Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

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Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by rAggie » January 23rd, 2011, 1:32 am

Here is my theory on why there wasn't a sell out for the NMSU game (and hasn't been a sell out all year.)

The athletic department, and specifically the ticket office, do not want to sell out. They're so short sighted about things that would happen if they had a sell out, they are actively not trying to sell the arena out.

I can't say more, and I might have said too much for some people already, but this needs to be out in the public.

The always incompetent USU ticket office, managed by Stephanie Plueard, is actively trying to keep games from selling out. It's criminal, it's wrong, it's hurting the program, it's pathetic, and the entire ticket office organization up there, which has always been completely incompetent, needs to be sent packing.


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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by GeoAg » January 23rd, 2011, 1:47 am

Why would they do this? If you feel they are incompetent, that is one thing, but why would they intentionally try not to all of their inventory?


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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by rAggie » January 23rd, 2011, 1:50 am

They're nickel and diming. There are bonuses that trigger for coaches at a sell out.


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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by rAggie » January 23rd, 2011, 1:56 am

Here's the bottom line: If you can't sell out this game, or get close enough that you can report it as a sellout to the media, then you aren't competent to be doing your job. You should pack up and leave, because you flat out are not worth the money you're being paid.


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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by GeoAg » January 23rd, 2011, 1:58 am

rAggie wrote:They're nickel and diming. There are bonuses that trigger for coaches at a sell out.
If true, that is lame.


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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by rAggie » January 23rd, 2011, 2:09 am

I'm positing that it almost has to be true at this point. The attendance numbers this season are whack.


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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by Agzrule » January 23rd, 2011, 2:31 am

rAggie wrote:Here is my theory on why there wasn't a sell out for the NMSU game (and hasn't been a sell out all year.)

The athletic department, and specifically the ticket office, do not want to sell out. They're so short sighted about things that would happen if they had a sell out, they are actively not trying to sell the arena out.

I can't say more, and I might have said too much for some people already, but this needs to be out in the public.

The always incompetent USU ticket office, managed by Stephanie Plueard, is actively trying to keep games from selling out. It's criminal, it's wrong, it's hurting the program, it's pathetic, and the entire ticket office organization up there, which has always been completely incompetent, needs to be sent packing.
i would assume the late start time and the fact that it was on espnu probably had more to do with it than anything. I highly doubt USU is trying to avoid paying an incentive of a few thousand dollars to stew.



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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by SoCalAggie » January 23rd, 2011, 7:45 am

rAggie wrote:Here is my theory on why there wasn't a sell out for the NMSU game (and hasn't been a sell out all year.)

The athletic department, and specifically the ticket office, do not want to sell out. They're so short sighted about things that would happen if they had a sell out, they are actively not trying to sell the arena out.

I can't say more, and I might have said too much for some people already, but this needs to be out in the public.

The always incompetent USU ticket office, managed by Stephanie Plueard, is actively trying to keep games from selling out. It's criminal, it's wrong, it's hurting the program, it's pathetic, and the entire ticket office organization up there, which has always been completely incompetent, needs to be sent packing.
If this is true they ALL need to have their asses fired! What? Are they TRYING to drive Stew to Utah? :crazy:


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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by GeoAg » January 23rd, 2011, 7:53 am

rAggie wrote:I'm positing that it almost has to be true at this point. The attendance numbers this season are whack.
You lost me now. I think it is a little over the top to make a serious accusation like this on the basis of justifying attendance numbers that you don't like. If you have any real evidence of this type of thing occurring, please let me know.

Please don't take this as an attack, I am just looking for more than the' numbers look funny'. There are many simpler explanations for that.


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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by AndroidAggie » January 23rd, 2011, 8:38 am

+1 GeoAg



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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by Donman » January 23rd, 2011, 9:56 am

One thing you start to run into is you start getting singles. They are sometimes hard to fill.

Unless we have proof that people called and were told, its a sell out but there were tickets available.

This might be considered lible.

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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by dhilk3785 » January 23rd, 2011, 10:13 am

Based off of everything below, we've had essentially 4 home games while school was in session, one of which was during finals week against Long Beach State. Our overall average attendance so far is 8156.83. When school is in session, 9089.75, on break, 7090.375. In my mind, it's pretty clear that the student attendance has been the biggest factor in not selling out the games this year. Last night is an exception for the students, but being a 9:00 pm tip off, it'd be hard to expect the general public to sell out, yet we nearly did.

As more games happen at times when students are around and locals aren't at holiday parties, our average attendance will rise and I am sure we will have a few sell outs. GO AGGIES! Out of curiosity, does anyone know how many sell outs we had last year?


Utah State Home Basketball Attendance

Season Opener
11/13 - Weber State - 9013

Thanksgiving Break
11/24 - Utah - 8368
11/27 - Northeastern - 6761

Finals Week
12/7 - Long Beach State - 7565

Winter Break
12/11 - Cal State Bakersfield - 8194
12/21 - Gossners - Idaho State - 8145
12/22 - Gossners - Western Michigan - 7975
12/23 - Gossners - Troy - 8323
12/29 - Hawaii - 7025
12/31 - San Jose St. - 6732

2nd Semester
1/20 - La. Tech - 9768
1/22, - NMSU - 10013


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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by StanfordAggie » January 23rd, 2011, 12:55 pm

Ummm... Actually, any economist would tell you that if your arena is selling out, then your ticket office screwed up by underpricing tickets. A sellout implies that the demand for tickets at a given price exceeded the supply of tickets at that price and that you could have made more money if you raised ticket prices. If you come just short of selling out, then that is an indication that supply and demand of tickets are almost equal, meaning that the ticket office chose the optimal ticket price. So I would say that if last night's game was just short of a sellout then that is a sign that our ticket office did a very good job...

(As an aside, I can see why Stew hates this board so much. If I got all my information from this board I would think that we were last place in the WAC with a completely incompetent coach and athletic department. I find it amazing how much negativity and pessimism there is here when our program has been so successful by just about any possible criteria.)



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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by DCS » January 23rd, 2011, 1:07 pm

StanfordAggie wrote:(As an aside, I can see why Stew hates this board so much. If I got all my information from this board I would think that we were last place in the WAC with a completely incompetent coach and athletic department. I find it amazing how much negativity and pessimism there is here when our program has been so successful by just about any possible criteria.)
What's funny is we seem to be more positive about our football team than our basketball team.



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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by darthspectrum » January 23rd, 2011, 1:24 pm

rAggie wrote: The athletic department, and specifically the ticket office, do not want to sell out. They're so short sighted about things that would happen if they had a sell out, they are actively not trying to sell the arena out.

The always incompetent USU ticket office, managed by Stephanie Plueard, is actively trying to keep games from selling out. It's criminal, it's wrong, it's hurting the program, it's pathetic, and the entire ticket office organization up there, which has always been completely incompetent, needs to be sent packing.
I wouldn't say it's criminal, but it's certainly bad for the program to not sell out every game and build that hype and publicity. The incompetence has been a disservice to this fine team. But to shell out $3,000 for every game to Stew as a bonus would also hurt the program. Maybe a compromise should be negotiated. $10 tickets on game day, $5 for tickets that can only be sold as 'singles' and Stew renegotiate his bonus to $1,000 per game.



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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by jdubb12 » January 23rd, 2011, 2:10 pm

This thread is absolutely ridiculous and embarrassing, frankly. raggie, to make accusations of this nature you need to provide evidence to back yourself up rather than just say, "I've probably already said too much..." I call total BS on this accusation.

We're on the verge of moving into a much better and stable conference situation and I think the Athletics Department has done a hell of a job selling USU to the MWC. Why don't we focus on what the leadership of our University has done to place us in such a good light? Posts like this do no good, especially when it's just a pissed off fan trying to create a conspiracy.



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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by Quelch » January 23rd, 2011, 2:41 pm

rAggie wrote:Here is my theory on why there wasn't a sell out for the NMSU game (and hasn't been a sell out all year.)

The athletic department, and specifically the ticket office, do not want to sell out. They're so short sighted about things that would happen if they had a sell out, they are actively not trying to sell the arena out.

I can't say more, and I might have said too much for some people already, but this needs to be out in the public.

The always incompetent USU ticket office, managed by Stephanie Plueard, is actively trying to keep games from selling out. It's criminal, it's wrong, it's hurting the program, it's pathetic, and the entire ticket office organization up there, which has always been completely incompetent, needs to be sent packing.
I hate to argue with you but I think that the Ticket Office Manager is doing a very good job. I do not believe in a conspiracy theory here. Does Stew still get a bonus with sell outs? We should sell it out just for Stew if that is the case.



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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by Quelch » January 23rd, 2011, 2:45 pm

rAggie wrote:Here's the bottom line: If you can't sell out this game, or get close enough that you can report it as a sellout to the media, then you aren't competent to be doing your job. You should pack up and leave, because you flat out are not worth the money you're being paid.
Do you really think that they pay the Ticket Office Manager that much?

I looked it up on Utahsright.com and her salary is just over 44K. It is not that much and she well earns her keep.



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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by bigbluebaby » January 23rd, 2011, 5:49 pm

I have never said this before in my time on this board but I call "BS" on raggie...

No proof.. No evidence.. I know alot of the folks up there they work their butts off.. Sorry Dude Calling BS...


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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by AGGIEFIGHT » January 23rd, 2011, 7:06 pm

I looked at the crowd last night and thought it should have been listed as a sellout. Yes their were
a few single seats that went unfilled, but I also saw students sitting in seats outside of the student
section where season ticket holders did not show. I believe that there were more students in attendance
than the 4000 ticket allotment which would translate to a sellout.

You could make the argument either way but why not show your appreciation for Stew and the team and
call it a sellout. It projects the image that Aggie basketball is a valuable product and that if they want
to see a game they need to buy their tickets early or commit to season tickets. What sounds better
on national tv ? the sold out Dee Glenn Smith Spectrum or the partially filled spectrum?



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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by Rabidchild » January 23rd, 2011, 7:20 pm

StanfordAggie wrote:Ummm... Actually, any economist would tell you that if your arena is selling out, then your ticket office screwed up by underpricing tickets. A sellout implies that the demand for tickets at a given price exceeded the supply of tickets at that price and that you could have made more money if you raised ticket prices. If you come just short of selling out, then that is an indication that supply and demand of tickets are almost equal, meaning that the ticket office chose the optimal ticket price. So I would say that if last night's game was just short of a sellout then that is a sign that our ticket office did a very good job...

(As an aside, I can see why Stew hates this board so much. If I got all my information from this board I would think that we were last place in the WAC with a completely incompetent coach and athletic department. I find it amazing how much negativity and pessimism there is here when our program has been so successful by just about any possible criteria.)
Actually, if the price were set perfectly, every seat would have been sold. An optimal price would have resulted in the supply of seats meeting the demand of seats, all else equal.


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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by Harcher » January 23rd, 2011, 7:44 pm

Rabidchild wrote:
StanfordAggie wrote:Ummm... Actually, any economist would tell you that if your arena is selling out, then your ticket office screwed up by underpricing tickets. A sellout implies that the demand for tickets at a given price exceeded the supply of tickets at that price and that you could have made more money if you raised ticket prices. If you come just short of selling out, then that is an indication that supply and demand of tickets are almost equal, meaning that the ticket office chose the optimal ticket price. So I would say that if last night's game was just short of a sellout then that is a sign that our ticket office did a very good job...

(As an aside, I can see why Stew hates this board so much. If I got all my information from this board I would think that we were last place in the WAC with a completely incompetent coach and athletic department. I find it amazing how much negativity and pessimism there is here when our program has been so successful by just about any possible criteria.)
Actually, if the price were set perfectly, every seat would have been sold. An optimal price would have resulted in the supply of seats meeting the demand of seats, all else equal.
Having this topic outlined this in another thread... the raising of ticket prices allows USU to get the same revenue on about 7000 seats filled this year compared to 9000 the previous years. In effect creating 2000 more seats to fill. If we get in the MWC and we assume the better competition will bring greater demand then this will turn out to be a good move. As we also noted in that other thread there is some value to advertising "sell out" and the value of the experience that is a full venue. So all of these factors are a balancing act to keep them all at a good level.

I think things are balanced pretty well. Good job AD!



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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by StanfordAggie » January 23rd, 2011, 8:20 pm

Rabidchild wrote:
StanfordAggie wrote:Ummm... Actually, any economist would tell you that if your arena is selling out, then your ticket office screwed up by underpricing tickets. A sellout implies that the demand for tickets at a given price exceeded the supply of tickets at that price and that you could have made more money if you raised ticket prices. If you come just short of selling out, then that is an indication that supply and demand of tickets are almost equal, meaning that the ticket office chose the optimal ticket price. So I would say that if last night's game was just short of a sellout then that is a sign that our ticket office did a very good job...

(As an aside, I can see why Stew hates this board so much. If I got all my information from this board I would think that we were last place in the WAC with a completely incompetent coach and athletic department. I find it amazing how much negativity and pessimism there is here when our program has been so successful by just about any possible criteria.)
Actually, if the price were set perfectly, every seat would have been sold. An optimal price would have resulted in the supply of seats meeting the demand of seats, all else equal.
I knew someone was going to call me on that. :joking: I should have said "chose a nearly optimal ticket price." The bottom line is that it is easy to sell out a game if you really want to; just give tickets away like they do at BYU. But a sellout generally does not maximize revenue unless you chose the ticket price perfectly. On the other hand, if you are just a few seats short of a sellout, then that indicates that your ticket price was just a little bit too high, but very close to the optimal price. In any event, the bottom line is that we are just short of a sellout, that's a good thing, not a bad thing.



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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by treesap32 » January 23rd, 2011, 8:26 pm

dhilk3785 wrote:Out of curiosity, does anyone know how many sell outs we had last year?
USUStats.com knows:

http://www.usustats.com/seasons/index.p ... on=2009-10



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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by Quelch » January 23rd, 2011, 9:27 pm

StanfordAggie wrote:Ummm... Actually, any economist would tell you that if your arena is selling out, then your ticket office screwed up by underpricing tickets. A sellout implies that the demand for tickets at a given price exceeded the supply of tickets at that price and that you could have made more money if you raised ticket prices. If you come just short of selling out, then that is an indication that supply and demand of tickets are almost equal, meaning that the ticket office chose the optimal ticket price. So I would say that if last night's game was just short of a sellout then that is a sign that our ticket office did a very good job...

(As an aside, I can see why Stew hates this board so much. If I got all my information from this board I would think that we were last place in the WAC with a completely incompetent coach and athletic department. I find it amazing how much negativity and pessimism there is here when our program has been so successful by just about any possible criteria.)

Excellent, excellent points!



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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by UtahStizzle » January 24th, 2011, 12:48 am

So you're saying Scott Barnes knew there would be a sellout, alerted the ticket office to stop selling tickets, all in an effort to diminish the reputation of the Spectrum? Makes sense...he does hate USU athletics.


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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by Mr. Sneelock » January 24th, 2011, 9:44 am

Sorry, rAggie, but this just makes no damn sense. The ticket office stopped selling seats just so they could come just short of a sellout and avoid paying Stew a bonus? Give me a break.


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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by Donman » January 24th, 2011, 9:47 am

UtahStizzle wrote:So you're saying Scott Barnes knew there would be a sellout, alerted the ticket office to stop selling tickets, all in an effort to diminish the reputation of the Spectrum? Makes sense...he does hate USU athletics.
Man Scott Barnes is an evil genious. I wonder if he is going to try and steal the moon next.



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Re: Why there wasn't a sell out for the game

Post by aggiesdotcom » January 24th, 2011, 10:41 am

rAggie, Is your conspiracy theory that Plueard gets a $500 bonus for games that don't sell out? That would put her in direct competition with Stew getting his bonus. Yeah, I can see that.



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