New Student System for Basketball?

by txtwstr7 on Jul 23, 2008 5:44 PM CDT

Since there appear to be many more current students at BON, I thought I would touch on something potentially interesting for those of you still roaming the Forty Acres as students...

In clicking the link to order my 2008 football season tickets and the subsequent OU ticket, I saw an interesting item about a new program for the 2008-9 Basketball season. Before providing some ruminations over this new system--and what it potentially entails--I want to remind everyone to buy their season tickets before Friday's deadline. There's nothing worse than the one friend who claims he "never got the e-mail" about the deadline. Assuming he remains your friend after the episode, of course...

The e-mail said to look at the Student Orange Bloods page for some updates over the new UT Varsity Rewards Program. Here is the relevant text:

NEW UT Varsity Rewards Program
Are you the ultimate Student Orange Blood and want to get hooked up? UT Athletics is proud to announce the UT Varsity Rewards Program. This program is designed for students only and offers incentives to attend the 2008-09 Texas Men’s and Women’s Basketball home games. The program features a multi-tiered system with prizes increasing in value as you attend more games. Keep your eye on TexasSports.com and the Student Orange Bloods (SOBs) page this summer as we unveil the program in full detail.

The page also says that the Stampede program will continue next season, albeit at the increased price of $70 (up from $50 last season). Here are some of my initial thoughts:

1) This seems to be a waste of time, in my book, unless the strings attached are pretty heavy. I just can't imagine students deciding to come to the Exhibition games and non-conference games against Texas Southern'ish teams for the opportunity to win a t-shirt. However, if the program provides the biggest incentive, which is guaranteed ticket access to biggest games (such as KU last year), it will boost early season attendance at the expense of angering some of the casual fans. I think tickets to road games, the basketball banquet, or autographed items seem like a good start for some of the bigger prizes...

2) I'm actually not too alarmed by the increased price of the Stampede system. My guess is the Athletics Department wants to prevent students shelling from out the money for the Stampede pass, then only showing up for a handful of games. By increasing the price, it should encourage people to either think twice about the purchase or decide to get their money's worth by going to more games. However, with Football tickets (LASP, Season Tickets, OU ticket) already creeping up to $260, it might be a squeeze for some students to spend an extra $70 on the Stampede.

3) Giving prizes will never substitute for using creativity in reaching out to students and limiting their excuses for not attending games. After complaining for several years, someone finally listened to my suggestion about allowing students to bring backpacks to the Erwin Center, then checking them in a central location. They've also done a better job checking IDs and streamlining the system with Student Affairs. I'm cautiously optimistic about this program, but I'll be severely disappointed if it remains the only serious attempt to increase student participation and attendance at basketball games heading into next season.

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Screw Stampede

Last year I missed the sign-up for the stampede… it was only open for a week, and a bunch of pathetic fans got it. Only a select few showed up for the small games, usually the same guys. But then when the Kansas and A%M games come, low and behold, there’s the stampede! Getting into the games before people that had been there for over 9 HOURS!

Why have the Stampede? First come, First mutha f’n serve. I don’t like watching girls who don’t even know who we’re playing getting into the game before hardcore fans just because they bought a stampede that they do not advertise worth a damn for most fans to notice anyways.

lol

by texasfan05 on Jul 23, 2008 6:11 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

Why single out girls?

In fact, if it was up to me, girls who don’t even know who we’re playing would get tickets well before guys who don’t even know who we’re playing.

by Wells on Jul 23, 2008 7:06 PM CDT up reply reply 1 recs

Not buying

I don’t know about you, but I tend to think the ones who made the effort to find about Stampede before the season even started deserve to get in before everyone else. If these “girls who don’t even know who we’re playing” are such terrible fans, how is it possible that they knew about Stampede and you didn’t? Don’t blame it on advertising. Sign-up only lasted a week because it sold out within a week, so someone did a pretty good job of advertising.

I do think there should be rules that require you to attend a certain number of games or you lose your privileges. But there most definitely should be some type of program that rewards student fans for being proactive about getting tickets early and not waiting until the day of the game and then bitching because they can’t get in or can’t get decent seats.

by bassale47 on Jul 23, 2008 7:17 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Dude, it's not that they found it

It’s that someone told them about it. And some frats and sororities would MAKE every body buy tickets from the stampede, and then none of them would ever go to the games. The stampede only sells 500. Doesn’t take much time for it to be sold out.

It’s not black and white man.

by texasfan05 on Jul 23, 2008 7:23 PM CDT up reply reply 1 recs

I saw this [the program] a few weeks ago…I will def. be attending all the home games

I am going to be a freshman…so excuse me for asking…..is it worth it to buy the stampede add on or no?

by MJY6087 on Jul 23, 2008 7:44 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

yeah man, buy it.

by texasfan05 on Jul 23, 2008 8:37 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Interesting

It has always pissed me off how people who never show up to any basketball games always end up getting into games like A&M and Kansas while others who aren’t willing to pay for Stampede or wait for 4 or 5 hours outside the Erwin Center have to watch on TV. I’ve always thought it would reward the most passionate fans and give the Horns a better home court advantage if there were some kind of points system that would reward the students who go to the most games with tickets to the most in demand games.

I think that this would boost attendance at games against teams that usually don’t sell out (pretty much everyone but Kansas and A&M) and give us a louder, more raucous crowd for all of the games since the most dedicated fans are in attendance. The hardcore fans would earn points for showing up to games that they normally would anyway and would also have a better chance at getting into the big games against teams like Kansas. No longer will the most dedicated fans be forced to wait outside the stadium for 4-5 hours and risk not getting a seat while people going to their first basketball game of the year walk in ahead of them.

by HornsNation on Jul 23, 2008 11:07 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

Gotta disagree, guys...

...the “first-come, first-serve” system was pretty terrible. Regarding the Stampede, I called UT Athletics about ten times the day it was supposed to come out, then hand-delivered my money to Belmont when the online system shut down. And that was after e-mailing anyone I could find telling them that I had been trying to purchase tickets the entire day.

While I understand the problems people have with the Stampede system, it was awful having to run from class and sit outside the Erwin Center for the entire afternoon before every conference home game. And it really didn’t help the “hardcore” fans, either, since the casual fans were on the exact same playing field for ticket access for the biggest games…

If they aren’t going to go to a points system restricting or increasing the chances of access for the biggest games for the biggest fans, then the Stampede, in my opinion, isn’t a bad option, especially with the increased price. I dont think you’ll see too many people throwing down $70 to go to 2-3 games/year, and, even if they do, there are still 1500 seats (I think) open to the rest of the campus. Trust me, the non-Stampede students could have gotten seats for just about every non-KU game if they got to the arena more than 90 minutes prior to tip.

The best option would be to combine the Stampede with a points system for all the non-Stampede students for the biggest games. The Stampede system, if it sells out, will raise $35,000 for the program. Plus, students in the Stampede have to arrive 90 minutes prior to tip, or they lose their added status. It’s not like they get everything handed to them without having to work for it…

by txtwstr7 on Jul 24, 2008 8:08 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

First-come first-serve was an abomination

Last year I would work until 6 on campus every monday night and it was well worth it to buy the stampede pass to still be able to attend games even though I attended less than 10.
For 70 bucks I’m not sure if I can afford to be in Stampede again but I think it’s a very logical answer to the problem beforehand of students having to show up early to get into games on weekdays with classes.
In the A&M game when we went into double-overtime I waited outside for the game for 3 hours. In the minutes before they opened the door it became a madhouse outside, people who were waay behind me in line cut ahead in the mob and got into the game while me and my friends were left out. As this was happening the event staff walked away like they were slipping away from a bank robbery. The first-come first-serve system was atrocious and poorly run. The Stampeded is a much better situation.

by RolloTamasi on Jul 24, 2008 9:02 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

This is a hell of a difference from when I was at school

The only sell out basketball game was Kansas, and even that you could get into showing up just an hour early.

Barnes has really done well here.

by BoddickerIsClutch on Jul 24, 2008 2:54 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

sounds like y'all are moving to the same system A&M has

Bill Byrne instituted a 12th Man Rewards system to encourage people to attend events that didn’t get many fans, like cross country or golf.

Basically, you get points for everything you attend, and you get gifts for certan point levels.

I’ve never looked at the top rewards, but I think some of them are getting to travel with the team on road trips and things like that.

If students were able to possibly earn a trip to a road game with the football team, say, for attending basketball games, I think it would motivate more people to go. Having said that, I’m not sure if A&M goes that far.

by Beergut on Jul 24, 2008 11:54 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs