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Topic: How many students will be turned away at the gates Saturday?
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Bobcatbob
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Posted: 9/11/2013 11:36 AM
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What if it was worth a phys ed credit to attend all 7 home games and submit a paper and a 1st and a 4th quarter selfie at Peden to the AD on Monday?  I'm sure that would have as much academic value as my handball credit has.

(NO music credit though!)
OhioStunter
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Posted: 9/11/2013 6:54 PM
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Any student wearing OSU gear should automatically be turned away.
Gallia Cat
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Posted: 9/11/2013 7:27 PM
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OhioStunter wrote:expand_more
Any student wearing OSU gear should automatically be turned away.


I have to say that you just dont see much if any of that any more.  I maybe saw a hat or two but that was about it.
bostonbobcat
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Posted: 9/12/2013 1:26 PM
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shabamon wrote:expand_more
I don't quite understand the reasoning behind this except....

There is assuredly a capped number of student tickets for each home game. Student A picks up a ticket prior to gameday, but arrives at Peden Stadium 15 minutes before kickoff and there's a huge line stretching all the way to Ping. The student gate runs out of tickets and has to turn people away. The line disburses, and Student A is led to believe that no one else can get into the game even though he has a ticket in hand. Therefore he, and everyone else who picked up a ticket earlier, goes home, and the student attendance has not truly reached capacity.


Student A isn't too bright.
The Optimist
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Posted: 9/12/2013 1:40 PM
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The easy solution is to expand.

I don't think the new "no early pickup" policy will have that big of an impact on student's mindset.

Last year was the first year I ever utilized that option fearing I might not get in at Homecoming... I don't think the average student even realized picking up a ticket early was an option so taking that away really won't hurt most students. And like I said, even for past great student crowds like the Temple blackout 2 yrs back I really never had any fear I wouldn't get in even by showing up right at gametime.

In that respect, the mindset/culture of students today towards Ohio athletics is insanely different from even me who just graduated...
Not getting in probably creates a certain "cool" or even big-time feel to the program. At the same time, I would be angry if I showed up and I couldn't even get in.
The other thing is, there really is a shortage once you get in... The student grandstand fills up then they force WAY more people on the hill than can comfortably watch the game.

 

 

 

That one crazy fan
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Posted: 9/12/2013 2:07 PM
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I don't think we should expand just to solve the student problem.  Remember, tickets are already bought through the general fund so if we decided to expand just for the students then we'd actually lose money because no matter what, the department is still getting the same amount of money through the fund.  If we were having to turn paying fans down constantly because of capacity issues then expansion would be a great idea.  However, expanding just to fix the student problem creates the problem of an even bigger stadium looking half empty as we don't fill the rest of it in either due to not a large enough fan base (which is slowly becoming less of a problem) and the fact that much of our fan base is scattered across Ohio as well as the country (afternoon games are not hard to make it to if you live within 2 or 3 hours and don't work on weekends, but weeknight espn games will look bad on tv as the majority of fans might not be able to make the trip).  Until we have a problem of paying fans not getting tickets, there is no problem.  Students at many of the big-time schools are only allowed 3 or 4 game tickets and have to trade around to get more if they so wish.  Would it be awesome if we could fit more than half our student body in the stadium?  Yes it would, but we have to look at what's best for the program financially.
OU_Country
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Posted: 9/12/2013 2:22 PM
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MariettaCatFanatic wrote:expand_more
Have students get tickets before the game... problem solved.


They used to do this, but for some reason I've heard they aren't doing it any more.

I think they used to allow you to get them before the game, but you still could get them first-come, first-served at the gate. The easy way to fix this is to require getting them the day before, but then what do you do if you don't get rid of them all? Give them away at the gate? Now we have the same problem again.

I definitely don't support charging students, or packaging them as season packs at this point. We aren't at a level where that would work, and the students are paying plenty as-is. I think to package them up, demand has to be so high that they would be easy to get rid of, with lots of people who'd love to be there but can't get in, every week. Otherwise, Joe Blow is going to go home and you end up with tons of no-shows and empty seats that other students get turned away from.


I don't understand what you don't see about this "problem".

Allow students to get tickets before the game starting Monday... if they sell out, let everyone know so no one shows up thinking they can get a ticket... If they don't, let students come get theirs at the gate. If it sells out THEN, there is no excuse because they had all week to get theirs ahead of time.

Marshall does this and it works just fine... teaches the kids to get their tickets early and gives the Athletic Department an idea of how many tickets they need to offer students.


This really seems to me to be the easiest way to do this and why it's done any other way really doesn't make much sense.


+1.  Should be easier for those handling tickets as well.


Gallia Cat wrote:expand_more
Any student wearing OSU gear should automatically be turned away.


I have to say that you just dont see much if any of that any more.  I maybe saw a hat or two but that was about it.


I agree you don't see it much, but it should be something that simply isn't allowed.  If you're in the OZone, you shouldn't be allowed to wear any other school's "gear" other than the Green & White.  It should be self enforced by students as a matter of PRIDE. 
The Optimist
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Posted: 9/12/2013 8:09 PM
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That one crazy fan wrote:expand_more
I don't think we should expand just to solve the student problem.  Remember, tickets are already bought through the general fund so if we decided to expand just for the students then we'd actually lose money because no matter what, the department is still getting the same amount of money through the fund.  If we were having to turn paying fans down constantly because of capacity issues then expansion would be a great idea.  However, expanding just to fix the student problem creates the problem of an even bigger stadium looking half empty as we don't fill the rest of it in either due to not a large enough fan base (which is slowly becoming less of a problem) and the fact that much of our fan base is scattered across Ohio as well as the country (afternoon games are not hard to make it to if you live within 2 or 3 hours and don't work on weekends, but weeknight espn games will look bad on tv as the majority of fans might not be able to make the trip).  Until we have a problem of paying fans not getting tickets, there is no problem.  Students at many of the big-time schools are only allowed 3 or 4 game tickets and have to trade around to get more if they so wish.  Would it be awesome if we could fit more than half our student body in the stadium?  Yes it would, but we have to look at what's best for the program financially.


I don't think we should expand only because of the students... I think it is one factor though.

Weekday games will always be a problem for this school because of location and likewise students are always going to be crucial to making it look good on TV because they live in Athens and can show up any time. Look at the Temple Blackout game... That game looked AMAZING on TV largely because the students showed up.

Anyway... I think we have PAYING fans necessary to expand. Where are they? Not 2 or 3 hours away, but 1 hour away in Columbus. It took me 65 minutes to drive from 70 to E State on 33. When the bypass is done, that is another 5-10 minutes cut off. We can convince Ohio alumni in Columbus to come to Athens. I believe that.

There are tons of Bobcats in Columbus. Thousands of alumni. I think just announcing a stadium expansion and getting them to 1 event (like Homecoming) could convince them that dropping > $200 for season tickets as an excuse to drive 1 hour away to their favorite place on Earth would be worth it....

Beat Marshall and it sets up nicely for the next 3 games to be epic crowds. If we beat Marshall, Homecoming and HallOUween are sellouts. Austin P may even sell out.


Last Edited: 9/12/2013 8:14:32 PM by The Optimist
bobcat72
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Posted: 9/13/2013 9:49 AM
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The Optimist wrote:expand_more
Weekday games will always be a problem for this school because of location and likewise students are always going to be crucial to making it look good on TV because they live in Athens and can show up any time. Look at the Temple Blackout game... That game looked AMAZING on TV largely because the students showed up.


But the other side of the stadium was virtually empty...seats were not at a premium for the Temple game!
The Optimist
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Posted: 9/13/2013 9:54 AM
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bobcat72 wrote:expand_more
Weekday games will always be a problem for this school because of location and likewise students are always going to be crucial to making it look good on TV because they live in Athens and can show up any time. Look at the Temple Blackout game... That game looked AMAZING on TV largely because the students showed up.


But the other side of the stadium was virtually empty...seats were not at a premium for the Temple game!

Exactly... It looked good on TV but wasn't full. Students are always going to be key for weekday games.

5 of our 7 games this year are Saturday games. We have a chance to sellout all 5 Saturday games. Beating Marshall would be the key to that happening...
I don't think we should NOT expand based on 2 of the 7 games this season not having capacity crowds.
OU_Country
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Posted: 9/13/2013 9:54 AM
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The Optimist wrote:expand_more
I don't think we should expand just to solve the student problem.  Remember, tickets are already bought through the general fund so if we decided to expand just for the students then we'd actually lose money because no matter what, the department is still getting the same amount of money through the fund.  If we were having to turn paying fans down constantly because of capacity issues then expansion would be a great idea.  However, expanding just to fix the student problem creates the problem of an even bigger stadium looking half empty as we don't fill the rest of it in either due to not a large enough fan base (which is slowly becoming less of a problem) and the fact that much of our fan base is scattered across Ohio as well as the country (afternoon games are not hard to make it to if you live within 2 or 3 hours and don't work on weekends, but weeknight espn games will look bad on tv as the majority of fans might not be able to make the trip).  Until we have a problem of paying fans not getting tickets, there is no problem.  Students at many of the big-time schools are only allowed 3 or 4 game tickets and have to trade around to get more if they so wish.  Would it be awesome if we could fit more than half our student body in the stadium?  Yes it would, but we have to look at what's best for the program financially.


I don't think we should expand only because of the students... I think it is one factor though.

Weekday games will always be a problem for this school because of location and likewise students are always going to be crucial to making it look good on TV because they live in Athens and can show up any time. Look at the Temple Blackout game... That game looked AMAZING on TV largely because the students showed up.

Anyway... I think we have PAYING fans necessary to expand. Where are they? Not 2 or 3 hours away, but 1 hour away in Columbus. It took me 65 minutes to drive from 70 to E State on 33. When the bypass is done, that is another 5-10 minutes cut off. We can convince Ohio alumni in Columbus to come to Athens. I believe that.

There are tons of Bobcats in Columbus. Thousands of alumni. I think just announcing a stadium expansion and getting them to 1 event (like Homecoming) could convince them that dropping > $200 for season tickets as an excuse to drive 1 hour away to their favorite place on Earth would be worth it....

Beat Marshall and it sets up nicely for the next 3 games to be epic crowds. If we beat Marshall, Homecoming and HallOUween are sellouts. Austin P may even sell out.


I agree, and it's an argument I often try to make with Bobcats in Columbus.  There are, according to the last time I saw numbers, over 28,000 Ohio Alums in Central Ohio -- meaning Franklin Co. and the counties that touch it.  I live on the outskirts of Hilliard, and we can currently do the drive in about 80-85 minutes.  As you said, bypass knocks 10 minutes off that most days.  The funny thing is, I don't feel like the OU AD has done a lot to actively pursue ticket sales directly in Columbus.

And you have to look at it from the standpoint of spending the day, not just going to a game.  My wife and I often will leave early, get a couple hour hike in somewhere, arrive in Athens for lunch, and hit a game.  Or this weekend, we'll be getting there early to take in a little lunch at some bars, and then tailgate for a few hours.  Other than sitting at home, I can't get that much fun in Columbus for the amount we'll spend in Athens. Tickets are far cheaper, food and beverage is less, and it's much, much more laid back and relaxing.
DelBobcat
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Posted: 9/13/2013 10:31 AM
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I try to make one or two games a year from Philadelphia (Homecoming and at least one more)--and it's a 7-8 hour drive. Keep winning, expand the hotel market in Athens (already happening with new hotel on East State), and more and more alumni from farther away will plan to make it a weekend long event.

We have a great alumni base in both Chicago and the East Coast that could easily make Athens a weekend trip. This year for homecoming I've had to turn down several friends from Philly, New York, and DC that have asked for rides. I can't help them out because my car is already full.
Monroe Slavin
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Posted: 9/13/2013 8:10 PM
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You need a new car.
cbarber357
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Posted: 9/14/2013 12:49 AM
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As a current student who had a spent a lot of time in Athens during my high school days I can tell you first hand the number of OSU merchandise you see has gone down in a big way in the last few years. Most of the time when I see other students with Ohio State things on, it's either old clothing they're wearing around the dorms late at night or a shirt from a program at Ohio State (example, an Ohio State ran AIDS awareness day shirt I saw the other day). I sometimes wear an old pair of OSU shorts to bed, but hey, my mother works for Ohio State, so they're partially paying for me to go to Ohio and need my mother (an OU alum) to teach their students.
DelBobcat
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Posted: 9/14/2013 1:23 PM
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cbarber357 wrote:expand_more
As a current student who had a spent a lot of time in Athens during my high school days I can tell you first hand the number of OSU merchandise you see has gone down in a big way in the last few years. Most of the time when I see other students with Ohio State things on, it's either old clothing they're wearing around the dorms late at night or a shirt from a program at Ohio State (example, an Ohio State ran AIDS awareness day shirt I saw the other day). I sometimes wear an old pair of OSU shorts to bed, but hey, my mother works for Ohio State, so they're partially paying for me to go to Ohio and need my mother (an OU alum) to teach their students.


Last time we played OSU in football my friends and I had a party to watch the game and beforehand we burned all of the OSU gear we had received as gifts over the years in a big bonfire. It was great.
cbarber357
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Posted: 9/14/2013 1:26 PM
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Awesome. lol. As I said, my mother works for Ohio State at the Newark campus. They were having a bug Alumni thing their last summer and my mom asked me to come, so I went in wearing Bobcat gear head to toe
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