Cincinnati Bearcats

Hello There, Guest! (LoginRegister)

Post Reply 
Would it be possible to ever get Nippert to 50K?
Author Message
Bookmark and Share
Bruce Monnin Online
Hall of Famer
*

Posts: 11,531
Joined: Feb 2006
Reputation: 157
I Root For: Cincinnati
Location: Minster, Ohio
Post: #101
RE: Would it be possible to ever get Nippert to 50K?
(10-12-2019 08:11 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Keep winning and you could have 40k enthusiastic fans lining up to sit on concrete steps with trough urinals in the bathrooms and spam and Nati Light at the concessions booth.

Trough urinals are the only way to go. Very efficient.
 
10-12-2019 12:46 PM
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
RealDeal Offline
Heisman
*

Posts: 7,627
Joined: Jul 2004
Reputation: 80
I Root For: UC
Location: Cincinnati
Post: #102
RE: Would it be possible to ever get Nippert to 50K?
(10-12-2019 12:20 PM)RuckleSt Wrote:  
(10-12-2019 11:20 AM)converrl Wrote:  
(10-12-2019 10:14 AM)RuckleSt Wrote:  
(10-12-2019 08:11 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  I’m sure for the OSU fans, that game day experience was great. All the extra little touches are nice but I find that the game day experience is best when winning consistently and decisively.

Keep winning and you could have 40k enthusiastic fans lining up to sit on concrete steps with trough urinals in the bathrooms and spam and Nati Light at the concessions booth.

Gameday experience matters most to teams like the Reds who don’t win and want to keep the remaining paying customers happy.

Bingo, that's the damn truth. Opposite example, Green Bay Packers, they have bleacher seats with no seat backs, and the fans still come because they are always winning.

Their fans also still come because they know that the team will NEVER LEAVE GREEN BAY...

Something the NFL might want to consider.

Totally agree, every new stadium deal should involve the city getting partial ownership, veto rights on relocation.

Why?

I'm not in favor of local governments giving handouts to multi billion dollar businesses like NFL teams that have limited employees but when they do those teams sign leases that keep them there 25 years. When governments entice businesses like Amazon to come they don't require partial ownership of the company.





Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk
 
10-12-2019 03:02 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
rath v2.0 Offline
Wartime Consigliere
*

Posts: 51,150
Joined: Jun 2007
Reputation: 2150
I Root For: Civil Disobedience
Location: Tip Of The Mitt

Donators
Post: #103
RE: Would it be possible to ever get Nippert to 50K?
(10-12-2019 10:14 AM)RuckleSt Wrote:  
(10-12-2019 08:11 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  I’m sure for the OSU fans, that game day experience was great. All the extra little touches are nice but I find that the game day experience is best when winning consistently and decisively.

Keep winning and you could have 40k enthusiastic fans lining up to sit on concrete steps with trough urinals in the bathrooms and spam and Nati Light at the concessions booth.

Gameday experience matters most to teams like the Reds who don’t win and want to keep the remaining paying customers happy.

Bingo, that's the damn truth. Opposite example, Green Bay Packers, they have bleacher seats with no seat backs, and the fans still come because they are always winning.

Yep. I used the Reds as my example from a different sport instead of the horrid local franchise because it’s idea of game day experience is limited to letting foul mouthed rednecks get hammered to their hearts’ content on $12 Bud Light. lol
 
10-13-2019 12:38 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
geef Offline
JV Bench Warmer
*

Posts: 4,165
Joined: Nov 2010
Reputation: 297
I Root For: Binturongs
Location: Cascadia
Post: #104
RE: Would it be possible to ever get Nippert to 50K?
(10-13-2019 12:38 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  
(10-12-2019 10:14 AM)RuckleSt Wrote:  
(10-12-2019 08:11 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  I’m sure for the OSU fans, that game day experience was great. All the extra little touches are nice but I find that the game day experience is best when winning consistently and decisively.

Keep winning and you could have 40k enthusiastic fans lining up to sit on concrete steps with trough urinals in the bathrooms and spam and Nati Light at the concessions booth.

Gameday experience matters most to teams like the Reds who don’t win and want to keep the remaining paying customers happy.

Bingo, that's the damn truth. Opposite example, Green Bay Packers, they have bleacher seats with no seat backs, and the fans still come because they are always winning.

Yep. I used the Reds as my example from a different sport instead of the horrid local franchise because it’s idea of game day experience is limited to letting foul mouthed rednecks get hammered to their hearts’ content on $12 Bud Light. lol

I so wish that wasn't the truth, but I had the delight of attending a game when in town a few weeks back. Same sport, but somehow the Reds have managed to create a decidedly different game day experience than the other ballparks (Colorado, Seattle, D.C.) that I get to semi-regularly. Winning, as you say, is the proper experience, and the Reds won't commit to it.
 
10-13-2019 01:35 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
RuckleSt Online
All American
*

Posts: 2,545
Joined: Mar 2014
Reputation: 143
I Root For: UC
Location: Indianapolis
Post: #105
RE: Would it be possible to ever get Nippert to 50K?
(10-12-2019 03:02 PM)RealDeal Wrote:  
(10-12-2019 12:20 PM)RuckleSt Wrote:  
(10-12-2019 11:20 AM)converrl Wrote:  
(10-12-2019 10:14 AM)RuckleSt Wrote:  
(10-12-2019 08:11 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  I’m sure for the OSU fans, that game day experience was great. All the extra little touches are nice but I find that the game day experience is best when winning consistently and decisively.

Keep winning and you could have 40k enthusiastic fans lining up to sit on concrete steps with trough urinals in the bathrooms and spam and Nati Light at the concessions booth.

Gameday experience matters most to teams like the Reds who don’t win and want to keep the remaining paying customers happy.

Bingo, that's the damn truth. Opposite example, Green Bay Packers, they have bleacher seats with no seat backs, and the fans still come because they are always winning.

Their fans also still come because they know that the team will NEVER LEAVE GREEN BAY...

Something the NFL might want to consider.

Totally agree, every new stadium deal should involve the city getting partial ownership, veto rights on relocation.

Why?

I'm not in favor of local governments giving handouts to multi billion dollar businesses like NFL teams that have limited employees but when they do those teams sign leases that keep them there 25 years. When governments entice businesses like Amazon to come they don't require partial ownership of the company.


Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk

I'm not in favor of local governments giving handouts to any businesses, but if they are going to continue to do these ridiculous stadium deals then they need to get a better ROI than they are today.
 
10-13-2019 03:45 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Edgebrookjeff Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,683
Joined: Oct 2008
Reputation: 28
I Root For: bearcats
Location:
Post: #106
RE: Would it be possible to ever get Nippert to 50K?
(10-12-2019 12:46 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  
(10-12-2019 08:11 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Keep winning and you could have 40k enthusiastic fans lining up to sit on concrete steps with trough urinals in the bathrooms and spam and Nati Light at the concessions booth.

Trough urinals are the only way to go. Very efficient.

I love the trough.
 
10-14-2019 04:45 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
cpawstoney Offline
Special Teams
*

Posts: 834
Joined: Jun 2015
Reputation: 17
I Root For: U.C.
Location:
Post: #107
RE: Would it be possible to ever get Nippert to 50K?
(10-14-2019 04:45 AM)Edgebrookjeff Wrote:  
(10-12-2019 12:46 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  
(10-12-2019 08:11 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Keep winning and you could have 40k enthusiastic fans lining up to sit on concrete steps with trough urinals in the bathrooms and spam and Nati Light at the concessions booth.

Trough urinals are the only way to go. Very efficient.

I love the trough.

Does it come with a ledge for your beer or do you have to go one handed?
 
10-14-2019 07:48 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
bacsidoan Offline
Water Engineer
*

Posts: 15
Joined: Nov 2014
Reputation: 2
I Root For: UC
Location:
Post: #108
RE: Would it be possible to ever get Nippert to 50K?
(10-14-2019 04:45 AM)Edgebrookjeff Wrote:  
(10-12-2019 12:46 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  
(10-12-2019 08:11 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Keep winning and you could have 40k enthusiastic fans lining up to sit on concrete steps with trough urinals in the bathrooms and spam and Nati Light at the concessions booth.

Trough urinals are the only way to go. Very efficient.

I love the trough.

The most efficient urinal trough in the world, at the New York Marathon!


Attached File(s)
.jpg  m13.jpg (Size: 44.15 KB / Downloads: 18)
 
10-14-2019 08:30 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
CliftonAve Offline
Heisman
*

Posts: 21,880
Joined: May 2012
Reputation: 1171
I Root For: Jimmy Nippert
Location:
Post: #109
RE: Would it be possible to ever get Nippert to 50K?
Back to the 50K question: the truth is we don't have a big enough fan base to fill 50K consistently. Sure we could do it for certain games, maybe 1-2 a year, but more often than not we'll be seating 38-40K. Having 10-12K empty seats is not good for atmosphere and looks awful on TV. Truth be told, the question we need to be asking once again is how do we grow the fan base?

I was thinking a lot about this question this weekend. If I were a betting man, I figure that most of the people who pay money to go to a UC football game are students, alums and friends/family of the school. There is a small number of people who did not ever attend UC, but IMHO that is the opportunity area within Cincinnati to grow the fan base. I was at King's Island with the 8 year old yesterday. I saw husband and wife, decked in their Bengals gear racing to leave the stadium around 12:15 pm (probably to go watch the Bengals game). The woman was wearing Bengals yoga pants with black thigh high boots and a Bengals Jersey. The guy had his Bengal Jersey and I noticed a Bengal logo tattooed on the back of his calf. Not judging, but my money just by looking at them is on the fact they never attended UC or any other 4-year university. These are the people we need to be getting down to Nippert. They buy tons of merchandise, and they are die-hard fans. They consume a lot of food and beverage at the game. The million dollar question however is how do we get them there? How do you bring two people down who never spent a minute on campus? Whenever the AD figures this out, we'll be bursting at the seems and need to expand the stadium. Right now there is no need.
 
10-14-2019 08:58 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
dubcat14 Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,073
Joined: Jun 2017
Reputation: 25
I Root For: Cincinnati
Location: Cincinnati
Post: #110
RE: Would it be possible to ever get Nippert to 50K?
(10-14-2019 08:58 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Back to the 50K question: the truth is we don't have a big enough fan base to fill 50K consistently. Sure we could do it for certain games, maybe 1-2 a year, but more often than not we'll be seating 38-40K. Having 10-12K empty seats is not good for atmosphere and looks awful on TV. Truth be told, the question we need to be asking once again is how do we grow the fan base?

I was thinking a lot about this question this weekend. If I were a betting man, I figure that most of the people who pay money to go to a UC football game are students, alums and friends/family of the school. There is a small number of people who did not ever attend UC, but IMHO that is the opportunity area within Cincinnati to grow the fan base. I was at King's Island with the 8 year old yesterday. I saw husband and wife, decked in their Bengals gear racing to leave the stadium around 12:15 pm (probably to go watch the Bengals game). The woman was wearing Bengals yoga pants with black thigh high boots and a Bengals Jersey. The guy had his Bengal Jersey and I noticed a Bengal logo tattooed on the back of his calf. Not judging, but my money just by looking at them is on the fact they never attended UC or any other 4-year university. These are the people we need to be getting down to Nippert. They buy tons of merchandise, and they are die-hard fans. They consume a lot of food and beverage at the game. The million dollar question however is how do we get them there? How do you bring two people down who never spent a minute on campus? Whenever the AD figures this out, we'll be bursting at the seems and need to expand the stadium. Right now there is no need.

I think the simplest answer is nothing the Bearcats can control - the Bengals just need to keep sucking. Figure something like each week, 50-100 more fans get fed up to their breaking point. The timing couldn't work out better for a stellar UC season and a down Bengals squad. Next year looks like more of the same...

In addition, true local media (talking Mo and Tony) seem to have given up on the Bengals. All their comments on social media are essentially "why talk about the Bengals when there's a successful, exciting, fun, team 3 miles north who are putting on a show each week". Their podcasts and Sam Adams show is similar a 75-25 coverage ratio favoring UC. Just need better TV coverage at this point.

Edit: Also a small thing, but licensing needs to be better. I know a lot of fans have mentioned it. That Bearcats beer Rhinegeist collaborated with Kevin Youkilis' brewery Loma Brewing on needs to grow instead of being a 2 week thing. When casual sports fans go to MadTree, they need to see a UC beer being pushed.. etc.
 
(This post was last modified: 10-14-2019 09:18 AM by dubcat14.)
10-14-2019 09:15 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
OKIcat Offline
Heisman
*

Posts: 6,617
Joined: Sep 2015
Reputation: 185
I Root For: Cincinnati
Location:
Post: #111
RE: Would it be possible to ever get Nippert to 50K?
(10-14-2019 08:58 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Back to the 50K question: the truth is we don't have a big enough fan base to fill 50K consistently. Sure we could do it for certain games, maybe 1-2 a year, but more often than not we'll be seating 38-40K. Having 10-12K empty seats is not good for atmosphere and looks awful on TV. Truth be told, the question we need to be asking once again is how do we grow the fan base?

I was thinking a lot about this question this weekend. If I were a betting man, I figure that most of the people who pay money to go to a UC football game are students, alums and friends/family of the school. There is a small number of people who did not ever attend UC, but IMHO that is the opportunity area within Cincinnati to grow the fan base. I was at King's Island with the 8 year old yesterday. I saw husband and wife, decked in their Bengals gear racing to leave the stadium around 12:15 pm (probably to go watch the Bengals game). The woman was wearing Bengals yoga pants with black thigh high boots and a Bengals Jersey. The guy had his Bengal Jersey and I noticed a Bengal logo tattooed on the back of his calf. Not judging, but my money just by looking at them is on the fact they never attended UC or any other 4-year university. These are the people we need to be getting down to Nippert. They buy tons of merchandise, and they are die-hard fans. They consume a lot of food and beverage at the game. The million dollar question however is how do we get them there? How do you bring two people down who never spent a minute on campus? Whenever the AD figures this out, we'll be bursting at the seems and need to expand the stadium. Right now there is no need.

Great post.

We're now able to get the student sections packed and have recent graduates in greater Cincinnati on board and returning to campus. Two major steps in the process.

But who fills the rest of the seats after season ticket holders and these other two cohorts? I think we have to attract at least a fraction of the fans that the NFL and other major universities (OSU, UK) count on to sell seats and fill the coffers with licensed merchandise sales. You described them well; many of whom are decked out head to toe in orange and black most weekends and totally oblivious to UC.

We were having brunch yesterday and a young couple came in and were seated next to our table. He was wearing a Bengals hat and struck up a conversation about yesterday's game (about an hour before kickoff). He was a talker and after sharing about his job, I didn't get the impression he had spent any time in college (and that's not a pejorative statement; just an identifier). I told him I hadn't watched an entire Bengals' game in decades--and hadn't really missed anything eventful as a result. He was good natured and joined me in laughing about it and said he was a, "Packers fan first, but the Bengals were his other team". I told him we were Bearcat season ticket holders and our allegiance was there. He said he wasn't really into college football but his Dad was a big college fan (OSU of course).

In the 70's the joke was that when the Reds played I-75 was backed up from the west side; when the Bengals played, I-71 was from the east with the unspoken punchline being the Reds were beloved by the blue collar crowd and Bengals fans were white collar professionals. The NFL fan base has changed quite a bit in the ensuing years. And I have no clue if it's even possible to get the working class NFL fans interested in Bearcat football--it would require a whole new wardrobe in many cases. Bottom line: this is a cohort UC must begin to penetrate if we hope to not just enter the P5 but thrive there and wrestle with stadium expansion when that happens. Some other schools have figured it out; UC has to to keep moving up the ladder.
 
(This post was last modified: 10-14-2019 09:59 AM by OKIcat.)
10-14-2019 09:56 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
dubcat14 Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,073
Joined: Jun 2017
Reputation: 25
I Root For: Cincinnati
Location: Cincinnati
Post: #112
RE: Would it be possible to ever get Nippert to 50K?
(10-14-2019 09:56 AM)OKIcat Wrote:  
(10-14-2019 08:58 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Back to the 50K question: the truth is we don't have a big enough fan base to fill 50K consistently. Sure we could do it for certain games, maybe 1-2 a year, but more often than not we'll be seating 38-40K. Having 10-12K empty seats is not good for atmosphere and looks awful on TV. Truth be told, the question we need to be asking once again is how do we grow the fan base?

I was thinking a lot about this question this weekend. If I were a betting man, I figure that most of the people who pay money to go to a UC football game are students, alums and friends/family of the school. There is a small number of people who did not ever attend UC, but IMHO that is the opportunity area within Cincinnati to grow the fan base. I was at King's Island with the 8 year old yesterday. I saw husband and wife, decked in their Bengals gear racing to leave the stadium around 12:15 pm (probably to go watch the Bengals game). The woman was wearing Bengals yoga pants with black thigh high boots and a Bengals Jersey. The guy had his Bengal Jersey and I noticed a Bengal logo tattooed on the back of his calf. Not judging, but my money just by looking at them is on the fact they never attended UC or any other 4-year university. These are the people we need to be getting down to Nippert. They buy tons of merchandise, and they are die-hard fans. They consume a lot of food and beverage at the game. The million dollar question however is how do we get them there? How do you bring two people down who never spent a minute on campus? Whenever the AD figures this out, we'll be bursting at the seems and need to expand the stadium. Right now there is no need.

Great post.

We're now able to get the student sections packed and have recent graduates in greater Cincinnati on board and returning to campus. Two major steps in the process.

But who fills the rest of the seats after season ticket holders and these other two cohorts? I think we have to attract at least a fraction of the fans that the NFL and other major universities (OSU, UK) count on to sell seats and fill the coffers with licensed merchandise sales. You described them well; many of whom are decked out head to toe in orange and black most weekends and totally oblivious to UC.

We were having brunch yesterday and a young couple came in and were seated next to our table. He was wearing a Bengals hat and struck up a conversation about yesterday's game (about an hour before kickoff). He was a talker and after sharing about his job, I didn't get the impression he had spent any time in college (and that's not a pejorative statement; just an identifier). I told him I hadn't watched an entire Bengals' game in decades--and hadn't really missed anything eventful as a result. He was good natured and joined me in laughing about it and said he was a, "Packers fan first, but the Bengals were his other team". I told him we were Bearcat season ticket holders and our allegiance was there. He said he wasn't really into college football but his Dad was a big college fan (OSU of course).

In the 70's the joke was that when the Reds played I-75 was backed up from the west side; when the Bengals played, I-71 was from the east with the unspoken punchline being the Reds were beloved by the blue collar crowd and Bengals fans were white collar professionals. The NFL fan base has changed quite a bit in the ensuing years. And I have no clue if it's even possible to get the working class NFL fans interested in Bearcat football--it would require a whole new wardrobe in many cases. Bottom line: this is a cohort UC must begin to penetrate if we hope to not just enter the P5 but thrive there and wrestle with stadium expansion when that happens. Some other schools have figured it out; UC has to to keep moving up the ladder.

Yea I'd say that has grown to be the exact opposite over the last 20 years or so, but the Reds still have great loyalty in WV and all the way through KY into TN so they probably have a mixture of white and blue. Bengals definitely identify more with blue collar now though.

If we're trying to grab new fans, the best way to do that is be successful and put on a fun product for the students. Grab their attention now, so when they graduate they have an interest in the Young Alum season tickets. I was a freshman in 2009 and that paired with the ensuing years is what got me hooked. We lost a segment of students turned graduates in 2015-2017 but maybe they'll come back. I guarantee season ticket numbers won't drop after this year. Hopefully they can grow by 4k-5k year over year and whatever the season ticket number is now, call it 15k, can grown to 25k in 2 or 3 years. That paired with 8k students will look like a damn good stadium game in and game out. I'm sure the ticket office has goals and strategies of their own in place but mine would be: keep the current season ticket holders where they're at, add season tickets for 2k in new fans and 2k-2.5k in new graduates each year. They should really push during graduation ceremonies.. have a table set up. Hell, I think young alum tickets were only $125 this year.
 
(This post was last modified: 10-14-2019 10:17 AM by dubcat14.)
10-14-2019 10:13 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
BearcatJerry Offline
Hall of Famer
*

Posts: 12,092
Joined: Mar 2013
Reputation: 506
I Root For: UC Bearcats
Location:
Post: #113
RE: Would it be possible to ever get Nippert to 50K?
(10-14-2019 10:13 AM)dubcat14 Wrote:  
(10-14-2019 09:56 AM)OKIcat Wrote:  
(10-14-2019 08:58 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Back to the 50K question: the truth is we don't have a big enough fan base to fill 50K consistently. Sure we could do it for certain games, maybe 1-2 a year, but more often than not we'll be seating 38-40K. Having 10-12K empty seats is not good for atmosphere and looks awful on TV. Truth be told, the question we need to be asking once again is how do we grow the fan base?

I was thinking a lot about this question this weekend. If I were a betting man, I figure that most of the people who pay money to go to a UC football game are students, alums and friends/family of the school. There is a small number of people who did not ever attend UC, but IMHO that is the opportunity area within Cincinnati to grow the fan base. I was at King's Island with the 8 year old yesterday. I saw husband and wife, decked in their Bengals gear racing to leave the stadium around 12:15 pm (probably to go watch the Bengals game). The woman was wearing Bengals yoga pants with black thigh high boots and a Bengals Jersey. The guy had his Bengal Jersey and I noticed a Bengal logo tattooed on the back of his calf. Not judging, but my money just by looking at them is on the fact they never attended UC or any other 4-year university. These are the people we need to be getting down to Nippert. They buy tons of merchandise, and they are die-hard fans. They consume a lot of food and beverage at the game. The million dollar question however is how do we get them there? How do you bring two people down who never spent a minute on campus? Whenever the AD figures this out, we'll be bursting at the seems and need to expand the stadium. Right now there is no need.

Great post.

We're now able to get the student sections packed and have recent graduates in greater Cincinnati on board and returning to campus. Two major steps in the process.

But who fills the rest of the seats after season ticket holders and these other two cohorts? I think we have to attract at least a fraction of the fans that the NFL and other major universities (OSU, UK) count on to sell seats and fill the coffers with licensed merchandise sales. You described them well; many of whom are decked out head to toe in orange and black most weekends and totally oblivious to UC.

We were having brunch yesterday and a young couple came in and were seated next to our table. He was wearing a Bengals hat and struck up a conversation about yesterday's game (about an hour before kickoff). He was a talker and after sharing about his job, I didn't get the impression he had spent any time in college (and that's not a pejorative statement; just an identifier). I told him I hadn't watched an entire Bengals' game in decades--and hadn't really missed anything eventful as a result. He was good natured and joined me in laughing about it and said he was a, "Packers fan first, but the Bengals were his other team". I told him we were Bearcat season ticket holders and our allegiance was there. He said he wasn't really into college football but his Dad was a big college fan (OSU of course).

In the 70's the joke was that when the Reds played I-75 was backed up from the west side; when the Bengals played, I-71 was from the east with the unspoken punchline being the Reds were beloved by the blue collar crowd and Bengals fans were white collar professionals. The NFL fan base has changed quite a bit in the ensuing years. And I have no clue if it's even possible to get the working class NFL fans interested in Bearcat football--it would require a whole new wardrobe in many cases. Bottom line: this is a cohort UC must begin to penetrate if we hope to not just enter the P5 but thrive there and wrestle with stadium expansion when that happens. Some other schools have figured it out; UC has to to keep moving up the ladder.

Yea I'd say that has grown to be the exact opposite over the last 20 years or so, but the Reds still have great loyalty in WV and all the way through KY into TN so they probably have a mixture of white and blue. Bengals definitely identify more with blue collar now though.

If we're trying to grab new fans, the best way to do that is be successful and put on a fun product for the students. Grab their attention now, so when they graduate they have an interest in the Young Alum season tickets. I was a freshman in 2009 and that paired with the ensuing years is what got me hooked. We lost a segment of students turned graduates in 2015-2017 but maybe they'll come back. I guarantee season ticket numbers won't drop after this year. Hopefully they can grow by 4k-5k year over year and whatever the season ticket number is now, call it 15k, can grown to 25k in 2 or 3 years. That paired with 8k students will look like a damn good stadium game in and game out. I'm sure the ticket office has goals and strategies of their own in place but mine would be: keep the current season ticket holders where they're at, add season tickets for 2k in new fans and 2k-2.5k in new graduates each year. They should really push during graduation ceremonies.. have a table set up. Hell, I think young alum tickets were only $125 this year.

Just a quick note... I've lived in WV for 15+ years and the Reds are "the team" for the southwestern part of the State (so, Charleston, Huntington, and down to Beckley) but the Pirates are "the team" for the central and north part of the State (so, Weston, Clarksburg, Morgantown, Wheeling, etc...). The eastern part of the State seems equally split between Baltimore (the Orioles), Washington (the Nats), and Philadelphia (the Phillies).

But yeah, the "Reds Caravan" always comes through the southwestern part of WV every winter.
 
10-14-2019 10:23 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
dubcat14 Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,073
Joined: Jun 2017
Reputation: 25
I Root For: Cincinnati
Location: Cincinnati
Post: #114
RE: Would it be possible to ever get Nippert to 50K?
(10-14-2019 10:23 AM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  
(10-14-2019 10:13 AM)dubcat14 Wrote:  
(10-14-2019 09:56 AM)OKIcat Wrote:  
(10-14-2019 08:58 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Back to the 50K question: the truth is we don't have a big enough fan base to fill 50K consistently. Sure we could do it for certain games, maybe 1-2 a year, but more often than not we'll be seating 38-40K. Having 10-12K empty seats is not good for atmosphere and looks awful on TV. Truth be told, the question we need to be asking once again is how do we grow the fan base?

I was thinking a lot about this question this weekend. If I were a betting man, I figure that most of the people who pay money to go to a UC football game are students, alums and friends/family of the school. There is a small number of people who did not ever attend UC, but IMHO that is the opportunity area within Cincinnati to grow the fan base. I was at King's Island with the 8 year old yesterday. I saw husband and wife, decked in their Bengals gear racing to leave the stadium around 12:15 pm (probably to go watch the Bengals game). The woman was wearing Bengals yoga pants with black thigh high boots and a Bengals Jersey. The guy had his Bengal Jersey and I noticed a Bengal logo tattooed on the back of his calf. Not judging, but my money just by looking at them is on the fact they never attended UC or any other 4-year university. These are the people we need to be getting down to Nippert. They buy tons of merchandise, and they are die-hard fans. They consume a lot of food and beverage at the game. The million dollar question however is how do we get them there? How do you bring two people down who never spent a minute on campus? Whenever the AD figures this out, we'll be bursting at the seems and need to expand the stadium. Right now there is no need.

Great post.

We're now able to get the student sections packed and have recent graduates in greater Cincinnati on board and returning to campus. Two major steps in the process.

But who fills the rest of the seats after season ticket holders and these other two cohorts? I think we have to attract at least a fraction of the fans that the NFL and other major universities (OSU, UK) count on to sell seats and fill the coffers with licensed merchandise sales. You described them well; many of whom are decked out head to toe in orange and black most weekends and totally oblivious to UC.

We were having brunch yesterday and a young couple came in and were seated next to our table. He was wearing a Bengals hat and struck up a conversation about yesterday's game (about an hour before kickoff). He was a talker and after sharing about his job, I didn't get the impression he had spent any time in college (and that's not a pejorative statement; just an identifier). I told him I hadn't watched an entire Bengals' game in decades--and hadn't really missed anything eventful as a result. He was good natured and joined me in laughing about it and said he was a, "Packers fan first, but the Bengals were his other team". I told him we were Bearcat season ticket holders and our allegiance was there. He said he wasn't really into college football but his Dad was a big college fan (OSU of course).

In the 70's the joke was that when the Reds played I-75 was backed up from the west side; when the Bengals played, I-71 was from the east with the unspoken punchline being the Reds were beloved by the blue collar crowd and Bengals fans were white collar professionals. The NFL fan base has changed quite a bit in the ensuing years. And I have no clue if it's even possible to get the working class NFL fans interested in Bearcat football--it would require a whole new wardrobe in many cases. Bottom line: this is a cohort UC must begin to penetrate if we hope to not just enter the P5 but thrive there and wrestle with stadium expansion when that happens. Some other schools have figured it out; UC has to to keep moving up the ladder.

Yea I'd say that has grown to be the exact opposite over the last 20 years or so, but the Reds still have great loyalty in WV and all the way through KY into TN so they probably have a mixture of white and blue. Bengals definitely identify more with blue collar now though.

If we're trying to grab new fans, the best way to do that is be successful and put on a fun product for the students. Grab their attention now, so when they graduate they have an interest in the Young Alum season tickets. I was a freshman in 2009 and that paired with the ensuing years is what got me hooked. We lost a segment of students turned graduates in 2015-2017 but maybe they'll come back. I guarantee season ticket numbers won't drop after this year. Hopefully they can grow by 4k-5k year over year and whatever the season ticket number is now, call it 15k, can grown to 25k in 2 or 3 years. That paired with 8k students will look like a damn good stadium game in and game out. I'm sure the ticket office has goals and strategies of their own in place but mine would be: keep the current season ticket holders where they're at, add season tickets for 2k in new fans and 2k-2.5k in new graduates each year. They should really push during graduation ceremonies.. have a table set up. Hell, I think young alum tickets were only $125 this year.

Just a quick note... I've lived in WV for 15+ years and the Reds are "the team" for the southwestern part of the State (so, Charleston, Huntington, and down to Beckley) but the Pirates are "the team" for the central and north part of the State (so, Weston, Clarksburg, Morgantown, Wheeling, etc...). The eastern part of the State seems equally split between Baltimore (the Orioles), Washington (the Nats), and Philadelphia (the Phillies).

But yeah, the "Reds Caravan" always comes through the southwestern part of WV every winter.

Didn't know that.. interesting and makes sense. I've also heard the Reds are losing ground in Tennessee especially in the east to the Braves.
 
10-14-2019 10:25 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 




User(s) browsing this thread: 2 Guest(s)


Copyright © 2002-2024 Collegiate Sports Nation Bulletin Board System (CSNbbs), All Rights Reserved.
CSNbbs is an independent fan site and is in no way affiliated to the NCAA or any of the schools and conferences it represents.
This site monetizes links. FTC Disclosure.
We allow third-party companies to serve ads and/or collect certain anonymous information when you visit our web site. These companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g., click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you. These companies typically use a cookie or third party web beacon to collect this information. To learn more about this behavioral advertising practice or to opt-out of this type of advertising, you can visit http://www.networkadvertising.org.
Powered By MyBB, © 2002-2024 MyBB Group.