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Ohio Football

Topic: Student attendance

Topic: Student attendance

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Mike Johnson
General User

Member Since: 11/11/2004
Location: North Canton, OH
Post Count: 1,736

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Student attendance

Posted: 8/22/2014 1:11:34 PM

In recent seasons, Ohio has seen an uptick in student attendance. But this morning's USA Today includes an article that discusses falloffs in student attendance at other schools, including Florida, Alabama, Michigan, Iowa and Oklahoma. Officials at such schools are concerned because they observe that unless a person becomes a fan during his/her student days, they are less likely to become fans as alumni and thus likely to buy season tix and become donors.

One excerpt from the story: Iowa has become so desperate to draw students, it recently offered entry into a tuition giveaway drawing in exchange for buying a season ticket. As I recall, Ohio did something similar in seasons past.

Overall, schools worried about declining student attendance are working to become more creative to make in-stadium fans of students.

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Monroe Slavin
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Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Oxnard, CA
Post Count: 9,121

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RE: Student attendance

Posted: 8/22/2014 1:17:56 PM

This is also why the '40 years in the desert' between 1969 and 2006 has left us with something of a fan deficit. For instance, there seem to be almost 10 of us who are excited for this upcoming season.

The current generation of OHIO (from 2006 on...includes my two nephews) should be more aware/avid/alive supporters.

Where's the band?!
WHERE"S THE BAND?!

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GoCats105
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Member Since: 1/31/2006
Location: Seattle, WA
Post Count: 7,432

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RE: Student attendance

Posted: 8/22/2014 1:37:07 PM

Mike Johnson wrote:

I think Grantland or ESPN had a story about how Michigan pretty much alienated an entire generation of fans because they overcharged them as students. Luckily Ohio doesn't have that problem. My question is this then: if the students aren't going to buy the overpriced tickets, why not just make the student section(s) smaller and invite more casual fans/alums?

colobobcat66
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Member Since: 9/1/2006
Location: Watching the bobcats run outside my window., CO
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RE: Student attendance

Posted: 8/22/2014 1:49:43 PM

GoCats105 wrote:

Mike Johnson wrote:

the problem is that while the students get in free, every student (whether they go to games or not) is charged a significant amount in "fees" for the athletic program upkeep.

Alan Swank
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Member Since: 12/11/2004
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 7,209

Status: Offline

RE: Student attendance

Posted: 8/22/2014 1:50:33 PM

Mike Johnson wrote:

Very interesting observation Mike. My guess is that it will get worse before or if it gets better. "School spirit" type things just don't seem to be must have items right now. We're battling that in the scholastic products business. One change is the cultural make up of the American student whether it be in K -12 schools or colleges and universities. There is just so much out there to do now. The first person/business who figures out how to repeatedly reach the students will be sitting on a gold mine. That's one reason I'm not a big fan of moving game times and days all over the clock and calendar. People are creatures of habit and they like to lock into a schedule.

Last Edited: 8/22/2014 1:59:14 PM by Alan Swank

GoCats105
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Member Since: 1/31/2006
Location: Seattle, WA
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RE: Student attendance

Posted: 8/22/2014 1:55:31 PM

colobobcat66 wrote:

GoCats105 wrote:

Mike Johnson wrote:

the problem is that while the students get in free, every student (whether they go to games or not) is charged a significant amount in "fees" for the athletic program upkeep.

Is that true at a big school like Michigan though? Miss GoCats went to Ohio State and she wasn't charged for anything like that, they had to pretty much bid on tickets. I understand that is the issue at Ohio and other small schools.

BillyTheCat
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Member Since: 10/6/2012
Post Count: 10,392

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RE: Student attendance

Posted: 8/22/2014 2:21:07 PM

In the places mentioned, school spirit has little to do with it, as the price of attending continues to rise for students, as well as the skyrocketing cost of attending college.

davepi2
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Member Since: 7/8/2010
Location: columbus, OH
Post Count: 583

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RE: Student attendance

Posted: 8/22/2014 2:39:11 PM

Since I go at least one and usually two games a year at Michigan we seem to have the opposite problem of them. Their students don't seem to show up until halftime. Walk through campus from downtown to the stadium and with all the parties going on the game is the last thing on their mind. Ohio's students however all leave at halftime. I don't know what is worse, all those empty first half seats at the big house or the site of everyone leaving as soon as the band is done. Just to be fair to the students it isn't just them at Ohio. There are plenty of blue hairs that just come to watch the band as well. If we cold just figure out a way to keep people there. Unfortunately most of those who leave early now would do so if we had A&M at home and were leading at half.

shabamon
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Member Since: 11/17/2006
Location: Cincinnati
Post Count: 6,846

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RE: Student attendance

Posted: 8/22/2014 2:58:04 PM

davepi2 wrote:

I am surprised no one has ever conducted exit polls at the gates after halftime. If you want to uncover the problem, why not address the issues head on and see if there are any patterns?

L.C.
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Member Since: 8/31/2005
Location: United States
Post Count: 10,495

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RE: Student attendance

Posted: 8/22/2014 4:33:14 PM

GoCats105 wrote:

... My question is this then: if the students aren't going to buy the overpriced tickets, why not just make the student section(s) smaller and invite more casual fans/alums?

They can do that...if their games are all sellouts, and they have the ability to sell additional seats. Even then it doesn't answer the question - where will the next generation of fans come from? If the students won't come for free (or for low cost), is there reason to believe they will pay top dollar in the future? It's funny that the big conferences are so eager at the top to move the P5 closer to professional sport status, and all the while there developments at the bottom that may threaten future fan support, including eroding student interest, and problems with head injuries/concussions.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

Speaker of Truth
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Member Since: 1/26/2011
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RE: Student attendance

Posted: 8/22/2014 5:36:13 PM

The problem is that the other options for watching a game are more appealing....

1. Go to a game spend 3-4 hours in the stands with lots of dead time and no booze with a good atmosphere?
2. Go to a bar, plenty of cheap booze and few rules. Fun atmosphere?

Each is appealing to certain groups of people, but the important factor is lack of booze. I'm not saying it is the end answer, but it helps....

Catdude
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Member Since: 12/27/2004
Post Count: 156

Status: Offline

RE: Student attendance

Posted: 8/22/2014 6:15:43 PM

The numerous TV and media timeouts are so annoying that fans get bored even during an exciting game, especially short attention spanned students!!

catfan28
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Member Since: 6/11/2011
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 1,503

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RE: Student attendance

Posted: 8/22/2014 9:53:22 PM

shabamon wrote:

I am surprised no one has ever conducted exit polls at the gates after halftime. If you want to uncover the problem, why not address the issues head on and see if there are any patterns?

Talking with some in the athletic department, they don't view students leaving early as a real problem. The goal is to get them to the game, and if it is a close/interesting game they'll generally stay. Doesn't seem to be a priority as much as getting students there in the first place (with giveaways, food, promotions, etc). Don't know if this is the right or wrong approach (I tend to agree - how long someone stays is their choice), but interesting to see what the goal is.

Paul Graham
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Member Since: 1/18/2005
Location: The Plains, OH
Post Count: 1,424

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RE: Student attendance

Posted: 8/22/2014 10:11:36 PM

Monroe Slavin wrote:

For instance, there seem to be almost 10 of us who are excited for this upcoming season.

Amen! Where is everyone?! Threads like this attract a crowd...but does anyone want to talk about who's gonna play MLB for us this year? Is that of interest to anyone?

Last Edited: 8/22/2014 10:15:24 PM by Paul Graham