Why so many empty seats? The Eagle examines the issue and what WSU can do to improve
In the last 15 years, the Wichita State men’s basketball team has played 232 consecutive home games in front of a crowd of at least 10,000 fans.
According to the official attendance numbers, which has WSU averaging 10,158 fans per game at Koch Arena this season, it’s business as usual for the Shockers.
But if you have been to a WSU game this season, there’s a good chance you’ve noticed more empty seats than usual at Koch Arena. That’s because there are, despite what the official attendance numbers say.
The problem for WSU is not selling tickets, evident by their attendance streak surviving. The problem is attracting those who bought the tickets to show up. The Eagle obtained scanned attendance numbers from WSU’s ticket office that reflect the true attendance (opposed to tickets sold) and they show a significant decline this season.
Look at a box score and it will show WSU had 10,108 fans in attendance for its 95-69 victory over Central Arkansas on Dec. 5. In reality, WSU scanned just 6,178 tickets. That disparity is not an aberration. Going by scanned ticket numbers, average attendance was 6,426 entering Saturday’s game against Oklahoma at Intrust Bank Arena, meaning there is only a 64% turnout rate from paid tickets this season.
“This is not just a Wichita State issue, it’s a national issue for just about every live sporting event,” WSU athletic director Darron Boatright said. “This is something we’ve seen coming for a few years, but when it hits you personally, then it feels brand new. It’s something we in the sports entertainment industry have to adapt to and find different ways to get creative. We have to adjust to the consumer; we can’t ask the consumer to continually adapt to us.”
Marshall: ‘We’ve got to get those tickets used’
After noticing all of the empty seats and the lack of flashlights in the crowd for the pregame introductions, WSU coach Gregg Marshall shined his own light on the issue following the Central Arkansas game.
“We have the best fans in the world, but unfortunately this is an epidemic all over the country,” Marshall said. “We’re not immune to it. What I would like to ask is if our fans could give their tickets to someone that would wear yellow and black and make a lot of noise, instead of putting them in a drawer and letting them sit there.”
Marshall had a point: while the official attendance has only fluctuated by 7% from five years ago, the scanned ticket numbers show that actual attendance has plummeted by 25% during that span.
Of course, five years ago WSU’s attendance (8,806 average scanned tickets) was at its peak for the senior years of Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet. The next two years saw a small drop-off with the average going down to 8,124 for a 31-5 finish in 2016-17, then a slight increase to 8,320 in 2017-18 to watch a top-10 WSU team play its first year in the American Athletic Conference.
The trouble started last season with an almost entirely new roster and lowered expectations, as WSU saw a 16% fall-off in scanned attendance (7,014 average) from the previous year. It’s only been worse this season (6,626 average) without any marquee home games before the OU contest at Intrust.
“I do think there’s a demand for our games and people wanting to come to our games,” Marshall said last week. “In fact, I’ve had people reach out to me and say, ‘Hey, give me a couple of tickets. I’d love to come, it would be a dream come true.’
“The bottom line is there are tickets to be had, but they’re already purchased. So unless they’re putting them on the secondary market, they’re winding up in people’s drawers or envelopes at home. We’ve got to get those tickets used.”
Fans are attracted to winning and after the OU win, the Shockers are off to a 9-1 start and building a case to be ranked in the Top 25 with their second straight win over a Big 12 opponent.
Marshall and WSU players said they appreciated the season-high 10,727 fans at Intrust Bank Arena on Saturday to cheer on the Shockers for a win over the Sooners. They hope there are more raucous games like that at Koch Arena the rest of the season.
“Fantastic. Tremendous. Love it, always have,” Marshall said. “The people that come to this game buy a ticket and they’re here to be entertained. They’re here to have fun and vibe and get after it. Hopefully we gave them a good show. I really appreciate Shocker Nation showing up like that.”
“It’s something you dream about playing in a great atmosphere like that here at Wichita State,” freshman Grant Sherfield said after the OU win. “It’s something great. I’m just thankful for it.”
WSU fans respond with reasons why
After Marshall challenged the WSU fan base last week, The Eagle conducted its own fan survey on social media aimed at answering two questions: why do you think attendance has dipped at WSU and what can WSU do to improve the overall experience at its game?
After interacting with fans to listen to their speculation, the survey pulled together the top six reasons and fans had the option to write in their own answer. The survey asked fans to select as many options as they felt applied to each question. Over a five-day span, nearly there were nearly 2,500 responses submitted.
According to survey, the overwhelming answer to what the biggest problem is right now is the lower-tier opponents and inconvenient start times with 87% of respondents picking that as a reason.
Here were other popular answers:
- Tickets cost too much (76%)
- Fans would rather watch the game from home (54%)
- WSU is no longer a top-25 team (27%)
- Poor Wi-Fi and in-game production at games (22%)
None of those answers are unique to WSU. Ticket prices are an issue everywhere and fans want to watch winning teams.
But the biggest question athletic departments from all over the country must answer is how to persuade the casual fan from passing up the chance to watch the game from the comforts of their home with their own snacks, drinks, friends and Wi-Fi to buy a ticket and attend the game in person.
In fact, that was the No. 1 topic WSU fans brought up in the survey as 56% of those who responded thought the biggest way WSU can improve the overall experience was to improve its in-game fan experience.
David Wyld, a professor of strategic management at Southeastern Louisiana University, explored last year the issue of empty seats at live sporting events and came to the conclusion that universities must adapt.
“In short, it will take upending the economic model of more, more, more revenue (and more expensive pricing) with more of a value concept,” Wyld wrote. “An empty seat in a stadium for a given sporting event is like an empty seat on an airliner, it is the perfect chance for the elasticity of demand to show and to be tested.
“We need to go back to the fundamentals of good marketing, as the old model of ‘let’s gouge our customers as much as they can stand and still buy tickets to our games’ is no longer working. What we need to do is upend the strategic mindset of maximizing ticket prices and instead, focus on incremental revenue. It is simply a matter of answering the question: ‘How can we get the most people in the most seats?’”
WSU athletic director responds to fans
The Eagle went to WSU athletic director Darron Boatright with the results of its survey and asked him to respond individually to each of the four main concerns put forth by Shocker fans.
Here are Boatright’s responses:
1. Improve the in-game fan experience (56% of responses)
Boatright emphasized how good the WSU fan base has been over the years and that WSU is still in a good position relative to other universities.
In fact, WSU is selling 97% of available tickets at Koch Arena — the highest rate in the American Athletic Conference. WSU’s average attendance of 10,158 ranks third in the AAC behind Memphis (16,029) and Cincinnati (10,389), who both play in larger arenas.
Boatright knows every athletic department is in the same boat trying to figure out how to attract casual fans to their games.
“There’s always going to be a subset of fans who are always going to be in attendance because they want to feel the energy, smell the popcorn and be apart of it themselves,” Boatright said. “What we have to do is become more competitive with a new group of fans. We have to figure out how we can lure them (to Koch Arena) because they feel like maybe they could have a special experience or have different things to do within the game that will make them want to come be a part of it in person.”
The most consistent suggestion from fans for how to improve the in-game experience was in regards to the entertainment when basketball wasn’t being played. Fans mentioned it was important to have someone local sing the national anthem rather than having the band play. They also wanted to see live shows return consistently for the halftime entertainment and more engaging games for fans during timeouts throughout the game.
Finding a balance between wanting to sell television rights (and make the viewing experience better for fans at home) and trying to attract fans to still want to come to Koch Arena is the challenge facing WSU, and every university, according to Boatright.
“We as an industry want to talk out of both sides of our mouths,” Boatright said. “We want to take the multimedia rights and the television money and put our product out on huge platforms, then we still want our local people to come out. That’s just not the way it works. When we put our games out there and put every game on television in some form or fashion, we’re giving our fans that option.”
2. Create a marketplace to buy and sell tickets (49% responses)
Boatright pointed out that WSU has a marketplace set up on GoShockers.com through its partnership with StubHub. Fans are able to buy and sell tickets through the web site.
Fans are encouraged to go to GoShockers.com and hover over the Tickets tab and choose “StubHub Buy & Sell Tickets.”
Plenty of tickets are still available for Saturday’s highly-anticipated game against VCU at Koch Arena starting at $29 (with fees) available on StubHub.com.
3. Make games more affordable for families
If a family of four wants to go to WSU’s next game at Koch Arena, against VCU next Saturday, parking would cost $10 and the four cheapest tickets on StubHub, in the second-to-last row, would cost $166 with fees. With drinks and food, the cheapest possible outing could still cost more than $200 for the family.
“We’re going to have to look at our pricing model to see if there’s anything we can do to entice a new generation of fans to come out and take part,” Boatright said. “We have to be willing to try to get a new group of fans to experience our games.”
For fans with season tickets, the expenses are even higher. It will cost you nearly $800 for the cheapest season ticket and now the donation to the Shocker Athletic Scholarship Organization is no longer eligible to write off on taxes.
Since joining the American, WSU’s prices have been on the rise. Boatright understands the frustration from fans.
“It’s expensive, I know that. I agree with those that say it’s pricey,” Boatright said. “Our expenses continue to rise and rise and we have to continue to come up with those dollars somewhere. While it’s not all inherent on the season-ticket holders to cover that, we’ve asked them to step up over the last few years, specifically since joining the American, and they have.”
4. Improve the parking situation for fans
The lack of parking on WSU’s campus is not a unique problem. That’s an issue everywhere. Elderly fans have complained about the distance they have to walk in the cold weather to reach Koch Arena.
Boatright said WSU has tried to improve this with a shuttle service available for weeknight games. Fans can park at the Metroplex, 5015 E. 29th Street N., and take a shuttle to and from Koch Arena. Fans who park in any non-reserved lot on campus can also go to the bus stop stations and take a free shuttle to and from Koch Arena. The WSU Alumni Association has also begun a shuttle service from Braeburn Square that runs one hour before and after the game.
“We’re trying to help ease the frustration for people visiting our campus,” Boatright said. “I don’t know that there’s anything necessarily we can do about specific parking because that’s an issue at any college campus you go to. That doesn’t mean that’s our answer. We have to find other ways to make it easier for our fans. If we need to tweak things going forward, we have to be open to those changes.”
This story was originally published December 16, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
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