Game day at your school

[Ram040506]

Curious the costs brought up in the IUP thread.
1. What is the cost for a parking spot in a tailgate area around the stadium?
2. What is the cost of entry into the game?

Shepherd is $20 for Lot B (maybe a 1-2 minute walk to the stadium) or $30 in Lot C (right next to the stadium).

Reserved seating home side on 50 yard line with seat backs is $30 per game. General Admission everywhere else is $15, and kids K-12th grade are $5.

[Ship69]

Curious the costs brought up in the IUP thread.
1. What is the cost for a parking spot in a tailgate area around the stadium?
2. What is the cost of entry into the game?

Shepherd is $20 for Lot B (maybe a 1-2 minute walk to the stadium) or $30 in Lot C (right next to the stadium).

Reserved seating home side on 50 yard line with seat backs is $30 per game. General Admission everywhere else is $15, and kids K-12th grade are $5.

There are no parking costs for games at Ship or formal charges for tailgating that I'm aware of. We are fortunate in having fairly adequate parking facilities on campus. There might sometimes be a charge for special events held in the tailgate area. Games tickets have been $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and children. I usually donate to the athletics department and get free season passes for football and basketball.

[Bart]

"Single-game ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for students (5 and older) and senior citizens (62 and older). All Bloomsburg University students receive free admission to each game with their valid student ID. Children under the age of five are also admitted free of charge. Season-ticket packages are also available: $45 for adults and $20 for students and senior citizens.

Meanwhile, the 2023 Husky Tailgate Zone passes are also on sale, and fans can click here to reserve their spot. A full-season pass, including a pair of season tickets, costs $200, with each game priced at $50. A full-season pass is $150 for students, with every contest marked at $30."

If you purchase as season pass, you get to park next to the stadium, but no tailgating or drinking there.

[Ram040506]

There are no parking costs for games at Ship or formal charges for tailgating that I'm aware of. We are fortunate in having fairly adequate parking facilities on campus. There might sometimes be a charge for special events held in the tailgate area. Games tickets have been $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and children. I usually donate to the athletics department and get free season passes for football and basketball.

Shepherd used to be $8 for tickets and then jumped to $15 a few years ago. Ship is probably missing out on a bit of $ for the parking, but I get that they like to make it a fun experience for alumni and fans. It's a slippery slope at this level for price gouging and can turn off the fan base pretty quick.

[Fightingscot82]

A lot of Edinboro athletics operations are still stuck in the 90s.

Ticket prices haven't changed at Edinboro in years. Adults $10, students at other schools $5.Boro students & employees free. 65+ and kids 6 & under are free. There's no way to buy tickets in advance. They occasionally send out season ticket ordering info but not every year. In years past you don't really get a discount - but you can get a reserved "seat" on the center section of bleachers.

Parking is free. Tailgating generally happens in the lot along Perry Lane that is directly behind the visitor stands and in the grass between the lot and the tennis complex. This is complicated by the home locker room being under the visitor section and lots of those spots taken by coaches and players arriving earlier than fans. There is also a large parking lot across the street adjacent to McComb and small lots at McComb and the Zafirovski dome. There is no patrolling of the parking lots so generally if you're not causing a scene nobody really cares.

[Ram040506]

A lot of Edinboro athletics operations are still stuck in the 90s.

Ticket prices haven't changed at Edinboro in years. Adults $10, students at other schools $5.Boro students & employees free. 65+ and kids 6 & under are free. There's no way to buy tickets in advance. They occasionally send out season ticket ordering info but not every year. In years past you don't really get a discount - but you can get a reserved "seat" on the center section of bleachers.

Parking is free. Tailgating generally happens in the lot along Perry Lane that is directly behind the visitor stands and in the grass between the lot and the tennis complex. This is complicated by the home locker room being under the visitor section and lots of those spots taken by coaches and players arriving earlier than fans. There is also a large parking lot across the street adjacent to McComb and small lots at McComb and the Zafirovski dome. There is no patrolling of the parking lots so generally if you're not causing a scene nobody really cares.

Seems to be the case with a few schools. Do you think it has to do with not wanting to rock the boat due to lightly attended games already? Don't want to discourage people with higher pricing? Seems like we are leaving a lot of $ out there to be had for those programs but I get the potential trade off.

[Sec10-A-14]

At Gannon free parking where you can find it. Cops look the other way on game day street parking. No charge for tail gate parking. Game Cost Adults $5, Seniors $3. All PSAC students free. But Men's Basketball $175 season tks reserved Plush, reg bleacher $5 adults Seniors $3

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Seems to be the case with a few schools. Do you think it has to do with not wanting to rock the boat due to lightly attended games already? Don't want to discourage people with higher pricing? Seems like we are leaving a lot of $ out there to be had for those programs but I get the potential trade off.

It still goes back to the definition of 'lightly attended' games.

What is each programs actual goal for attendance?

Clarion drawing 2,000 would be a big day at the gate. IUP drawing 2,000 would be terrible.

The towns (population, location, etc.) -- and especially the followings -- of our programs are so drastically different.

Clarion, for instance, could never pull the crap IUP does with ridiculous parking fees and expensive game tickets.

IUP probably averaged in the 3,500 to 3,800 range last year. There were a couple big gates and a couple small ones mixed in there.

IUP should probably average more in the 6,500 to 7,000 range. Indiana is a big town (by PSAC standards), IUP has a big following (by D2 standards) and Indiana is relatively close to the Pittsburgh region. Would cutting ticket prices in half (getting more to the average) help the gate? I think so. Your run-of-the-mill, local-yocal Indiana townie family isn't dropping $80 plus refreshments to watch a D2 football game (that they faintly cares who wins).

Clarion, on the other hand, is a very small town and very remote up there in the mountains. They've also been really bad for a really long time. Parking is free and tickets are still in the 1990s-range of $5 or $10 (somewhere in there).

Football is a big deal in places like Slippery Rock, Shepherd, Indiana (and a couple others). Most of our towns ... well, not so much. It's purely an afterthought and the actual schools see it as an enrollment booster.

PSAC football (and all sports) are marketed just God Awful.

[Fightingscot82]

I would be surprised if any schools except maybe Shepherd has an actual attendance goal.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I would be surprised if any schools except maybe Shepherd has an actual attendance goal.

... The beauty of having non-business people run businesses

[Fightingscot82]

... The beauty of having non-business people run businesses

I think it's that athletics is not seen as a money maker and the revenue is so insignificant that they don't bother. Plus there's no accountability. Garzarelli is technically a tenured professor so the only reason he's gone is if he has an illegal f*ck up, he's reassigned elsewhere on campus, or he resigns.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I think it's that athletics is not seen as a money maker and the revenue is so insignificant that they don't bother. Plus there's no accountability. Garzarelli is technically a tenured professor so the only reason he's gone is if he has an illegal f*ck up, he's reassigned elsewhere on campus, or he resigns.

I wasn't referring to him. I think he's done a pretty good job. I was referring to the PSAC schools as a whole.

There's money to be made. Granted, not millions but they could all turn a profit.

IUP Basketball is the one program that doesn't miss a beat from a money-grab standpoint. Those games are essentially run like a D1 affair. They sell beer, wine and actual booze, real food (prime rib bar, etc.), Merch stands, expensive tickets, etc.

[Ship69]

It still goes back to the definition of 'lightly attended' games.

What is each programs actual goal for attendance?

Clarion drawing 2,000 would be a big day at the gate. IUP drawing 2,000 would be terrible.

The towns (population, location, etc.) -- and especially the followings -- of our programs are so drastically different.

Clarion, for instance, could never pull the crap IUP does with ridiculous parking fees and expensive game tickets.

IUP probably averaged in the 3,500 to 3,800 range last year. There were a couple big gates and a couple small ones mixed in there.

IUP should probably average more in the 6,500 to 7,000 range. Indiana is a big town (by PSAC standards), IUP has a big following (by D2 standards) and Indiana is relatively close to the Pittsburgh region. Would cutting ticket prices in half (getting more to the average) help the gate? I think so. Your run-of-the-mill, local-yocal Indiana townie family isn't dropping $80 plus refreshments to watch a D2 football game (that they faintly cares who wins).

Clarion, on the other hand, is a very small town and very remote up there in the mountains. They've also been really bad for a really long time. Parking is free and tickets are still in the 1990s-range of $5 or $10 (somewhere in there).

Football is a big deal in places like Slippery Rock, Shepherd, Indiana (and a couple others). Most of our towns ... well, not so much. It's purely an afterthought and the actual schools see it as an enrollment booster.

PSAC football (and all sports) are marketed just God Awful.

Part of the problem with marketing is that there is almost no media coverage of most PSAC schools now. IUP getting coverage from a guy like Matt at the Gazette is a rare thing these days. One of the few papers that covers Shippensburg at all, the Carlisle Sentinel, recently cut back to printing three days a week. The Chambersburg Public Opinion and Waynesboro Record Herald, both of which I've worked for, have been gobbled up by Gannett and offer little local coverage. I used to go up to Ship to cover it for Waynesboro when I had time ( I also covered local high schools.) I got to several games during the 1981 season when Ship won the conference and was awarded the Lambert Cup as best small college team in the East. The Harrisburg Patriot-News used to have what might have been the best local sports section in the state, but that has been eviscerated over the years. Area TV stations are terrible. We've had PSAC alums working at a lot of these stations, and you wouldn't know PSAC sports exist — Penn State, Penn State, Penn State, yada, yada, yada. The e-sports team at Harrisburg University has probably had more coverage than the PSAC. Coach Mac at Ship has largely given up press conferences because nobody comes.

As far as football attendance, Ship gets good crowds when we have good teams and for Homecoming — 5,000 or more on some occasions. The Ship-Bloomsburg game used to be a big draw back in the Zac Zulli days when both teams were good. The 49-42 Ship win over Bloomsburg before a capacity crowd at Ship during Zulli's junior year might have been the most exciting game I've ever seen there. Shippensburg is not a huge town, and it's harder to draw non-students when the team is so-so as it's been recently.

[Fightingscot82]

I wasn't referring to him. I think he's done a pretty good job. I was referring to the PSAC schools as a whole.

There's money to be made. Granted, not millions but they could all turn a profit.

IUP Basketball is the one program that doesn't miss a beat from a money-grab standpoint. Those games are essentially run like a D1 affair. They sell beer, wine and actual booze, real food (prime rib bar, etc.), Merch stands, expensive tickets, etc.

I just used Todd because it's IUP. But Todd could hit cruise control and nothing could be done

[IUPNation]

I just used Todd because it's IUP. But Todd could hit cruise control and nothing could be done

Todd now holds masters degrees from IUP, so that eradicates any cooties from his unfortunate bachelor degree from Slimey Pebble.

:-)