-
Welcome to BradleyFans.com! Visitors are welcome, but we encourage you to sign up and register as a member. It's free and takes only a few seconds. Just click on the link to Register at the top right of the page, and follow instructions. If you have any problems or questions, click on the link at the bottom right of the page to Contact Us.
"Elite" Student Section
- Thread starter BradleyDU4
- Start date
Stryker
New member
Tell me again HOW this idea is going to get more students to the game? If you really are cheering loudly in the front row at every game and getting people involved, aren't you already doing exactly what you want already? Now you are just giving yourself an "elite" status.
If you want to get more people to the games focus on marketing on campus and doing promotions to draw the kids on campus down to Carver. Get the greek community involved. That is a huge group of students that never show up to games. Talk to their chapters and make an incentive to them to get them to go. You are going to alienate many students by giving yourself some kind of elite status at the games. If you want to lead the cheers and students involved then DO IT! Myself and my friends did it when we were there, you don't need something special to do it!
Go ahead and set yourselves apart by cheering and having your viewing party, but you should never restrict someone if they want to sit up front, and never charge them more for it.
Going to games for the past 4 years, I've noticed that the first one drives the other. When the team is playing well, the crowd is more vocal, but when the team is doing poorly, the crowd is quiet. The guys are here on scholarship and should have plenty of motivation already to play the game and how they play shouldn't depend on how loud and crazy the crowd is. Do we want a student section that is just loud and crazy the entire game and has no idea what is going on, or a student section that actually cares about how the team does so at times they aren't as loud but they actually care about how the team does. I'll be the first to admit that I am in the latter of those two. I will jump and yell and what not when it is appropriate, but I won't do it for an entire game just to do it. If we are not playing well, I will not jump up and down and act as if we have been winning the entire game. If people have a problem with that, I'll leave the first row and move a few rows back and just sit in my seat and cheer on the Braves in my usual way.
BradleyDU4 said it best when he said that you are creating a product for a high demand environment when there is no demand. If the teams starts winning and especially if they can find a way to get into the top 25, the students will start to come. Call them fair weather fans if you will, but we shouldn't be worried about that. We should be worried about having a product on the court that will keep them coming. I remember days of going to Carver an hour and a half before the gates opened just to try to beat people down to the court and sit in those first two rows. Back then it was after the Sweet 16 and the team did a better job of holding down their home court. That was fun because it became a competition between the groups about who would arrive earlier. Some of my friends called me crazy for doing that, but it was worth it to be there and cheer on the Braves. Put a winning team on the court and we'll see that again.
But how do you get students back to Carver when the team isn't doing well? I know the economy was/is horrible recently and maybe that was part of the reason why the Red Pride points system went away last year, but that needs to be brought back. When the team isn't playing well, there has to be some sort of incentive for the students to show up or they won't waste their time. Well most of them won't, the students that you already see at every game will still show up. This new group looked at bringing a points system back but only for those who pay the "Elite" membership. That won't work. It has to be available for the whole student body for it to have any kind of affect. I personally thought about joining it just so I can collect points when I go to other BU sporting events since I try to make it to all the men's and women's basketball games as well as some soccer games and every now and then a softball game. But if it isn't available to the whole student body, it is just going to flop.
I do like the idea of having a registered student organization to try to make the student section better. If they are registered with SAO then they have the opportunity to come to SABRC and request funding for the different avenues they want to use to get students to the game. Here is the link to the Student Activity Budget Review Committee by the way... http://www.bradley.edu/campusorg/sabrc/
The site needs to be updated still since we recently did elections, but we even have a couple students on the board that I know are big Bradley basketball fans. We can't make any promises that funding would go through obviously, but it is at least an avenue that they can explore. Charging $50 a student isn't an idea that is going to work though. But having some kind of promotion where the a large number of students can win something just by showing up will help get them there. It won't completely fill the student section, but it will be a start.
They could also advertise much better on campus. Right now if you walk around campus on a game day, there is nothing saying that there is a game. And that goes for every sport. Tennis had matches last week and the only reason anybody knew about it is because they happened to walk by the Tennis courts and saw a small sign saying BU Tennis Today. That is how it is with other sports too. Sports are falling by the wayside and being replaced with drinking, video games, and homework. It is great that students care about their grades because they came to school for the education, but if they plan their schedule correctly and do it ahead of time, they can make a 3 hour block free to go to the game. Night class teachers are a big part of that too. I remember having a teacher who would allow us to come into class early on the day of a test and take the test early so that we would be able to make it down to the game. And if you couldn't come in early, that was fine and he would wait until everyone was done and then he would go down to the game. Yes basketball is just a sport and in no way should it influence a teaching schedule, but if the teacher is willing to allow students to do that so they can go to the game then where is the problem?
I know I have rambled on for a while now, but this has kind of been eating at me ever since I was asked to help start the organization and help write its constitution. There is a time and a place for this. The place is here, but the time is not now.
Then why charge the fee? Am I supposed to feel better about myself for paying more for the same seats I have had for the last 4 years?
I think people understand that it not your goal to alienate students. However it sounds like that is exactly what is happening. It is great to wish we had a few sections of Krazies but the fact is we only have a few rows of them. This is after transportation and cheap tickets are provided. These students who show up are already yelling and cheering and standing all game. They don't care if we are good or not. They are true fans and are coming no matter what.
You mention that some of you have put alot of time into this but yet the diehard students/fans who post here did not know anything about this movement. Sounds like the Athletic Dept. and Bobby Parker didn't know anything either. College students will always always try to get the most for their dollars (Keystone) and to charge these students 50 bucks for what they got in the past for almost free will discourage them. Now if you plan on providing food and beverages at pre game and post game parties then you might be on to something here. I just have not heard those details yet. It is no secret to anyone, the number 1 way to increase long term student attendance is win (especially at home) many more than you lose. IMO putting up flyers and posters on campus, text/e-mail alerts, visiting frat houses, or setting up info tables around campus won't lead to big changes.
troj231129
New member
Hey Guys,
I Have been following this discussion now and I am one of the founders of the group. I just want to say first off that I appreciate all the input. We are a new Organization through SAO and just getting our feet wet we have come up with preliminary ideas. The focus of the group is to get the student body more aware of Bradley Athletics in general. Yes the main focus obviously will be the basketball games, however we are also trying to improve student body attendance at other sporting events. We figured with the new Arena opening on campus in the fall we would like to motivate people to come out to those games. These fans would then be awarded for coming out and supporting Bradley Athletics as a whole.
As for the seating at Men's Basketball Games, we have yet to decide exactly how we are going to arrange those seats. From what we have talked about the front rows wont necessarily be reserved but the members of this club would get early admission. With this just being in its infant stages most seats probably won't be affected. So if you are against the group...don't join it. Even as a founder I am not expecting a lot of membership in its first year. However I am looking forward to this organization growing.
I will repeat that this group is made to benefit Bradley Athletics as a whole. And as the semester goes on and people join the group we will have meetings where people can voice their opinions. There will always be change and we will welcome any criticism, feedback, or advice. But like I said this is in the beginning stages and we will work toward creating a Student Body that is supportive of its Athletic teams, and one that will stand by their team win or lose.
I Have been following this discussion now and I am one of the founders of the group. I just want to say first off that I appreciate all the input. We are a new Organization through SAO and just getting our feet wet we have come up with preliminary ideas. The focus of the group is to get the student body more aware of Bradley Athletics in general. Yes the main focus obviously will be the basketball games, however we are also trying to improve student body attendance at other sporting events. We figured with the new Arena opening on campus in the fall we would like to motivate people to come out to those games. These fans would then be awarded for coming out and supporting Bradley Athletics as a whole.
As for the seating at Men's Basketball Games, we have yet to decide exactly how we are going to arrange those seats. From what we have talked about the front rows wont necessarily be reserved but the members of this club would get early admission. With this just being in its infant stages most seats probably won't be affected. So if you are against the group...don't join it. Even as a founder I am not expecting a lot of membership in its first year. However I am looking forward to this organization growing.
I will repeat that this group is made to benefit Bradley Athletics as a whole. And as the semester goes on and people join the group we will have meetings where people can voice their opinions. There will always be change and we will welcome any criticism, feedback, or advice. But like I said this is in the beginning stages and we will work toward creating a Student Body that is supportive of its Athletic teams, and one that will stand by their team win or lose.
it's boogie time
Active member
Good luck with the new group.
I actually didn't like to sit in the front row when I was in the Molinarmy. Cheerleaders and refs were always getting in the way. Even if we were the first ones there, we would grab a brew and stand about 1/2 up the section. The group seemed to be mostly freshmen women, so the game didn't always seem to be the most important thing.
I actually didn't like to sit in the front row when I was in the Molinarmy. Cheerleaders and refs were always getting in the way. Even if we were the first ones there, we would grab a brew and stand about 1/2 up the section. The group seemed to be mostly freshmen women, so the game didn't always seem to be the most important thing.
Stryker
New member
You still didn't address the posters concerns. All you did is say what you planned on doing which we already know. If you want support tell us how this organization is going to improve the bradley basketball experience, how you are going to get more students, and how this won't alienate some of the fans.
Exactly. To me the plan seems to be to charge more... And you get in 15 minutes early.
Thats about it.
know there is talk of 'exclusive' viewing parties and such. But IMO I am generally always going to choose BW's or the fieldhouse over a university 'exclusive' event unless there will be hundreds of people watching it in the fieldhouse (ala the Memphis game) and that would be the opposite of exclusive.
troj231129
New member
In order to improve the basketball experience we are trying to get the student section to be united as one. However this will be difficult to do because the bands area is specially made and will be tough to rearrange. Also we will be having opening meetings to where people can come and discuss any and all ideas that will help get all students involved by adding different chants as well as finding ways to gain more involvement. We will always try to motivate people in the stands to be loud and supportive.
Getting more students in the student section as mentioned multiple times is mainly up to the basketball team and whether it decides to play to its potential especially next year. Like people have mentioned, we need to improve on how the games are marketed. Traditional marketing clearly is not working. Since we live in a digital age, I am looking into options where we create E-mails with notifications about games as well as with Facebook connecting everyone now a days, creating events to be sent out to Bradley Students.
Finally, the alienation part that you are talking about will quickly sorted out. As of right now I understand where you are coming from about the people who don't want to join the group but still enjoy being loud and supporting their team, we will gladly work with them on game days to include them. However, I will say this, the best thing is for those who may feel alienated, come to our meetings in the fall express your opinion. The more opinions we have from people concerned with this issue the better. We are not trying to get to the point where we seem to be alienating fans, we want to work with the fans to better the student body in general.
troj231129
New member
The "exclusive" viewing parties aren't official yet either we have to work out a deal with The Fieldhouse in campustown to see if there is a way for us to organize viewing parties that will be booked by the Red Sea Elite, but will be open to everyone. We want as many people to support away games as we can. The extra costs would be for awards for supporting all athletics, covering the costs of t-shirts lanyards, ect. and with any left over organizing cheap rides down to Arch Madness in the spring.
So since we have yet to create posters that are going to be put up around campus, we will take heed to your suggestions, change the wording and have people understand better what they are paying for.
DeltaBrave03
New member
I like the idea, but still don't see where the $50 fee is necessary. Charge people who want to ride down to arch madness individually and as mentioned earlier, SABRC distributes nearly $100,000 dollars a semester for student activities such as these. I think the major opposition here is being told we have to pay $50 to be a "premium" fan. This group does have a lot of possibilities though just needs to be open to a few changes IMO.
troj231129
New member
We are open to the changes, and it is 50 dollars for next year because SABRC had already distributed the money, or already had their budget set for next year meaning that it was to late for us to get any funding. In the future when we can get the funding, the price will indeed go down.
The more I read this thread the more I appalud the 50.00. It's rare now days for someone to give a little more. I have more respect for these students, or anyone, over the ones who won't go unless you "give me something." We can't assume that every student is a basketball fan and don't expect them to be interested. The ones who call themselves sports fans should be there win or lose and support their team. Shouldn't have to bribe them or go try to talk them into coming on down to Carver. They know when there is a game scheduled.
Stryker
New member
I think you would be ok if you didn't have the reserved seating at the games, and didn't charge for people's input by having them joing the group just to give suggestions etc. If you want to have stuff like the Red Pride then go ahead. Just don't alienate people when they are at the games. If people want to pay extra to get a different t-shirt and participate in exculsive viewing parties, then go ahead and do it that way.
What you should be doing is creating awareness on campus. Put up big signs on the quad a day or two before the game, send out your emails, get the Scout to put the gameday stuff in a prominent place, make sure everyone knows about the free rides, not just a 9x11 sheet of paper taped to the student center door. Get the greeks to come down as part of their chapter or what not. Get the freshmen down there as part of some sort of group. There are a lot of ways to get the students out, setting yourself apart is not the way to do it.
Exactly, if I can come to all the viewing parties, they are at an establishment open to the public, I already get a T-shirt with my normal season tickets, what EXACTLY does this extra $35 cover?
I've managed a student organization with an annual budget of a little over $35,000 (as I'm sure the founders of this new Student Section group are aware) and even then I had to account for every penny because students want to know where their money is going. Having a general thing like covering gas money for those who choose to go to St. Louis is not a good budget (nor do I think this is a good idea because you have to figure out hotels and such, plus the Braves club usually gets a bus if we make it to Sunday (been a while...
)), nor will you last very long as a student organization. Like I've said many times, I applaud the effort, but the plan needs some more thought and more than tripling the cost of tickets with no discernable return is not the right approach.
Rinse, wash, repeat. Great post Stryker.
I agree Delta with your sentiments. What they need to do is create a plan where they can get the greatest buy in from the students. Once you get them involved and feeling as part of something bigger then you can start adding the premium status and privileges. Take a look at how airlines create loyalty. If I was in charge of marketing for this I bet you I could change the dynamics of the student body in a positive way. Charging $50 right outside the gate was a bit naive IMO. The idea was not bad but the implementation process in place will not create the desired effect. Since the group is trying to create overall student involvement in all sports programs, why stick $50 to just the basketball fans?
I think you are missing the point entirely here. Your goal of bettering the atmosphere and improving student support is admirable, however, your logic is completely backwards.
Your plan makes the assumption that the loudest and craziest fans don't already sit in the first few rows, which simply isn't true. You are essentially attempting to those fans 233% more for seats they were already occupying. All that will do is anger those students and push them out of their seats. That's the opposite of what you want.
If you want to accomplish what you say you wish to accomplish, this idea will not work. What you need to do is simply: sell the idea of attending every game to the freshman students. Get them hooked on the BU basketball as soon as they arrive on campus.
You're right that $50 isn't a huge amount, but the fact that it is such a large increase over the original price of season tickets is a major problem. Especially when there isn't a high demand for student season tickets at their current price.
RedSeaElite1
New member
Ok so you are telling us the economics doesnt work, well if it was all economics then students would be at every baseball game where they give out free food and free tickets cuase thats economical. but the thing is even with the cheep tickets, the free give aways and the schools attempt to market the games its not working. I for one know that even ... See Morewhen my high school team wasnt playing the greatest we still had kids at the game, because its fun to yell and heckle the other team and to really make some noise and a difference in games. when more people see that happening hopefully they will want to join in. This is just what we have come up with, from the stories i've heard from some alumni no one has really tried something like this in the past, and obviously from the way the student section was last year what has happened in the past is not working currently at BU. If this doesnt work and flops next year, we gave it a shot and tried to do our part. All of the idea of marketing the games and putting up flyers and having greek night give aways and stuff cost money. BU already takes quite a hit for practically giving away those seats to the students in the student section, th erefore with the money raised by the cost to join we can not only offer incentives to members of the group, but we can use it to raise awarness on campus, and the leaders of the student section can be organized in getting greek houses, and freshman to games. I see where all of you think we will fail, and cool thats great we can all have our opinoins, but i also know some great people that will do everything within thier power to see this succeed and to see that we can build a passionate student section. Give us our chance now that you have gone and if it fails you can say "i told you so" next year and we can try something different. but i would think you all would hope it succeeds cause that would mean a more passionate student section representing your alma mater