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Financial Issues for Athletic Department's next season


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1 minute ago, MarshallCounty said:

Pay to play? Fundraiser’s? Boosters? Skip new uniforms? Cut coaching stipends? Other options? Mix and match different cost cutting measurements. Everything is on the table. Some will be fine, others will struggle. 

Doubt that happens.  Coaches who lost their season last spring did not forfeit their coaching salary.  At least by me.

I know.  Most coaches salaries are included in their regular salary.

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On 12/30/2020 at 12:06 PM, DE said:

If you do not feel well, stay home.  If you want to wear a mask and social distance, feel free.  Get rid of contact tracing.  Open the gates. Voila.

I know that sounds like things would be better, but I am just not sure attendance and finances will go back to the way they were before the pandemic that easily.  Parents and siblings have been allowed to attend at the majority of schools.  Grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and friends have been cut out along with many casual fans within communities.  Those will be groups that are more difficult to get back.  Parents and siblings will always attend, but opening the gates may not be all that it takes to get many in those other groups to return.

Each of the 12 teams that played in the football state finals this year were allotted 3500 tickets.  I don’t think any of those schools sold their full allotment.  There were plenty of seats available that were not sold to the biggest event of the season.  Maybe more general admission tickets would have been sold if the tickets were good for more than a single game, but I think many people stayed at home to be safe.  That will be a hard trend to reverse by simply opening the gates.

Just this week, the boys basketball hall of fame tournament at New Castle featured 3 schools that all have huge fan support and a 4th school that has a lot of appeal to casual basketball fans that want to see a Mr. Basketball candidate (at least 3 legitimate candidates played in the tournament).  New Castle had plenty of tickets available to the general public (advertised 650) and didn’t sell anywhere near that many.  It should have been the most financially successful tournament in years, but they didn’t even sell out with the reduced capacity.  Even if they had opened the gates to everyone, a lot of people would have stayed home.  I’m not debating whether that is the right or wrong decision because that is their choice.  I just think it is going to be hard to get many of those fans back when a lot of them are older fans that will be reluctant to return based on their own health risks.  That will be a hard demographic or age group to replace, just like it is with officials.  New, young officials aren’t replacing the older officials that retire fast enough to keep up, resulting in the current shortage.  The same trend may occur with fans as a result of the pandemic.  Younger casual fans will not replace the older casual fans that choose to stay home when the gates are open to all again.

Another factor that will play a role in attendance numbers is the availability of live streaming.  If live streams continue to be available, many of those extended family members and casual fans in the community will choose to watch online from the comfort of their home rather than go to the game until this era is long into the rear-view mirror.  They may come back eventually, but I think it is going to take a more deliberate effort by the schools and possibly the IHSAA to reverse that trend.  It will be interesting to see if the IHSAA leads the way in trying to bring fans back, or if they will continue to push the live streaming options for their own financial gain.

I would be surprised if we ever see an all-day general admission ticket to the football or basketball state finals ever again.  I will miss that.  Single game only ticket sales will drive more of those casual fans to select the more affordable and hassle free live streaming options if they are available.  I will always prefer the live experience, but the cost is certainly a factor at those big events.

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3 hours ago, HoopsCoach said:

I know that sounds like things would be better, but I am just not sure attendance and finances will go back to the way they were before the pandemic that easily.  Parents and siblings have been allowed to attend at the majority of schools.  Grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and friends have been cut out along with many casual fans within communities.  Those will be groups that are more difficult to get back.  Parents and siblings will always attend, but opening the gates may not be all that it takes to get many in those other groups to return.

Each of the 12 teams that played in the football state finals this year were allotted 3500 tickets.  I don’t think any of those schools sold their full allotment.  There were plenty of seats available that were not sold to the biggest event of the season.  Maybe more general admission tickets would have been sold if the tickets were good for more than a single game, but I think many people stayed at home to be safe.  That will be a hard trend to reverse by simply opening the gates.

Just this week, the boys basketball hall of fame tournament at New Castle featured 3 schools that all have huge fan support and a 4th school that has a lot of appeal to casual basketball fans that want to see a Mr. Basketball candidate (at least 3 legitimate candidates played in the tournament).  New Castle had plenty of tickets available to the general public (advertised 650) and didn’t sell anywhere near that many.  It should have been the most financially successful tournament in years, but they didn’t even sell out with the reduced capacity.  Even if they had opened the gates to everyone, a lot of people would have stayed home.  I’m not debating whether that is the right or wrong decision because that is their choice.  I just think it is going to be hard to get many of those fans back when a lot of them are older fans that will be reluctant to return based on their own health risks.  That will be a hard demographic or age group to replace, just like it is with officials.  New, young officials aren’t replacing the older officials that retire fast enough to keep up, resulting in the current shortage.  The same trend may occur with fans as a result of the pandemic.  Younger casual fans will not replace the older casual fans that choose to stay home when the gates are open to all again.

Another factor that will play a role in attendance numbers is the availability of live streaming.  If live streams continue to be available, many of those extended family members and casual fans in the community will choose to watch online from the comfort of their home rather than go to the game until this era is long into the rear-view mirror.  They may come back eventually, but I think it is going to take a more deliberate effort by the schools and possibly the IHSAA to reverse that trend.  It will be interesting to see if the IHSAA leads the way in trying to bring fans back, or if they will continue to push the live streaming options for their own financial gain.

I would be surprised if we ever see an all-day general admission ticket to the football or basketball state finals ever again.  I will miss that.  Single game only ticket sales will drive more of those casual fans to select the more affordable and hassle free live streaming options if they are available.  I will always prefer the live experience, but the cost is certainly a factor at those big events.

I believe Center grove sold all of their tickets if they did’t it was not by much

Edited by Trojanmp52
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8 hours ago, HoopsCoach said:

I know that sounds like things would be better, but I am just not sure attendance and finances will go back to the way they were before the pandemic that easily.  Parents and siblings have been allowed to attend at the majority of schools.  Grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and friends have been cut out along with many casual fans within communities.  Those will be groups that are more difficult to get back.  Parents and siblings will always attend, but opening the gates may not be all that it takes to get many in those other groups to return.

Each of the 12 teams that played in the football state finals this year were allotted 3500 tickets.  I don’t think any of those schools sold their full allotment.  There were plenty of seats available that were not sold to the biggest event of the season.  Maybe more general admission tickets would have been sold if the tickets were good for more than a single game, but I think many people stayed at home to be safe.  That will be a hard trend to reverse by simply opening the gates.

Just this week, the boys basketball hall of fame tournament at New Castle featured 3 schools that all have huge fan support and a 4th school that has a lot of appeal to casual basketball fans that want to see a Mr. Basketball candidate (at least 3 legitimate candidates played in the tournament).  New Castle had plenty of tickets available to the general public (advertised 650) and didn’t sell anywhere near that many.  It should have been the most financially successful tournament in years, but they didn’t even sell out with the reduced capacity.  Even if they had opened the gates to everyone, a lot of people would have stayed home.  I’m not debating whether that is the right or wrong decision because that is their choice.  I just think it is going to be hard to get many of those fans back when a lot of them are older fans that will be reluctant to return based on their own health risks.  That will be a hard demographic or age group to replace, just like it is with officials.  New, young officials aren’t replacing the older officials that retire fast enough to keep up, resulting in the current shortage.  The same trend may occur with fans as a result of the pandemic.  Younger casual fans will not replace the older casual fans that choose to stay home when the gates are open to all again.

Another factor that will play a role in attendance numbers is the availability of live streaming.  If live streams continue to be available, many of those extended family members and casual fans in the community will choose to watch online from the comfort of their home rather than go to the game until this era is long into the rear-view mirror.  They may come back eventually, but I think it is going to take a more deliberate effort by the schools and possibly the IHSAA to reverse that trend.  It will be interesting to see if the IHSAA leads the way in trying to bring fans back, or if they will continue to push the live streaming options for their own financial gain.

I would be surprised if we ever see an all-day general admission ticket to the football or basketball state finals ever again.  I will miss that.  Single game only ticket sales will drive more of those casual fans to select the more affordable and hassle free live streaming options if they are available.  I will always prefer the live experience, but the cost is certainly a factor at those big events.

Ive become a huge fan of live streaming.  Its here to stay and will have a long term downward impact on game attendance.  The era of big high school football stadiums should be over..  Many schools should look into selling some excess bleacher capacity so these materials can be used for other purposes.  Ill bet Lafayette Jeff could auction off 75% of its bleachers and still have planty to handkly any crowd.

 

http://ifca.zebras.net/ifca/candler/region4/lafayette_jeff.htm

 

Edited by DT
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4 hours ago, Trojanmp52 said:

I believe Center grove sold all of their tickets if they did’t it was not by much

I’m not going to put too much stock in any ticket sales (or lack thereof) this year. The hodgepodge structure of different schools, different counties, etc having different rules has caused most fans to just wait until next year. 

Just this basketball season, we had to turn in the name of which parent was going to attend a game 2 days in advance. The next week my wife used our parent ticket only to find out the school was selling tickets at the gate. And we have a son playing. I can’t imagine how frustrating it would be as a grandparent, uncle, or just casual fan. So I’m not going to judge 2020-21 for anything but this year. 

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