NFL attendance problems a lesson for BC

BC's faced some attendance issues the past few years. We like to blame the tailgating or Spaz or the schedule, but the reality is there are multiple factors. Just look at the attendance issues facing the most popular league in American sports -- the NFL. If they can't get butts in the seats, how can BC? The NFL has a few different solutions in play. Perhaps, BC can learn from them.

Fewer Seats

The NFL is lowering the bar, so that blackout rules don't require sellouts. Blackouts are not an issue in college, but perhaps few seats will help demand and make Alumni seem full. I don't want to tear out seats, but maybe we can replace the bleachers with actual seats. That would take up more space, eliminate seats and improve the watching experience. 

Lower prices

The internet has added fluidity to the ticket market. It used to be BC fans would buy season ticket packages to assure themselves Notre Dame tickets or some other desirable game. Now most know that they can buy the game they want without committing to others they don't. One way to win them back is to lower the investment. BC will miss out on the mark up of the premium games, but at least they will have more people invest in a whole season. BC is indirectly doing this already with their discounts of the less desirable games. If the NFL is lowering prices on parking and concessions, BC should also explore it. Like the NFL we are getting more and more money from TV. Why not make the ingame experience more affordable.

In-game experience

This has been discussed ad nauseum, but needs to be looked at again. I don't think it is as simple as the NFL's push for wireless. We need the game day experience to be inviting from the moment the gates open to the moment the last fan is leaving. It is about the music, the ushers, the video boards, the halftime, the activities during commercial breaks. I don't want BC to turn into a barrage of nonsense, but we can do more. 

I don't go to many BC games. That's mostly because of my location. But I also like the watching the game in my home. The convenience, the visuals, and the costs all factor into my decision. But live sports is still a great experience...especially college football. I just hope BC doesn't wait around until the Alumni is empty. We need to learn from what works for the NFL and what doesn't.  

BC Marketing makes bold move with ICE JAM

Why have a ho hum old Midnight Madness when you can have a four team, two sport smorgasbord christened "ICE JAM"?

The first ever event of its kind will include a half a basketball court and a half a rink. Celebrity parent and really nice guy Bob Costas will host the event on October 26. It's free so I hope students show up in force for the contests and displays.

For years people have whined about not having Midnight Madness. While confusing and potentially awkward, this show/pep rally/event is a nice new step by BC. I am glad Steve Donahue is on board, because in addition to the Xs and Os, we need him to sell BC basketball.

I don't know if this will work, but BC deserves credit for trying.

BC using custom marketing to sell tickets

We bemoan many of BC's marketing efforts, but you have to give them credit for this campaign. (Fill in your information and see what happens. I promise, it is harmless and not some internet scam.)

I don't know how many more tickets this will sell. The good news is that it will get attention. The phone message also plays up the option of customized ticket packages.

Marketing aside, I think the economy, low expectations and the lack of Notre Dame or Clemson on the schedule are going to be tough to overcome.

Pop-tarts and other links

Who cares about travel reputation? Major food companies know that BC fans can eat! The Pop-tarts promotional boxes are regional so good luck finding one with BC on the front. I believe that each box contains a variety of logos on the actual pop-tarts. (Thanks to the Eagle Insider boards for finding a pic.)

Mega QB recruit Kevin Newsome plans on visiting BC.

California WR James Flynn likes BC although we haven't offered him a scholarship yet.

Marketing that works: Parents Weekend Patsies

As we know the BC season ticket base is relatively fickle. The big games are always packed, but some lesser opponents keep people at their tailgates or even at home. BC cannot play a murder’s row schedule every year, so how do you increase ticket demand for some of the less desirable games? Easy! You pawn them off on BC parents in town for Parents Weekend.

Although I am cynical about this sort of scheduling, it is brilliant in its execution.

Here is why:

1. Parents don’t care who we play. They are in town to see their kids, see the campus, go out to dinner, and sample the BC experience. They hear about the tailgating. They see BC on TV. Now they get a chance to go to a BC game. They are willing to see any game. So it’s not Notre Dame or Clemson. It’s still BC football. And by playing a patsies, a win is highly likely, which sends them home happy.
2. It also serves as our “good for New England game.” When the postseason restrictions on playing FCS programs (fka DIAA) were eased, Gene introduced the good for New England game. He spun that playing a New England DIAA school helped the regions’ football. Like everyone would be talking about the great BC-UNH rivalry if we just played them once every six years. The reality is that we are just playing fodder like all other programs do now. If every college in New England dropped football, we'd still play a FCS opponent. But the bright side of playing the schools in your backyard is that they will actually buy tickets. If we played North-Central Middle of Nowhere State, their fans wouldn’t come. When we play UMass or Northeastern, the stands are full.

So by increasing demand via BC parents and local fans from other schools, BC has made their annual DIAA game an easy sellout.

If BC were the only school playing this type of game, I’d be disappointed. But we were actually behind the curve. When other schools were playing DIAA programs, we were still filling out home dates with the service academies. (In fact if you look back in the '90s, parents weekend games were often against Temple, Rutgers or Army.) Now patsies are just part of a Parents Weekend tradition like Pops on the Heights. Despite my tone, I am not complaining...I am applauding.