Lynah Attendance

[LGR14]

I have a hard time believing Cornell students are trying to boycott Cornell hockey to send a message. Trust me when I say that die hard protestors and the die hard hockey fans have no overlap. I think the real factor here is an opponent that nobody has heard of and no frat parties means more smaller friend group parties, I.e. more people are invited to one, not less. Next weekend we'll see how we do with the band back and no Halloween.

I'm not as worried about the die hard hockey fans as I am about the casual hockey fans. I would have thought Cornell's negative publicity wouldn't affect attendance and in fact the ban on frat parties would help attendance, but I guess I was wrong. The fact both student and townie attendance was historically bad suggests a general lack of interest for one reason or another. As noted above, I don't buy Halloween as a reason; attendance is usually strong this weekend. 

My main question at this point is whether anyone in the AD or hockey program is aware of the massive attendance problem and trying to do something about it. I don't know whose decision it was to bring back the ticket line, and while I was skeptical it would work I was happy they were trying new things. I guess it didn't help ticket sales at all though.

A few things. 

1.  Look at the tickets available for Quinnipiac.  It's G, H, J, and O.  The townie sections look to be mostly filled in otherwise.  I assume I don't have access to student section tickets, so impossible to figure out what availability looks like.  There must be a ton open in D.

2.  Tickets are $25.  While not "expensive" per se, I believe tickets were half that 15 years ago.  You can go to NHL games for less.  The game against BU is $39, by the way. 

3.  If most of the issue this weekend was townie attendance, then I'm inclined to believe that it will rebound given Halloween, subject to the pricing issues above.  Although I can corroborate that the Halloween games were always well attended 2011-2014.  So I don't think that's a full explanation. 

4.  I don't know how you improve student attendance.  There's no scarcity anymore.  And anyone who went to their first games this weekend probably wasn't impressed.   

I mostly agree with this. Townie tickets are too expensive if the goal is increasing attendance, which it should be. Unfortunately, whoever prices tickets seems to only care about maximizing revenue.

On the student side, the bottom fell out once the scarcity was gone. It used to be that you needed season tickets to attend the games. Now, why get season tickets?

I would support decreasing the capacity of Lynah by replacing the benches with seats on the townie side. We can no longer fill a 4,267 person rink, so at least this creates more scarcity. And the townies would be more likely to show up if they could sit in a real seat.

Reducing capacity doesn't make sense, unless attendance starts hovering at 50% for years.  And a full townie side won't help the student side.

I'd like to see them be more proactive marketing to freshmen.  Compile a Lynah hype video for orientation.  Get Casey Jones to talk to new student groups.  Make going to the games part of Cornell culture again.  There's an opening now.  The Line might serve this purpose, but it will take some time before it becomes a tradition. And the first games of the year have to be full, by any means necessary.

In fall 2010, most of my friends, except for legacies, didn't know why I wanted season tickets so bad.  But at least games were packed, so they understood once I brought them

[BearLover]

I have a hard time believing Cornell students are trying to boycott Cornell hockey to send a message. Trust me when I say that die hard protestors and the die hard hockey fans have no overlap. I think the real factor here is an opponent that nobody has heard of and no frat parties means more smaller friend group parties, I.e. more people are invited to one, not less. Next weekend we'll see how we do with the band back and no Halloween.

I'm not as worried about the die hard hockey fans as I am about the casual hockey fans. I would have thought Cornell's negative publicity wouldn't affect attendance and in fact the ban on frat parties would help attendance, but I guess I was wrong. The fact both student and townie attendance was historically bad suggests a general lack of interest for one reason or another. As noted above, I don't buy Halloween as a reason; attendance is usually strong this weekend. 

My main question at this point is whether anyone in the AD or hockey program is aware of the massive attendance problem and trying to do something about it. I don't know whose decision it was to bring back the ticket line, and while I was skeptical it would work I was happy they were trying new things. I guess it didn't help ticket sales at all though.

A few things. 

1.  Look at the tickets available for Quinnipiac.  It's G, H, J, and O.  The townie sections look to be mostly filled in otherwise.  I assume I don't have access to student section tickets, so impossible to figure out what availability looks like.  There must be a ton open in D.

2.  Tickets are $25.  While not "expensive" per se, I believe tickets were half that 15 years ago.  You can go to NHL games for less.  The game against BU is $39, by the way. 

3.  If most of the issue this weekend was townie attendance, then I'm inclined to believe that it will rebound given Halloween, subject to the pricing issues above.  Although I can corroborate that the Halloween games were always well attended 2011-2014.  So I don't think that's a full explanation. 

4.  I don't know how you improve student attendance.  There's no scarcity anymore.  And anyone who went to their first games this weekend probably wasn't impressed.   

I mostly agree with this. Townie tickets are too expensive if the goal is increasing attendance, which it should be. Unfortunately, whoever prices tickets seems to only care about maximizing revenue.

On the student side, the bottom fell out once the scarcity was gone. It used to be that you needed season tickets to attend the games. Now, why get season tickets?

I would support decreasing the capacity of Lynah by replacing the benches with seats on the townie side. We can no longer fill a 4,267 person rink, so at least this creates more scarcity. And the townies would be more likely to show up if they could sit in a real seat.

Reducing capacity doesn't make sense, unless attendance starts hovering at 50% for years.  And a full townie side won't help the student side.

I think reducing capacity makes perfect sense. It creates scarcity. You can reduce the student sections to A through D. E can become a townie section once capacity has become limited in the other townie sections. E is usually 90% empty nowadays. It also creates a fuller-looking rink. And I don't understand why the townies sit on benches anyway. It's tough on people's backs and generally less comfortable. (I mean, I know the reason they sit on benches is that nobody has ever bothered/wanted to replace them with seats, but now is a good opportunity, I think.)

[BearLover]

• Reduce townie ticket prices
• Make alcohol more available at the games
• Replace benches with seats in Sections F through O, and maybe also Section E. Ideally reducing total capacity to 3,800 or below.
• Sell/give blocks of tickets to student groups/freshman dorms
• More promotional/theme nights

[VIEWfromK]

• Reduce townie ticket prices
• Make alcohol more available at the games
• Replace benches with seats in Sections F through O, and maybe also Section E. Ideally reducing total capacity to 3,800 or below.
• Sell/give blocks of tickets to student groups/freshman dorms
• More promotional/theme nights

Wouldn't a major renovation of the seats lead to an increase in ticket prices to help cover the costs? 

[VIEWfromK]

2.  Tickets are $25.  While not "expensive" per se, I believe tickets were half that 15 years ago.  You can go to NHL games for less.  The game against BU is $39, by the way. 

 

Even IF you could go to a random NHL game for less than $25, it isn't anywhere near here.

[VIEWfromK]

I think the real factor here is an opponent that nobody has heard of

This is one of my least favorite excuses.  If you are a Cornell fan, why does it matter who they play?

[adamw]

2.  Tickets are $25.  While not "expensive" per se, I believe tickets were half that 15 years ago.  You can go to NHL games for less.  The game against BU is $39, by the way. 

 

Even IF you could go to a random NHL game for less than $25, it isn't anywhere near here.

Nashville Predators have the lowest ticket prices in the NHL, and the cheapest Preds ticket is $49. Top of the upper tier.

[Weder]

2.  Tickets are $25.  While not "expensive" per se, I believe tickets were half that 15 years ago.  You can go to NHL games for less.  The game against BU is $39, by the way. 

 

Even IF you could go to a random NHL game for less than $25, it isn't anywhere near here.

Nashville Predators have the lowest ticket prices in the NHL, and the cheapest Preds ticket is $49. Top of the upper tier.

This is true of face value, but for bad teams there are often tickets on the secondary market for around $25. They're not going to be great seats, but you can get in the door.

[Weder]

Was there a big jump in single-game ticket prices this year? I can't find any pricing for last year, but the variable pricing is new, right? Take Harvard out of the equation, but if you're an occasional fan who is now paying $40 for BU and a handful of other opponents, I can see cutting way back on the number of total games you attend in a season.

[LGR14]

2.  Tickets are $25.  While not "expensive" per se, I believe tickets were half that 15 years ago.  You can go to NHL games for less.  The game against BU is $39, by the way. 

 

Even IF you could go to a random NHL game for less than $25, it isn't anywhere near here.

Nashville Predators have the lowest ticket prices in the NHL, and the cheapest Preds ticket is $49. Top of the upper tier.

You can get in the door for $14 if you buy on TickPick for the Predators-Hurricanes game on 11/3, in Nashville.  Carolina isn't a huge market obviously and nowhere close to Original 6 demand, but they're in first place and the defending champs.

And yes, $14 only gets you the upper bowl.  Lower bowl takes $75, although that number will drop over the next 48 hours. 

There is also the relativity factor.  Someone who went to games for $13 a decade ago is now paying double.  Whether $25 is a lot for people or not, I don't know, but they're probably not getting double the experience.  It's the same reason why people don't go to the movies anymore unless it's Marvel or Nolan (and a few others). 

[Bluelightning]

I did not buy season tickets this year because i have other conflicts throughout winter. I was on the fence but decided to take a chance with single games. Big mistake. Sacred Heart, Quinnipiac , RIT were $25 each. Princeton and Clarkson were $31. Harvard and Dartmouth were $42 and Boston was $43. That's all I've purchased so far. I will also say availability was very low...but that must of been some algorithm to get me to impulse buy...which worked because when I was on fence for season tix there were very few left except general admission section. They will really jack up prices if we host a playoff game. So financially I've probably not made the smartest decision.
     I don't know what prices are night of game. If they are $31...and you have family of 4...they might pass. Almost all sports are struggling.
 

[BearLover]

• Reduce townie ticket prices
• Make alcohol more available at the games
• Replace benches with seats in Sections F through O, and maybe also Section E. Ideally reducing total capacity to 3,800 or below.
• Sell/give blocks of tickets to student groups/freshman dorms
• More promotional/theme nights

Wouldn't a major renovation of the seats lead to an increase in ticket prices to help cover the costs?

No, I don't think there is precedent for raising seat prices to pay for rink enhancements. But it might require a donation.

[BearLover]

I did not buy season tickets this year because i have other conflicts throughout winter. I was on the fence but decided to take a chance with single games. Big mistake. Sacred Heart, Quinnipiac , RIT were $25 each. Princeton and Clarkson were $31. Harvard and Dartmouth were $42 and Boston was $43. That's all I've purchased so far. I will also say availability was very low...but that must of been some algorithm to get me to impulse buy...which worked because when I was on fence for season tix there were very few left except general admission section. They will really jack up prices if we host a playoff game. So financially I've probably not made the smartest decision.
     I don't know what prices are night of game. If they are $31...and you have family of 4...they might pass. Almost all sports are struggling.
 

Sorry, these prices are ridiculous (and much higher than they've been in the past). That might explain the horrible attendance.

[Dafatone]

Blaming Halloween is guessing at a reason. Attendance is objectively consistently lower than it was for most of us on here during our days in Ithaca. Sign of the times more than a reflection of the program imo.

I understand a general downward trend, but it seems like attendance has dropped a bunch in the last couple years, which surprises me.

[Bluelightning]

Ucla football is 8-0 and playing in front of 1/2 empty stadium. They can announce nonsense attendance numbers for penn state football but everyone knows they are lucky to be 75% full.
     Looking ahead to February Friday night game vs RPI .....lots of tickets still available in sections L,M,N. I could be wrong but this was almost completely season tickets in past years? I though Boston would sell out almost as fast as Harvard but not even close.
     I think season tix in my normal section were around $375 for 16 games (I don't count preseason)...which is $23.50/each. If we host playoffs this turns into even better deal.
     Looking ahead...I haven't purchased Union tickets (season finale). They want $37 each. 95% of us are probably saying "let's see how the season starts to pan out before forking over that kind of $$". They also have had Xmas deals in past but they were usually for early January non conference games.