IUFB Offseason Updates

[ThompsonHoosier]

I understand demand for season tickets being higher after the success we had last season, but the "donation" aspect leaves a sour taste. It's not technically a donation when you are being forced to pay an extra fee for your seat. Why not just raise ticket prices? BTW I have already renewed my season tickets for the upcoming season, lets go Hoosiers!

[Hovadipo]

20 minutes ago, ThompsonHoosier said:

Why not just raise ticket prices?

They did that too! Lol, agree on all accounts though and have renewed myself. I don't really blame IU either, as they said they're one of the last schools in the conference to go to this system. A few more seasons like 2024 and they're going to be really bleeding us dry.

Edit: I don't like this part in particular. Feels like a slimy way of continuing to get their annual contribution. I'll see how I feel about that after giving it some thought, but at the moment my annual gift (and it isn't much) is going away.

[Home Jersey]

31 minutes ago, ThompsonHoosier said:

I understand demand for season tickets being higher after the success we had last season, but the "donation" aspect leaves a sour taste. It's not technically a donation when you are being forced to pay an extra fee for your seat. Why not just raise ticket prices? BTW I have already renewed my season tickets for the upcoming season, lets go Hoosiers!

My understanding is the whole donation required to buy tickets is considered a growing trend to help athletic departments make up the lost revenue from sharing with athletes. Sucks.

[Stuhoo]

11 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

My understanding is the whole donation required to buy tickets is considered a growing trend to help athletic departments make up the lost revenue from sharing with athletes. Sucks.

It's a market economy! If the rising ticket prices result in a less than a full stadium? Then the prices will go down. 

A higher quality product creates a higher cost of attendance. Want a rib eye instead of ground chuck? That's gonna cost you. If fans wanted to see an IU Football game in person without pre-planning and with a low, low price? Then Tom Allen cafeteria hamburgers were the favored option for you. Cignetti is serving football rib eyes to the fans.

Pretty elementary, absolutely standard, and completely reasonable that prices have risen commensurate with success. And I'm quite sure that even with much higher prices, attendance will be much better than ever.

[eddy4iu]

9 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

It's a market economy! If the rising ticket prices result in a less than a full stadium? Then the prices will go down. 

A higher quality product creates a higher cost of attendance. Want a rib eye instead of ground chuck? That's gonna cost you. If fans wanted to see an IU Football game in person without pre-planning and with a low, low price? Then Tom Allen cafeteria hamburgers were the favored option for you. Cignetti is serving football rib eyes to the fans.

Pretty elementary, absolutely standard, and completely reasonable that prices have risen commensurate with success. And I'm quite sure that even with much higher prices, attendance will be much better than ever.

Nailed it! Still a great bargain relative to programs that we are chasing to finally have the success that we have been pining for for years.

[Home Jersey]

27 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

It's a market economy! If the rising ticket prices result in a less than a full stadium? Then the prices will go down. 

A higher quality product creates a higher cost of attendance. Want a rib eye instead of ground chuck? That's gonna cost you. If fans wanted to see an IU Football game in person without pre-planning and with a low, low price? Then Tom Allen cafeteria hamburgers were the favored option for you. Cignetti is serving football rib eyes to the fans.

Pretty elementary, absolutely standard, and completely reasonable that prices have risen commensurate with success. And I'm quite sure that even with much higher prices, attendance will be much better than ever.

I don’t take issue with any of that but it does not negate the barrier to entry being higher, which is unfortunate for many fans, though may be beneficial in the long run. It’s happening in basketball and football. Yes when you win, prices go up and that’s fair. Kansas basketball makes you pay a sizable donation before you get access to purchase season tickets. It’s been very lucrative for them and hasn’t impacted attendance. They’re making a lot of money and that’s good for the program, university and players. However that model will not work well for the small and medium size programs. I am generally unmoved by free market maximalism when the long term health of the sport seems threatened. Revenue sharing with players is a good thing. More work to figure out how to keep non power conference programs afloat. 

This is the model I'm referring to and when I say "sucks" I'm referring to the addition of a per-seat donation, not the increase in ticket prices. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

34 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

It's a market economy! If the rising ticket prices result in a less than a full stadium? Then the prices will go down. 

A higher quality product creates a higher cost of attendance. Want a rib eye instead of ground chuck? That's gonna cost you. If fans wanted to see an IU Football game in person without pre-planning and with a low, low price? Then Tom Allen cafeteria hamburgers were the favored option for you. Cignetti is serving football rib eyes to the fans.

Pretty elementary, absolutely standard, and completely reasonable that prices have risen commensurate with success. And I'm quite sure that even with much higher prices, attendance will be much better than ever.

Stop.  Just stop.  We don't want to hear rational thinking.  This is btb.  All we want is rumors, gossip and a new basketball coach.

[CSP]

Ummm.. so include the donation when I bought the tickets to begin with? 

Nah lol you all trying to explain this as anything other than "a complete travesty" for fans are just wrong. 

Some have to make a $1K donation plus their season ticket money? Lol... and you all are buying that? 

"Make money" = suck fans dry 

Call it what it is. 

[Aaron]

54 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

It's a market economy! If the rising ticket prices result in a less than a full stadium? Then the prices will go down. 

A higher quality product creates a higher cost of attendance. Want a rib eye instead of ground chuck? That's gonna cost you. If fans wanted to see an IU Football game in person without pre-planning and with a low, low price? Then Tom Allen cafeteria hamburgers were the favored option for you. Cignetti is serving football rib eyes to the fans.

 Pretty elementary, absolutely standard, and completely reasonable that prices have risen commensurate with success. And I'm quite sure that even with much higher prices, attendance will be much better than ever.

Agreed. It blew my mind when people complained about the same thing when women's basketball got good and prices went up and you could not get a GA ticket to sit near the court five minutes before tipoff anymore. Yet these same people complained the program deserved more attention.

It all goes hand and hand and can't have one without the other. Some people fail to grasp this for some reason and I don't get it.

[Hovadipo]

It's another messaging fumble as much as anything. Last year, it was moving the student section AFTER season ticket holders selected seats. That was complete bulls**t as someone who ended up across the stairs from it. I can't imagine those that got their actual seats moved, because those were great seats. This year, it's adding this fee (it's not a donation, don't s**t on my shoes and tell me I stepped in chocolate) after a ton of people have renewed their season tickets. This isn't even a PSL like pro teams do where you pay out the wazzu for the right to even buy your season tickets, but at least there's a facade in place that you "own" your seats. 

[CSP]

6 minutes ago, Aaron said:

Agreed. It blew my mind when people complained about the same thing when women's basketball got good and prices went up and you could not get a GA ticket to sit near the court five minutes before tipoff anymore. Yet these same people complained the program deserved more attention.

It all goes hand and hand and can't have one without the other. Some people fail to grasp this for some reason and I don't get it.

Not even close to the same thing

[Aaron]

3 minutes ago, Certified Sunshine Pumper said:

Not even close to the same thing

Its exactly the same thing. People complain when prices are increased yet complain they want a better product. The two go hand in hand in the world of economics. Can't have one without the other.

[CSP]

10 minutes ago, Aaron said:

Its exactly the same thing. People complain when prices are increased yet complain they want a better product. The two go hand in hand in the world of economics. Can't have one without the other.

Again, it's not close. You're charging people after you charged them and making up the charge along the way. 

They aren't close to the same thing. 

[go iu bb]

2 minutes ago, Certified Sunshine Pumper said:

Again, it's not close. You're charging people after you charged them and making up the charge along the way. 

They aren't close to the same thing. 

It's basically a bait-and-switch.

[Aaron]

1 minute ago, Certified Sunshine Pumper said:

Again, it's not close. You're charging people after you charged them and making up the charge along the way. 

They aren't close to the same thing. 

With women they started adding priority points to it when they got good which pissed people off. While the actual fee or what is being charged may be a little different, it is the same idea of people complaining they want a better team and then complaining again when the team is good and prices go up or other fees or enticements are added.  

[Home Jersey]

23 minutes ago, Aaron said:

Its exactly the same thing. People complain when prices are increased yet complain they want a better product. The two go hand in hand in the world of economics. Can't have one without the other.

https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2024/07/15/Enshittification-Everything/

Not directly related, but I just have to scoff at "the two go hand in hand in the world of economics. Can't have one without the other." Economics is a social science, not explicitly mathematical.

People complain when prices are increased yet complain they want a better product? ...

Because these days they are paying more for a worse product.

That's great if you're a shareholder. Not if you're a customer (or fan). 

The natural conclusion of free market maximalism puts profit above all else, which without appropriate regulation and collective cooperation, often leads to a much worse product/experience. This model works for big brands, the rest of the landscape not so much. 

Just because some people can pay higher prices does not mean it's a net positive for the sport. 

[Home Jersey]

29 minutes ago, Hardwood83 said:

That linked story was very interesting. 

I appreciate you taking the time to read it and glad you found it worthwhile. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Behind Rivals paywall but '26 4-star QB Brodie McWhorter will be on campus this weekend.  From Cartersville, GA and apparently had verballed to WVU before they dumped their coach.  

https://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/rich_rodriguez_pays_a_visit_to_former_wvu_qb_commit_brodie_mcwhorter/s1_16571_41632394

[Lebowski]

Here's a nice depth chart put together by Jamie Jordan.

Here's his substack: https://jamiejordan.substack.com/

[68Hoosier]

6 minutes ago, Lebowski said:

Here's a nice depth chart put together by Jamie Jordan.

Here's his substack: https://jamiejordan.substack.com/

Good list the way it was laid out.