Gregg Marshall letter to WSU students.

[KmanTA]

Audio from presser on GM's comments on student section.

http://www.talkangry.net/blog-articles/head-coach-gregg-marshall-comments-on-student-section/

[_kai_]

Yeah, it's kind of hilarious the tactic they used to get the word out.

Let's put fliers on the seats at the game, to make sure all the people who don't show up know they should show up...

[WuDrWu]

I wonder if the administration (and the vast majority of us here) stopped looking at the problem from our point of view (as "old people") and started looking at it from the viewpoint of the students (as people that know why they go and don't go, and know everything) if we might come to a solution in a bit more timely fashion.

Just a thought......

[KmanTA]

My ideas for correcting it are simple. Give the tix to someone if you can't go. If someone won't take them, give them to someone working at a desk at shocker hall of fairmount who can distribute them. The night of the game, if someone thinks they can go but don't have tickets, check with the person at the desk.

[ShockerPhi]

Bring on the new system. Hell, make it go into effect January 1st. I got my check book ready to start paying for tickets. That'll show all those punk-a$$ no shows...

[DPruett2333]

My ideas for correcting it are simple. Give the tix to someone if you can't go. If someone won't take them, give them to someone working at a desk at shocker hall of fairmount who can distribute them. The night of the game, if someone thinks they can go but don't have tickets, check with the person at the desk.

If it was only that simple. The problem is, simple isn't working at this point.

[Shock-Til-You-Drop]

Yeah, it's kind of hilarious the tactic they used to get the word out.

Let's put fliers on the seats at the game, to make sure all the people who don't show up know they should show up...

Peer pressure, maybe? "Hey bud, I know you picked up tickets to the game. You better get your a$$(e$) to the game or give them to someone that will."

[Kung Wu]

[_kai_]

[WSU and Reds Fan]

I know when I went you had to show ID to use a student ticket. Maybe if they let them give the ticket to anyone, not just another student, that might work.

It also might lead to some abuse of students picking up to only charge on Craigslist, but at least it would be a cheaper alternative and fill the seats.

[1979Shocker]

Only allow students to pick up tickets the day of the game. So no picking up tickets for future games. Tickets not picked up a couple of hours before tipoff will go on sale to the general public.

[Manhattan_Shocker]

I don't see why they even have to use tickets. They should be able to scan the student ID as entry. Only the first 1,100 get in. Simple fix in my opinion.

[ShockerFever]

I don't see why they even have to use tickets. They should be able to scan the student ID as entry. Only the first 1,100 get in. Simple fix in my opinion.

Agreed, but then again, this is the WSU athletic department we're taking about here. Not the quickest guns or sharpest knives in the drawer.

[Shock Top]

Even schools like Duke have had trouble with student attendance


Here is what they did:
"This lack of undergraduate interest has led Duke Athletics to sell about 300 tickets per game this season, priced at $65. The general admission tickets are offered first to Iron Dukes and then to football and women’s basketball season ticket holders. If there were still to be tickets remaining after that opportunity, they would be opened up to the general public, though that situation has yet to arise."

Maybe something similar can be down with SASO members and baseball/volleyball season ticket holders

Another good point they made, about time commitment:
"One of the biggest causes of the declining attendance is the students’ misconception of the time commitment involved, Garrett said, along with the increasing prevalence and popularity of online streaming on sites like WatchESPN.com."

Now that every game is available on TV or online, I could see how some people prefer that; though I NEVER would

In game production and stunted involvement also brought up something I think we could work on greatly as well):
"Diminishing student attendance is a national trend, Forman said, and collegiate sports marketing departments have been combating it in a variety of ways. Many have altered their in-game experiences to become more engaging during stoppages in play, especially timeouts and halftime. Over the last few years, Duke has begun incorporating highlight videos, player introductions and popular music into its pregame festivities, but the marketing department currently has no plans to significantly alter the in-game atmosphere.

'Every other school in the country is playing canned music during timeouts, doing cheesy promotions,' Forman said. 'We try to stay away from that.'"

Some of the stuff they do between TOs is just too lame to bring up, but I suppose WSU has to make advertising money somehow.

----------

This was back in 2012, but still remains relevant to WSU. NOTE: They also had MORE students absent at Fall and Winter breaks, so that is a not unusual to WSU (see Tulsa game).

Other:
- I am still looking for how and when they determine(d) to make unused tickets available.
- From what I have seen, they don't have student tickets, per se, but just start letting students in 1.5 hrs till tipoff.

----------

Since Duke is/was trying to fix a similar problem, I thought I'd share how they went about finding a solution.

[SHOCKvalue]

I don't see why they even have to use tickets. They should be able to scan the student ID as entry. Only the first 1,100 get in. Simple fix in my opinion.

If student ticket demand exceeded supply your suggestion would work fine. That's not the case. The quandary is how to best fill excess seats the students do not use - from both a revenue perspective, and "full house" perspective. As I'm sure you know, unused student ticket allotment turns into public GA seating after the student pickup window has passed. When students exhaust their allotment and then don't show up they are stealing potential revenue from the AD, stealing a fan experience from the potential GA ticket buyer, and stealing a fan experience from a student who would actually attend if they had access to a ticket.