How do we get people to Wallace Wade on Saturday?

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Well, as they are barely selling ANY tickets now...

Okay, there is not "zero downside" but it certainly seems worth the minimal investment to get butts in seats.

Sometimes it is much easier to fake it than make it. If you can't increase the butts, decrease the seats...strategically.

Several colleges do this now...and that's close off the end zone seating with large tarps of some kind. After some coffee, I can probably think of some, but I've seen it. This forces the same number of fans into fewer seats, creating proximity and therefore energy, and reduce the embarrassing TV angles. Also, some colleges put the student sections on the East side for TV exposure.

The Carolina Hurricanes did this in Greensboro, closing off the entire upper deck and turning it into a 10-12,000 seat arena, where 7-8000 looked respectable. That was much easier than getting 12-18000 in the building.

Of course, none of this fools anyone logically or intellectually or financially. But it does improve the atmosphere...and improved atmosphere then has its own rewards, one of which is more demand. More demand then equals more butts in the seats. It works together.

Now I realize that it seems I am alone trying to approach Wade from this angle...but the other angle isn't working, has almost never worked, and never will. You simply cannot defeat demographics. And the trend is towards more TV viewers and less butts in seats in all sports everywhere it seems...hard to buck a macro trend too. All of these ideas from everyone have merit, all can have a small impact. But there needs to be a foundational change.

Call this the "broken window" approach to Wade crowds...from broken window policing. The idea is that if things look better, and seem better, then human nature dictates that they will actually get better. If 22,000 looked and felt good on TV, instead of feeling dead and looking awful, then the program would benefit in every way. Yes, a better team would help. Yes, better concessions would help. Give a ways would help. But all that's re arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. To mix metaphors even more, to reverse the quote from Jaws..."we're gonna need a smaller boat."

[Devilwin]

Mac: " Hey Tom, wanna go over to Wallace Wade Saturday? Playing Carolina."

Tom: " No thanks, they are bad this year. Got things to do."
Mac: " Well, I hear they are giving away 40 acres and a mule to the first 100 paying fans through the gate!"
Tom: "OK! Let.s go!"

[budwom]

at least things brightened a bit today when I got a questionnaire from Duke about attending football games..and this time (unlike some previous attempts) they offered up "better team performance" as a reason to attend. Small steps.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

To steal an idea from another thread - monorail!

[SamHouston]

Here is my take on attendance:

There are too many games in the season and too many schools in the conference.

Before the ACC expanded there was a yearly round robin schedule. UNC, NCSU, Clemson, UVA, VT, and GT (to a lesser extent) have a strong regional presence and large fan bases. So, at least three home games against these schools will add significantly to attendance. The most recent addition of BC, Pitt, CUSE, VILLE was a play to enter new TV markets. My guess is that there will be another conference alignment long before FB rivalries are developed with new conference members. This expansion has also led to absurd schedules. Are we playing on Thursday, Friday, Saturday? Planning is more difficult.

The FB power schools and TV networks love the revenue boost from adding more games to the regular season. Absurd. Selfish. Play ten games and complete the regular season by Thanksgiving. If Duke is playing five home games, add one regional or marquis opponent to four conference games. Rather than add games, make the five game home schedule top drawer!

How to increase student, faculty and staff engagement...that is another post.

[dm9e24]

First of all, have an entertaining and winning team.

If that doesn't work, then schedule 4 individual concerts that coincide with Duke home games. Billy Joel, Elton John, The Eagles and Paul McCartney. Charge the premium price for the concerts.

The concert begins at the end of the Duke game. You have to be in your seats 4 hours previous to attend .

[fuse]

Per the linked article:
In 2017, Duke's football team generated a $30 million operating profit, which ranked 53rd nationally.

https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/news/2018/10/12/alabama-football-is-no-1-but-it-can-learn-a-thing.html

DBR ate my homework in a draft post I was working on earlier today. I did some back of napkin math and my proposal of 100k free tickets with a 20% attendance along with 4 drinks, 4 popcorn and 4 hot dogs would cost the university about 1.2MM per game. If you are charitable and say some small percentage of those attendees spend $25 on “something”, the loss could drop to about $1MM per game.

$6MM per year to build a fan base.

I’d advocate there’s a business case floating around the athletic department that Duke football can’t practically do any better financially.

[Dukehky]

[sarcasm alert]
The greatest trick the (Blue) Devil ever pulled was convincing the ACC that Duke football existed.
[end sarcasm]

I appreciate what Cut has done for Duke football.
Outside of the obvious be a winning program, Duke has invested to make Wally Wade pretty nice. I wonder how many people are aware of the new facilities.

I don’t know what the title is for whoever is responsible for football game day programming, I bet there is not a more difficult sports related job than the answer to the titular question. You’d be the Steve Spurrier of football gameday to solve this conundrum.

Start ‘em young. Give every kid K-8 in Durham county a four pack of tickets to Duke football on the Friday before the game along with coupons for 4 free hot dogs, 4 popcorns, 4 drinks.

Give free tickets to everyone that works at Duke med. Ask them to use them or give them to patients.

Make it to all football home games and get a free Duke football t-shirt with a different design every year.

Make it to all home football games and earn a free ticket to a Duke basketball game in December when the students are out.

In season rewards program a la frequent flyer miles for other goodies at the Duke store.

When I lived in Annapolis, the midshipmen (and women) had to walk from the Naval Academy to the stadium. The midshipmen made it into a parade type event, with the middies throwing candy to the kids lined up along the route.

I expect Duke could literally give away 100,000 tickets every week and maybe get a 1:5 hit ratio to fill the stadium.

Solving this problem is a generational money losing proposition to play the long game.

At no point will bad pop-corn and a free soda be worth the logistical hassle of getting families to games if the product on the field isn't worth watching. If the team that shows up occasionally on the showed up at WW every once and a while, that might be a start.

[Bike4Fun]

I see literally zero downside to plans like this. More community involvement with the university, more fans in stands, more people on campus, building a new generation of young Duke football fans.

Announced attendance for Syracuse was 16286
Gotta keep the rolling 2y attendance average >15000. https://tinyurl.com/wope9b3 In one place it says "actual or paid" attendance, but in another place it refers to a paid attendance requirement. We are not in danger yet with the rolling average, but if we get there, it won't be good at all. Play better and win, works best.

I don't go to basketball or football games for the concessions, but my gosh Duke concessions are (and have been) dreadful and I won't spend money on them. Looking at the cardboard pizza nauseates me. Soggy buns that become one with the barbecue, gross. Chicken sandwiches are not worth the price. The sodas in bottles are usually good. Ice cream isn't melted and nicely solid. But, could we not just get food trucks there for football?

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Per the linked article:
In 2017, Duke's football team generated a $30 million operating profit, which ranked 53rd nationally.

.

Was Clemson's haul to the ACC worth about 28 million of that?

[arnie]

Announced attendance for Syracuse was 16286
Gotta keep the rolling 2y attendance average >15000. https://tinyurl.com/wope9b3 In one place it says "actual or paid" attendance, but in another place it refers to a paid attendance requirement. We are not in danger yet with the rolling average, but if we get there, it won't be good at all. Play better and win, works best.

I don't go to basketball or football games for the concessions, but my gosh Duke concessions are (and have been) dreadful and I won't spend money on them. Looking at the cardboard pizza nauseates me. Soggy buns that become one with the barbecue, gross. Chicken sandwiches are not worth the price. The sodas in bottles are usually good. Ice cream isn't melted and nicely solid. But, could we not just get food trucks there for football?

If it starts to get close to 15k, Duke just adds ECU and App. That coupled with every other year games with the Cheats and occasional ND, Clemson, State games should do it even if actual Duke fans less than 10K.

[sagegrouse]

First of all, have an entertaining and winning team.

If that doesn't work, then schedule 4 individual concerts that coincide with Duke home games. Billy Joel, Elton John, The Eagles and Paul McCartney. Charge the premium price for the concerts.

The concert begins at the end of the Duke game. You have to be in your seats 4 hours previous to attend .

Well, let's start with the students, most of whom should be there. Allow attendance at Cameron only to those who attend (and remain at) football games. If you wanna be a softie, don;t bar attendance but have a special line to those who go to football games.

[CDu]

Well, let's start with the students, most of whom should be there. Allow attendance at Cameron only to those who attend (and remain at) football games. If you wanna be a softie, don;t bar attendance but have a special line to those who go to football games.

Better have a way to police against students swiping into the stadium and then immediately finding their way to an exit.

[throatybeard]

First of all, have an entertaining and winning team.

If that doesn't work, then schedule 4 individual concerts that coincide with Duke home games. Billy Joel, Elton John, The Eagles and Paul McCartney. Charge the premium price for the concerts.

The concert begins at the end of the Duke game. You have to be in your seats 4 hours previous to attend .

That lineup will attract young people like nothing else.

We might could start with even one musician who's under seventy.

[throatybeard]

To steal an idea from another thread - monorail!

MargeMono.jpg

[OldPhiKap]

That lineup will attract young people like nothing else.

We might could start with even one musician who's under seventy.

Maybe instead of One Direction, we could feature a different direction each week.

[uh_no]

Maybe instead of One Direction, we could feature a different direction each week.

given the featured one direction on saturday was "towards duke's own end zone," anything would be an improvement.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

given the featured one direction on saturday was "towards duke's own end zone," anything would be an improvement.

For some reason, reminds me of the sign in the Tampa stadium during their awful years...on the stadium at about the 20 yard line..."The Bucs Stop Here"....

Because when Duke's passing game goes sideways, it's a feature not a bug...

[sagegrouse]

Better have a way to police against students swiping into the stadium and then immediately finding their way to an exit.

Vee haff our vays of keeping track of studenten who come and go.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Announced attendance for Syracuse was 16286

Given Saturday's weather, that's respectable.