Season Tickets

[SJUDave]

Maybe because we faithfully followed this team for more years than the newbies on the bandwagon.

No one is questioning your fandom or loyalty. Every major program has done reseating based on financial donations being an implication of where they get to select seats. Money always talks...and we are in a college sports environment where the schools need money more than ever. It's the harsh reality. Everyone was given ample opportunity to donate and improve their status.

I'd venture 95-99% of people lost their seats and had to make alternate choices than their "usual" seats.

But wishing for the program to suck because you couldn't get your seats back is cutting off your nose to spite your face.

 

[johnniesfan17]

To everyone not realizing that the success of the team is good for everyone. Be a fan in the lower bowl. Enjoy the excitement that everyone in the Lower Bowl wants to see. Everyone for years said to have Johnnies fans overtake away team fans. This year we have the opportunity to do that and you are upset that it discomforts you a little bit. Live in the moment and be happy with what we have. As well routing for your team to do bad after pitino leaves a terrible taste. Be a true Johnny Fan and hope for long term success.

 

[panther2]

I know it was like 3:45 ed and mike Locke 5 minutes away . We are leaving soon that’s why I didn’t call you

You got tou be kidding me. I had an appointment at NYU on Franklin Ave and then took my granddaughter to Novita to eat. We got there about 5:15.

 

[Section9]

99.9 what my wife tells me even if I know that might be a percent overzealous

If you spoke more often in the third person Nat would surely rate you a 100%.

 

[mjmaherjr]

Again why are St. John's fans talking like this and wishing for this to appease their current unhappiness - having a bad coach here whenever Rick retires is asinine.

The goal has always been for Coach P to elevate this program and for it to be a very desirable location for whoever the successor is.

You're basically asking to be miserable

I’ve sat with Brian ( OLV72 ) every year and the rest of our 114 crew since Lavins first year. His question is reasonable in the sense he’s wondering how many fans stick around later on but he’s not wishing for a bad coach and heck our crew got the same seats almost as almost last year and he’s certainly not complaining about that

He’s also the last person to turn on any coach who is here at St John’s. Some of the fun in our group is us all arguing about a coach who needs to go and Brian always defending the crappy coach.

Brian wasn’t thrilled with the Pitino hire but he’s big Pitino fan as soon as the season started 2 years ago

if there was a Mount Rushmore of loyal fans Brian would certainly be on it

 

[Hardy]

It is fairly predictable that:

1. Folks who like the outcome are satisfied with it (even while recognizing the issues)
2. Folks who don't like the outcome are aggrieved and quite vocal about it
3. The school achieved its goal of maximizing revenue and ticket sales (no idea what expectations vs outcome was but I am sure they made forward progress).

The folks in category 1 are generally a combination of loyalty and financial commitment. The folks in category 2 are generally loyal but don't have a history of financial commitment. The school has prioritized financial commitment while making some allowances for loyalty. The folks in category 2 understandably feel that "some allowance" wasn't enough.

IMHO if you look at the landscape of college athletics, and if you want St. John's to be competitive, the school set the needle in the right place. But fully understand that many disagree with that. And also completely agree that the many hiccups in the process didn't help anything.

But there's no such thing as a free lunch, folks. The fact that you've been a loyal Knicks fan for 30 years does not mean you get a discount on the $1,000 playoff ticket. It's a business, and rose colored glasses doesn't make it not one.

I think #3 is giving the school too much credit. Sju is generally incompetent and I have no reason to doubt that this process is any different. It seems more plausible to me that they unnecessarily pissed people off and also failed to maximize revenue than that they achieved the maximum financial benefit.

(Note: I’m not in the pissed off group, but I also know that they could’ve gotten much more money out of me if the process was handled differently)

 

[mjmaherjr]

You got tou be kidding me. I had an appointment at NYU on Franklin Ave and then took my granddaughter to Novita to eat. We got there about 5:15.

Holy cow that’s insane

 

[MBaldi]

Sorry, just hoping to get an idea of what's available at this point in both CA and MSG. I'm picking Monday at 1130. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[lawmanfan]

Holy cow that’s insane

And he didn't call you, either, @panther2. We should have known he was an elitist snob from all the lobster roll talk

 

[dk423]

Sorry, just hoping to get an idea of what's available at this point in both CA and MSG. I'm picking Monday at 1130. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

If you log into your ticketmaster account and select "Seat Selection", you'll be able to see.

 

[SJU Center Court]

It is fairly predictable that:

1. Folks who like the outcome are satisfied with it (even while recognizing the issues)
2. Folks who don't like the outcome are aggrieved and quite vocal about it
3. The school achieved its goal of maximizing revenue and ticket sales (no idea what expectations vs outcome was but I am sure they made forward progress).

The folks in category 1 are generally a combination of loyalty and financial commitment. The folks in category 2 are generally loyal but don't have a history of financial commitment. The school has prioritized financial commitment while making some allowances for loyalty. The folks in category 2 understandably feel that "some allowance" wasn't enough.

IMHO if you look at the landscape of college athletics, and if you want St. John's to be competitive, the school set the needle in the right place. But fully understand that many disagree with that. And also completely agree that the many hiccups in the process didn't help anything.

But there's no such thing as a free lunch, folks. The fact that you've been a loyal Knicks fan for 30 years does not mean you get a discount on the $1,000 playoff ticket. It's a business, and rose colored glasses doesn't make it not one.

Excellent post. I agree with 99% of what you said.

However, I don't agree with the Knicks analogy. I've never heard the Knicks use "fan loyalty" when they charge $1,000 for playoff tickets. The cost is $1,000 and the fans can take it or leave it. It's business, plain and simple.

On the other hand SJU, (last nigtht I listened again to the podcast from the Spring where Ed stressed the loyalty and appreciation for the long time fans). SJU somewhat used "fan loyalty" but fell short by allowing wealthy donors to select seats before the reseat started and especially allowing the six ticket purchase rather than limiting people to their prior year purchase. I hope Ed appears on another podcast after the reseat ends to explain their thought process about the six seat limit.

 

[ejoyce]

You got to be kidding me. I had an appointment at NYU on Franklin Ave and then took my granddaughter to Novita to eat. We got there about 5:15.

Panther...I thought I saw you hiding behind the menu...can't say I blame you! Ha ha

 

[IDRAFT]

And he didn't call you, either, @panther2. We should have known he was an elitist snob from all the lobster roll talk

Elitists spend time with Ron Swanson?

 

[Beasts of the East]

SJU somewhat used "fan loyalty" but fell short by allowing wealthy donors to select seats before the reseat started and especially allowing the six ticket purchase rather than limiting people to their prior year purchase.

Wealthy donors selected on Friday in Priority point order. For the most part that group had 2 million or more priority points plus were prior season holders. So you are wrong on that point.

What i believed would have been fairer was that your priority points get divided by your the # of tickets you are buying to determine order of selection.

 

[IDRAFT]

Maybe it’s my reading comprehension but maybe it’s others. I don’t see posts rooting for future failure. I see posts predicting future failure. Those two things are not the same.

And I will make my feelings crystal clear I am not rooting for future failure but totally expect it to come fairly swiftly in a few years. It’s not just a post Pitino thing.- the big Football schools won’t be happy until they crush everyone else.

An opinion, but I would say an educated one as when I wear glasses I use them to see clearly and do not use rose colered ones. Once again not my wish, happy to end up wrong.

But now that I am predicting I will also predict that once the fall begins the attendance will crash quickly. It won’t be a slow drip. And this exercise which is a full stop live for today move accelerated the free fall that will come.

I have seen this with the Mets who raised tickets an obscene amount in 2009 and have never fully recovered (tickets are still much cheaper than what they charged a full 16 years ago.). I have seen it with the Jets who tried and failed to get loyal customers to buy PSLs to not being able to sell out the Stadium. Before that they had a long waitlist.

The team looks poised to have a great season and maybe this was necessary to achieve short term goals. But the facade of loyalty or pride in the old Alma Mater was exposed.

This is NYC, people here are sophisticated, it is not a one horse college town. There are a ton of things to do here. The new fans consider SJU cool now but will be gone the second they aren’t anymore. And the old ones understand fully now that this is just another pro team in NYC. We will move on quickly if the team is bad too. Why wouldn’t we - we can always just jump in again if it ever made sense. That fact is clear.

As I always say in these posts, no anger, just keeping things honest and clear. They saw an opportunity to shake people down and it worked. That’s great - but folks are figuring it out now.

You might reluctantly deal with a shakedown artist but it does not inspire loyalty to stick with them through thick and thin.

 

[dk423]

At end of the day, everything will all hinge on who the coach is after Pitino. If they get another national championship contending coach, this will be a blip and nothing more. It is an entertaining product that people will pay for.

If they get a longtime assistant or a guy making a jump from a mid-major, I'd expect a dramatic drop in buzz/money/attendance/etc.

Hopefully Repole remains interested, Kull builds a big donor base post-Pitino, Shanley is still here to make the hire, and they all know what's at stake.

If they never did this, or did this with some changes, I still don't think much would change. Maybe there will be a couple hundred (?) (thousand?) people would be more loyal anyway. But STJ is a place that has lost multiple generations of potential diehards. So they have to take full advantage of the moment and not go cheap post-Pitino.

 

[Beasts of the East]

Maybe it’s my reading comprehension but maybe it’s others. I don’t see posts rooting for future failure. I see posts predicting future failure. Those two things are not the same.

And I will make my feelings crystal clear I am not rooting for future failure but totally expect it to come fairly swiftly in a few years. It’s not just a post Pitino thing.- the big Football schools won’t be happy until they crush everyone else.

An opinion, but I would say an educated one as when I wear glasses I use them to see clearly and do not use rose colered ones. Once again not my wish, happy to end up wrong.

But now that I am predicting I will also predict that once the fall begins the attendance will crash quickly. It won’t be a slow drip. And this exercise which is a full stop live for today move accelerated the free fall that will come.

I have seen this with the Mets who raised tickets an obscene amount in 2009 and have never fully recovered (tickets are still much cheaper than what they charged a full 16 years ago.). I have seen it with the Jets who tried and failed to get loyal customers to buy PSLs to not being able to sell out the Stadium. Before that they had a long waitlist.

The team looks poised to have a great season and maybe this was necessary to achieve short term goals. But the facade of loyalty or pride in the old Alma Mater was exposed.

This is NYC, people here are sophisticated, it is not a one horse college town. There are a ton of things to do here. The new fans consider SJU cool now but will be gone the second they aren’t anymore. And the old ones understand fully now that this is just another pro team in NYC. We will move on quickly if the team is bad too. Why wouldn’t we - we can always just jump in again if it ever made sense. That fact is clear.

As I always say in these posts, no anger, just keeping things honest and clear. They saw an opportunity to shake people down and it worked. That’s great - but folks are figuring it out now.

You might reluctantly deal with a shakedown artist but it does not inspire loyalty to stick with them through thick and thin.

Yea yea yea, that's why we all bailed once the team went sour. Hopefully if we go bad it will be after a 1985 type season (or better) and many (not all) will inherit our fate 40 years from now of wondering why the hell they hung in so long. We need the next generation of imprisoned fans.

Yes I agree. No one was wishing for failure. Not even close.

 

[mjmaherjr]

Maybe it’s my reading comprehension but maybe it’s others. I don’t see posts rooting for future failure. I see posts predicting future failure. Those two things are not the same.

And I will make my feelings crystal clear I am not rooting for future failure but totally expect it to come fairly swiftly in a few years. It’s not just a post Pitino thing.- the big Football schools won’t be happy until they crush everyone else.

An opinion, but I would say an educated one as when I wear glasses I use them to see clearly and do not use rose colered ones. Once again not my wish, happy to end up wrong.

But now that I am predicting I will also predict that once the fall begins the attendance will crash quickly. It won’t be a slow drip. And this exercise which is a full stop live for today move accelerated the free fall that will come.

I have seen this with the Mets who raised tickets an obscene amount in 2009 and have never fully recovered (tickets are still much cheaper than what they charged a full 16 years ago.). I have seen it with the Jets who tried and failed to get loyal customers to buy PSLs to not being able to sell out the Stadium. Before that they had a long waitlist.

The team looks poised to have a great season and maybe this was necessary to achieve short term goals. But the facade of loyalty or pride in the old Alma Mater was exposed.

This is NYC, people here are sophisticated, it is not a one horse college town. There are a ton of things to do here. The new fans consider SJU cool now but will be gone the second they aren’t anymore. And the old ones understand fully now that this is just another pro team in NYC. We will move on quickly if the team is bad too. Why wouldn’t we - we can always just jump in again if it ever made sense. That fact is clear.

As I always say in these posts, no anger, just keeping things honest and clear. They saw an opportunity to shake people down and it worked. That’s great - but folks are figuring it out now.

You might reluctantly deal with a shakedown artist but it does not inspire loyalty to stick with them through thick and thin.

Brilliant paragraph spacing. Kranmars just got a woodie

 

[OLV72]

I’ve sat with Brian ( OLV72 ) every year and the rest of our 114 crew since Lavins first year. His question is reasonable in the sense he’s wondering how many fans stick around later on but he’s not wishing for a bad coach and heck our crew got the same seats almost as almost last year and he’s certainly not complaining about that

He’s also the last person to turn on any coach who is here at St John’s. Some of the fun in our group is us all arguing about a coach who needs to go and Brian always defending the crappy coach.

Brian wasn’t thrilled with the Pitino hire but he’s big Pitino fan as soon as the season started 2 years ago

if there was a Mount Rushmore of loyal fans Brian would certainly be on it

Mike - thanks for the awesome response - I owe you an IPA at the next game

Dave - I think you misunderstood my point - probably due to my mention of a Hurley brother. I am ok with the reseating plan - especially now that I still have the best seat in the house in 114.

I didn't mean to sound like I was asking to be miserable by questioning what our ticket demand will be once RP walks off into the sunset. There are no other Pitino's out there (figuratively, not literarily.) There are other legends, but there are no other legends from here and who have his following. I believe there are many new fans who are paying to see us play because of him. I sat with one of them at the BET two years ago. He told me that he bought a season ticket after the hiring - he wasn't a youngster. I know that is anecdotal, but the sell outs and national and local media coverage are at levels we have not reached in my time.

This is a dream that hopefully lasts several years. I hope you are right about other legends coming here to follow his footsteps. My hunch is that Mike Repole will select Bobby Hurley (And Repole has earned the right to hire the next one). Based on the other hires we have made we could do a lot worse. I can't stand the guy, but he knows basketball and probably wins enough as long as he has the money behind him.

Maybe most of our new followers will stay with us, but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[IDRAFT]

Yea yea yea, that's why we all bailed once the team went sour. Hopefully if we go bad it will be after a 1985 season, and many (not all) will inherit our fate of wondering why the hell we hung in so long. We need the next generation of imprisoned fans.

Yes I agree. No one was wishing for failure. Not even close.

I do think without sounding more old and cranky than I am, that the younger batch of fans are much less loyal overall. Understandably so, as the costs associated with supporting sports teams has outpaced other items, and it is a much better (and prevalent) experience to watch games from home than it was before.