Why the Surge in Player & Athletic Department Urging Fan Attendance this Weekend? I Don't Think It's The Boycott
With all the talk on the board right now regarding players statements either directly requesting fan support (Jack Miller) or via the Michigan Facebook page featuring a Dennis Norfleet's quote I wondered if they were responding to the boycott or something else. So I went on StubHub and looked just now to see how many tickets were available this for each of this Saturday's B1G games. Here's what I found:
Illinois at Wisconsin- 778
Indiana at Iowa - 804
Northwestern at Minnesota - 804 (yup same number available as Indiana v Iowa)
MSU at Purdue - 906
Rutgers at OSU - 1636
Penn State at Michigan - 3904
I also just went on Mgoblue.com and requested 10 seats together and was able to secure the order meaning there are a LOT of unsold seats right now. There were also smaller quantities available all through the endzone and corner sections but the fact I could get 10 together for the marque home night game a mere three days before kick-off is not good.
I think that's why there's been a recent surge in player and athletic department urging for fan support this week. Not because of the threat of a boycott IMO - it's because they have a shit-ton of seats to sell by next Saturday night and they're competing with the current ticket holders who don't want to go the game to sell them.
October 8th, 2014 at 9:15 AM ^
They already had Barnett but they still sucked. Michigan didn't bring very many cheerleaders, and they were doing the backflips from a standing position on the sidelines. Well, we scored a lot - 40 points. My quick calculation says they did a total of 173 backflips, spread among only 8-10 cheerleaders. They were pretty beat, having to help eachother get full rotation instead of crashing to the astroturf on their knees.
October 8th, 2014 at 7:10 AM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 8:24 AM ^
Thanks. I checked the next game on the schedule and didnt catch that it wasnt this weekend. That might also explain why OSU hasso many for sale relative to the normal demand for tickets down here. The game is still a week away.
October 8th, 2014 at 7:47 AM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 8:32 AM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 7:47 AM ^
When I was a young econ major at UM, I had a professor who said, "For those of you wanting to go to law school, I'm going to save you a lot of time. There is only one law, it is always followed, always obeyed. And that is the law of supply and demand. The rest, my friends, is politics."
We have had at the collegiate level a shift in the demand curve. For a number of reasons, college football is not as attractive as it once was. This is especially so at UM, where the tire fire smolders, and will continue to do so until Hoke, and maybe (hopefully from my point of view) Brandon are people of historical interest only. We do not have a good product. It's that simple.
Very good post, OP. Right on the money.
October 8th, 2014 at 7:48 AM ^
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October 8th, 2014 at 7:52 AM ^
Support you team, players, & coaches. If you want to boycott something go camp out at Zuccotti Park...
October 8th, 2014 at 8:26 AM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 8:35 AM ^
http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/road-saturday/201409/michigan-wolverine…
See that picture? That's my brother Charlie in the white sweater and he's talking to three other Michigan dentist alums. The pictue was used in the John U Bacon article I attached and the that tailgate was the one I attended for over 30 years until i gave up my tickets. Check out where it's located at - in the Blue lot, right against the hill, next to the entrance. A fantastic locaton to tailgate from and NOT cheap to get. The host of the tailgate is the guy in the yellow sweater to my brother's left and he is a big athletic department donor and holds 14 season tickets which he shares with his friends, kids and grandkids. And they usually go to one or two away games a year. These are NOT "fair weather" fans.
And yet the tailgate will not be there on Saturday and neither will any of the people you see in that picture. Why? They've lost interest in Michigan football and don't want to go. They arent protesting anything - they just have no interest in spending their Saturday afternoon/night watching bad football so they've decided to not go. And none of their kids, grandkids or friends wanted to go either so nobody will be there Saturday night. I cant remember this ever happening except for once - the Purdue game in 1995 when the tailgate started and then ended when the weather turned to absolute shit. Other than that it's been there for 35 years or more. But it wont be Saturday night.
Those 14 tickets will probably have somebody in them. They will probably be given away or sold (if they can) but the hard core Michigan alums and football fans that have loved and supported the team financially and with their attendance for almost four decades won't be. And that's sad.
October 8th, 2014 at 11:44 AM ^
This really makes me sad. My grandfather was one of those guys at a Blue Lot tailgate, too. He died right before the Lloyd era ended, so he didn't have to see one of his favorite things in the world go to absolute shit. It underscores how absurd it is, though, for a team with so much alumni support and so many resources to be so bad. 99% of athletic departments make due with far fewer supports than ours, yet most of them field a football team far more competent. And most of those programs have far fewer fans who build a huge part of their identity (and family) around the football team. We deserve better.
October 8th, 2014 at 8:36 AM ^
Point of curiosity about the boycott/attendance this week. Is the game on the B1G network or one of the lesser ESPN's? I wonder if the coverage of empty seats would even be addressed on the B1G network.
FWIW, I am of very mixed emotions about the boycott. I totally support any FU to Brandon, but I do think more than ever the players need support right now. I completely understand either decision by those holding tickets.
October 8th, 2014 at 8:39 AM ^
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October 8th, 2014 at 8:58 AM ^
Weak attendance has been Brandon's concern all year, but the night games are his "crowning glory." Those are the ones he cares about most, so he needs a good showing. They Athletic Department would have been doing this type of promoting even if all of the other issues weren't going on.
October 8th, 2014 at 9:05 AM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 9:05 AM ^
Re: the ability to secure 10 together from the school. Either people just weren't interested in the game at all, or you have impeccable timing and put your order in right when Penn State returned its unused tickets/Michigan released tickets being held for VIPs/recruits/families that aren't coming.
That said, the surge in trying to compel people to show up has everything to do with fear that the 100k streak is going to fall at the most embarrassing possible time: the night game, which is supposed to be an attraction unto itself.
October 8th, 2014 at 9:24 AM ^
Hey just checked again right now. You can still get at LEAST 10 together as we speak (I tried to copy my screen shot but I cant here at work)
Go to mgoblue.com and see for yourself. They are definitely there if you want them
http://ev8.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SECartRedisplay?linkID=umichse…
And I just rechecked Stubhub too. That number increased by five tickets overnight. Now 3909 available. Supply is kicking the shit out of demand right now. You can get two seats, on the 50 yard line right now (Section 1 - row 89) for $89 each.
October 8th, 2014 at 9:46 AM ^
Yes, 3,900 are available on StubHub and will likely have many of these unsold and so empty seats. But the AD has already got their money, as these are resales. Your seats available comparison in the OP is a false one, since we will have 30,000 to 50,000 more people. So, a difference in tickets available of a couple thousand is meaningless. People complain about the free tickets with Coke deal as an indicator. Does anyone know how many this was? Probably just a few, making it a loss leader marketing deal, and not an indication of big sales problem. What is the real problem is student season tickets dropping from 21,000 to 14,000. That has created the market softness for tickets. I had fun freshman year in 1969, with 70,000 for Vanderbilt and 50,000 for Washington and OSU the only sellout. Why students are not going is shocking to me. No one cares about the record crowds over 100,000. Just like no one cares about Nebraska's 300+ sell outs. If your stadium only holds 80-90,000 it is meaningless.
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October 8th, 2014 at 1:02 PM ^
I can't see why anyone would choose to do it this season, but each of the last three times we've played at Michigan State, tickets have been released the night before through Michigan State's website. I figured this was the same thing, but whoa. I guess both fanbases are completely apathetic about this game.
October 8th, 2014 at 9:20 AM ^
Let's think about this for a minute. The AD has known all year that there are many unsold seats for this game. Prior to this week, the department has aggressively tried to fill the unsold seats (i.e., the Coke promo). Being a former season ticket holder, I still get many emails about ticket buying opportunities. I've not received anything for the PSU game. The facebook post says nothing about available tickets, etc. I just don't think this is about unsold seats.
While many on this board deride the "attendees" on the student protest facebook page, that doesn't tell the story. I believe that I saw that the leaders of the protest are now trying to involve the student government. That would give this thing legs and the AD a reason to go on the offensive. Let's not just brush aside this possibility.
October 8th, 2014 at 9:44 AM ^
Brandon has all the power.
This won't solve everything but if he would just resign like he should I think a lot of the anger goes away.
If you truly care about your school then leave now.
October 8th, 2014 at 9:53 AM ^
they just need to execute better.
October 8th, 2014 at 10:48 AM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 10:30 AM ^
Interest and excitement in the team, outcome of the game, season, etc. is waning. It's much easier to watch from home as the season goes down the tube.
October 8th, 2014 at 10:50 AM ^
SO not interested in going to this game. The only reason I'll be there is that both little macdaddys inexplicably want to go. Never been less excited for a Michigan football game in my life. And this is UTL III. What has the world come to?
October 8th, 2014 at 11:21 AM ^
team that sucks for a while. It wasn't long ago that Alabama was the team twisting in the wind searching for a coach. We will return stronger for it.
Hail.
October 8th, 2014 at 12:31 PM ^