Lynah Attendance

[andyw2100]

-any other ideas?

As for "other ideas", I had posted the following in a different thread a few weeks ago:

I think it's all about getting the kids that have never been to a game into Lynah the first time.

I went to my first game as a freshman in 1982. (It may even have been the Harvard game because I definitely was at the Harvard game that season.) I probably went to only three or four games that entire season, but then bought season tickets for my last three years at Cornell and for every year since then, except for the few years I was out of Ithaca before moving back. I had never followed hockey at all. It was the Lynah atmosphere that hooked me. Like BearLover, (and I'm guessing nearly everyone here) I'd really like to see Lynah more like it was in "the old days." I doubt there's a simple answer. I doubt even more that any discussion here will have any impact at all.

That being said, I think one thing that would help, if we could somehow get the administration to buy in, would be giving every freshman a personalized voucher good for one free admission to any game. Vouchers have to be redeemed for tickets, and the freebies could be allocated based on anticipated sales. So perhaps only 50 or 100 of these freebies set aside for the Harvard game, and hundreds available for games unlikely to sell out.

I have to think that there are students out there who would be "hooked" if they experience a game, but may never go if they aren't given the one free ticket.

The "up-front" cost to Cornell would be negligible, since they would manage the inventory in such a way that it shouldn't really cannibalize sales.

I doubt anything like this will ever happen, but I think it would work if it were tried.

[Trotsky]

My offer is this, Senator.  Win.

Win and keep winning.  That has always been the bedrock of any team's fan support.

Go 35-5 for a few years and we will have sell outs for a decade.

[BearLover]

My offer is this, Senator.  Win.

Win and keep winning.  That has always been the bedrock of any team's fan support.

Go 35-5 for a few years and we will have sell outs for a decade.

This is going to sound harsh, but...
Every time this conversation comes up you make the same comment, and each time it gets more wrong. This is because, as time has gone on, it has gotten increasingly clear that winning is not correlated with increased attendance. This makes sense if you spend time with the casual Cornell hockey fans we are trying to attract. They have no idea how good the team is or how well they did the prior week or prior season. We are currently in the most successful stretch of Cornell hockey in decades and attendance is as bad as it's ever been.

Also, "going 35-5 for a few years" means "winning the national championship for a few years." 

[fastforward]

I feel that our schedule is the biggest factor in the attendance
The schedule sucks this year

[chimpfood]

The world is changing. People have less time and are less passionate about the things that they care about. Things like Halloweekend and leaving early for break take priority over hockey now, and there's not really anything to school can do to change that. To me it's all relative. We have the best environment in the ECAC (by far), and one of the best in the country. We're doing well, but it'll never be what it used to be.

[VIEWfromK]

It also kills our biggest recruiting advantage.

I have only asked a few of the guys over the years (during Skate with the Big Red; please bring it back!) and they always say the atmosphere is one of the tipping points.  A lot of our recruits are weighing other ECAC school opportunities.  While I haven't been to all of the other schools yet, none of the ones I have been to can even come close to matching the experience at Lynah.  A game like last night was better than any other school.  A game like last Saturday without most of the students still wowed those recruits that I was sitting next to.  I would be surprised if those considering Cornell would know the difference now compared to what it was twenty years ago.

[BearLover]

The world is changing. People have less time and are less passionate about the things that they care about. Things like Halloweekend and leaving early for break take priority over hockey now, and there's not really anything to school can do to change that. To me it's all relative. We have the best environment in the ECAC (by far), and one of the best in the country. We're doing well, but it'll never be what it used to be.

Things like Halloweekend and leaving early for break took precedence over hockey 15 years ago too, FWIW.

I agree we still have one of the best environments in the country, but it could be much better. The environment is honestly far, far, far worse than it used to be. Throwing up our hands and blaming cell phones and kids these days doesn't get us anywhere. +500 per game is a very attainable goal if the people who make these decisions actually tried.

[Al DeFlorio]

The world is changing. People have less time and are less passionate about the things that they care about. Things like Halloweekend and leaving early for break take priority over hockey now, and there's not really anything to school can do to change that. To me it's all relative. We have the best environment in the ECAC (by far), and one of the best in the country. We're doing well, but it'll never be what it used to be.

Some get their jollies by whining about everything.  Why ruin their fun?

[BearLover]

The world is changing. People have less time and are less passionate about the things that they care about. Things like Halloweekend and leaving early for break take priority over hockey now, and there's not really anything to school can do to change that. To me it's all relative. We have the best environment in the ECAC (by far), and one of the best in the country. We're doing well, but it'll never be what it used to be.

Some get their jollies by whining about everything.  Why ruin their fun?

You must get some incredible jollies whining about the playcalling on the football thread all game every game, but you don't see me going over there and bothering you about it.

[The Rancor]

Let's play hockey! (clap clap, clap clap clap!)

[Dafatone]

I'm on board with winning being the best way to sell tickets, but we're coming off two very good years.

It's harder to put people in the stands these days, but it's a little unfortunate that attendance this year is worse than the last two.

[stereax]

I feel that our schedule is the biggest factor in the attendance
The schedule sucks this year

The schedule this year is ass. Homestand of 4 weeks during winter break is terrible for attendance. Great for me though, personally, as someone who enjoys having personal space LOL.

But yeah, we're all just rehashing the same five things over and over again, and in a post-Covid, highly digitalized world... iunno. This is the same issue hundreds and thousands of "community spaces" are reaching - that people prefer to be isolated.

It's difficult to sell out games, and it's also difficult to even know who has season tickets and just isn't going. (Which I suspect is a good portion of C. People migrate to C from the FGHJ sections all the time, it feels like.) I don't think we'll ever get to Harvard levels of "no fans", though. The townie side always shows up.

Again, I also think for most people, it's the tipping point of going to your FIRST game. Everyone who I've brought to a game, or guided around in some cases, has LOVED Cornell hockey. But if you don't have anyone to show you the ropes, and you don't already love hockey, are you going to take that plunge organically?

So - yeah. An athletics voucher for freshmen. Maybe exclude the Harvard game, just on principle. You could do something like "attend 1 MHKY game, 1 WHKY game, 1 MLAX game, [add whatever other sports you want to promote] for free, get virtual stamps at each game, and collect all the stamps for [X actually decent reward]".

...Reminds me I have emails to write.

[imafrshmn]

The issue is that people need to feel like they're part and parcel of an organic and vibrant cultural experience, and not merely the inheritors of a tired 20th century tradition. "Make Cornell Hockey relevant again" is my slogan. What's the magic sauce there? I'm not sure. Ultimately, it's for the young people to decide how to spend their time. Goodness knows there are many important things for kiddos to be involved with.

[Dafatone]

I feel that our schedule is the biggest factor in the attendance
The schedule sucks this year

The schedule this year is ass. Homestand of 4 weeks during winter break is terrible for attendance. Great for me though, personally, as someone who enjoys having personal space LOL.

But yeah, we're all just rehashing the same five things over and over again, and in a post-Covid, highly digitalized world... iunno. This is the same issue hundreds and thousands of "community spaces" are reaching - that people prefer to be isolated.

It's difficult to sell out games, and it's also difficult to even know who has season tickets and just isn't going. (Which I suspect is a good portion of C. People migrate to C from the FGHJ sections all the time, it feels like.) I don't think we'll ever get to Harvard levels of "no fans", though. The townie side always shows up.

Again, I also think for most people, it's the tipping point of going to your FIRST game. Everyone who I've brought to a game, or guided around in some cases, has LOVED Cornell hockey. But if you don't have anyone to show you the ropes, and you don't already love hockey, are you going to take that plunge organically?

So - yeah. An athletics voucher for freshmen. Maybe exclude the Harvard game, just on principle. You could do something like "attend 1 MHKY game, 1 WHKY game, 1 MLAX game, [add whatever other sports you want to promote] for free, get virtual stamps at each game, and collect all the stamps for [X actually decent reward]".

...Reminds me I have emails to write.

Super anecdotal but I agree about making it to a first game. I didn't go to a game until late my sophomore year, and it was an immediate "why the hell haven't I been doing this since day one."

[stereax]

I feel that our schedule is the biggest factor in the attendance
The schedule sucks this year

The schedule this year is ass. Homestand of 4 weeks during winter break is terrible for attendance. Great for me though, personally, as someone who enjoys having personal space LOL.

But yeah, we're all just rehashing the same five things over and over again, and in a post-Covid, highly digitalized world... iunno. This is the same issue hundreds and thousands of "community spaces" are reaching - that people prefer to be isolated.

It's difficult to sell out games, and it's also difficult to even know who has season tickets and just isn't going. (Which I suspect is a good portion of C. People migrate to C from the FGHJ sections all the time, it feels like.) I don't think we'll ever get to Harvard levels of "no fans", though. The townie side always shows up.

Again, I also think for most people, it's the tipping point of going to your FIRST game. Everyone who I've brought to a game, or guided around in some cases, has LOVED Cornell hockey. But if you don't have anyone to show you the ropes, and you don't already love hockey, are you going to take that plunge organically?

So - yeah. An athletics voucher for freshmen. Maybe exclude the Harvard game, just on principle. You could do something like "attend 1 MHKY game, 1 WHKY game, 1 MLAX game, [add whatever other sports you want to promote] for free, get virtual stamps at each game, and collect all the stamps for [X actually decent reward]".

...Reminds me I have emails to write.

Super anecdotal but I agree about making it to a first game. I didn't go to a game until late my sophomore year, and it was an immediate "why the hell haven't I been doing this since day one."

Absolutely! One of my friends (from Switzerland), after her first game, was like "if I get to the Fall Ball an hour late I can still come to hockey with you next week right"? And apparently she's now watching hockey back home, LOL.