The Official Off Season Thread

[Valley drop step]

The things this AD will do to make money.

How about making sure the Stu is sold out this year, which it will not based on all of the social media ads for season tickets. At a minimum now for 4 season tickets, the cost this year is $2,000 for season tickets, $1,000 for the rights to those tickets and at least $500 to the RAF, which will get you a bleacher seat. That's $3,500 per year to sit in bleacher seats!!!

For those of you that did not renew season tickets, you will be able to buy single game tickets from VCU at game day price.

It is so sad that this AD has brought VCU to this point money wise. And tons of you will be complaining when the sellout streak ends.

Enjoy your VCU IPA $9 beer at the games!!!

The middle class is shrinking, as is their buying power. Chasing upper class money for discretionary spending probably makes a lot of sense. You can see that reflected in live sports. More recent arenas tend to be smaller, but swankier, geared towards well moneyed clientele rather than the masses. Combine that with the trend of younger people not being as interested in sports and will be less engaged alumni in that respect, and an athletic department like VCU will probably have to concentrate on a smaller group of higher class doners, rather than do it on volume. There is probably some risk in losing some fans though, but there is risk in any decision, or indecision, or maintaining the status quo.

The nickel and dime stuff may be hard to look at sometimes, but a bucks a buck I guess. You do wonder if revenue is down in general by upping prices across the board, champagne taste with a beer budget kind of thing.

 

[Ramaholic]

The middle class is shrinking, as is their buying power. Chasing upper class money for discretionary spending probably makes a lot of sense. You can see that reflected in live sports. More recent arenas tend to be smaller, but swankier, geared towards well moneyed clientele rather than the masses. Combine that with the trend of younger people not being as interested in sports and will be less engaged alumni in that respect, and an athletic department like VCU will probably have to concentrate on a smaller group of higher class doners, rather than do it on volume. There is probably some risk in losing some fans though, but there is risk in any decision, or indecision, or maintaining the status quo.

The nickel and dime stuff may be hard to look at sometimes, but a bucks a buck I guess. You do wonder if revenue is down in general by upping prices across the board, champagne taste with a beer budget kind of thing.

You can also add that back in the 70's, 80's and even the 90's the only way to see most college basketball was to buy a ticket and go to a game. Now you can watch most games on TV. And with the cost of cable TV packages -why wouldnt people want to watch TV games in the comfort of there own home on a wide screen HD TV?
I think it is going to be harder and harder to get budget oriented, time constrained folks out for a game.

 

[duncanlamb]

Combine that with the trend of younger people not being as interested in sport.

VCU needs put together a world of war craft team.

 

[Ramcounter]

I don’t see anything wrong with this. It will require next to no work for the athletic department.

As for season tickets, everyone better just hope that schools are able to have full attendance for games the way things are going. Many people with tickets already purchased may be getting their money back again this year.

Has there been anything announced regarding COVID protocols for the upcoming season?

 

[mrgeode]

Has there been anything announced regarding COVID protocols for the upcoming season?

I don't believe so, and I'm also pretty pessimistic about where we'll be toward the end of the year.

 

[VCURAMIT]

VCU needs put together a world of war craft team.

The VCUEsports club streams competitions against other university teams on their twitch account pretty regularly. I put it on in the background from time to time even if I don't really play competitive stuff like they do. They handle the commentary well so I sort of know what's going on

 

[WillWeaverRVA]

Has there been anything announced regarding COVID protocols for the upcoming season?

The only thing that has been announced is 100% capacity. Given that the COVID infection rate has literally quadrupled in the last month despite about 55% of Virginians being vaccinated and CDC reestablishing mask guidelines for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, I don’t see VCU sticking to that. Maybe 50% capacity.

 

[WillWeaverRVA]

The VCUEsports club streams competitions against other university teams on their twitch account pretty regularly. I put it on in the background from time to time even if I don't really play competitive stuff like they do. They handle the commentary well so I sort of know what's going on

I’ve seen it, it’s actually fun to watch sometimes.

 

[SpiderRAM]

I don't believe so, and I'm also pretty pessimistic about where we'll be toward the end of the year.

As of this week I am too.

 

[VCU Finance 2008]

The middle class is shrinking, as is their buying power. Chasing upper class money for discretionary spending probably makes a lot of sense. You can see that reflected in live sports. More recent arenas tend to be smaller, but swankier, geared towards well moneyed clientele rather than the masses. Combine that with the trend of younger people not being as interested in sports and will be less engaged alumni in that respect, and an athletic department like VCU will probably have to concentrate on a smaller group of higher class doners, rather than do it on volume. There is probably some risk in losing some fans though, but there is risk in any decision, or indecision, or maintaining the status quo.

The nickel and dime stuff may be hard to look at sometimes, but a bucks a buck I guess. You do wonder if revenue is down in general by upping prices across the board, champagne taste with a beer budget kind of thing.

I think you are on to something here. Especially the nickel and dime stuff. I can certainly appreciate them looking at all avenues to raise funds. That is literally their job, but you can only go to the well so many times with the same donors. When you had donors that were charged a fee to purchase tickets and we're not able to purchase tickets and then you try to hit them up for virtual tickets and a link to a virtual banquet, that probably turned some people off. If they would have given those things to those who had already paid for tickets they probably would have ended up better off in the long run by doing that than by trying to squeeze those same donors even more.

 

[VCU Finance 2008]

You can also add that back in the 70's, 80's and even the 90's the only way to see most college basketball was to buy a ticket and go to a game. Now you can watch most games on TV. And with the cost of cable TV packages -why wouldnt people want to watch TV games in the comfort of there own home on a wide screen HD TV?
I think it is going to be harder and harder to get budget oriented, time constrained folks out for a game.

I think young and old people still care about sports, but they are less concerned with being there in person or being at every game. The Minor League baseball approach is going to have to become more common across the board. You have got to give those people something in the live experience that they can't get from home.

 

[Havoc City]

The other issues is that right now, season tickets are more expensive than simply buying all your tickets individually. Usually, season tickets constitute a discount if you plan to attend every game. That hasn't been true at VCU for a while now. Because of this, I didn't renew my season tickets last year, and the decision had nothing to do with Covid. I know some people have plenty of discretionary income, but for those of us who have to watch our spending, season tickets just don't make sense.

 

[mike7842]

I buy season tickets and make a pledge because it supports the program. I do not go to all the games.

 

[Newboy]

Well, if you get season tickets you can always be assured of getting tickets to all games, and not worry about getting shut out for the bigger matchups.

 

[AlienAiden]

Well, if you get season tickets you can always be assured of getting tickets to all games, and not worry about getting shut out for the bigger matchups.

I get to know people around me and I like that I have mid-court this season. It will be a new spot so I am sure someone will complain about something or get on my nerves or I will get on their nerves.