WTF, is Lynah empty?!

[BMac]

I went to CornellBigRed.com today and it was replaced by a promo-splash page with a link to this:
http://cornellbigredtickets.universitytickets.com/user_pages/event.asp?id=1064&cid=49

THEY'RE SELLING TICKETS LIKE THIS, DURING THE SEASON?! WHAT IS HAPPENING?

[scoop85]

I went to CornellBigRed.com today and it was replaced by a promo-splash page with a link to this:
http://cornellbigredtickets.universitytickets.com/user_pages/event.asp?id=1064&cid=49

THEY'RE SELLING TICKETS LIKE THIS, DURING THE SEASON?! WHAT IS HAPPENING?

yeah, that was jarring to see.

[MattS]

I went to CornellBigRed.com today and it was replaced by a promo-splash page with a link to this:
http://cornellbigredtickets.universitytickets.com/user_pages/event.asp?id=1064&cid=49

THEY'RE SELLING TICKETS LIKE THIS, DURING THE SEASON?! WHAT IS HAPPENING?

yeah, that was jarring to see.

Especially the Sucks game.

[Chris '03]

Pretty surprising that they apparently have enough senior night/harvard tickets floating around to sell like this.

Also, are they really selling/giving away t-shirts with player names on the back? I thought that was one of those NCAA amateurism taboos.

[BearLover]

We talked about this in another thread at some point.  Lynah has been very empty this year.  Section D doesn't stand anymore and has mostly townies now.  It's been a steady decline these past few years, but this is probably the low point of the Schafer era in terms of fan interest.

[ajh258]

These are some of the most expensive college hockey tickets, the team isn't really top 10 consistently, and there are more options for late night entertainment nowadays in Ithaca. Simple market solution would be to lower student ticket pricing. Don't think T-shirts is a big driver of ticket sales or attendance so probably can cut those. Most loyal fans buy their own separate gear anyways.

[Chris '03]

These are some of the most expensive college hockey tickets, the team isn't really top 10 consistently, and there are more options for late night entertainment nowadays in Ithaca. Simple market solution would be to lower student ticket pricing. Don't think T-shirts is a big driver of ticket sales or attendance so probably can cut those. Most loyal fans buy their own separate gear anyways.

Loyal fans already have tickets too. T-shirts, pizza parties, and thunder stixxxxx are not targeted at loyal fans.

I think the top 10 thing is wildly overblown. I think the basketball run splintered a generation of fans and its effect has continued somewhat and has more to do with attendance than national ranking, which the average face timer probably doesn't know anyway.

7-9pm is "late night"?

I do agree that the price has escalated too far to guarantee sellouts but I'm not sure they are "some of the most expensive." I'd bet $18 is somewhere in the middle of the bell curve and that there are plenty of $30+ tickets out there.

[Trotsky]

Cutting prices creates a perverse incentive where season ticket holders have now been penalized for buying up front at premium.  I'd be against that.

There have always been lots of other options for entertainment.

 

Fig 1.  Other options, an abbreviated list

It comes down to winning.  If they win they get the Greek bandwagon sales; if not, then not.

Just win, baby.

[upprdeck]

when there is no pressure to buy seasons because every game is available and they still raise the season ticket price every year this is going to happen. most people i know who have seasons still dont get to every game and most have 2 tickets.  throwing away $40 3-5 times a year when you can just but the games you really want to see..

they need to rethink the incentive to buy season tickets cause they have reached the price point that many are rethinking it.. Im not sure the demand will ever go back.

[Towerroad]

These are some of the most expensive college hockey tickets, the team isn't really top 10 consistently, and there are more options for late night entertainment nowadays in Ithaca. Simple market solution would be to lower student ticket pricing. Don't think T-shirts is a big driver of ticket sales or attendance so probably can cut those. Most loyal fans buy their own separate gear anyways.

Loyal fans already have tickets too. T-shirts, pizza parties, and thunder stixxxxx are not targeted at loyal fans.

I think the top 10 thing is wildly overblown. I think the basketball run splintered a generation of fans and its effect has continued somewhat and has more to do with attendance than national ranking, which the average face timer probably doesn't know anyway.

7-9pm is "late night"?

I do agree that the price has escalated too far to guarantee sellouts but I'm not sure they are "some of the most expensive." I'd bet $18 is somewhere in the middle of the bell curve and that there are plenty of $30+ tickets out there.

Here is a completely unscientific survey of student ticket prices

     Game   Season   Season Pass Notes
BU      $10       
Sucks     Free      
BC     $15/game    $175/season,    All Sports
Union     $10       
Dartmouth Free      
Michigan   $215/season    More games than Ivy's   
UND      $140/season    More games that Ivy's
Clarkson Free      
UNH    Free

Free may not really be Free but admissions is included with an athletics fee.

I think Cornell is on the High end of pricing. Cornell has been milking this cow for a while and it may be running dry.

[dbilmes]

It sounds like Ken Dryden might not have come to Cornell if he was a junior player being recruited today.
"It was just absolutely great," Dryden said of his Cornell experience. "I had come from playing Junior B hockey in the Toronto area in front of 150 people. To walk into Lynah Rink and 4,000 people sounding like 24,000, it was fantastic.
"We all do our best when we are doing something that seems to matter, and matter to the people around us. Hockey at Cornell mattered."
We know that hockey at Cornell matters to those of us on this forum. Let's hope it will continue to matter to generations of future Cornellians

[BearLover]

It sounds like Ken Dryden might not have come to Cornell if he was a junior player being recruited today.
"It was just absolutely great," Dryden said of his Cornell experience. "I had come from playing Junior B hockey in the Toronto area in front of 150 people. To walk into Lynah Rink and 4,000 people sounding like 24,000, it was fantastic.
"We all do our best when we are doing something that seems to matter, and matter to the people around us. Hockey at Cornell mattered."
We know that hockey at Cornell matters to those of us on this forum. Let's hope it will continue to matter to generations of future Cornellians

Every single Cornell hockey player, when asked about why they chose Cornell, mentions the Lynah Faithful.  Every last one.  

Ticket prices NEED to be lowered.  I knew so many people at Cornell who didn't buy tickets because they were too expensive.  I don't think people care much about Cornell winning, as long as they aren't terrible.  
 
I wrote a letter to Schafer and CC'd it to Andy Noel about this...I seriously hope others do the same.

[ftyuv]

I'll add to the "prices need to be lower" choir, but from a slightly different perspective.

I had never watched a game of hockey in my life until I came to Cornell; I fell in love with the sport pretty much instantly, and now play 2-3 times a week -- it's a big part of my life. I absolutely went to that first game because it was the cool thing to do, and so it makes me sad that that's going down. Some me-like kid there is getting deprived of the chance to learn about this great game!

I guess you could say that the same is true of anything, and why should hockey be any different? To that I'd say two things: firstly, it's different to me because I love hockey. But more broadly, it's different because Cornell already has a strong hockey program and history. That's difficult to build up from scratch, especially for a school with no athletic scholarships. It's not not impossible, of course -- but why not keep the fire going, instead of having to rebuild it later if/when you want it?

[Trotsky]

Cutting prices is fine as long as you do it at the beginning of the season (or refund the season tickets holders which... yeah, right).  The Tradition is always in the hands of the current students and it always faces distractions of various kinds, yet it was strongest during the days when college sports were all but boycotted as a crypto-fascist metaphor for nuclear war.

The periods in which we noticed the sharpest downturns in crowd enthusiasm have all coincided with losing seasons, and each time there have been arguments that this time though it's different because of Factor X.  It's like a reverse exuberance bubble.

Let's test my hypothesis by winning.  Then, if the crowds don't return to form, we can talk about Factor X.

See you all there tonight.  Chartrand sweater, middle of section C.

[marty]

I'm in favor of lower prices for 2014-15. I don't see a downside to lowering the price to the $12-$14 range. It makes more sense to me to try that after a season that has seen a  t-shirt on Senior Night giveaway.  

As an aside I'll be in section seven in Troy tonight. You'll be able to pick me out as I'll be sporting a broken nose after Neiley thanks me for posting the DQ video on YouTube.

Edit: I wish I lived two hours closer to Lynah. I'd buy season tickets and for me price wouldn't be an issue.