Trouble brewing for Arkansas State in K.C.?

[MeanGreen61]

Tribal Grounds article.

http://www.tribalgrounds.com/index.php?mod...view&ANN_id=415

Posted by: arkstfan on 08/14/2005 10:51 AM

Updated by: arkstfan on 08/14/2005 10:51 AM

Expires: 01/01/2010 12:00 AM

Trouble brewing in KC?

The early apathy toward ticket sales at Arrowhead Stadium might mean big trouble.

For Arkansas State it is a short-term issue. The Tribe had hoped to make as much as $500,000 off the game. Sales are currently on a pace to be at the break-even level for ASU. I don’t know much of that “hope to make” is included in ASU’s plans for spending in the 05-06 athletic budget, but it is a possible shortfall that could make it a hard year around the athletic department.

The game is not that important for ASU in the required attendance component for I-A status. ASU met requirements in 2004 and with Oklahoma State and Army scheduled to visit in 2006; Arkansas State is in good shape for the once every two years attendance requirement no matter what happens the rest of the way in 2005. Since ASU doesn’t repeat last year’s 2 November Thursday night game mess, attendance will probably be OK no matter what.

The long-term impact for Dean Lee and Arkansas State could be with the bowl committees. A poor showing in sales from ASU fans for a big name neutral site game could be a negative at selection time, but that’s only an issue if ASU ties for the Sun Belt title or finishes bowl eligible in a year where there is a shortage of teams. With expansion to 12 games there are unlikely to be widespread shortages like last year unless the number of bowls increased by 2 or 3.

The guy who has to be sweating bullets is Missouri AD Mike Alden. If the pace does not pick up he could be remembered as the guy who proved to potential sponsors in Kansas City that the city does not care Missouri athletics and proved that Missouri fans won’t travel there. College athletic programs merely survive on what friends in the right places throw them in donations and sponsorships. The serious money comes when those who don’t care about sports or who are fans of other programs invest in stadium, radio, TV and coach’s show advertising to reach their audience. A lack of interest in Kansas City evidenced by the hard numbers of tickets sold will grab the attention of those people buying into Mizzou football as a business decision.

There is also a budget issue for Mizzou as well. When sales pass the break-even point, the Tigers get a piece of the action, but on a budget of that size the shortfall would mean little.

Bowl committees will certainly notice if the Tigers cannot take a decent crowd 125 miles. Last year Colorado was the logical choice for the million plus payday at the Independence Bowl but their poor reputation for traveling fans caused the bowl to take Iowa State. Colorado ended up in the minimum payout Houston Bowl instead.

The impact on the Tigers could be long-term. No one will care that the game is not in the Missouri season ticket package. No one will care who was listed as the home team on the game contract. It will not matter who was in home uniforms or in the home lockers. The blame will be on the school located two hours away with an existing fan base in Kansas City, not the school traveling more than eight hours to the game.

How bad is the pace?

Compare it to ASU’s last two trips to Little Rock. Nearly the same distance down to the mile, except half of the Jonesboro to Little Rock drive in 2-lane road instead of interstate. Right now it is about 30% less than what Arkansas State took Little Rock to play San Jose State in 2002 one week after being beaten 63-7 at Va.Tech and on the heels of a 2-9 season. For that game there were maybe 100 San Jose State fans there. It is 35% less than what a 2-3 ASU took to Little Rock for Louisiana Monroe on the heels of losing in Memphis and being routed in Tulsa. ULM brought fewer than 1,000 fans to that game. It is 3,000 tickets behind what Arkansas State had at home with a 1-5 record for a home win over Troy last year. It is 74% less than what Kansas State had for a game at Arrowhead against Cal coming off its first above .500 season in 9 years.

Maybe the fans on message boards predicting a great walk-up are right and a good crowd will show up. Maybe fans at both schools will buy a ticket or two just to help out their school between now and game day even if they cannot use it. Maybe some fans planning to buy at the gate will go ahead and grab the discounted tickets now available to stay out of the lines and to counter-act the growing sense of trouble. The numbers right now though cannot have Dean Lee or Mike Alden happy because apathy at this level will hurt the bottom line at Arkansas State this year and the bottom line at Missouri for years to come.

Edited August 16, 2005 by MeanGreen61