A couple stories I saw today to hold you over until the games start:
DMN: A&M Hires Chief Revenue Officer
In June, Coyle was hired to be A&M's chief revenue officer, a position that did not exist before he arrived in College Station. The hire, along with Coyle's vision as to what A&M could be, indicates where things in college athletics could be going in the next few years.
Whether it's finding ways to maximize corporate sponsorships, or finding deeper ways to engage with a rabid fan base, schools are making sure no potential revenue source is overlooked.
His first, large concrete venture will make its debut Thursday night when the Aggies open the season against Northwestern State. A&M will debut a website called 12thManLive.com. It allows fans to keep up with stats in real-time, enter contests and get food coupons.
"This little website, as lightweight and simple as it seems, there's a lot going on behind the scenes that we think we're really going to get smarter," Coyle said.
The data from the fan interaction will allow A&M to get a better understanding of who its fans are, what they want and how they spend their time and money during games. For example, Coyle said certain concession signs for peanuts will shift from $3 to $2 during games.
It costs roughly $50,000 to implement, Coyle said, but he said the site that features marquee sponsors such as Ford, Wells Fargo, AT&T and PepsiCo has already paid for itself.
USA Today Guarantee Games
College football’s version of the gig economy gets rolling Thursday, as teams across the country begin the annual ritual of playing one-time, non-conference games in exchange for huge payouts.
This season, well over $175 million will change hands just for teams getting on the field for these so-called “guarantee” games, according to an analysis of more than 275 contracts for matchups involving teams in the NCAA’s top-level Bowl Subdivision.
WSJ: Another story on ticket issues
When Arkansas hosted No. 21 Auburn, scanned attendance was more than 25,000 lower than announced attendance. Overall last season, Arkansas’s scanned home attendance was 58% of its announced attendance as the Razorbacks went 4-8. Nonetheless, Reynolds Razorback Stadium is reopening Saturday after a $160 million renovation that increased capacity by about 4,000. An Arkansas spokesman declined to comment.
Florida State, which won the 2013 national title, last season had a scanned attendance that was 57% of its announced attendance. FSU spokesman Rob Wilson blamed personnel and technical issues in scanning tickets and said, “We do not believe the difference is as large as the data appears to show.”
Many schools take a generous approach in compiling announced attendance, by including ushers, security guards and even the guy at the concession stand who sells you a Coke. That partly explains how Purdue’s announced attendance last season spiked 13,433 per game—the largest jump in college football. (Purdue didn’t report how many tickets it actually scanned last year, citing what a spokesman called “outdated equipment, connectivity problems and user error.”)
Sagging student attendance remains a problem, even at perennial power Alabama. As part of a recently announced renovation of Bryant-Denny Stadium, the school plans to add a student terrace to create “a more interactive and social environment,” athletic director Greg Byrne said.
The renovations also will add more club and lounge areas and slightly reduce the stadium’s 101,821 capacity, part of a trend of downsizing college football stadiums.
Nebraska boasts a sellout streak that dates to the 1962 season. But during last year’s 4-8 record, there was an average gap of more than 18,000 per game between scanned and announced attendance—mostly no-shows, a spokesman said.
Free tickets often are counted among attendance figures even if they’re never used. California, on the hook to repay the cost of a $321 million renovation for Memorial Stadiumunveiled in 2012, gave away 57,108 tickets last season. That’s nearly an entire free game at the 62,467-seat stadium. About 35% of the free tickets were used, school officials say.
DMN: A&M Hires Chief Revenue Officer
In June, Coyle was hired to be A&M's chief revenue officer, a position that did not exist before he arrived in College Station. The hire, along with Coyle's vision as to what A&M could be, indicates where things in college athletics could be going in the next few years.
Whether it's finding ways to maximize corporate sponsorships, or finding deeper ways to engage with a rabid fan base, schools are making sure no potential revenue source is overlooked.
His first, large concrete venture will make its debut Thursday night when the Aggies open the season against Northwestern State. A&M will debut a website called 12thManLive.com. It allows fans to keep up with stats in real-time, enter contests and get food coupons.
"This little website, as lightweight and simple as it seems, there's a lot going on behind the scenes that we think we're really going to get smarter," Coyle said.
The data from the fan interaction will allow A&M to get a better understanding of who its fans are, what they want and how they spend their time and money during games. For example, Coyle said certain concession signs for peanuts will shift from $3 to $2 during games.
It costs roughly $50,000 to implement, Coyle said, but he said the site that features marquee sponsors such as Ford, Wells Fargo, AT&T and PepsiCo has already paid for itself.
USA Today Guarantee Games
College football’s version of the gig economy gets rolling Thursday, as teams across the country begin the annual ritual of playing one-time, non-conference games in exchange for huge payouts.
This season, well over $175 million will change hands just for teams getting on the field for these so-called “guarantee” games, according to an analysis of more than 275 contracts for matchups involving teams in the NCAA’s top-level Bowl Subdivision.
WSJ: Another story on ticket issues
When Arkansas hosted No. 21 Auburn, scanned attendance was more than 25,000 lower than announced attendance. Overall last season, Arkansas’s scanned home attendance was 58% of its announced attendance as the Razorbacks went 4-8. Nonetheless, Reynolds Razorback Stadium is reopening Saturday after a $160 million renovation that increased capacity by about 4,000. An Arkansas spokesman declined to comment.
Florida State, which won the 2013 national title, last season had a scanned attendance that was 57% of its announced attendance. FSU spokesman Rob Wilson blamed personnel and technical issues in scanning tickets and said, “We do not believe the difference is as large as the data appears to show.”
Many schools take a generous approach in compiling announced attendance, by including ushers, security guards and even the guy at the concession stand who sells you a Coke. That partly explains how Purdue’s announced attendance last season spiked 13,433 per game—the largest jump in college football. (Purdue didn’t report how many tickets it actually scanned last year, citing what a spokesman called “outdated equipment, connectivity problems and user error.”)
Sagging student attendance remains a problem, even at perennial power Alabama. As part of a recently announced renovation of Bryant-Denny Stadium, the school plans to add a student terrace to create “a more interactive and social environment,” athletic director Greg Byrne said.
The renovations also will add more club and lounge areas and slightly reduce the stadium’s 101,821 capacity, part of a trend of downsizing college football stadiums.
Nebraska boasts a sellout streak that dates to the 1962 season. But during last year’s 4-8 record, there was an average gap of more than 18,000 per game between scanned and announced attendance—mostly no-shows, a spokesman said.
Free tickets often are counted among attendance figures even if they’re never used. California, on the hook to repay the cost of a $321 million renovation for Memorial Stadiumunveiled in 2012, gave away 57,108 tickets last season. That’s nearly an entire free game at the 62,467-seat stadium. About 35% of the free tickets were used, school officials say.
