1 baseball close to home, take your $5, add another $5.25 to it, and go buy a ticket to a fictional movie about someone or something that never existed, in a theater where Cokes are $4 and popcorn is $5.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2017 6:47:19 GMT -6
The only time Indiana State draws over 1000 fans is when they get IU, which is less then an hour away. It was 80 degrees in Terre Haute when they played Purdue, it was 40 in Muncie when we played them. They also have some visiting teams that travel well, especially Southern Illinois. What we need mainly is lights. Students would definitely show up in better numbers.People could come to the ballpark after work. ISU's best attendance is almost always Friday night. The other thing is beer sales. If any of you went to the Purdue game you saw how packed it was. $2 Tuesday's was a hit. Maybe ISU got lucky with the weather on a couple of game dates, but Terre Haute is not a balmy climate relative to Muncie. They are drawing better than us, even on bad weather days, and are charging admission. They have lights. They have a summer league team that also charges admission (increasing game day gate receipts.) If we served beer at First Merchants Ballpark, I would buy a block of season tix. Here is ISU's 2017 home attendance to date: Day | Opponent | Attendance | FRI | Oakland | 476 | SAT | Oakland | 523 | SUN | Oakland | 598 | TUE | E. Illinois | 436 | TUE * | Indiana | 1,300 | FRI * | S. Illinois | 907 | SAT (DH) | S. Illinois | 1,607 | TUE | N. Illinois | 764 | WED * | Purdue | 898 | FRI | Bradley | n/a (rain) | SAT (DH) | Bradley | 510 |
* night game - Bob Warn Field seats 2,000; Ball Diamond @ First Merchants Ballpark seats 1,500
- Lowest Attended: 436, Highest: 1,607, Average: 802
- 3 of top 4 attended games were night games
- Drew 1,300 when they played IU, but drew 1,607 to see rival SIU.
- General Admission: $4 (right field line); $10-$12 for chairbacks behind home plate, which they sell the majority of them.
We play them at Terre Haute on Tues. May 16th at 3:00 pm. Go check it out.
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Post by 00hmh on May 2, 2017 7:33:22 GMT -6
The difference at Purdue is not as great as at ND, I agree. But Purdue has a much bigger budget and the ability to scrape together enough to make improvements is just not as difficult.
BSU runs all its sports on a thin margin, not much fat in the budget to move money to someplace when it is needed. Purdue has much more ability to raise money from alumni and friends. ND is totally different world as anyone who ever spoke with Bill Scholl about the differences between ND and BSU can tell you. We have needs and good plans that just can't be funded.
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