Scamp
02-09-2007, 02:23 PM
There are certain campus issues guaranteed to resurface each semester. There's the debate about the availability of on-campus parking and issues pertaining to particulars of the Honor Code; but then there's the ongoing dispute over the cause of low attendance the Lady Cougar basketball games.
When the final buzzer sounded at the women's game against TCU Feb. 1, the ticket office reported an attendance of 672. This season, only three games registered attendances in the thousands. This isn't a new trend. Historically speaking, women's basketball game attendance is always dramatically lower than the attendance at the men's basketball games. This point isn't disputed; it's the cause of and the solution to the meager attendance that is debatable.
Some students rebuke the apparent lack of loyalty among students, insisting they come out and "support the team." While others maintain that women's basketball isn't as fast pace - therefore, not as exciting - as men's basketball. Rather than reproving students for not attending the games, or excusing them for subjective reasons, we offer a different alternative. Perhaps the solution to the low-attendance dilemma lies with the ticket vendors.
There are 22,700 seats in the Marriott Center. Each seat that goes unoccupied during a game is a lost cost. Instead of letting those seats go unused, the Marriott Center ticket office should lower the price of tickets to women's games from $5 for public and $4 for students to a flat $1 for everyone.
The reduced fee is by no means an indicator of monetary value on the women's basketball team. They are performing exceptionally well this season. They are 17-5 and have yet to lose a game on their home court. The reduced entrance fee would just be added incentive for students and community members to come to the games. The Marriott Center could then use increased revenue generated from the concession stands to make up for the reduced ticket sales.
If all goes as planned, the women's team will hang another banner from the rafters of the Marriott Center at the end of the season. Those in charge of pricing tickets should do all they can to ensure there will be plenty of fans to cheer them along the way.
http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/62973Schools would do well to emulate A&M (and other programs) with dollar tickets. Fill those seats! :)
When the final buzzer sounded at the women's game against TCU Feb. 1, the ticket office reported an attendance of 672. This season, only three games registered attendances in the thousands. This isn't a new trend. Historically speaking, women's basketball game attendance is always dramatically lower than the attendance at the men's basketball games. This point isn't disputed; it's the cause of and the solution to the meager attendance that is debatable.
Some students rebuke the apparent lack of loyalty among students, insisting they come out and "support the team." While others maintain that women's basketball isn't as fast pace - therefore, not as exciting - as men's basketball. Rather than reproving students for not attending the games, or excusing them for subjective reasons, we offer a different alternative. Perhaps the solution to the low-attendance dilemma lies with the ticket vendors.
There are 22,700 seats in the Marriott Center. Each seat that goes unoccupied during a game is a lost cost. Instead of letting those seats go unused, the Marriott Center ticket office should lower the price of tickets to women's games from $5 for public and $4 for students to a flat $1 for everyone.
The reduced fee is by no means an indicator of monetary value on the women's basketball team. They are performing exceptionally well this season. They are 17-5 and have yet to lose a game on their home court. The reduced entrance fee would just be added incentive for students and community members to come to the games. The Marriott Center could then use increased revenue generated from the concession stands to make up for the reduced ticket sales.
If all goes as planned, the women's team will hang another banner from the rafters of the Marriott Center at the end of the season. Those in charge of pricing tickets should do all they can to ensure there will be plenty of fans to cheer them along the way.
http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/62973Schools would do well to emulate A&M (and other programs) with dollar tickets. Fill those seats! :)