Consumers vs. Suppliers: The Attendance Issues at 2011 UD Football Games

There have been a plethora of issues involving the attendance problems at Delaware Stadium this season.  New season ticket pricing and required donations have resulted in decreased sales this year (after a National Championship appearance last campaign).  The over-the-top tailgating policies, accompanied by the previous ticketing system, slowly drove the student body away from the games and the Cockpit, and instead sees them rather stay on campus during a gameday.  Back during the heydays of Delaware football, this would be blasphemy.  Instead, it is slowly becoming the norm, and changes need to be made ASAP.

I started writing an essay on this issue and about halfway through, realized that no one would read it because it was getting so long.  I also realized that re-hashing all of the issues that everyone already knows about is pointless.  So without further ado, here are the problems that are going on with the attendance at Delaware Stadium, followed by my opinions on the issues:

• Required Donations to the UDAF with Season Tickets.
• Might as well be a PSL, but at least this has a good purpose.
• This is to benefit the athletic programs, not to screw over the fanbase.
• If these donations were reduced and season ticket prices rose (after a title appearance), I feel like this would be getting less complaints.
• Everyone is hit hard by the bad economy, which is why UD is asking for the donations in the first place.
• If you cannot afford seats, sorry (neither can I).  Someone else is going to pay that price eventually.
• When you buy individual tickets just to "screw" them back, you're directing the money that would go to scholarships and the athletes to other places instead.
• Student Attendance
• In the past, having to line up early to get tickets deterred some students from leaving the tailgates to get a seat.  Once the end zone was "sold out," the casual fan would turn back instead of not being able to sit with friends.
• The "early pick-up" system did the same thing, just 4 days before the game.
• Making a student plan to do something in advance is hard enough, and when there is no consequence (such as claiming a ticket and not attending the game), it just makes it easier to not show up, whether it is because the tailgate is not worth leaving or because it is too cold or rainy for your precious little self.
• Students that actually did attend would sometimes be stuck in the side sections because they were unable to get a ticket soon enough.  This led to them either not attending at all because they were separated from their friends, or attending the game just to see the Cockpit only a third full.
• Reverting back to the old policy is a smarter move, but not the best move.
• The AD offers an iPad and $5,000 to try and get 5,000 students to show up for a game, and it fails.  I expected it to be close, but it was far from that number.
• The tailgating enforcement has strongly deterred the students from wanting to come down an have a gameday experience.  If they won't even come to tailgate, they sure aren't going to make the effort to go to the game.
• The Tailgating Atmosphere is Dying
• Over the top enforcement of the tailgates is deterring the students from partying as in the past.
• Undercover officers.  Enough said.
• If you're underage, you are not going to be as willing to take the risk like the past few years of students had.  Multiple classes of Blue Hens will be missing out on the gameday experience.
• The Whole Trumpet Incident

• There is an important conference game this week.
• SIX ARTICLES ABOUT THIS!!!
• SIX!!!
• That includes a 5-page long piece on DelawareOnline and articles on NBC and Deadspin.
• From what I understand, the policy was that artificial noisemakers were not allowed at games (the way Delaware interpreted the rules).
• One side of the story says he was previously confronted about it.  The other says this was the first time is was even an issue.
• Instead of giving the horn to security, he passed it down the row and was then taken out of the stands and handcuffed, but never charged and later released.
• Around 200 fans left in protest, one got to the point of being physical with an officer and was arrested and charged.
• In the end, the trumpet guy was upset at how things went down.  The school tried to cover up for the security guys by saying they were adhering to the strict rules.
• Turns out that the NCAA only prohibits noisemakers in the postseason and the CAA only discourages them.
• This whole this is ridiculous.  It was a boiling point for every fan that was pissed at the administration this season and that is what it has turned into.
• I have seen tons of posts saying that UD cannot be forgiven for this and have lost their ticket money in the future.  We'll see on that big talk.
• The administrations was wrong on this one, and changed the policy to allow noisemakers into games for the rest of the regular season (two games)
• I have a feeling that this will be taken as me trying to downplay this incident, but it is getting treated like the Boston Massacre.  Even the main person involved in the story wants it to go away and has made peace with the situation.

I am tired from just typing all of that.  This whole season has been absolutely ridiculous. Tresolini's blog was the best story of the bunch to sum up the incidents and the total backlash from the season.  The UMass game is a sell-out because it is Parent's weekend, and the only home game after that is Homecoming, another potential sell-out.  I wonder what would have happened if there was not an event going on this week.  Enough of this... back to football.