Promotions

[gangrene]

A promotion for current students only.

All registered student's names are put in a hat. A really big hat that can hold 33,000 names. Just before the second half, and after all attendees have been counted, one name is drawn at each home game. The winner must be present to win, and he/she gets his next semester tuition (just tuition) paid in an amount based upon his/her current load. A student currently taking 12 hours would get a credit for up to 12 hours the next semester. A 6 hour part-time student would get get up to 6 hours tuition paid. But, YOU MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN. Maybe even have to get there before kick off to "register" before the drawing.

Students would have to be at the game to register and need to stay at least until the drawing. The cost would be free to the student, and would only cost the Athletic Dept if the winning student was actually present. Great reward for the student, and minimal risk to Athletics.

Do the student IDs still get scanned upon entry? If so, there should be a computerized database of those students in attendance. Most people don't like to provide personal information to "register" for something and this process would eliminate it. A full semester of free tuition may/may not be enough to entice a larger crowd but it's a good idea. Maybe you could have one free tuition winner per game and partner with an apartment complex to provide free rent for a semester as a grand prize. Or partner with a book store to provide $500 of free textbooks, etc. Hell, I'd be willing to contribute to a prize fund if I thought it would increase student attendance.

I think you're on the right track though....we need to do everything we can to get more students to attend the games.

[greenjoe]

As far as "register", I didn't mean ask for any personal information. I just was looking for a reason to force the student to be in his seat when the team came out, and then hopefully stay until the drawing at the beginning of the second half.

Under my idea, if for any reason, the winning student doesn't attend the next semester (grades, graduate, just doesn't want to continue) , any reason, the prize would be forfited. The prize would also be available ONLY to the student whose name was drawn. Not transferable.

[meangreendork]

A good start to getting more fans is to stop running these horrifically cheap commercials. They look like something done for an amateur hour promo show. Same thing with a lot of the AD collateral. It all looks cheap and amateur to me. I say they hand it off to the URCM and get it done right by the designers.

[UNTflyer]

Seriously, we need to have a Residents Get in Free campaign. All Denton residents can get free end zone seats by just showing their driver's license. They will still buy concessions, and hopefully some Mean Green merchandise.

We will never sell those seats, but perhaps in the final 2 seasons at Fouts we can win over some local fans and new season ticket holders for the new stadium.

Edited February 11, 2009 by UNTflyer

[Eagle1855]

It would also not be worth the license to sell beer at the stadium, the insurance alone would be way too expensive to make it profitable.

Is that a fact? Because U of H sells beer inside their stadium, just like a pro event, and I can't imagine their athletic department being any more profitable than ours.

I guess what I'm saying is, I imagine they'd quit doing it if it cost them an absurd amount of money.

Edited February 11, 2009 by Eagle1855

[UNTLifer]

Is that a fact? Because U of H sells beer inside their stadium, just like a pro stadium and I can't imagine their athletic deparment being any more profitable than ours.

Have they, U of H, always sold beer at their games or did it begin when the Dynamo started playing at Robertson? U of H may sell using the Dynamo's license. Just a thought.

You know it does take quite a few beers to get folks to watch soccer! (The previous comment was for KRAM's reading pleasure)

[stebo]

Have they, U of H, always sold beer at their games or did it begin when the Dynamo started playing at Robertson? U of H may sell using the Dynamo's license. Just a thought.

You know it does take quite a few beers to get folks to watch soccer! (The previous comment was for KRAM's reading pleasure)

Most likely their vendor is taking care of it along with the soccer games. If we used the stadium more than 5 or 6 times a year, it might be worth it... but the stadium is only used those 5-6 times a year. The way that Texas Bev law is set up, we couldn't even get a license for both the Pit and Fouts and "share" it - the license has to be attached to a physical address and cannot be used for a picnic (off premise) license more than 2-3 times a year. Two being the rule, three with an exception made. And yes, I know TABC law - I became an expert.... and when State Club gave up the rights to vending in Fouts - I actually put a bid in to take that over so I explored the beer situation in depth. Can it be done? Absolutely. Is it cost effective? Not in the current format with state law... It's not really the license - it's the insurance. There is not a ton of mark-up on beer as it is despite what most people think. The game only lasts 4 hours, tops... so you have 5 home games (6 on a good year) and 4 hours each time to sell enough beer to not only pay for the license, to pay the insurance, and to try and make some sort of profit... plus dealing with extra security and all of the complaints that always come with selling alcohol around kids. No way it would fly in the general seating area. It would be pushing the envelope way too far. Even if you could use another premise's license for those days and outsource it... it still wouldn't be worth the hassle. You might as well just let people bring their own in. The new stadium will solve a lot of these problems. The suites will allow drinking, the new deck will allow it and the club seats will probably allow it as well. I imagine it will be done like it is now - you pay for a ticket to control the amount.. and you hand the ticket to redeem the item to avoid an actual sale.

[NT03]

We need to get some kind of promational "stimulus package" up !

[stebo]

I forgot one thing - the "sin" tax that alchohol gets in the South... Double the regular sales tax. So if the tax is 8%, the sin tax is 16%... you just have to sell a lot of beer to make it worth your effort. And all it takes is one person - just one idiot - to drive away from the stadium after too much to drink and kill someone... it could literally shut a program down. The tailgating area is PUSHING it... it would be a nightmare if that person was underage on top of that. The University would lose so much... it is too much of a risk for such a little reward (if any).

[meangreendork]

Seriously, we need to have a Residents Get in Free campaign. All Denton residents can get free end zone seats by just showing their driver's license. They will still buy concessions, and hopefully some Mean Green merchandise.

We will never sell those seats, but perhaps in the final 2 seasons at Fouts we can win over some local fans and new season ticket holders for the new stadium.

You're right. Might as well use what the university paid for and get some concession and merch cash out of it.

[Eagle1855]

As far as I know, they have had it since before the Dynamo were in Houston, as they have only been around for like 3-4 years. U of H isn't the only college stadium that serves alcohol at their games. And if the issue is insurance, why would it matter how many times they play a season?

I'm not trying to argue- you all certainly know more about TABC laws (anything is more than zero)- Im just saying, there is a reason teams choose to or not to do it and I find it hard to believe the cost of insurance is the key variable, considering we have similar budgets and average attendance figures.

Also, what is the difference in drinking on the Deck vs in the stadium? The problems you outlined are no different than the problems any other sporting event in the country faces. I'm guessing Denton County, with their stupid drinking memberships, is the number one problem for UNT selling beer in the stands. In Harris county, everything goes. No membership needed to consume alcohol.

There seems to be a lot of markup on beer at sporting events. I'm guessing you can get a keg of domestic for around $50. That's almost 2000 ounces. You sell a hundred 20oz cups of beer for $7 a pop, that's $700...fourteen times what you paid for it. We could break out the unit costs based on how many sales a given associate could make, taking out his pay, overhead, blah... but I'm guessing it's a decent profit.

On the other hand, it's totally reasonable to assume the University just simply doesn't want a ton of drunk college students in the games, making asses out of themselves and ruining the experience for families. That may be justification alone to forgo any potential profit to be had off selling it.

What would really help is if we just won some games.

Edited February 11, 2009 by Eagle1855

[TIgreen01]

A good start to getting more fans is to stop running these horrifically cheap commercials. They look like something done for an amateur hour promo show. Same thing with a lot of the AD collateral. It all looks cheap and amateur to me. I say they hand it off to the URCM and get it done right by the designers.

Can't believe this isn't remarked upon more. Goes for just about ANY university commercial. For a school with such great arts, RTVF, and broadcast journalism departments you'd think we could get something out there(ie---quality advertising and commercials) to really show off that side of the university more.

[DirtySavage]

Can't believe this isn't remarked upon more. Goes for just about ANY university commercial. For a school with such great arts, RTVF, and broadcast journalism departments you'd think we could get something out there(ie---quality advertising and commercials) to really show off that side of the university more.

I like the Blair Witch look. It says come to UNT, you might die in a cheap production.

[UNTflyer]

Actually, I believe that this is an NCAA rule.

No. The NCAA bans alcohol sales only at NCAA championship games (or tournament games). And as far as I know, there is no law that bans alcohol sales at Texas college athletic events.

[stebo]

As far as I know, they have had it since before the Dynamo were in Houston, as they have only been around for like 3-4 years. U of H isn't the only college stadium that serves alcohol at their games. And if the issue is insurance, why would it matter how many times they play a season?

I'm not trying to argue- you all certainly know more about TABC laws (anything is more than zero)- Im just saying, there is a reason teams choose to or not to do it and I find it hard to believe the cost of insurance is the key variable, considering we have similar budgets and average attendance figures.

Also, what is the difference in drinking on the Deck vs in the stadium? The problems you outlined are no different than the problems any other sporting event in the country faces. I'm guessing Denton County, with their stupid drinking memberships, is the number one problem for UNT selling beer in the stands. In Harris county, everything goes. No membership needed to consume alcohol.

There seems to be a lot of markup on beer at sporting events. I'm guessing you can get a keg of domestic for around $50. That's almost 2000 ounces. You sell a hundred 20oz cups of beer for $7 a pop, that's $700...fourteen times what you paid for it. We could break out the unit costs based on how many sales a given associate could make, taking out his pay, overhead, blah... but I'm guessing it's a decent profit.

On the other hand, it's totally reasonable to assume the University just simply doesn't want a ton of drunk college students in the games, making asses out of themselves and ruining the experience for families. That may be justification alone to forgo any potential profit to be had off selling it.

What would really help is if we just won some games.

We could really go back and forth about this all day... dram shop insurance is a flat fee for the year, not per event. If you think that selling a keg will net you that much of a profit, you have never worked in the industry. Beer is the least profitable. In fact, we make more off of coke and dr pepper than we would off od beer but people don't buy 10 of them per person during a game. If the University doesn't operate their concessions, their company might have a special vending license - and it is a courtesy thing for having the food rights. A keg of domestic beer will run $76.80 wholesale - $94 without trade in empty - (and that has probably gone up)... Nobody would buy a $7.00 20 oz beer, they would laugh right at your face at that proposition. We charge $2 bucks for soft drinks for a reason. Let's say that you have NO spillage and you sell every ounce in the keg - next to impossible with the temp changes in the box and line... you might make enough to break even. After a keg is tapped - it has to be finished that day because it will be flat by the time the next game rolls around... and you wouldn't want to pay to keep it cold for weeks between games anyway.

Also, sporting events generally cut off after the 1st half or 3rd quarter. You are looking at a maximum of $300 bucks of profit per keg ($200 realistically but I will shoot high to try and fit your arguement) and let's say that you go through 50 in a game (again, not likely when we average 15K a game and of those, maybe 4K would drink). You might make $15K off of it. I seriously doubt that we would go through 50 kegs. But even if we shot for the HIGH side, and there was no waste - let's hypothetically say that we are able to have $15K per game of profit from beer sales (either keg or plastic bottle)... in a 5 game season, $75K profit.... Now start taking away the insurance for the year (about $30K for a 49 seat bar, $100K for just one 800 capacity club at the Bronco Bowl) can't even imagine what it would be for a 30K seat stadium)... the extra staff to deal with security, the public perception, the complaints, etc. I am totally serious - we would lose money. So the arguement is that it would bring more people to the game and thus be a good loss.

Would it bring more people into the game? Maybe some... but not enough for the risk. Most just go out to the parking lot and drink out of their coolers or fork over the $250 bucks to drink on the deck. I bet that if you researched - Houston's concessions are outsourced and they do the soccer games. I imagine that is why Houston does it if they do. Either that or they just take the loss. A lot of places choose to take the loss to boost attendance. There are only a few NCAA stadiums around the country that do it though and MOST are run by outside venues (not on campus stadiums but stadiums like the Cotton Bowl where SMU played in the 90's or USF playing in that Tampa pro stadium)... Nevada and Louisiana have some pretty loose alcohol laws... We are right smack in the bible belt and the taxes, insurance, and hassle would take away any profit from it. Would it bring in more people? In my opinion - Not enough to outweigh all the potential negatives. Most likely the school would take away tailgating to try and boost beer sales and that would kill the game atmosphere. All of the crud that goes along with it - just not worth it to lose money.

I guess that you don't know me o rmy background... but you are just going to have to trust me on this - I know the bar business. I have owned and operated everything from a 3200 sq foot bar on Fry Street to the Bronco Bowl in Dallas. The money is never as much as people seem to think it is - the costs are never worth the hassle with beer. NOW - If we could sell liquor - well, then we might have something... but that is not really the clientele for a football game... shots for touchdowns? Maybe a good promo. But that is what the suites will be for in the new stadium.

Beer does not make money. Oh, and Denton doesn't require private club membership for beer and wine sales... in fact, I believe that the voters recently approved doing away with clubs for mixed drinks for on premise consumption as well (just no liquor stores) - a lot of Denton places are just waiting for their private clubs to expire - there are pros and cons to both. A private club can never make a profit on paper, it is simply a group of people paying a "storage and handling" fee to an establishment to hold what is the members' booze. They were born out of golf country clubs and a very smart dude that chose to challenge the state on discrimination for his VFW.

I really could type another 5 pages on this, but until you make the mistakes and have been through it - you just won't get it. If it was worth it - I would be typing and typing (and typing) why it was a great idea. It is not good for UNT - image wise or profit wise. They don't sell beer at any of the Big 12 schools in Texas - why do you think that is? They are just happy with the tickets and concessions? You don't think that Lubbock would jump all over that if it was profitable?

I honestly don't know the deal with UH is- maybe they don't own the stadium. If the school doesn't own the stadium, it is a whole diff ball game. Those are the places that will sell alcohol. NT owns its stadium and all the liability that comes with it.

Edited February 11, 2009 by stebo

[gangrene]

Most likely their vendor is taking care of it along with the soccer games. If we used the stadium more than 5 or 6 times a year, it might be worth it... but the stadium is only used those 5-6 times a year. The way that Texas Bev law is set up, we couldn't even get a license for both the Pit and Fouts and "share" it - the license has to be attached to a physical address and cannot be used for a picnic (off premise) license more than 2-3 times a year. Two being the rule, three with an exception made. And yes, I know TABC law - I became an expert.... and when State Club gave up the rights to vending in Fouts - I actually put a bid in to take that over so I explored the beer situation in depth. Can it be done? Absolutely. Is it cost effective? Not in the current format with state law... It's not really the license - it's the insurance. There is not a ton of mark-up on beer as it is despite what most people think. The game only lasts 4 hours, tops... so you have 5 home games (6 on a good year) and 4 hours each time to sell enough beer to not only pay for the license, to pay the insurance, and to try and make some sort of profit... plus dealing with extra security and all of the complaints that always come with selling alcohol around kids. No way it would fly in the general seating area. It would be pushing the envelope way too far. Even if you could use another premise's license for those days and outsource it... it still wouldn't be worth the hassle. You might as well just let people bring their own in. The new stadium will solve a lot of these problems. The suites will allow drinking, the new deck will allow it and the club seats will probably allow it as well. I imagine it will be done like it is now - you pay for a ticket to control the amount.. and you hand the ticket to redeem the item to avoid an actual sale.

I was able to sit in the newly built club level suite in the north endzone of UT's Memorial Stadium last season. It is absolutely incredible! I don't know the exact seating capacity, but I'd guess it's between 3,000-5,000. Seating is actually within the open air of the stadium, but because it's on the club level, alcoholic drinks are allowed to be taken to your seats. The inside area is very similar to the suite level (not individual suites) at the American Airlines Center or the Jose Cuervo lounge at the Ballpark in Arlington. It has a full bar and tons of buffet lines, featuring everything from hot dogs, to grilled seafood to key lime pie. I would love to see something like that at our new stadium but I won't hold my breath. I tried to find pictures on the web but there don't appear to be any post-construction shots of the suite's interior. It was, by far, the most luxurious experience I've ever had at a college football game.

[stebo]

I was able to sit in the newly built club level suite in the north endzone of UT's Memorial Stadium last season. It is absolutely incredible! I don't know the exact seating capacity, but I'd guess it's between 3,000-5,000. Seating is actually within the open air of the stadium, but because it's on the club level, alcoholic drinks are allowed to be taken to your seats. The inside area is very similar to the suite level (not individual suites) at the American Airlines Center or the Jose Cuervo lounge at the Ballpark in Arlington. It has a full bar and tons of buffet lines, featuring everything from hot dogs, to grilled seafood to key lime pie. I would love to see something like that at our new stadium but I won't hold my breath. I tried to find pictures on the web but there don't appear to be any post-construction shots of the suite's interior. It was, by far, the most luxurious experience I've ever had at a college football game.

Those are our club level seats that I was referring to.. they are in the plans from what I have seen. We will have three places for Mean Green Members to drink, the new deck over there, the club suites, and the club level seats. One good thing about making it available in limited places is people that REALLY feel like it is important to drink during those 2 or 3 hours can do so, they will just need to pay for a Mean Green membership for that perk. More Mean Green Club memberships help UNT and make a hell of a lot more money than trying to calaculate how many ounces of beer you can spill to break even.

[Eagle1855]

Thanks for your response. I have now been learnt. Ha. Didn't know a lot of that stuff, so I do appreciate it.

UH does own the stadium, that I know. And I'm fairly certain they were doing this long before the Dynamo, so I imagine, based on everything you've said, that they are just taking the hit financially.

I guess I just don't understand why all pro stadiums sell beer if they can't make money doing it. That's the one part that confuses me. I get the image part. I know that beers are around $7 at UH games and I don't remember them being much more than 20oz- this is from my personal experience. I suppose we'll just leave it at that because I'm sure we could go around and around on this and I'm way out of my realm of personal experience/understanding on the alcohol sales deal.

[Eagle1855]

Oh and UH also sells beer at their basketball games... so there goes the Dynamo connection.

I guess the important thing to take from this is that (I think) we average about what UH does in both sports -even with our terrible teams- without selling beer in the stands. So maybe we should think of other promotions and let this one die.

Edited February 11, 2009 by Eagle1855

[NTerock]

If we're talking about getting more people in the stands, especially students, allow people to bring in their own coolers with beer. I guarantee that would raise attendance.

[KingDL1]

Start the games a little earlier...say 5 o'clock, and have concerts in the stadium after the game. The mean green brigade gets to be the opening act while they're setting up the stage for the main event. If possible, have good concerts. Again, do it in conjunction with local radio stations. You get someone like Bowling for Soup playing in Denton after a football game, but require a football ticket to see the show, and you're going to increase attendance markedly.

This probably the only idea that works with the students, and some other young guns in dfw. Close the gates at the end of the 3rd quarter or maybe just after the half so they have to be there to see the concert.

After that advertise make sure people hear the UNT Mean Green name again and again, radio, some TV, and events. But for the general public, you have to start with winning and build off of that. Even Pro Teams with huge marketing departments have problems with attendance if they are losing.

[oldguystudent]

Regarding the whole beer thing, I would rather have beer in the parking lot with my tailgate than in the stadium. They add beer concessions in the stadium, and I bet they'd counter with dry parking lots.

[DirtySavage]

BYOB

[forevereagle]

I have an idea for a promotion. Let's try not to eliminate parts of our potential audience.

By allowing alcohol, you would make games less family friendly, and people would no longer want to bring children. Thus, attendance goes down.

By having scantily clad women pranciing all over the stadium, you make it uncomfortable for women. They no longer want to attend games. Thus, attendance goes down. As a side affect, some of these women who no longer want to attend also do not want their husbands attending when they are not there. Thus, attendance goes down.

Just because something would make the game more fun for you does not mean that it will lead to a realized increase in attendance.

[GreenMachine]

By having scantily clad women pranciing all over the stadium, you make it uncomfortable for women. They no longer want to attend games.

I know a few women here at work that would disagree vehemently about this statement. At least I think they are women.