Game Day at LES and attendance...

Here are a few thoughts from one who held season tix for two years (2010-2011) despite living in Idaho Falls:



* I agree wtih Spiff--it was hotter than any game I have attended except perhaps the 59-0 beatdown of UCLA. Not much BYU can do about fixing that except schedule later afternoon or evening games.



* If BYU has BYUTv and all the cameras and ESPN has all their cameras, can someone please explain to me why fans in the stadium cannot be shown the same replays that get shown on TV, particularly those involving instant replay and possible call changes?



* I thought KSL had an in-stadium version app that allowed one to hear Wrubel live instead of more than a play behind. I enjoy having an earbud in listening to Wrubel call the game. He gives a ton of extra insight and statistical information that is unavailable elsewhere.



* Another poster commented in a different thread about the lack of updates on other games scores around the country. With the banners around the ends of the stadiums this can't be too hard to do can it? Even on an every 10 minute 'ticker' type scroll like you would see at the bottom of ESPN.



* For that matter, put up some stats of our current game. Let me be more specific. Put up some relevant, updated stats during the game. If I'm not mistaken I seem to remember (and this was probably back in the 90's) when a rb would run or a receiver would catch a ball they would show that player's picture and current rush/ypr and avg. I'd love to have something like that again.



I think one of the reasons I haven't been buying and attending season tix games lately has a lot to do with being able to have a better product in my living room. I can (and do) pause the game to synchronize it with Wrubel and enjoy all the replays and reviews that I can't get in the stadium. I enjoyed myself yesterday despite the heat but I didn't walk away thinking I really should get season tix again. If I lived closer I would be more inclined.



Go Cougs!!!

J. Child

Ammon, ID

It seemed like in years past we would get Top 25 scores on the board between quarters. We don't get that anymore. The only time I saw stats on the ribbon it was for special teams.



People want to know what is going on both in the game they're attending and elsewhere. We're barely getting the former and not getting the latter.



Almost makes me want to stay home. Or convince Schmoe and Hawk to skip the home games too do we can continue watching BYU in the Cougar Corner Den with bacon wrapped tater tots and bacon wrapped stuffed jalapeno poppers.

I have travelled to a lot of BYU away games over the years and always enjoy the "big boy" stadiums where current statistics and other game scores are constant and prominent. In today's TV world to not have such is both archaic and ill-advised.



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AmmonCougar1 wrote:

I think one of the reasons I haven't been buying and attending season tix games lately has a lot to do with being able to have a better product in my living room. I can (and do) pause the game to synchronize it with Wrubel and enjoy all the replays and reviews that I can't get in the stadium. I enjoyed myself yesterday despite the heat but I didn't walk away thinking I really should get season tix again. If I lived closer I would be more inclined.



Go Cougs!!!

J. Child

Ammon, ID

I don't know why I never thought of doing that with GW's broadcast at home. That 7 second (or whatever it is) delay is tough. They used to not have it. Problem is it's too advantageous to have that resource than to not listen.



After seeing a Saturday afternoon game with a quality opponent that didn't sell out, I think we're now living in a different time with TV coverage, etc. that we will not see any more unless it's like a BYU vs. Utah game or something involving a conference win that is key for a championship. Minus those scenarios, I don't see us selling out any more.

EM_Puma wrote:

I think one of the reasons I haven't been buying and attending season tix games lately has a lot to do with being able to have a better product in my living room. I can (and do) pause the game to synchronize it with Wrubel and enjoy all the replays and reviews that I can't get in the stadium. I enjoyed myself yesterday despite the heat but I didn't walk away thinking I really should get season tix again. If I lived closer I would be more inclined.



Go Cougs!!!

J. Child

Ammon, ID

I don't know why I never thought of doing that with GW's broadcast at home. That 7 second (or whatever it is) delay is tough. They used to not have it. Problem is it's too advantageous to have that resource than to not listen.



After seeing a Saturday afternoon game with a quality opponent that didn't sell out, I think we're now living in a different time with TV coverage, etc. that we will not see any more unless it's like a BYU vs. Utah game or something involving a conference win that is key for a championship. Minus those scenarios, I don't see us selling out any more.

I think they just overshot their price point for tickets the past couple of years. The cheapest seats are $25. starts to add up when you bring the whole family and you consider you're going to be at the top of the end zone, in the sun all game, not getting replays, fighting traffic, not getting your Saturday chores done and paying for inflated priced food -- makes staying at home in the air conditioning appealing. I still like the game atmosphere better most of the time, but I didn't get season tix again this year because of the cost and some of the above factors. So far this year I have flown to Austin and Provo for games, with hotels, tix, etc and I haven't reached my cost for season tix last year yet (I did get some breaks though, too)

I don't know where they got their head count but it seemed a lot fuller than 59k. It certainly had a lot more people than the Thursday nights game. Maybe I couldn't tell how many empty seats there were because of all the white. I will say good job to the fans because most of the fans were in white. Maybe it was because the gave out something like 22k before the game.



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I think the low attendance can also be attributed to not being in a conference. There's a lot of rivalries that come with being in a conference that the fans feed off of. Being independent the fans don't have the emotional attachment that comes with playing against the same teams year in and year out. There's no conference title so there's nothing on the line and most think that no matter what BYU does this year there not making the playoffs so again not being in a conference might be hurting attendance.



I hate to use the Utes but even after two straight 5-7 season they sold out there season opener on a Thursday night against Idaho State. There fans show up no matter who or when they play. And for those who IMO cry and whine about the prices, Utah fans don't seem to have a problem with the rising prices at there stadium and you can't miss all the red that's flooding the stadium with there fans buying every piece of Utah apparel they can get there hands on. Being in the PAC12 seems to have given that entire fan base a shot in the arm.

a1247 wrote:
I think the low attendance can also be attributed to not being in a conference. There's a lot of rivalries that come with being in a conference that the fans feed off of. Being independent the fans don't have the emotional attachment that comes with playing against the same teams year in and year out. There's no conference title so there's nothing on the line and most think that no matter what BYU does this year there not making the playoffs so again not being in a conference might be hurting attendance.



I hate to use the Utes but even after two straight 5-7 season they sold out there season opener on a Thursday night against Idaho State. There fans show up no matter who or when they play. And for those who IMO cry and whine about the prices, Utah fans don't seem to have a problem with the rising prices at there stadium and you can't miss all the red that's flooding the stadium with there fans buying every piece of Utah apparel they can get there hands on. Being in the PAC12 seems to have given that entire fan base a shot in the arm.

I completely agree with you a1247. I used to follow games where BYU wasn't playing just to see how the outcome impacted BYU standing in the conference. Now other than following our opponents hoping they win all the games they can so our record looks better, I couldn't care less.



Go Cougs!!!

J. Child

Ammon, ID

I think the drop could be attributed to the increase in tv exposure. We're on ESPN all the time. Sometimes it's fun to make it a an event at home.



That said, I had season tickets from 2006 on, but couldn't this year. And I do really miss it. The in game experience with thousands screaming alongside--that's cool too. Screaming for Blackmon or Hine to bring it to the house is much better in person than tv.



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a1247 wrote:
I think the low attendance can also be attributed to not being in a conference. There's a lot of rivalries that come with being in a conference that the fans feed off of. Being independent the fans don't have the emotional attachment that comes with playing against the same teams year in and year out. There's no conference title so there's nothing on the line and most think that no matter what BYU does this year there not making the playoffs so again not being in a conference might be hurting attendance.



I hate to use the Utes but even after two straight 5-7 season they sold out there season opener on a Thursday night against Idaho State. There fans show up no matter who or when they play. And for those who IMO cry and whine about the prices, Utah fans don't seem to have a problem with the rising prices at there stadium and you can't miss all the red that's flooding the stadium with there fans buying every piece of Utah apparel they can get there hands on. Being in the PAC12 seems to have given that entire fan base a shot in the arm.

We would have filled their stadium as well, with another 10-15k fans who couldn't get in. The Ute attendance comparison isn't valid. Also, the red may just be a result of red standing out much better than blue, it overshadows the nonred. You may have a point about their energized fan base, the conference affiliation has meant a lot to them. I can't speak to the issue of how Ute fans feel about rising ticket prices or buying all the apparel they can get their hands on.

BYULV wrote:

I think the low attendance can also be attributed to not being in a conference. There's a lot of rivalries that come with being in a conference that the fans feed off of. Being independent the fans don't have the emotional attachment that comes with playing against the same teams year in and year out. There's no conference title so there's nothing on the line and most think that no matter what BYU does this year there not making the playoffs so again not being in a conference might be hurting attendance.



I hate to use the Utes but even after two straight 5-7 season they sold out there season opener on a Thursday night against Idaho State. There fans show up no matter who or when they play. And for those who IMO cry and whine about the prices, Utah fans don't seem to have a problem with the rising prices at there stadium and you can't miss all the red that's flooding the stadium with there fans buying every piece of Utah apparel they can get there hands on. Being in the PAC12 seems to have given that entire fan base a shot in the arm.

We would have filled their stadium as well, with another 10-15k fans who couldn't get in. The Ute attendance comparison isn't valid. Also, the red may just be a result of red standing out much better than blue, it overshadows the nonred. You may have a point about their energized fan base, the conference affiliation has meant a lot to them. I can't speak to the issue of how Ute fans feel about rising ticket prices or buying all the apparel they can get their hands on.

I can im surrounded by them and almost ALL my friends are Ute season tickets holders. And dont kid yourself if there stadium held another 10-15 thousand seats those too would be sold out. You would have to go down and see how many fans are tailgating then sitting in the parking lot watching the game on tv because they dont have tickets. Its happening dont think its not!



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Allow drunken tailgating and that will increase attendance. Drunken student section too. Seriously, though, that is a big part of game day other places. Would not work here.



When BYU goes 8-, some fans will bandwagon. I have 4 seats and am now getting bandwagon requests from my kids really use of my extra tickets.



Now the counter thought on the ribbons. I watch the game and forget they are there. But, my friend who lives in Utah had 3 games getting recorded on his DVR at home and was praying NOT to hear scores. So he left happy, until he found out that rain delays screwed up the recording or the Utah and the Louisville games.



Football is as much priority 5 for BYU fans as it is for the team. Ironically, even though I have lived in California, Illinois, and Hawaii all these years, when my mother was going to drop her season tickets back in 1990 or so because she could not afford them, I started renewing them out of fear that if I ever was able to get to Provo for a game, tickets would be sold out. I have given many tickets away to extended family members over the years. Eventually, it got hard to find extended family members who wanted them, so I gave them to friends when I could not use them. I am retired now, and make the trip from California for almost every home game.



It gets tempting to cut from 4 seats to 2 seats because my BYU fanatic son graduated from Law School and his job is in LA. My last son is in Provo, but is only mildly interested in football.



And, thanks to TV coverage softening the fanbase, I could probably almost always find extra tickets to almost any game.......



Wait. I said ALMOST. Now I remember why I renew 4 seats every year. I want to have sears to EVERY game.



Texas and Utah tickets were scalping for $200 last year for decent, but not spectacular, seats.



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a1247 wrote:

a1247 wrote:
I think the low attendance can also be attributed to not being in a conference. There's a lot of rivalries that come with being in a conference that the fans feed off of. Being independent the fans don't have the emotional attachment that comes with playing against the same teams year in and year out. There's no conference title so there's nothing on the line and most think that no matter what BYU does this year there not making the playoffs so again not being in a conference might be hurting attendance.



I hate to use the Utes but even after two straight 5-7 season they sold out there season opener on a Thursday night against Idaho State. There fans show up no matter who or when they play. And for those who IMO cry and whine about the prices, Utah fans don't seem to have a problem with the rising prices at there stadium and you can't miss all the red that's flooding the stadium with there fans buying every piece of Utah apparel they can get there hands on. Being in the PAC12 seems to have given that entire fan base a shot in the arm.

We would have filled their stadium as well, with another 10-15k fans who couldn't get in. The Ute attendance comparison isn't valid. Also, the red may just be a result of red standing out much better than blue, it overshadows the nonred. You may have a point about their energized fan base, the conference affiliation has meant a lot to them. I can't speak to the issue of how Ute fans feel about rising ticket prices or buying all the apparel they can get their hands on.

I can im surrounded by them and almost ALL my friends are Ute season tickets holders. And dont kid yourself if there stadium held another 10-15 thousand seats those too would be sold out. You would have to go down and see how many fans are tailgating then sitting in the parking lot watching the game on tv because they dont have tickets. Its happening dont think its not!



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I've had tickets since 1990 and this year the stadium experience is worse than I can remember. Maybe I'm just getting old or maybe its because I moved from the sideline to the end zone but there is so much piped in noise non stop that it's almost not enjoyable to be there anymore. Let the fans cheer instead of playing music and advertisements all the time. If they need the advertisements then stop playing playing all the other stuff especially when we're on offense.



The stadium experience has gotten worse.



Utah is still advertising like crazy that tickets are available (and they give them away for free to some students) so I'm not sure that they'd fill another 10-15k. I also don't mind the conference thing at all. I'd much rather see the teams we're playing now then most of the MWC teams. With the exception of Air Force and San Diego I don't really miss any of them.

"A luxury once obtained becomes a necessity." From sideline to end zone? Thats your first problem. The heat was the second.

The piped in stuff is a bit annoying, but not more than the lengthy tv timeouts--you missed that from days gone by. But aggregate all those and I get what youre saying--especially in contrast to the quality hdtv experience (minus the occassional crap announcers--i havent watched my recording of it yet)

Even still, show up and cheer your Cougars of BYU!!!!!!!

a1247 wrote:
And dont kid yourself if there stadium held another 10-15 thousand seats those too would be sold out. You would have to go down and see how many fans are tailgating then sitting in the parking lot watching the game on tv because they dont have tickets. Its happening dont think its not!

If they are really turning away 15,000 people a game, why have they not expanded their stadium? That's $2.2 millon in revenue for a football season at $25 a ticket. If they are really turning away that many people for every home game, they should fire their entire math department.

How many of you miss the Cosmo videos from a couple of years past? I know it doesn't really mean anything now that BYU and :utard: don't play each other, but I will admit some of them were entertaining.



It seems whoever is in charge of game day experience is going in the wrong direction from what I see. I thought it was cool they started the fireworks when the team runs out on the field and it was surprising after the Houston win they had a couple of fireworks go off. I was expecting it to happen after the Virginia game but it didn't happen. If they do it after one win, shouldn't they continue it?



This year does seem a little lame, don't get me wrong I love the stadium experience, but too many "the BYUStore" commercials and not enough "fun and clever" stuff. I was looking forward to what they would do during the break between 3rd and 4th quarters. Last year's Rise Up with the banners in the middle of the field was good, but I don't even have a clue what it is this year. Is it when Cosmo and the cheerleaders run out on the field with the BYU flags?



At least they got rid of the dumb Chevron gas card race, everyone knew the fire truck would never win!



They should show more hits during the game. Bills alone could have his own highlight reel every single week. Maybe blooper videos, like the Houston DB jumping 5 seconds late on the pass to Juergens, or a crazy fan cam, meaning dedicate one or two camera's trained on the crowd at all times and watch the reactions when there is a big play.



I don't know, not a lot of creativity going on.

I think they are trying to mix it up. But ditto on the race car piece--LAME.



Yes, Yes, to more replays of hits!! fans get really charged with that. NOt sure the game production crew is sophisticated enough to do this on the fly during the game instead of scripting and sticking to it. But the could. Great idea.



Cosmo videos were getting old and stale. Needed a break.

Drummer thing is getting old aready.

And leave the kiss cam for BBall. it doesnt work nearly as well as indoors. Do something like a body jump and bump cam instead of kiss cam.

I was disappointed they didn't do anything at all big between the 3rd and 4th quarters. I was used to the big screens they'd setup at midfield from last year. Now it probably wouldn't work to play video onto screens in the middle of the day, but do something.

The person who sits next to me at these games is not a BYU fan. Let's just call him a polite Utah fan with more experience than most fans have visiting a variety of stadiums including ND. He has 50 yard line RES seats. His son was a star player at a west coast PAC 12 school. Utes missed out on that one and KW has actually told him that. So, he has seen RES, and tons of PAC venues, Utes at the BCS Bowl games, etc. His son was a grad assistant under Petrino at Western Kentucky last year and Louisville now. My friend traveled to some of their bigger games last year.



He rarely compliments things BYU. But a week ago, in a pinch, he had a couple of Cougar Dogs instead of eating outside the stadium somewhere before walking over. He said they were great. Better than Utes dogs. He now wants to try a Cougar Tail. We are both Cougar Tail Virgins, so I will get one, too.



He complimented the sound system as being big time at both games. He likes the dual scoreboards. He did note the empty seats and was delighted that the Ute or Louisville scores were not displayed since he had set DVR for both.



I have been in a handful of NFL venues, South Bend, Rose Bowl, Freedom Bowl, ASU, Holiday Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, LA Coliseum, Fresno State, Smurf Turf, etc., over the years, and I just do not get all of the complaining.



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I have season tickets this year. I usually go to a game or two each year, this year I am going to them all.



I agree with what some others of you have said or implied - the product in the living room is, well, just better. More comfortable, can follow the game and happenings better, when a key or controversial play happens I can actually rewind and watch the replay. Doesn't take all day due to travel. Is way cheaper. Can also watch other games at the same time. Can pause the game if something comes up (with 3 kids 8 and under, happens pretty often).



Sure, there is something to be said for being at the game, the atmosphere, etc. It's fun. But when you factor in everything, for me, season tix just don't make sense.



The new scoreboards and video screens are definitely nice.



Oh, and it's not because I have bad seats. They are 20 yd line, just 15 rows up from the field :) But they are definitely not worth the $$.



Next year I'll go to a game or two but spend the rest of them on the couch with pizza and beer. I'll leave room at the stadium for the rest of you.