Wes, Need A Rumor Confirmed...

[Deep Purple]

See that's the problem. If TCU is going to ignore the well being of its fan and simply make the best "business decision" for itself, don't be surprised when the fans stop showing up because they're doing the same thing for themselves.


Reminds me of a quote I read from an article a few years ago on Michigan Football's struggling attendance:

"If the people running college football see their universities as just a brand, and the athletic departments merely a business, they will turn off the very people who've been coming to their temples for decades. Athletic directors need to remember the people in the stands are not customers. They're believers. Break faith with your flock, and you will not get them back with fancier wine.

If you treat your fans like customers long enough, eventually they'll start behaving that way, reducing their irrational love for their team to a cool-headed, dollars-and-cents decision to buy tickets or not, with no more emotional investment than deciding whether to go to the movies or buy new tires."

This. What the JerryWorld game apologists overlook is that college football is not "just a business" like pro football. The majority of the paying crowds in college football are not just customers, they are constituents. They have some personal attachment to TCU, whether as alumni, or relatives of alumni, or some other personal attachment.

If you treat them strictly as customers, you break faith with their constituency and encourage them make ticket-buying decisions purely on economics or any number of considerations other than loyalty to TCU.

You get what you dish out. I don't think that's what TCU really wants. Our fan base is far too small to operate on that model. We absolutely need fan loyalty to survive. And you don't get fan loyalty by treating TCU constituents as just business-model "ticket-buying units."

 

[cdsfrog]

Not the response I expected Deep. I completely agree

 

[cdsfrog]

Also unclefrog consider me an embarrassment then. I was flying in from England for that game. Absolutely zero chance I go now. Only game I was going to be able to attend for the season.

 

[frognutz]

See that's the problem. If TCU is going to ignore the well being of its fan and simply make the best "business decision" for itself, don't be surprised when the fans stop showing up because they're doing the same thing for themselves.


Reminds me of a quote I read from an article a few years ago on Michigan Football's struggling attendance:

"If the people running college football see their universities as just a brand, and the athletic departments merely a business, they will turn off the very people who've been coming to their temples for decades. Athletic directors need to remember the people in the stands are not customers. They're believers. Break faith with your flock, and you will not get them back with fancier wine.

If you treat your fans like customers long enough, eventually they'll start behaving that way, reducing their irrational love for their team to a cool-headed, dollars-and-cents decision to buy tickets or not, with no more emotional investment than deciding whether to go to the movies or buy new tires."

Maybe your wish will come true and someday soon TCU will get tossed out into the college football wilderness again where you and your pop can reclaim your lower west bowl seats and hold hands in a less than half full stadium watching games nobody cares about.

 

[cdsfrog]

Maybe your wish will come true and someday soon TCU will get tossed out into the college football wilderness again where you and your pop can reclaim your lower west bowl seats and hold hands in a less than half full stadium watching games nobody cares about.

Perhaps TCU will stop TCU football solely as a business and will be prepared for the rough transition when GP retires. Time shall tell

 

[Peacefrog]

Perhaps TCU will stop TCU football solely as a business and will be prepared for the rough transition when GP retires. Time shall tell

Huh?

 

[cdsfrog]

Stop seeing rather. Once GP retires in a few years they won't get the same 95% renewal rates unless we get another amazing coach right after. Fan loyalty matters alot more when things arent going as well.

 

[Pharm Frog]

I guess the part that we are going to disagree on is where the focus should be. You are concerned about where you have to go and whether you enjoy being at a certain stadium. I think the concern should be with showing up and supporting the team if you are able to make it. You have every right to your opinion, I just happen to strongly disagree.

You are correct in that we'll have to disagree on where the focus should be. I'll put it another way -- if someone offered me free tickets and free parking to attend the game in Arlington with my wife, I would thank them and politely decline. If someone were to do the same for the game had it been held at ACS, I'd very much accept and arrange my schedule accordingly.

"Supporting the team" is not my first focus although it will happen when I attend. My enjoyment potential relative to the price and cost of attendance is the primary focus and always will be. For example, I am considering driving down to Norman today to see the Frogs play tennis. I am not laboring under any delusion that I would be going to "support the team". I may go because I am very curious about seeing high quality college tennis, its not that far away, its damn inexpensive (and even cheaper on television which may keep me at home when combined with this weather), and I think I may enjoy it based on what I saw online from the Baylor complex earlier. I would not even consider going if the Frogs were not involved though. That's where I believe that I am a fan. If I am a Tier 2 fan instead of Tier 1....so be it.

 

[Moose Stuff]

This. What the JerryWorld game apologists overlook is that college football is not "just a business" like pro football. The majority of the paying crowds in college football are not just customers, they are constituents. They have some personal attachment to TCU, whether as alumni, or relatives of alumni, or some other personal attachment.

If you treat them strictly as customers, you break faith with their constituency and encourage them make ticket-buying decisions purely on economics or any number of considerations other than loyalty to TCU.

You get what you dish out. I don't think that's what TCU really wants. Our fan base is far too small to operate on that model. We absolutely need fan loyalty to survive. And you don't get fan loyalty by treating TCU constituents as just business-model "ticket-buying units."

To you they're "apologists". To me they're people who may not love that we gave up a home game but have some degree of understanding why we did it and don't feel the need to complain about every last thing that doesn't go their way.

 

[cdsfrog]

Care to explain why we did it? I mean I'm pretty sure every season ticket holder would pay a small one time fee to raise the 4 million net difference. So economics is out the window. Seriously I can't think of a valid one.

I get that some don't care that doesn't make you apathetic or an apologist. But people who are very upset shouldn't be chastized for voicing their very understandable frustration.

 

[Moose Stuff]

Care to explain why we did it? I mean I'm pretty sure every season ticket holder would pay a small one time fee to raise the 4 million net difference. So economics is out the window. Seriously I can't think of a valid one.

I get that some don't care that doesn't make you apathetic or an apologist. But people who are very upset shouldn't be chastized for voicing their very understandable frustration.

So you're pretty sure that if CDC sent out a letter to every season ticket holder this week that basically said "we just turned down several million dollars to play a game at Jerry World so we could keep it at ACS and therefore we're gonna need each one of you to fork over $200 extra to cover this" that not one person would complain about it???? LMAO.

 

[cdsfrog]

So you're pretty sure that if CDC sent out a letter to every season ticket holder this week that basically said "we just turned down several million dollars to play a game at Jerry World so we could keep it at ACS and therefore we're gonna need each one of you to fork over $200 extra to cover this" that not one person would complain about it???? LMAO.

Yeah I think most would complain and then do it. $300 for club, $200 for premium accounts and $100 for regular.

Most people will be paying anywhere from $200 to several thousand for the game anyways.

 

[Moose Stuff]

Yeah I think most would complain and then do it.

So something people don't really like would occur, they would [ hundin] about it, perhaps even threaten to drop their season tickets, but eventually would come around and basically be OK with it......... also known as exactly what's happening/gonna happen in the situation we're discussing. As for me, I'm just gonna skip the complaining part.

 

[cdsfrog]

Yeah I don't really think people are gonna cancel season tickets over either senario but I'm pretty sure they would be upset a lot more that TCU has cancelled our best two series ever in the last few years

 

[cdsfrog]

That's fine you don't need to complain. I'm just ok with others complaining about it because it seems quite reasonable to be upset.

 

[Limp Lizard]

 

[cdsfrog]

Um strange. Take your meds.

 

[Uncle_Frog]

See that's the problem. If TCU is going to ignore the well being of its fan and simply make the best "business decision" for itself, don't be surprised when the fans stop showing up because they're doing the same thing for themselves.


Reminds me of a quote I read from an article a few years ago on Michigan Football's struggling attendance:

"If the people running college football see their universities as just a brand, and the athletic departments merely a business, they will turn off the very people who've been coming to their temples for decades. Athletic directors need to remember the people in the stands are not customers. They're believers. Break faith with your flock, and you will not get them back with fancier wine.

If you treat your fans like customers long enough, eventually they'll start behaving that way, reducing their irrational love for their team to a cool-headed, dollars-and-cents decision to buy tickets or not, with no more emotional investment than deciding whether to go to the movies or buy new tires."

I guess what is baffling to me is the fact that our fans don't realize that nearly every Tier-1 program plays neutral site games at NFL stadiums. This is what all the big boys do and we should be pretty darn pumped that we are a name brand and can command these types of games. These games generate a ton of press and makes each team a lot of money to help them build the program. Bama will play it's FIFTH neutral site opening game in a row this year; OU plays in one nearly ever year; as does USC, Florida State, LSU, etc... And those team's fans typically have to travel long distances and get hotels, flights and tickets--yet they all do it willingly. It's just disheartening to know that our fans are so fickle that they would rather not go support the team because they are "taking a stand" or "feeling like a customer" or whatever they want to blame it on. You can be mad at the direction of CFB in general, but acting as if CDC doesn't care about the fans is simply untrue--and I know most of you know that.

Oh and Michigan (the team you referenced in that quote) opens their season at Cowboys Stadium against Florida. Probably going to cost them a lot more than a parking pass but they will show up in droves...

 

[cdsfrog]

For the record that argument is stupid and sucks. Every one of those teams originally scheduled a neutral 1 time game. It's a ludcrious comparison and has no relevancence to this conversation.

 

[Uncle_Frog]

For the record that argument is stupid and sucks. Every one of those teams originally scheduled a neutral 1 time game. It's a ludcrious comparison and has no relevancence to this conversation.

So if the game had original been scheduled as a neutral site game at Jerry World all of these people on here would have refused to go from the start? I highly doubt that. They are simply throwing tantrums and refusing to go because the venue was changed 20 minutes away. That is embarrassing and the behavior of a bunch of brats.

And my argument absolutely stands. You think our fans should be let off the hook because a game 18 months away (in a season you haven't even bought season tickets for) had the venue changed to just down the road? TCU is a major program now and my point illustrates that this is what comes with the territory. If you would prefer to play UNLV, New Mexico, SDSU, etc. and never have to leave The Carter then we are going to have to disagree. Again, I would rather have played the home and home with Ohio State like everyone else, but the reaction from many of our fans is way overblown.