Attendance figures

[LS71]

It starts with winning, but the fan experience SUCKS!

Nobody loves UMass sports more than I do. I rarely missed a game when I was a student during the late 60s-early 70s. When my kids were young I'd bring them to football games on Saturday afternoons and I was a hoops season ticket holder for 33 straight seasons. I've attended swim meets, lax games, hockey games, soccer games (both men and women), as well as baseball and softball games.

There's MUCH that can and should be done to improve the fan experience that would go a long way in sustaining relatively high attendance during lean years, when teams aren't winning.

A variation of the old Woody Allen lament...two ladies talking about a recent experience at a restaurant:

Lady 1: I don't know why we keep going back there, the food is terrible.
Lady 2: Yeah...and such small portions too.

I've attended tooo many games over the years when the students aren't on campus with the concession stands closed; or middle of the week games that start at 7 pm....doors open at 6....concession stands don't open until just before game time. Many fans, who leave work and rush to travel to get to Amherst before tip-off hoping to grab a bite there since there no time to haver dinner, are disappointed. When the stands are open, there are always dried-out, overpriced cheeseburgers cooked elsewhere, wrapped in paper sitting under hot lamps for extended periods of time....does wonders for the quality of fried foods. Oh and the popcorn....or should I say, would you like a little popcorn with your salt?

Season ticket holders are taken for granted instead of being treated like they should be....the valued, respected core of UMass hoops nation!

Season ticket appreciation: Gifts should be offered per ticket, not per account. CHEAP!

Giveaways: An amount equivalent to the number of season tickets sold should be aside and given out at a separate table instead of being first come first served. That's fine for non-season ticket holders. If a STH can't get to a game where there are giveaways, they should be held for pick up or mailed to them. I'm guessing giveaways are planned before the season starts.....How about sending them, per ticket, to STH with their tickets.

Seats themselves: I sat in the HP row of a section. Too often in recent years, TV cameras were set up in that row. All 16 seats belong to STHs....mostly seniors and all, obviously, with disabilities. STHs were either displaced with no remedy offered as compensation or ushers/security would bring additional chairs and jam them in so fans had to sit way to close together. I brought this to the to the attention of of the ticket office more than once...ZERO was done to make things better. People in the priciest tier of seats only to be treated SHABILLY!

Last Sunday, I brought 5 kids to the Men-Women double header. My 10-year old granddaughter had a bag with an Altoid tin in it that set of the metal detector. She was asked to open her bag. Because she had a half-empty water bottle and a handful of individually wrapped candies in it, she was told that she could NOT bring the bag in unless she threw the water bottle and those candies away! Are you fucking kidding me!@!! Fan friendly? I think not.

We always hear that UMass has a strong sports management major. Those that run it ought to take a long hard look at how sports are managed at UMass and make improvements.

Show fans that you appreciate that they spend their hard earned money on UMass sports and make the time to attend them...and maybe they'll come back and bring their friends.

[69MG]

LS, you're points are spot on. If I were to sum up the administration's way of handling the fan experience in 4 words it would be "lack of common sense".

[vanmeter]

I think the biggest issue, by far, is a that we have had a poor to average (at best) team the last 7 years. The declining attendance bear that out.
However I do agree that marketing and game day experience are very lacking

[minutefanjsf]

I think the biggest issue, by far, is a that we have had a poor to average (at best) team the last 7 years. The declining attendance bear that out.
However I do agree that marketing and game day experience are very lacking

Locals and students used to attend games in much higher numbers even when the team was just as bad. There are lots of variables. There is a lot of completion for people’s spare time now as well.

[PintOGuinness]

Where is our AD, isnt this on Bamford?

I get the last couple of years have been difficult attendance-wise due to COVID, but the lack of effective marketing and promotion is not acceptable.

[LS71]

Bamford’s simply the latest in a long line of ADs who couldn’t care less about the fan experience.

[minutefanjsf]

I think the biggest issue, by far, is a that we have had a poor to average (at best) team the last 7 years. The declining attendance bear that out.
However I do agree that marketing and game day experience are very lacking

Locals and students used to attend games in much higher numbers even when the team was just as bad. There are lots of variables. There is a lot of completion for people’s spare time now as well.

*Competition not completion stupid autocorrect

[cox'n]

Lady 1: I don't know why we keep going back there, the food is terrible.
Lady 2: Yeah...and such small portions too.

I agree with your post, especially the food. I don't get to games as much as I used to because of my own children's activities, but we do go to several hockey games per season. If we have a little extra time we go to a dc (usually Hampshire) before ehe game. We can get a delicious healthy meal along with a little dessert for less than we might have otherwise spent on concessions.


Also, LS another good thing about the dining halls is that there are usually open HP spaces very close by. If you bring the grandkids (assuming they're under twelve), the cost is less and they can sample unique foods that they might not otherwise try. The servers will give you as much or as little as you want.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

[LS71]

Thanks, cox’n!

I like the dc idea not only because of the quality of the food and the value, but also because it’s never too early to show kids a bit of college life. The more positive exposure to what it’s like to be in college, the better!

[minutefanjsf]

The Mullins center is managed by an outside group. It has no ties to the University food, etc. even though the fest up is atrocious at McGuirk, at least the food is better. It is not better than food I cook pre and post game in the lot though.

[minutefanjsf]

The Mullins center is managed by an outside group. It has no ties to the University food, etc. even though the fest up is atrocious at McGuirk, at least the food is better. It is not better than food I cook pre and post game in the lot though.

* set up not fest up

[jj]

I agree Juice. Gimmicks and giveaways are only temporary bandaids. Only way to increase attendance is winning.

I disagree. There are many mediocre and even some losing athletic ventures across the country that attract more than 20% capacity at their venues. We all know that there is a supply of fans that have not been reached. The game day experience needs to be more than the game. Parking, concessions, etc. all need to be improved. People who are about the game only, accept and deal with the shortcomings in these areas. People who want a good time by attending a game do not put up with crappy parking rules and $14 beers, etc. gimmicks and giveaways are a band aid, yes. They will not cure the ills until the experience is better. Getting people in the door once to experience a crappy event does the opposite IMO and will drive them away.

There are plenty of things to do in this area for fun. Sitting in a morgue of an area watching low-mid major hoops is not one of them if we're going to be realistic.

[minutefanjsf]

I agree Juice. Gimmicks and giveaways are only temporary bandaids. Only way to increase attendance is winning.

I disagree. There are many mediocre and even some losing athletic ventures across the country that attract more than 20% capacity at their venues. We all know that there is a supply of fans that have not been reached. The game day experience needs to be more than the game. Parking, concessions, etc. all need to be improved. People who are about the game only, accept and deal with the shortcomings in these areas. People who want a good time by attending a game do not put up with crappy parking rules and $14 beers, etc. gimmicks and giveaways are a band aid, yes. They will not cure the ills until the experience is better. Getting people in the door once to experience a crappy event does the opposite IMO and will drive them away.

There are plenty of things to do in this area for fun. Sitting in a morgue of an area watching low-mid major hoops is not one of them if we're going to be realistic.

Used to be a event for the area even before Cal. As did football. The point is the school needs to make it fun.

[jj]

Not really. I was around in the days when Rafer Giles was in a packed Footlocker in the hampshire mall as he bought his sneakers. I might have been the only person in there who knew who he was.

Yeah, the Cage was hopping for Julius, et al, but the Cage really didn't get rolling in the 80's until Cal showed. And that precipitated the need for the Mullins to hold those crowds.

In any event, I'm sure there's plenty that can be done to increase turnout, but those increases will be middling absent any kind of real on the floor success.