A New Beginning

[pogo]

We will have a new Baseball coach at some point in the near future but I think to make this a truly new beginning there are a couple of other items that should be addressed as well.
1. An equitable punch pass for games. Years ago it was affordable and not very restrictive. Obviously we need to grow the game/attendance and this would allow families to attend at a reasonable rate. Start it at 50 bucks for 20 games. Adjust yearly if warranted
2. The seating on the hill needs to be addressed. If consumption of alcohol is a sticking point for legality it should be addressed. The hill used to be a great atmosphere. Not anymore. The rules on what can be transported between the hill and grand stand seating needs reviewed
3. I believe all concessions are on a bid basis for the year. I NEVER buy anything to eat at Koch and I have a problem with 8 Dollar beer but many of my brethren don’t. I have a problem with hot dog popcorn soda and water pricing. Don’t know if WSU gets a percentage of sales or if just a lump sum on the award of the contract. If WSU has no say on pricing structure they should. Again more family friendly to grow the attendance
4 Last but not least is the feasibility of permanent bathroom facilities in the outfield seating

[abdullah_sharif]

all valid points pogo. miss the days of tailgating and grilling on the hill. would be back with less restrictive rules and a halfway decent product on the field.

[Cdizzle]

Punchpass is for the high aluminum bleachers down the 1st base line
and for the outfield hill. 20 passes for $155.

Individual game tickets:
Field Level Boxes - $12
Concrete Stadium Reserved Chairback Seats (Green_lower, Yellow_upper) - $10
GA (same as punchpass) - $8, $6 child/senior


Not much of a discount for punchpasses (and indeed you end up in the negative quickly if you're taking kids). Does anyone know if the punchpass can be scanned directly at the gate, or do you have to redeem for a ticket at the ticket booth?

[vbird53]

Wouldn't a 5 game, 10 game, 15, game, 20 game package seem like good way to entice some folks that haven't been in awhile??

[NCAABound]

What kind of stupid pricing is that? Who would buy a punchpass if it's the same price as normal GA? Isn't the whole point of a pass to get money up front for the school and the consumer gets a discount?

[ShockTalk]

Well, the punch pass is $155 while individual tickets would be $8 x 20 = $160. Still kind of silly though.

Not only bad pricing if you have kids, but for us seniors as well $6 x 20 = $120 is $35 less than a punchpass.

[Shocker85]

There is so much about how baseball games are managed that is not well thought out.

Punch pass
Ridiculous concession pricing
No outside food
The whole beer thing
Scoreboard
Heavy protective screen

If i was king for a day, my sole focus would be getting butts in seats and making it so those people have a fun experience. No exceptions. I would convene a panel of users to provide input and rank the important items. People from baseball operations should go to games in at least 15 other ballparks and take notes. Lots of notes.

Baseball games should be fun for families and students and baseball purists. This can be accomplished if those in charge want it so.

In addition to being a great baseball man, Gene cared about the fan experience. There isn't anyone who cares now.

[Cdizzle]

There isn't anyone who cares now.

I don't think that is the case. At least, not within the next few hours.

I'm excited to be at the ballpark next season. I'd like to contribute as much vocal (a lot) and financial (not a lot) support as I can to the renewed efforts. I'm not in the position of contributing for the sake of contributing. Just trying to figure out what makes the most sense. I'm interested in throwing down on something like a punchpass as a means of supporting the program's direction, but with the value likely being below that of simply purchasing single-game walk-up GA tickets I'm leaning towards just showing up as often as I can and getting tickets at the door.

I'm actually excited about the rollout of this whole thing, so not trying to pee in the Cheerios. Phase V, Wedge, articles, billboards, season ticket ads/rewards ready to go. Makes me feel like there was a plan, even if it didn't match my preferred timeline. But also trying to figure out how to demonstrate maximum support on a limited budget.

[ShockerFever]

There is so much about how baseball games are managed that is not well thought out.

Punch pass
Ridiculous concession pricing
No outside food
The whole beer thing
Scoreboard
Heavy protective screen

If i was king for a day, my sole focus would be getting butts in seats and making it so those people have a fun experience. No exceptions. I would convene a panel of users to provide input and rank the important items. People from baseball operations should go to games in at least 15 other ballparks and take notes. Lots of notes.

Baseball games should be fun for families and students and baseball purists. This can be accomplished if those in charge want it so.

In addition to being a great baseball man, Gene cared about the fan experience. There isn't anyone who cares now.

Great post.

It appears they’re banking on EW’s hiring as being the sole answer to their problems. While it is the biggest and most important step, these other plans and policies will likely cap attendance if, hopefully when, we ever get good again.

I just don’t understand, other than the AD being greedy money grabbers. It goes back to the whole “they’d rather charge $5 for a hot dog and sell 20 of them than charge $2 for one and sell 500 of them. Just bad, bad logic. Especially when we still are in the state that we are.

[ShockTalk]

The protective screen isn't going away. Ask MLB. After the other day where a little girl got hit, they are probably going to be adding more...again.

I understand the food and drink price gripe, however, in your example, if there were enough people to by 500 hot dogs at $2, there would certainly be more than 20 paying $5. I'm always amazed at how much people will spend on cheap stuff and not bat an eye. Look how many buy beer at the basketball games and it's cheap beer at that. It's also not as simple of math as you make it. It's a price point thing. At what price does one make the greatest profit margin. Go too high and your overall profit goes down. Price to low and you're leaving to much profit on the table. It's always going to meet a lot of resistance when you take something away that the consumer was once use to (bringing in beer to the outfield hill). Lowering the beer prices (a lot) at the same time would have been a big help.

[Shockerman]

Butts in seats so that we have an elite DI home atmosphere again is priority one. If that mean $2 hot dogs, $1 popcorn and no profit, then so be it. Allowing canned beer on the hill and and cheap GA tickets is part of the equation as well. While we're at it, a proper shitter and concessions out there would go a long ways...and yes, it's time for the those bleachers to go.

[ShockTalk]

I don't disagree with you at all. Particularly at this time, I'm not sure where all that rests. If Bardo gave ADDB full discretion and there was no monetary demands on making a certain level of profit (given our entry into the AAC and possible money crunch) then he's dead wrong on the money grab.

However, I don't believe one would need to go from grossly over priced to dirt cheap either. It's time for the athletic department to be pragmatic about this opportunity of filling the seats while not gouging them. You want them to come back again and again. It's a different atmosphere than basketball and a somewhat different crowd. One is not going to do a family outing to the ball park very often if the total bill gets prohibitive to the pocket book. Make prices reasonable. Allow youth coaches special prices for their teams, both entry and concessions. These kids are their future fans.

[Dan]

Even the Astros have $1 hot dog nights. They have to do promotions like this to keep it fun and affordable. They need to look at what was done when people were coming to games (besides winning).

[Shocker85]

[QUOTE=ShockTalk]The protective screen isn't going away. Ask MLB. After the other day where a little girl got hit, they are probably going to be adding more...again.[\QUOTE]
Interesting mention here. I agree but the screen at WSU is an amateur attempt to address the issue. I'm all about safety, believe me. The screen at Eck is the wrong material.

The Shocker baseball program now has an opportunity to reboot itself. I hope someone is paying attention. A broad spectrum of changes are needed - it goes deeper the coach now.

[WichitaStateGuy]

As a guy that went to a few games last year, sat in the outfield with my buddies drinking 3.2 beer, I'm wondering what people main issues with the games are? I do remember thinking food was overpriced, and I got asked to see my tickets when going to get food from the outfield... those are the only things that stick out, though.

Sincerely asking.

[ArtVandalay]

How much did you pay for that 3.2 beer from the concession stand? That's the biggest gripe.

You go from allowing beer into the outfield for decades to not allowing it in a year when you know the program will be down and you're going to hear complaints. Complaints were coming on that no matter what as that's a hard cat to put back in the bag, maybe that's why they chose a throw away year where they weren't expecting fans to show up.

The complaints about the beer won't end for a few years, Wedge or not.

[Dan]

I used to bring a smaller cooler of beer and subway sandwiches and sit on the hill. If you can't do those things, why sit on the hill? I'd rather be in the bleachers where i can see better. Granted, I haven't been to a game since I was in college.

[CharlieHog]

Interesting mention here. I agree but the screen at WSU is an amateur attempt to address the issue. I'm all about safety, believe me. The screen at Eck is the wrong material.

Arkansas switched to a different material (or at least a thinner material) a few years ago when they extended the screen and it made a HUGE difference. I never wanted to be behind the old screen because it was so hard to see through. The new one is very easy to deal with.

Not sure if this picture does it justice but should give the idea: https://i.imgur.com/UzvaWLP.jpg

[1972Shocker]

Arkansas switched to a different material (or at least a thinner material) a few years ago when they extended the screen and it made a HUGE difference. I never wanted to be behind the old screen because it was so hard to see through. The new one is very easy to deal with.

Not sure if this picture does it justice but should give the idea: https://i.imgur.com/UzvaWLP.jpg

That doesn't looke too disimilar from what is in place at Eck Stadium although I don't generally sit too close to the net. I generally prefer about 7 or 8 rows up in the grandstand along the 1st base line over the field level box seats. I suspect the closer you are to the net the more invasive it will be.

[CharlieHog]

That doesn't looke too disimilar from what is in place at Eck Stadium although I don't generally sit too close to the net. I generally prefer about 7 or 8 rows up in the grandstand along the 1st base line over the field level box seats. I suspect the closer you are to the net the more invasive it will be.

My normal seats are above the dugout on the first base side, and I definitely prefer those. (Our section becomes visitor seating in the postseason, though.)

We weren't behind the net for a long time but a few years ago they extended it all the way down the top of the dugout. I thought it would be hard to see through but this new net is actually very easy to see through. I wish I had a comparison photo.

[WuDrWu]

Speaking of beer, Charlie, do you put one of those hats on when the bases are loaded?

[Shockm]

The screen at Eck is the wrong material.

I'm not too concerned about the screen. You need people watching the game for anyone to be in danger.

I went to one game this year and there was plenty of room to move and get out of the way of a foul ball if it were to come flying at me (providing I'm paying attention to the game).

[OregonShocker]

So I'm an old timer (meaning I moved from Wichita 25+ years ago); my experience was in the 80's before and for a while after the Natty. Sounds like the game experience then was more of a familial, friendly atmosphere and less of a corporate affair. Is the beer issue related to a problem, like drunken fights in the outfield, or can throwing at umps? I have a simple guide: What's the problem you're trying to fix, and does your solution fix the problem? I'm surprised at how often these questions aren't involved in decision making. Seems like a solution in search of a problem with beer...