Rutgers should cut football ticket prices to increase attendance

[RUStatenIsland]

Rutgers has a football attendance problem. It is arguably the biggest threat to our future in the Big Ten and really needs to improve sooner rather than later. The best way to do this is to lower ticket prices.

As a test, I just searched for tickets for Indiana, a non-marquee Big Ten opponent where ticket demand is relatively low. I chose arguably the worst section in the stadium, U201, and picked the lowest priced parking pass available. The total for 4 lousy seats and 1 parking pass is $257. That is a lot of money for the average family to spend on one afternoon of "entertainment" to watch two mediocre-to-bad football teams.

I am not talking about hardcore RU fans; most of whom probably have season tickets anyway. I am talking about regular New Jersey families looking for something to do with their kids on a Saturday afternoon. Yes, things cost more these days, but this is still way too much. Rutgers should immediately cut ticket prices for the entire upper deck and consider doing the same with some lower level seats; especially those corners that always look empty on TV. This will help rebuild a loyal local following which will really pay dividends when Schiano is finished revamping and improving the on-field product, which most of us are confident he will.

Do the right thing, RU.

 

[daveo13]

Rutgers will give away tickets for free and people still won’t show up. start winning and people will come.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

1) there is no “threat” of us being kicked out of. the B1G. NONE. Let’s end that nonsense right now.

2) Completely agree that prices need to be cut

3) Play GW and let him grow in SG’s system (and HANDS OFF by Greg). Offense brings fans.

4) WIN

 

[brgRC90]

Best way to attract people is winning. Second best way is losing but in an exciting way--with a lot of exciting scoring. Worst way is losing slowly and painfully, struggling to even kick field goals. We need to at least go from worst to second best.

 

[Nycrusupporter]

Rutgers should make tickets and buses available to students at the Newark and Camden campuses. The school also needs to come up with an efficient way for people from NYC to come to the games. The last game I went to was a Thursday night game several years ago, I drove in and it took me 3 hours to get home, almost 2 in the morning. I have never had an interest in going to a game in person after that.

 

[S_Janowski]

Rutgers football doesn’t have a ticket price problem.

We have a winning problem.

Solve that and SHI will have sell outs or near sell outs for almost every game.

I haven’t been able to give tickets away the past 5 years. Even if I paid people they still probably wouldn’t have came.

 

[S_Janowski]

Rutgers should make tickets and buses available to students at the Newark and Camden campuses.

100%

You literally have 15,000ish undergrads between Newark and Camden. This is a massive pool of potential fans and future donors.

They don’t need free tickets if they’re not paying the same athletic fees as NB but they at least should be offered and marketed discounted tickets/deals for games especially when we’re struggling to fill the stadium.

Rutgers NB/AD make zero effort to engage students from Newark and Camden which is just plain stupid. Complete waste of opportunity to build the fanbase and donor base.

 

[Knight Shift]

Rutgers should make tickets and buses available to students at the Newark and Camden campuses. The school also needs to come up with an efficient way for people from NYC to come to the games. The last game I went to was a Thursday night game several years ago, I drove in and it took me 3 hours to get home, almost 2 in the morning. I have never had an interest in going to a game in person after that.

There are train stations in NYC and Newark with service to New Brunswick and buses that take you from New Brunswick train station to the stadium. Or, you could walk slightly more than a mile up College Ave and over the Landing Lane bridge and enter the stadium. Rutgers would be smart to package train and game tickets with NJ Transit.

 

[Jtung230]

Terrible idea. Who is not going to games because of price? I can’t give tickets away during Ash.

eta you can get cheap tickets in stubhub every game.

 

[gef21]

Winning solves everything. Period. End of point, end of sentence, end of thread.

 

[rutgersal_rivals139582]

Discounted season tickets are being offered at Costco. That’s good enough. $99 for the season is excellent.

 

[rureadyforsomefootball]

Discounted season tickets are being offered at Costco. That’s good enough. $99 for the season is excellent.

This is for the complete season, or just individual games? I know people who may want to join us for select games.

 

[RULoyal]

This is for the complete season, or just individual games? I know people who may want to join us for select games.

1 game I believe.

 

[Terry_2426]

Discounted season tickets are being offered at Costco. That’s good enough. $99 for the season is excellent.

$99 for two tickets to one game. It's not $99 for a season ticket.

 

[Knight Shift]

1 game I believe.

Correct. $99 for 2 tickets and parking.

A CHOP Pass for all 6 games is $150. Two CHOP passes would be $300. Parking can be obtained at $25/game. $450 for two tickets and parking for the season is $75/game, $37.50 per person, including parking, $25/person not including parking --you can find free parking if you want. That is quite inexpensive.

Monmouth University football tickets are $20-25/game. Prices are fine.

 

[rubigtimenow]

Rutgers should make tickets and buses available to students at the Newark and Camden campuses. The school also needs to come up with an efficient way for people from NYC to come to the games. The last game I went to was a Thursday night game several years ago, I drove in and it took me 3 hours to get home, almost 2 in the morning. I have never had an interest in going to a game in person after that.

I assume the issue was to get to the turnpike. Once there it’s a non issue from there. There are a couple of ways to get more quickly to the turnpike. Next time you are going to a game send me a DM beforehand.

 

[WhiteBus]

1) there is no “threat” of us being kicked out of. the B1G. NONE. Let’s end that nonsense right now.

2) Completely agree that prices need to be cut

3) Play GW and let him grow in SG’s system (and HANDS OFF by Greg). Offense brings fans.

4) WIN

I so f-ing tired of so called Rutgers supporters saying we are going to get kicked out of the Big Ten. The dumbest statement that continues to thrive on this board.
Yes end the complete nonsense. People who bring this crap should be given a time out. Or be beaten. Either works for me.

 

[RUnTeX]

The school also needs to come up with an efficient way for people from NYC to come to the games.

NJ Transit NEC train + dedicated shuttle bus from/to NB station and the stadium is about as efficient as can be reasonably expected, short of a private helicopter.

Not sure the last train is late enough for a Thursday night game that runs long but that's probably the only time that it can't be done.

 

[bigmatt718]

Rutgers has a football attendance problem. It is arguably the biggest threat to our future in the Big Ten and really needs to improve sooner rather than later. The best way to do this is to lower ticket prices.

As a test, I just searched for tickets for Indiana, a non-marquee Big Ten opponent where ticket demand is relatively low. I chose arguably the worst section in the stadium, U201, and picked the lowest priced parking pass available. The total for 4 lousy seats and 1 parking pass is $257. That is a lot of money for the average family to spend on one afternoon of "entertainment" to watch two mediocre-to-bad football teams.

I am not talking about hardcore RU fans; most of whom probably have season tickets anyway. I am talking about regular New Jersey families looking for something to do with their kids on a Saturday afternoon. Yes, things cost more these days, but this is still way too much. Rutgers should immediately cut ticket prices for the entire upper deck and consider doing the same with some lower level seats; especially those corners that always look empty on TV. This will help rebuild a loyal local following which will really pay dividends when Schiano is finished revamping and improving the on-field product, which most of us are confident he will.

Do the right thing, RU.

We're not in any danger in any shape or form of being dismissed from the B1G. Not now, not ever. You're no RU fan...you're a troll, and I don't foresee you being on the board very long.

 

[Willow88!]

need to make the whole experience a little more affordable.
Ticket prices will be paid at higher ends when they start winning and demand dictates this....
but.. there are a lot of "one and done" family experiences, as the tix are $$high, but the food prices are crazy, beer is out of sight, soft drinks and water $$$... families will not return, and if they lose that re-enforces it.
** i always said, someone will buy only 2 x $11 beers = $22, cause a 3rd will be $33.
but if you charge $9 x 3, it is $27, and $5+ more than the $22 at 2.
Same with other foods. I see families sharing portions cause it is too high... and the food quality is inconsistent.
** give fans a reason to return other than the most important reason of just winning.

 

[koleszar]

Rutgers has a football attendance problem. It is arguably the biggest threat to our future in the Big Ten.

I'm seeing a common theme in all the threads you start.

 

[Mr_Twister]

The week before games like Indiana (used in this thread as an example) cheap seats and parking are readily available through many channels. That will change dramatically when our program starts making some real competitive noise.

 

[WhiteBus]

need to make the whole experience a little more affordable.
Ticket prices will be paid at higher ends when they start winning and demand dictates this....
but.. there are a lot of "one and done" family experiences, as the tix are $$high, but the food prices are crazy, beer is out of sight, soft drinks and water $$$... families will not return, and if they lose that re-enforces it.
** i always said, someone will buy only 2 x $11 beers = $22, cause a 3rd will be $33.
but if you charge $9 x 3, it is $27, and $5+ more than the $22 at 2.
Same with other foods. I see families sharing portions cause it is too high... and the food quality is inconsistent.
** give fans a reason to return other than the most important reason of just winning.

Here is the problem with concessions, which is much different then years past. You can come up with many plans to improve. The fact is you can't get people to work for crappy pay part time , occasionally for 6 weekends a year. Plus these people are required to show up hours ahead of time and do not get paid for coming early!!
Rutgers should go back to their roots. Let local kids groups run it as a fundraiser. Keep the menu simple. 4/5 items. Stop squeezing you fans. Plus you get tax write off.

 

[Plum Street]

1) there is no “threat” of us being kicked out of. the B1G. NONE. Let’s end that nonsense right now.

2) Completely agree that prices need to be cut

3) Play GW and let him grow in SG’s system (and HANDS OFF by Greg). Offense brings fans.

4) WIN

Flip your list. Your number 4 should be number 1 . You don’t need the other 3.

 

[bigmatt718]

I'm seeing a common theme in all the threads you start.

Guy is a troll. He ain't an RU fan. Only a matter of time before the mods stop allowing his crap and ban him.

 

[Terry_2426]

Here is the problem with concessions, which is much different then years past. You can come up with many plans to improve. The fact is you can't get people to work for crappy pay part time , occasionally for 6 weekends a year. Plus these people are required to show up hours ahead of time and do not get paid for coming early!!
Rutgers should go back to their roots. Let local kids groups run it as a fundraiser. Keep the menu simple. 4/5 items. Stop squeezing you fans. Plus you get tax write off.

I believe they clock in and out so they would get paid for however long they are there, but yeah you’re not really getting all stars for 6 days of work per season

 

[cubuffsdoug_rivals]

1) there is no “threat” of us being kicked out of. the B1G. NONE. Let’s end that nonsense right now.

2) Completely agree that prices need to be cut

3) Play GW and let him grow in SG’s system (and HANDS OFF by Greg). Offense brings fans.

4) WIN

His whole argument is Rutgers getting kicked out of the B1G. Every post contains that saying.

 

[bigmatt718]

His whole argument is Rutgers getting kicked out of the B1G. Every post contains that saying.

Exactly. It's time to drop the ban hammer on him.

 

[WhiteBus]

I believe they clock in and out so they would get paid for however long they are there, but yeah you’re not really getting all stars for 6 days of work per season

They offer "free" rides to work and force them to get there hours early. Complete ********

 

[Terry_2426]

They offer "free" rides to work and force them to get there hours early. Complete ********

What's ********? There's a lot of work that needs to be done pre-game before gates open

 

[WhiteBus]

What's ********? There's a lot of work that needs to be done pre-game before gates open

Pay attention. It bull crap that most are not paid from the second they arrive. Yes its ******** and that is why customer service is non existent

 

[RUskoolie]

How about win a game at home against a B1G school. Is that too much to ask? Been 5 years. Yes. 5. Embarassing.

 

[Knight Shift]

PPrices a

need to make the whole experience a little more affordable.
Ticket prices will be paid at higher ends when they start winning and demand dictates this....
but.. there are a lot of "one and done" family experiences, as the tix are $$high, but the food prices are crazy, beer is out of sight, soft drinks and water $$$... families will not return, and if they lose that re-enforces it.
** i always said, someone will buy only 2 x $11 beers = $22, cause a 3rd will be $33.
but if you charge $9 x 3, it is $27, and $5+ more than the $22 at 2.
Same with other foods. I see families sharing portions cause it is too high... and the food quality is inconsistent.
** give fans a reason to return other than the most important reason of just winning.

Pricing on par with Monmouth. We need to undersell Monmouth? What's next, undersell high school games?

 

[Terry_2426]

Pay attention. It bull crap that most are not paid from the second they arrive. Yes its ******** and that is why customer service is non existent

Where do you get the notion they aren't paid when they clock in? They're hourly employees.

 

[tico brown]

No one is talking about reducing ticket prices if Rutgers is winning.

Besides, it’s still a discount compared to the Giants, Jets, and Eagles.

 

[Retired711]

Judging from the comments I read here, the bigger priority should be to improve the stadium experience.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

His whole argument is Rutgers getting kicked out of the B1G. Every post contains that saying.

Dear Lord….

 

[brgRC90]

No one is talking about reducing ticket prices if Rutgers is winning.

Besides, it’s still a discount compared to the Giants, Jets, and Eagles.

Same bad football but much lower price!

 

[bigmatt718]

Same bad football but much lower price!

Eagles are at least a playoff team and many are picking to win the division. I wouldn't call them "bad football".

 

[RU#1fan]

Agree performance on the field will bring more fans.
The Parking situation will always be a problem for the new or casual fan.
Waiting an hour or 90 minutes for a shuttle bus back to the RAC is not going to keep fans.
Need to solve this issue.