Coming to a theater near you …
It is understandable for a sub-.500 team to suffer a dropoff in home attendance.
It is understandable for fans and their friends to watch a pay-per-view telecast in the comfort of their homes or garages.
What should be a concern is when fans prefer to watch a UH game at a movie theater instead of Aloha Stadium. Sure, theaters offer relatively inexpensive admission ($12), more parking and shorter bathroom lines. Theaters offer stadium-styled seat, too.
But there’s another place that offers stadium-styled seats: Aloha Stadium.
Aloha Stadium should be concerned that there are fans who want to watch a game in a stadium-like atmosphere but not at the stadium. Winning, of course, will improve attendance at Aloha Stadium. But will that lure fans who prefer, for now, to watch games in a darkened theater?
Great point for discussion.
I believe that even if UH starts winning, it may not make a big impact on the stadium attendance. The more alternative outlets that become available, catering to what the casual fan wants (easy parking, easy access to clean bathrooms, no intrusive bag check, no drunk, loud, obnoxious fans, etc,) the more those casual fans will stick to their chosen venues. Be it PPV, bars, theaters, etc.
If the stadium and UH want to get some of those and new fans to the stadium, they have to do a better job of creating “an atmosphere”, as some suggested, family friendly section (and ticket pricing as they are competing on that with others), better pre-game and in-game promotional efforts. Polling those exiting the theaters may help them find areas of improvement to get those fans.
Competition for the fan base is not only by winning (though it helps a lot). There is a lot more competition for the fan these days then back when Tomey and company filled the stadium with 40k+. The sooner the stadium and UH realize this and start aggressively marketing to the public/their potential fan, the better their chances of changing the trend.
Oh, and winning helps.
Watching a game anywhere other than in the stadium eliminates the advantage of the encouraging, cheering support of the home team fans being visible to the team. Do the home teams have an advantage playing at home? The bookmakers usually sets it at 3 points. I think (:-). So does it behoove the supporting fans to show up and participate to help the team? I would assume it does. Every game this year I have seen this elderly Chinese man, probably in his eighties or even nineties, show up at sec. KK orange and very slowly make his way down to his seats. It is an effort for him but he has been there for every game. I don’t know him but I know that he is a true fan and that UH football must be important in his life. We need more of fans like him. True fans. Go Bows Go!
#2
You are correct.
I don’t think fans prefer to watch games in a theatre…. But..
1. When the product isn’t good, a fan isn’t going to pay top dollar to watch their team at the stadium. Especially when we know to expect dive right, off tackle left, then incomplete pass, Scott Harding 50 yard net punt majority of each offensive series.
2. Parking. For the fans who don’t have passes, parking at Aloha Stadium seems to be a big inconvenience that the average fan just doesn’t want to deal with.
3. “We’re going to go to work”. “We need to get things fixed”. Those are the same 2 phrases fans hear every week. With same results. I thinks fans are tired of this coaching staff already. Hawaii football is basically like watching Ground Hogs Day. Same thing every single week. So of course fans aren’t going to keep paying to see the same episode.
So when you add up the costs of parking, food, and tickets.. determine the product you are getting in return, combined with convenience and about an hour in your own valued time, stadium can’t compete with PPV or theatre at this point.
Will winning cure this? Of course… But it would take an actual winning streak minimum to do so… Something this coaching regime knows 0 about so far… And I don’t see one coming anytime soon.
Instead of holding to the face price of tickets, the school should offer cheap ticket to sit anywhere you can find an empty seat. $10 adults $5 for students.. There are those that dont go just because of price. Turn them into tailgating fans. Its actually an opportunity to introduce the game experience to those who shy’d away previously because of price. Lemons into lemonade so to speak.
winning alone is not gonna bring attendance back. fans want to watch an exciting/entertaining product. at least me personally, I don’t wanna watch us hand the ball off 35 – 40 plays a game.
when the team becomes exciting, the live atmosphere becomes something that is worth going through all the hassles and costs to experience.
there’s really no reason, unless youre a diehard like us weirdos, to spend $50+ per person every Saturday to fight traffic and go through a terrible parking situation to sit and watch us 1) lose 2) hand the ball off 3) play not to lose, or lose big 4) see the same thing every week w no adjustments when you can instead
sit in your a/c house and catch all the SEC/Big 12 games on TV, then catch the late afternoon Pac12 games before settling in and watching UH while in bed since you’ll fall asleep watching their offense. you’ll be asleep early and refreshed for Sunday morning NFL games.
I have never attended a game at Aloha Stadium.
Hubby did when he played the clarinet in the band (both high school and UH).
We subscribed to PPV for many years, but this year, we decided not to due to budgetary constraints.
We do listen to radio broadcasts, though, as well as watch TV when the games are televised.
Works for us.
Hey, don’t pick on us, theatre/ppv home fans at least we’re still kinda showing support. I even have an internal fight about paying the ppv even though it’s in the convenience of my own home. You can only watch a “hard fighting, never give up” team so much… WE NEED WINS. GO BOWS!!!
I really don’t think it’s necessarily that UH has crappy fans and other schools, like alabama or oklahoma have “good” fans. It might be that hawaii has an entirely different type of fan base than most college fan bases.
Bottom line, the team has to win. people here aren’t going to drive through all that traffic, deal with the bad parking, eat the crappy overpriced food at the stadium, in order to see UH lose and look terrible while doing it. june jones actually made this comment when he first got hired (i think) about how hawaii has a more professional type of fan base than collegiate. The stadium environment and the experience, of course, should be better, from parking, to traffic, to food, but ultimately it doesn’t matter unless the team wins and the football team is exciting to watch.
The product on the field needs to be good. everything else is just icing.
What a beautiful story on Kemp in today’s paper Mr. Tsai. This is why Stephen is the best sportswriter in Hawaii.
I think the fact that die hard “tsaikos” not attending games tell you how over priced this awful product on the field is… even if they are the same ones preaching support the kids… You can only support the kids so much before you stop putting money into something not working…
Manoa Mist – yeah except Faith Heaton Jolley wrote about this on Monday.
http://www.ksl.com/?sid=32030643&nid=1286&fm=most_popular
Like the saying in Hawaii, “no vote, no grumble”…. If you don’t attend games, don’t grumble about attendance or grumble about fans who complain about coaches who actually pay money to go to games.
ST, Has UH also done a study with regard to the purchase figures (and estimated “watchers”) for PPV over the past years? Have they also done a study with regard to attendance in theaters (going up, going down, flat?)? And have they polled bars and establishments with regard to their viewership attendance?
I believe if those remain flat or have not declined as much as the attendance in the stadium, much of the decline in the stadium may be due to the “lack of a positive experience” that one could get in the chosen “other viewing venue”; which is the stadium’s and UH’s competition for patrons.
Everyone gets to watch the same product. It really comes down to how one chooses to view it and what makes one more attractive than another.
Hawaii will never have a stable athletic dept because there is not a big enough fan base that will attend consistently. All programs have ups and downs. Other programs can sustain the down periods with either state funding or a big enough fan base. We have neither.
dont forget the price of food..long lines for women especialli to the rest room..long lines to get ne food..
but not to worry..our marketing dept..will fix that..to make you enjoy…
you go to gate 7…n register n maybe u can win a car..
then to gate 12 to win something else
then to gate 99 ..still yet to win sumthing else.
n when ur finished registering at all the gates,, be tine to go home.. the game is ova..see that is the plan…lull u to sleep.. n not complain..cuz nothing on the field..can n will be exciting to wake you up…
Aloha All–Fall is upon us here on the east coast. Plenty of color in the leaves and temps dropping at night.
3 Prong, as you might be the only person interested in this…Pacific U (da boxers) beat up on PLU this past weekend….first time in over 40 years. Plus, their QB, is from Kamehameha-Hawaii–had a helluva a game–21 for 24 passing. Sounds like it going to be a show down between the two local NW schools—you betta tell Ed Kama for get da breen bottles ready…..
I will admit the theater experience is a pretty good one besides the fact of having to drive to the other side of the island….I watched the SDSU gane at Koolau this weekend it was my first theater experience at it was a good one I would definetly do it again but o lyrics for road games…For me as a fan there is no other feeling like being there in person you see so many more things in detail like the way plays develop and how wars are won in the trenches for me it’s the details that make going to a game enjoyable for me and the sense of pride that comes from being born and raised in Hawaii I personally feel a obligation to make it out to the stadium and support our team…
The “we must support the kids” thing is interesting. In high school, yes. In college, well, I understand that they’re not professional athletes, but college football is a BIG business, and has been for a while. Bottom line is that the “kids” are actually adults playing the game at a high level to earn money and get exposure for the school they play for in return for a scholarship.
People in hawaii identify much more with their high schools than UH. That’s why when someone asks you “what school you graduated from?” they mean high school, not college. So they’ll be willing to support the kids from their communities (or the communities that they’re from) regardless if they win or lose, because it’s high school football, and they feel connected to where they’re from.
I have a feeling that people here aren’t connected to UH in the same way (especially the younger crowd now vs the 50-60 year old uncles that grew up watching UH in the termite palace or whatever), and the team is actually adults playing a game in return for a scholarship (whether that scholarship is adequate compensation for the amount of money they bring in for the university and the amount of hours they work is another question). So, sad to say, if UH doesn’t win, people won’t care.
I would never watch a game in a theater. Hope Rolo doesn’t destroy us this weekend.
Interesting post 4-Prong I understand what your saying about supporting kids from your community…Looks at it from a different perspective alot of these student athletes not only represent the local communites they come from but once they get to college they represent something larger…The whole State of Hawaii and all the communites in it…UH is different in the fact that they are the only College football team we have in the State unlike other States where you may have 3,4 even 5 colleges representing the same State…
GOOD MORNING, HAWAII!
Nothing is wrong with a running game if you have the blocking and backs that can break through like a Walter Payton.
But, I do like an offense featuring someone like Colt Brennan and company.
#6
I believe individual game tickets are priced as is because if they were in the $5 – $10 range, there would be no advantage or value of being a season ticket holder.
Just my mano’a ha’aha’a
Bryson: I think there’s something to be said about that. Is there a bigger context to this discussion that’s driving flagging attendance and poor ticket sales? Okay, so let’s go with the premise that UH football represents hawaii as a whole (especially considering that football is a very high visibility and masculine sport that competes against other “bigger” teams from the mainland). What does a win for UH football against a power 5 conference mean to hawaii, or just overall, a winning program, versus when the program loses?
Attending a game is more than just watching football.
It is usally a family/freindship experience, nobody goes alone.
I believe if we were 7-0 the stadium would be close to capacity and the notion that the product has to be exciting is a true, winning is exciting.
If we beat Nevada attendance for Utah St will increase and so forth for UNLV, If we lose then it will be worse.
Two reason for the low turn out, winning and lazy band-wagon fans. I get tired of the excuse of “But I have to drive all the way to the stadium” it’s 27 miles from the furthest point. “But the ticket prices is so high” we have one of the lowest average ticket prices in the nation.
But winning is the most important one, do you really think the attendance would be this low if Chow’s win/lost record was reversed to 25-6, the place would be packed. Local boy with a winning record!!
27. WTF? I’m not speaking for myself since I go to all the home games, but I surely don’t blame fans that don’t want to pay to watch something that might put them to sleep. At least if you’re home, you can actually fall asleep on your couch if the game sucks. Being a true fan doesn’t mean putting Hawaii Football number 1 on your priority spending list regardless of what the team produces. Do you think Michigan and Florida football attendance will stay the same this year?? Doubt it… No one wants to watch that crap either..
Well…for sure, Rolo will excite the fans with his brand of offense.
Probably long pass on the first play. And after that, another one.
🙂
UH got to groom the little kids to become future fans.
Why not create fan clubs at each elementary school
and bus them to games…free.
Yeah of course if the performance on the field and the Ws were better that attendance would increase but I think it would take a lot for it to get to the point that it was during those games against Boise and Washington in 2007 where it was pretty much at capacity. I think it’s becoming more difficult regardless of wins/losses to lure in the average fan to spend their earned $$ when there are many other options for them to spend their time and money. People often look at places like Nebraska, Alabama, etc where sellouts are a normal thing, but it’s tough to compare to places like that because in small towns like that, it’s pretty much the main and one of the only things to do on a Saturday. You can argue that Bama’s attendance is based on success but Nebraska has been subpar and is still drawing the same. I remember Cowherd had the same argument for attendance numbers in small towns vs. larger ones.
Aloha Stadium is not the most “fan friendly” venue. You can’t even bring in your own bottle of water and an umbrella if it looks like it’s going to rain. Then there’s the cost of the ticket ($40) for a “cheap seat”, parking ($5), and whatever food/beverage you want to consume. For all that money I’d at least like an entertaining product on the field. Losing w/ a boring, predictable offense will chase me away. Losing w/ a entertaining & unpredictable offense, I’ll still support the team.
30.
They have the UH kids club, but yeah I agree. They should start putting more focus on engaging the younger fans who will eventually become working class adults with $$. Maybe not necessarily only the elementary age range, but key in on the high school and 20 year olds.
32.
I don’t think many stadiums allow umbrellas anymore anyway thanks to 9/11.
And bring in MacDonald’s, KFC, and Long John Silver, maybe Burger King, Popeye’s Chicken, Teddy’s Bigger Burgers, too. You can cancel existing contracts if the vendors don’t meet expectations.
Good Morning Tsaikos!!!
Good topic for discussion and thought.
#5 Jeezy, while I think your points are valid, I’ve been a UH fan for a very long time…not as long as a lot of people here…but long enough LOL. Anyway, I don’t know what it is about the Hawaii “Fan” in general. Even in 2006 and 2007, when UH had great seasons (and I actually think the ’06 team was better even though the ’07 team is the one that went undefeated) it was difficult to get fans to the game. Remember the UW game in ’07? The last game of the season? I think it was BOH that had to buy like 2,000 tickets to make the game a sellout. They just ended up giving those tickets away….and still, the turnstile count at the stadium wasn’t 50,000….
Same thing with the students. Back in the day, even in the 90s when I was at UH, it was difficult to get student tickets. People would line up and camp out to get tickets….Now, the student section is virtually empty….
To be sure, we aren’t the only ones experiencing these problems. I mean, for example, UH/Rice game had an attendance of 5,000-7,000 in a 70,000 seat stadium currently configured for 50,000. When UH goes to UNLV, in general the UH fans outnumber the UNLV fans…
However, we need to work on something. I sort of like the suggestion that the stadium consider having a pop warner night or something like that where all the pop warner teams are invited to the stadium…they’ll get discounted tickets…they can wear their jerseys….they’ll be recognized somehow….etc. That might get them interested in going to the Stadium at a young age….
Anyway, back to the salt mines….
Hope everyone has a great day!!! 🙂
31. It’s all about winning man. When Dave Shoji retires, do you really think Stan Sherrif will be selling out if Hawaii becomes a average Volleyball team? Football will never sell out like back in the early days because of technology but 30,000 is a realistic goal if we were winning. Hawaii fans aren’t as bad as majority of mid major colleges.
And maybe hold a pizza bake off inviting every pizza maker in town.
36.
Are you sure about that for the UW game in 2007? If I remember correctly the game was sold out and many were still trying to get tickets but could not. I remember also that fans were trying to sell their tickets for insane amounts to on craigslist and other sites. But yeah the game was sold out but not everyone showed up which is expected anyway
36. Sell outs will never happen like it did in the 90s, but 30,000 to me is respectful. There definitely needs to be better efforts to making the game experience and atmosphere improved as well.
If you look at the major universities that have great attendance it is because
#1. Tradition – A tradition of being part of something that unites common lovers of their team. The tradition includes an interaction between fans of tradition and players who will be tradition. When you isolate yourself from this tradition all the walls of success crumbles. Without tradition there is no team, it is just passing through players and coaches. The tradition is greater than any individual or team. As CFA hall of famer Dick Tomey tearfully said when he departed for the Uof Arizona job he addressed the media and fans with saying the UH Football Program is greater than any individual team or coach and will continue to succeed. Then the media threw all crumpled paper and laughed and there was an admiration for him. Tradition is what will continue to bring fans to the tailgate, to the stadium, it is the experience and almost an insanity of loyalty and respect for our beloved team. The team could be playing on a dirt field with aluminum bleachers true UH Football Fans would still support the team. Go BOWS!!
I think I am hungry. 🙂
37.
I don’t think it’s completely about winning. It has a lot to do with who they are playing, and other factors as well. I actually think that even if the Wahine became an average team, if Shoji made it known on whichever season that he was retiring, I think the last game would be very close if not a sellout because of what he meant for the program. But then again I’m not sure of what you’re definition of an average team would be in Ws and Ls.
#28…Jeezy…There is some room for debate there. I remember, not too long ago, Notre Dame had a very poor record and their product was very subpar….Coaches like Tyrone Willingham, Gerry Faust, Bob Davie, and Charlie Weis had just about .500 records and the product was boring….but there was still a waiting list to get tickets during those seasons…and sellouts were the norm. LSU is having a terrible year this year…but I believe they’ve sold out every game…at least that’s what my cousin tells me and he’s a season ticket holder for LSU.
But again, many of the smaller schools are having trouble filling stadiums or getting people to the games….San Jose State….Utah State…even SDSU….there’s a little more to it then the Ws IMHO sort of like what Andrew was saying in #31. Although, LSU is not that far outside of New Orleans, well Tulane is much closer but still……and there’s a heck of a lot to do there….LOL 🙂
Average to me is 500. I think once the Wahine don’t become a top 25 team year in and year out, the fan base will dwindle.
Baseball is a different story. Cheap tickets, cheap food, and 3k is a sell out? So it’s easy to consistently attract 2k plus in a nice location and venue.
The sad part is a caller on the radio other day said he was tired of people settling for mediocrity in Hawaii in regards to the football program… The problem is we aren’t close to mediocre. Mack era was settling for mediocrity and we got rid of him in the search to chase championships… Well were headed in wrong direction and nothing is going to change until we bring in a new staff…. Keep Clune and Naeole though.
didn’t realize being 6-2 was having a terrible year.
I, too, would have gone to Koolau Theater if the game was not on CBS Sports net and could watch at home – no $$ spent; easy access to lua; sitting in my BBDs and t-shirt; free snacks and drinks just 10 steps away; with A/C on.
For sure, we will visit Koolau theaters if the game is not on TV!!!
Interesting point that the Hawaii “fan base”, population wise, is very small compared to the millions at LA or SF or Houston or any other large mainland city. Yet, there is some consolation that Oahu’s population attending UH games is 3% if attendance is 27,000 at the game (based on 900,000 people).
that same 3% in a city with 11 million people computes to 330,000 fans in the stadium – impossible; and the kicker is that the 11 million have multiple college schools to choose from and ‘pro-sports’ to attend.
One thing UH has never been able to achieve is a very solid, committed fan base who will attend games at Aloha Stadium regardless of PPV or other invitations such as weddings.
Remember the 1992 Holiday Bowl win? UH actually started going own hill in 1993 in terms of recruiting compared to other school who seem to attain success in following years. Is it the Hawaiian “culture” at work? Like, too many old folks who sit and do not cheer at all? UH needs the “energy” in the stands be it football or basket ball or baseball.
How many people go to the movie theaters to watch UH play? Would they be incline to attend a live game if the team was winning? I just don’t see this as an issue. How many people has anyone talked to who said the game was so boring they prefer to watch it in a movie theater.
People are creatures of habit, so it is difficult to impart change. Once you lose a fan to home CATV or to a movie theater, they’re, in most probability, lost forever. Getting some of them back to Aloha Stadium will take back-to-back 9-3 seasons, or at least a very competitive and exciting team. Sorry, but the one on the field being rolled out by Coach Chow is predictable and boring.
I’ve followed UH football ever since Niko Noga and Semari Ulufale roamed the field. I fly in for games, but must say that Aloha Stadium is really sub-standard. The atmosphere is blah, the food is blah and expensive, parking and traffic are horrible, and the whole atmosphere is lame. Sure, winning would help, but changes are needed for anyone managing the stadium.
44. The problem is LSU isn’t awful and the SEC for the most part does have a huge tradition in which they live football. We need to be talking about awful teams here. Hawaii isn’t close to mediocre and haven’t been for 3 years. We aren’t a die hard football state. LSU also plays top 20 teams weekly almost and is competitive for the most part. The majority of any athletic team attendance will drop when team is terrible. I think the Athletic programs connection with the students are a huge issue though. Lot of these big time schools we discuss have a huge student connection with athletics…
I just used Michigan to show that there are some power teams who are struggling to get fans to the game that want their coach fired too… But in most cases where there is tradition, fans will still show up. Especially stadiums that hold 100k. But losing 30k fans looks a lot better at 70k than Losing 10k fans at Hawaii with 20k.
http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/road-saturday/201409/michigan-wolverines-football-dave-brandon-tickets-problems-corporate
45.
Yeah .500 and the Wahine don’t usually go in the same sentence so that for me is hard to imagine. I think people are panicking too early with this team. They are very young and they lost a lot of key players from last season. They have two losses in conference already against CSUN and LBSU but they still play those teams again at home and there are still other conference games left so much can change. I think it’s getting tougher and tougher for Dave considering the effects of the football $$ from the bigger conference are starting to affect the vball landscape, thus why the rich get richer and it shows in their recruiting and facilities. He should be commended though in being pretty much the only non major school that has been relevant constantly through these decades.
Schools which sell out their stadiums have the resources to buy out their coach before their contract expires. That’s what separates us from them.
For you Tar Heel fans…the ax is on its way down. A massive-massive academic fraud has been verified, with over a 1000, yes, a 1000 athletes involved. Roy Smith claims he knew nothing of the fraud….but, ahem, I find that hard to believe on such a large institutional basis. That or he has a terminal case of being pollyannish. See: http://www.startribune.com/nation/280072212.html
51. I really don’t know much about Volleyball…. But I just assume once Shoji retires, the team will take steps back most likely. Just like other sports, these national powerhouses are putting much more money into their facilities, etc that will lure recruits off the island once the winning tradition dwindles.. We get players now because of Shoji. I mean Vince Goo kept the Wahine basketball program pretty solid throughout his time. But once he left, they took steps back and we couldn’t keep up with the amount of money women’s athletics puts into their programs now.
Hopefully this is Norman Chows last year
54.
When he does retire I’m interested to see what they do about sit successor. I mean I’m sure he will probably suggest Scott Wong to the AD, but I think seeing who else around the country applies for the job will be worth looking at. Although UH is not a major school it has rich tradition in vball and is considered a power so you can imagine the amount of people that would jump at the chance for the job.
I’m planning to change my 1500 donation for football tickets to Koolau theater and basketball season tickets if there is no major changes in the football program. Its just not worth it unlike the mastercard commercial its not priceless its more upsetting.
Adding on to warrior dog….
When you run a business, I’ve read a lot of start up successful businesses rely heavily on customer feedback to thrive and improve their product/business…
Lately on the Bobby Curran show, I been hearing a lot of stuff like “do you coaches just block off and ignore things that are said on the boards, blogs, etc…” And the UH coaches respond with yeah, we don’t pay attention to that stuff and we ignore it.
While I don’t expect them to take orders on what plays to run or who to start, the fans, message board posters, blog readers, are the customers. When the same things are being said on how boring, vanilla, predictable the offense is, I think some of those things need to be considered. Not ignored. If Brock Hekking can acknowledge that there is no creativity or disguise in what Hawaii is going to do, it means you are easy to prepare for. It’s hard for a business to succeed if you don’t listen at all or make any changes to make your product better… Which leads to warrior dog and 1000’s of other who feel the same way he does… stopping payment into a losing product.
Good morning everyone!
In the 80’s, I was not a season ticket holder, but went to almost all games. It was nice if we could win, but was only part of it. We–that’s me, friends, and relatives went to the stadium to tailgate– it was the place to be on Saturday night. Yes, “night” because games started at 7:30 pm and there was a carnival-like atmosphere.
Not everyone at the tailgate went to the game, but most walked-up to buy tickets. Didn’t matter who we were playing (except BYU) or what our record was. Then the tailgate lost to the swap meet and a bunch of choking rules… even no hibachi charcoal fires went into effect. Amazing how many people go for the tailgate and maybe the game.
Last decade our games moved to as early as 1:00 pm. A lot of local people don’t think the stadium is the best place to work on their tans and stare into the glare from the mauka side. Remember, no umbrellas or parasols allowed. I think a lot of older people wilted in the heat and went to PPV heaven. I saw great turn-over in my mauka 50 yard line section every year until I finally moved to goal line seats on the makai side.
So, I think tailgates and game time were factors in going to the stadium back then. Going to a theatre or sports bar and having 50-yard line seats with replay and in air-conditioning is the competition… and no matter how much the food, pupu’s and beer costs at the bar, it beats stadium prices.
Gotta make the stadium the Saturday night place to be again for the non-season ticket holders.
Does UHAD get any additional revenue from the theaters that are showing the game? Then again, not sure how many people are watching it there to begin with.
Winning is the cure-all. Look at the University of Miami’s empty stadium since their decline over the years…Fans can be finicky especially when there are other things to spend $ on.
#40…Andrew, I’m pretty sure. My co-worker got tickets from BOH on the day of the game…She sat in Yellow, North End Zone, and that was her first UH game ever….and she is …well, I won’t say how errr “young” she is.
I was supposed to go to that game with my regular ticket…but gave it up because I was told I would be sent on a trip for work. The trip got canceled and I had to get a ticket. I bought one the week of the game for $25. I could be wrong though, but that’s what happened to me….
62.
They get the revenue from the theatre purchasing the pay per view package. But I’m sure that’s it.
Steve M, you are entirely correct. And perhaps, it is like an era gone-by, and then romanticized. Even in my day, for a player with plenty of splinters in his okole, leaving the stadium after the game, was a chore, first with all the kids, who would want just any players autograph (and I mean “any” almost literally, as applied to myself), but getting threw the crowds to my car or my GFs car,who almost always insisted you eat and drink a few, take an hour or so…
How can you beat that??Shoots I remember games against forgettable teams like Cal State Fullerton or UTEP, (no offense intended) that we would easily top 40K on a rainy night, so, perhaps its not just a different era, but factoring technology, a different priority.
letsgowarriors….to LSU fans that is….They had high hopes of winning the SEC title this year…and that may not happen….and when they don’t dominate they way they’ve done in the past, especially at home, their fans see that as dismal….but even if LSU were 2 – 6, they’d still sell out…it’s happened in the past…
I understand that comparing UH to any of the big time programs is like comparing apples to oranges…but my point was that big time programs have die hard fans that will do basically anything to support their teams. Didn’t someone post a story on here about Ole Miss getting the money to replace the goal post that was torn down by students after beating Alabama that the school was going to charge students for??? I think they got enough donations (something like $50,000) in less than a day to cover the costs….The WeGetEm campaign has raised less than half of that in how many weeks??? (I am for the WeGetEm campaign by the way since I believe every little bit helps…even $1)…. 🙂
$40 a ticket is ridiculous
tickets at SDSU were $15 , yeah thats right $15 50yd line.
No reason why endzone seats and upper level seats should not be $15.
Worry about putting okole in seat at stadium is like putting cart before ox. Does not make sense.
Better to worry how to win game with genius norm at helm of caravan.
Maybe dedicate one blog day for “feedback” to norm, somebody print out feedback, and give to norm, so he can read fan feedback and try to improve product. I know someone said norm does not read feedback or give crab cake about fan feedback. Lets see.
Having been a seasons ticket holder for over twenty years I would opine that this is the worst product UH has offered during that period of time. I attend the games to enjoy the tailgating and to support the team. I completely get why many reasonable people would not do the same.
Our most interesting play is the punt. I would be mortified if I thought coaches were mining the blogs for game strategy. Very few of us here have the capacity to add much in that area (though I, like others enjoy giving my opinions). So I completely understand that the coaches would and should ignore what is written on blogs.
But I would hope that Ben Jay and his merry band of men and women are paying very close attention to the community sentiment. What they are selling people are not buying. Their product is unappealing and dead boring. We have heard the same thing about improvements week in and week out. When it doesn’t happen people simply quit listening as it insults their intelligence. Wins will help yes but I would say I left the NIU game (a win) feeling completley uninspired by our win. So as important as winning is, it is not everything.
Football is entertainment. The entertainment includes everything that is happening at Aloha Stadium including the team and the game. It is simply a poor product right now.
I know that there are those who are longer term fans than me and can claim a greater level of commitment. But when long time supporting fans like myself are less and less interested in continuing to buy the product we are on the cusp of big trouble. My current willingness to support the team is waning. I don’t realistically go to the games anymore expecting to be entertained and enlivened. It’s more like trying to hang in there and survive until something different begins to happen. I justify spending the money as a form of needed support for the program. This won’t last forever for me and has already become a non issue for many more casual fans.
69.
really? You think the product on the field now is worst than what it was in 1998?? If you really think that that’s fine because it is your opinion, but that shocks me.
55. — Roy Williams and some former teammates had been earlier denying what a former basketball player had said about no-show classes .
It’s a terrible brand of football not worth the price of admission lower the prices to $10-$30
It’s going to take 3-4 years of bowl games to get attendance back to respectable numbers. Maybe sooner if UH manages to ring off some 10+win seasons. Hawaii fans in general are very slow to change their opinion on UH sports teams. Heck, basketball attendance is finally starting to creep higher even though Gib Arnold has made them an entertaining team starting a few years ago. By the way, you better go check out Isaac Fotu this year, because I have a hunch this will be his final year at UH before he declares for the pros.
There are increasing more venues to view games and Aloha Stadium sucks as a venue on multiple levels. So I doubt UH will ever see a sold out Aloha Stadium ever again. The food is below average vs comparable MWC stadiums and because of its design, the stadium is not intimate for a 50,000 seat stadium.
You can never beat live football in a stadium environment, but Aloha Stadium has nothing else to offer other than seats for a bad UH football program. On-campus stadiums that I have been to typically have a nice merchandise store inside or close by. Nearby gyms/fieldhouses/arenas are used for booster club parties and corporate sponsor parties. Being a kid growing up on the mainland, going to a corporate sponsor BBQ outside the stadium was pretty awesome. Better designed stadiums have a display/museum of sorts for fans to view past great players, trophies, and other significant personalities. There’s also usually a few booths or vendors outside the stadium that have fun games or things for the keiki to play with.
Other stadiums offer so much more in the way of fan experience. Ultimately, people are there to watch the team, but in many other schools across the country, the full fan experience beats staying home or going to the theater to watch the game.
Like SteveM, I too was one of those loyal fans who migrated from Honolulu Stadium to Aloha Stadium. We were a part of those who tailgated with family and a large group and yes as the rules changed so did the make up of the tailgating until it was just my wife and I.
We are still fans and have just chosen to not hassle with the unpleasantness of the stadium experience. We still prepare and “tailgate”, but like some of the others who mention it, we simply turn on PPV and watch without the hassle.
I believe that PPV is revenue that goes in part to UH so in that sense we still support the team. We just choose to do it in an environment that best suits our comfort level.
72.
Well I think one of the problems is UH doesn’t have control over the stadium as far as food, etc.
70. I think it is worse… Fred Von Appen was a lousy coach, but at least he had quality players. When June Jones took over, I think it was quite a surprise to us how many prospects we had. Defensively, we have some pretty solid players.. “mostly Mack guys” but if we were to get a new coach next year, we would need a offensive make over. Once we lose, Malepeai, Samia, Yap, I really don’t think we have the personnel to run a 3-4 defense. Calen Friel is the only true NT I can think of and he’s not at the level of Moses. Kennedy is 1 guy but there is only so much he can do and only so much snaps he can play.
Used to be you watched a show on TV on one of three stations (ABC, CBS, NBC) or went to a movie at a specific time at a theater that only had one screen and sat a few hundred people. Sporting events were high school Fridays, college Saturdays and professional Sundays.
Now a days, the youth gets entertainment on demand via the internet. Convenience is the key, they seek the entertainment to meet their schedule not change their schedule to meet the entertainment.
I think it is optimistic to believe winning games will substantially increase attendance at the stadium. Yes attendance would increase, but there are too many factors that may limit the growth.
We had a discussion months ago about the capacity of a new stadium. I am coming more to believe that a 30,000 seat stadium is really the maximum one can expect to successfully fill and maintain on a regular basis. I think two things must be done to make even a 30k stadium successful – 1) it must be covered to provide shade and rain protection, 2) Convenience and quality must be the priority in creating an experience (plenty of parking with amenities provided for tailgating, plenty of toilets/urinals to accommodate peak traffic, quality and reasonably priced food and beverage).
I also question the Halawa location. It probably is the only viable location, but a location between Blaisdell and Waikiki would certainly get foot and public transport traffic unlike at Aloha Stadium.
70. Andrew…..When I use the word “product” I am talking about the whole experience of being at Aloha Stadium and watching the games. The Von Appen years were bad and our current team is not as bad, as a football team. But they are certainly not an interesting team that make me want to show up and watch them. We know we are in trouble when our dialogue includes comparing the entertainment value of the current experience to the Von Appen years. Both were poor. I still think the Von Appen years had more of a sense of fan engagement and interest than we do now. Perhaps it was left over from the previous years. People, in general, just don’t seem to care as much anymore. This feels different to me. And again it is only an opinion and I could be wrong. But it’s a little like wondering which is worse: sour whole milk or sour 2% milk. They both are very unpleasant to drink.
77. Adding Ben Jay into the mix with his huge disconnect with fans has to hurt too… I don’t know 1 person who likes or respects Ben Jay.
I think what would make a lot of sense for extra revenue is for students that can’t attend the game to view it at the school. I’m just thinking for extra revenue and for students that don’t have transportation. I’m not sure how things are set up at the school but if there is a big screen or theater it should be shown there for a student price. There is also the West campus. However, I think most people would enjoy watching the game with beer and some food. Well, its just me thinking.
ben jay is too busy hitting on 30 year old women and kissing OSU’s a** on twitter to be a productive AD.
RE: my #61
In 2006, Ferd Lewis wrote a column on the declining UH football attendance at Aloha stadium. I sent him the reply below. Now, I admit that after Tsai-kos BG and Kazz (Kevin) organized the first Tsai-ko tailgates at Richardson field in 2007, many of us attended and bought season tickets again. We had similar stories: lost track of tailgate friends and relatives over the last decade. No fun going alone. The Warrior Beat blog brought us together with new friends. 🙂
#69 AF I’m sure that BJ and company are paying attention. He just doesn’t know what to do about it.
Not sure why people are complaining about ticket prices. I’ve been paying $100 for north endzone season tickets.
one annoying thing about attending games at aloha stadium is that the announcer is impartial. He does not care for the home team at all, unlike every other stadium in the country.
My family has had season tickets since the old Honolulu Stadium days. I remember my dad taking my brother and I to see the games then…watching Casey Ortiz, Allen Brown, Levi Stanley, Reinhold Stuprich, etc.
When the team moved to Aloha Stadium, my mom joined in..and more season tickets were purchased for my family and my brother’s family.
We still have our season tickets, and now my two sons have experienced what I did, when I was growing up….a love for UH football. They are now a junior in college, and senior in high school, and we still religiously attend the games.
I get how expensive it is, and the poor experience some have experienced at the stadium, the team losing……the offense is boring, etc. But our family supports the team, the boys…and who ever is the coach. We don’t care who the opponent is, we’ll still go the games, as for our family…we support win or lose.
Everybody has reasons for going, and not going….all valid.
The theater is the cheapest way to watch a bad UH football team play when it is not free.
It’s. like watching a football comedy.
begreen hit one nail on the head. Was at two of the last few road games and the PA announcer does all they so to rile up the home crowd. All we have here us “let’s go bows.” The home field advantage at Aloha Stadium is not very strong compared to Hawaii’s road games
Norm Chow and Ben are better than some we had in the past.
I can live with them for a few more years. Especially if we get
admitted to the Pac 12 or even the big 10. 🙂
Wouldn’t that be a trip if you could tailgate in the theater parking lot?
I prefer the live action myself.
Sadly, I still see UH football fans thinking that the key to improving attendance is to start winning. C’mon folks, answer this: how often does UH have a good football team? Only 11 times in the last 33 years has UH won 8 games in a season. If you think taking economic losses for 2 years to get 1 winning year is any way to run a program, you’re part of the reason why the UH football team sucks.
Things need to change at the very top, beyond just the football coach. The first game of the year, what does UH do to welcome back the fans? The time when UH should have been eager to start making money again, after the long summer break. They can’t handle 35k fans, and end up with a parking disaster that has some fans not getting to their seats until the 2nd quarter.
UH should have had plans ready, to make money off of their customers who come to watch a football game. UH should have given those fans who fought thru traffic only to miss a quarter of the game some kind of compensation. UH should take care of their fans.
You “fans” will only have a solid UH football program when you realize one thing: Just because your football team sucks, doesn’t mean your football team should be losing money.
83. Dan-O. I appreciate your perspective and commitment. Our kids, now long grown and gone, grew up watching UH football and still follow the team from afar. This year the another of our long time football hui gave up his seats and my wife and I found ourselves the last of what was once a big group. So we bought the extra two tickets and have taken different people (who don’t usually go to the games) along with us. Mostly its for the company but it’s also a way to get new people in the stadium. All seem to have enjoyed tailgating and coming along but none have inquired about coming again or have gone again on their own. Like you, I have felt like a long time committed fan no matter what. This year feels different. I am worn out with promises of improvement.
It will be an interesting experience when it comes time to renew seasons tickets again. For the first time I don’t know what I will do. I don’t share this to garner any sympathy from anyone but simply as a observation from one committed fan. I appreciate fans like you and know the program would be in even deeper financial trouble without folks like you.
The theater is the cheapest method of watching a bad UH football team play when the game is not televised free. Watching the UH play is like a comedy.
Good morning I mean afternoon, Tsai-kos!
Whooops! Had to detour before makin’ in here!
Phew!
Sure, I like seeing DVR’d recordings of our games after the game happens but prefer to watch home UH fb games only at Aloha Stadium!
Nothing beats the action there. At least I can scream and cheer live in person!
Not to mention I can scream at the other team (UH on D)
And let’s not forget them danged refs! Grrrrrr..! (Danged imaginary penalties!)
GO WARRIORS!!!
Have a good rest of the day everyone!
I don’t even watch UH football,period.
Why would anyone pay to watch UH football anywhere ?
The reason why we don’t have a lot of local support in Hawaii for UH is because local kids don’t dream of going to college here…they dream of being cops, fire fighters and construction workers like their parents and family…
We have a very low income and undereducated poor population here as a whole compared to the mainland.
Just saying..
Arcum Fortis: I was not going to renew this year, after holding season tickets since 1979, but my kids convinced me otherwise. Even though the results are not good, I am enjoying spending time with my kids at the stadium. The people in my section are generally positive (hard to be negative with player’s families sitting among us). We do have a good time. However, I can see that several long-time season ticket holders did not return this year. Next year, dare I say it? I don’t know.
Boola, the investigation into the academic issues at UNC appeared to primarily be connected to the football program and not the basketball program according to the special prosecutor. Back then Mack Brown was the coach of the football program which was a top ten program at the time. And that’s Roy Williams as the current basketball coach.
#92 I have and will probably always be a UH fan. I don’t go to the stadium anymore, but I watch on PPV. My choice to cheer on and support the team. Losing is not fun, but this is my team and I plan to continue to support them. Did it through Coach Holmes and others at the stadiums and now my choice to support them is through PPV. I enjoyed the stadium experience early on and things and time change, but for me a fan is a fan; win or lose. Oh, and winning is more fun.
I went to SDSU game and they have a nice stadium (70,000). This stadium is in better shape than the stadium in New Orleans. Some people say they want a new stadium because the stadium do not qualify to have the Super Bowl play there.
The tickets prices at the SDSU game is low. The price of a bottle of water $5 and $9 for beer. Our prices are little lower.
I still buy my water and soda on Saturday. GO WARRIORS!
19 boo: d1 also follows as his #2 was. ‘Cat. Da Boxer (dog not shorts) have been recruiting hawaii heavily since restarting their program. We’ll see how tough a fight they put up.
June created a great stadium experience between players and fans after the game. Not only friends and family, but pop warner teams, cheerleading groups, mental fans (like most of us here) could take pictures, get autographs, or just high 5 the guys and show our appreciation.
Mack goofed up when he only suited limited players and had the rest dress in tee shirts and shorts and sit in the stands. On certain games in 2011 Mack yelled at his players to get away from their friends and family after the game and get their okoles in the lockerroom. This was the beginning of fan alienation.
Chow took what Mack did and destroyed all fan experience. Besides senior night and the Wounded Warrior game, no players are allow to go to the sideline.
How you figgah?
Im guilty of watching ppv too. Its been a while i have gone to a game live and when i decided to on their last home stand, i was going to buy sideline seats in the yellow section. To my dismay i found out those seats in the nosebleed are the same as the orange below. 50.00. I couldnt believe it. I remember i use to sit in those seats when i was a regular. I think our AD should use his head and make those seats cheaper.
#99 BW – terrible. i remember as a kid getting 1 of Matt Harding’s gloves after a game. i was stoked.
#101, family and friends may fly in from the mainland or outer island once a season and would love nothing more than a photo with their favorite Warrior suited up. The don’t care if they lost, dude didn’t play or if he’s scout team.. in this age of social media, little stuff like this means and lot.
Also like your Matt Harding glove youth can connect with they players and one day dream of being a Warrior.
Imagine a new WVBall coach saying no more fan interaction after the game. Go straight to the locker rooms, the heck with the kids and leis from the vball aunties.
Must have plenny UH students watching the game at theaters.
Like I said many moons ago, if no can get students to go to games, how you going get the community to attend? Lose money.
No worries though, life is full of cycles, football is just in the wrong cycle at this era.
Make things better, Happy Hump Day!
And if you men have some difficulty today, visit Dr. Arakaki at the Universal Men’s Clinic. 😆 OMG, that guy has radio commercials galore.
GO WAHINE!
GO RAINBOW WARRIORS!
Over and out…
Stephen Tsai this is a good point of discussion but a better point of discussion would be: How many losses do we have to have before Ben Jay finally fires Chow?
Good to see the Big West media thinks highly of the Wahine basketball team.
Can’t wait to see what the self-imposed penalties are going to be for the Men’s basketball team.
103.
The students are either drinking somewhere or getting ready to go drink somewhere. They are not watching the game. Even the ones that go to tailgate, they only go to tailgate and leave when the game starts.
56… I feel sorry for the coach who takes over after Shoji. He/she is going to face an impossible task of replacing a legend. Mack was in a similar situation after he was promoted to replace JJ, although JJ isn’t on Shoji’s level in terms of national respect for their respective sports.
On the v-ball recruiting side, it’s going to be very difficult for UH to maintain quality recruiting because Shoji is so respected in the V-ball world and there are countless players who selected UH because of Shoji. I do feel that UH’s recruiting has already taken a small step back because of Shoji’s upcoming retirement. Anytime it is known that coach is going out, its a point of negative recruiting for rival coaches going after the same recruits.
95. tarheel warrior; the period in question was 1993 to 2011, head football coaches were Brown,Torbush, Bunting and Butch Davis .
” The report listed Wayne Walden — the associate director of ASPSA and academic counselor for a number of sports, including men’s basketball from 2003 to 2009, and who has worked closely with Williams at both Kansas and North Carolina — as one of the counselors who “steered players into these paper classes.” …
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/11745036/north-carolina-investigation-says-advisers-pushed-sham-classes
I, for the life of me, can’t understand why a student would go tail-gate then go home. That’s a stupid idea.
108, wow… 1993 through 2011?!?!
The proper punishment is the Death Penalty for all sports. These allegations go way beyond anything that SMU did during the late- 1970’s to mid-1980’s. At least SMU only kept it to paying football players… And that was outside boosters paying athletes. THIS IS UNC STUDENT ADVISERS RUNNING THIS SCAM.
What UNC did is far worse as it spans several sports and many regular students. Anything less than the death penalty is unacceptable by the NCAA.
But hey, how can you blame the NCAA? They have their investigative plate full with the UHBB’s iPad investigation.
Guarantee that if June Jones is hired to replace Norm Chow, season tickets would increase by 2,000 the first year and athletic department deficit would be virtually eliminated. Football experience would be much better (bring back Vili the Warrior) and excitement and pride returned to Aloha Stadium. I’ve had season tickets from the early 1980s and am waiting for the Norm Chow (bless his heart, but he is not a good head coach) era to end.
109.
Same here. I don’t understand it but it’s very common. Some of my friends do it as well and I call them stupid. haha
95 Tarheel Warrior, actually men’s and women’s basketball were involved. Here is an excerpt from the NYT article being published tomorrow:
One thing was made abundantly clear in the report: The fake classes went a long way toward helping athletes overwhelmed by academic demands to remain eligible to play on the Tar Heels teams.
“In the case of 329 students, the grade they received in a paper class provided the ‘GPA boost’ that either kept or pushed their GPA above the 2.0 level for a semester,” the report said. Of those students, 169 were athletes: 123 football players, 15 men’s basketball players, eight women’s basketball players and 26 athletes from other sports. In the fall of 2009, the first semester in more than a decade without Ms. Crowder’s paper classes, the football team recorded its lowest grade-point average in 10 years — 2.121, the report said.
This was not the total number, but a sample from several years. In a former life, I was the compliance person at D1 school, the folks that I still talk with say that this goes very very deep. Assurances from coaches aside, should be taken with an appropriate amount of salt–2-3 cubic tons, sounds about right…
111.
I would bet money that June Jones is not ever gonna coach here again. I see him more as becoming an administrator if anything. I would also pray that they don’t bring back Vili. I appreciate the time that he put in but the mascot should be a student.
FUHA, actually, the sign-off on all of the grades, until 2012, when resigned in preemption of all this coming down was the chairman of the African Studies department, Julius Nyang’oro, who became the professor of record for many of the fake classes. Mr. Nyang’oro retired in 2012, after news of the scheme came to light.
At a top national university like UNC this is not just a blow to their athletic department, but a full head bludgeon to its previous stellar academic reputation.
Who is this clown saying that people in hawaii don’t go to college because they want to be firefighters or whatever? Sounds like a bunch of crap to me. Hawaii’s higher education attainment rate is actually a little above the national average.
man eating apple: most division I-A football programs are losing money. it’s not just a UH thing.
Yah, take legitimate classes like Yoga and Golf ; that’s the total number of courses being taken this fall by Marcus. However, he did take heavier loads before. The tough part is football 401.
Andrew and FUHA — I do not think it too strange. I have been saying the tailgate was a big part of the stadium experience. They obviously are not fans but went for the party and grinds only.
…of course, as a UH student I who woke up late sometimes and missed morning classes. Then drove to UH to buy plate lunch at Grace’s lunch wagon, eat it and then drive back home (cutting afternoon class). 🙄
Aloha to all,
Currently my company is planning on purchasing over 100 tickets for the Utah St. game on 11/01/2014 to accommodate and reward our employees and there families on the excitement and the experience they will have on attending a, UH home football game at, Aloha Stadium. I spoke with a gentleman at UH, who is the only person who handles the group tickets. Although the group ticket prices are considered to be at a reasonable rate at $25 for adults and $15 dollars for children for the bottom end zone seats on both sides. Regular price is $40 dollars. We were just looking for the nose bleed seats at the very top which three years ago was only $10. I was told that the $40 dollars and the group rates apply just the same to the nose bleed seats. Unbelievable! No wonder no one coming to the games, to expensive and for many they can’t afford it. I tried to lomilomi braddah man small kine but da buggah neva like strike a good deal and stood firm. I told him, “Brah! You neva read dis mornings peppah? We struggling trying to fill up da seats in the stadium and you going pass up one deal like dis?” Sad to say, he stood firm and didn’t reconsider. I had to respect that, probably he had no other alternatives.
So here I am, still trying to find a good deal for more than 100 tickets. Let me know if some of you fine die hard rainbow warrior fans have some Hawaiian connections, 364-5811.
Mahalo, GO BOWS!!!!
I don’t understand the attraction of a theatre experience football game. You might as well go to a bar and get a meal too for that price. Unless it is somone hwo does not like being around drinkers. Hmmm
There is nothing like being there. The sight, sounds, smells (hehe), and most of all, all the characters that come out for the game.
GO BOWS AND GO BEAU! No Skade Em!
JV Sr. Pay the $25 and $15. You can sit on the sideline up close or in the covered blue. Just nicely ask if anyone is sitting there and be ready to move if the seats owner comes. Local Style.
4-Prong: UH football program is not losing money. The athletic department as a whole runs at a deficit. Of course, the revenue from football is going in the wrong direction.
#131 3-Prong,
Spear that uhu, lol. I get free game tickets. My son plays on the team.
JV SR.: so you get da bes seats fo da bes price! cheee!
You know, poach em in ginger water. Hot oil Chinese style, oh yah! Cannot beat da kumu doe…
Tree-Prong, I like da kine, laddat….stuff dat buggah wit green onions, portagee sausage, little bit lop-chong, coconut milk and mayo, foil dat buggah up and poleo dat winnah on da grill at da tailgate. Oh bettah yet, no forget da soaked marinated teri sauced tako next to dat supah winnah…..Auuuright! Stay blessed my braddah, cause it’s always good to be blessed when we live Hawaii.
UH football & movie theaters: winnah! winnah!
sit in cushioned seats in air conditioned comfort with the large screen and $1 hotdogs and pop corn – no hassle with drunks; no hassle with stadium security; no parking problem – no long day in preparing food for tailgate, eating, watching the game – no long delays in getting out of your parking lot – and tickets at the Koolau theater is $12.
I would do this only for away games that are televised to theaters; if we are not travelling with the team – otherwise, see you at the stadium!!!!!!!!!!!
JV Sr: Brah! You soun like my bruddah from one diffren muddah! Hehe
You right, blessed to live in Hawaii.
Sr eh? Das yo boy? He needs the ball more…
FUHA my son goes to Creighton and his roommate has taken him to a Nebraska game for a couple of years now and my son was telling me that there are a lot of fans who drive hours to attend the game from all parts of the state but choose to stay in the parking lot tailgating the entire game. Said many also come back to their tailgate parties at halftime to drink and don’t go back to their seats to watch the second half. Crazy.
I used to watch Bows games at the Kaahumanu Theater here on Maui. However, they stop showing the games due to a lack in attendance.
Remember this day and all these comments on this post about attendance and wonder why folks don’t want a 30,000 seat stadium in the future. Even if we are winning it’ll have to be consistent like Boise to increase stadium capacity so why not make it a hot ticket if the stadium can hold only so much.
If the state doesn’t want to build a new one , at least take down the yellow,red and brown sections of the north and south end zones and install luxury suites at the red,brown sections of the Mauka and makai sections. Taking the top tiers of the end zones can create a nice view of Pearl Harbor.
Good evening, Tsai-kos!
Hey, I thought about today’s post a bit more.
I wouldn’t mind Pomai’s suggestion which is to hold away game events at SSC!
Cool air-conditioned comfort and someone cooks and cleans for you!
Well, I heard from Ben Jay that ppl would have to volunteer for clean up.
I would stay to help clean up!
I will never order the Oceanic pay per view away games again. Koolau Theaters is the bomb for all the reasons A-House mentioned. $12 dollars is way cheaper than what Oceanic charges per game. And of course it will be a long while before I give up my home season tickets at Aloha Stadium. I may be in the minority but I love Aloha Stadium and the atmosphere of game day. Been to several stadiums for college and pro games and wouldn’t trade my seats at Aloha for any of em. I have great seats and the H-3 gets me there and back to the windward side in 20 minutes.
Thirty years of season seat till this year. Health reasons stopped me from attending games at the stadium. Thought about PPV, but decided to save on the cost and just listen on the radio. Lucky decision on my part. Got tired of the offensive game plan, and am now able to just turn off the radio..hehehe, Recruiting is top notch, but there’s no sense in recruiting good players if you’re going to waste the talent on the field. Not only depresses the fans, but it has an affect on the players also. Would like to hear the head coach at least once accept the responsibilities of screwing up instead of blaming the players.
From 1968 till now I think I’ve missed less than 10 games live. I remember the first event UH v Texas A & I. It was far from a sellout but everyone left impressed with the facility not a bad seat in the house. It was a far cry from the old termite place. Back then it was billed as state of the art with moveable stands to accommodate different sporting events.
Larry Price was the coach and the team lost way more than it won but the crowds remained over 30K. Attendance the next season took off under Tomey and our entrance in the WAC. Back then it was a different time. UH athletics came to the fore front in the Honolulu entertainment scene. It started with FAB 5 mania, the football team, then baseball and Women’s VB. I think the early 80’s was the golden age for UH sports. UH sports were events to see and be seen at. UH sports became a staple of local tv.
Today UH athletics is still a staple of local tv but the bloom is off the rose as far as attending sporting events. TV helped promote UH sports and it’s tv contract is steady income for UHAD but now some are wondering how much has tv cut into gate revenue. Home PPV along with commercial PPV has definitely cut into the live gate for football. It’s one reason but not the only reason for revenue decline.
133 turfwar: your boy a bluejay eh? My #1 girl went to school at Creighton too. Graduated with a good job. Med employers hold Creighton in high regard. Relatively speaking, midwest schools are a bargain eh. Gotta handle the weather though. He likes it there? Basketball is descent.
If the UH marching band were 1/10th as good as these guys, it would draw a few more people… If they were 1/2 as good, people show up just to watch them then go home after halftime.
Look up Ohio St. Marching band Oct 18 — their performance was pretty awesome last week. And this is coming from someone who typically can’t stand marching band halftime shows. Of course Grambling & Southern are always great. Florida St. Band made headlines last week also.
Me thinks 2 things….
#1 need some type of corporate suites. Might not be much but at least a private viewing area, large lcd screens, comfy lounge seats, and catered food. Suites can also be used for maybe a birthday or just for friends who want a more private experience at the stadium???
#2 Eh, food sucks and is over priced. Maybe a $2 surcharge upon entry for those that want to bring in their own food and drinks. Each ticket is limited to maybe a 6 pack of beer–minimize potential issues with drinking.
Cheaper,
Easy access.
Safer for families with young children.
Can even carry your infant inside.
Air conditioned for the kids
No drunkards
Probably got wifi in the lobby
Family friendly toilets.
Good eats just outside the theaters.
FUHA….heyyyyy good band that crowd comes to game then leaves after halt-time reminds me of when I played for Pearl City.
My Garden of Eden is saddling up to the bar and watching the Warriors play.
It’s a fun experience. Beer, food, inhibitions, betting and brief friendships run freely.
I’m very happy.
My plate is full.
I can’t see watching the game live when this way suits my needs better…just being honest.
The ambience is great.
There’s high definition television viewing, Dolby-Surround Sound and the telecast of the football game is filled with a pre game, halftime and post game shows and game analysis that enhances my viewing pleasure.
Why would I look elsewhere. This is Eden.
Everyone’s disposition is different. For me… the people/friends that I used to go the games with either have gone their separate ways, passed on, or are imprisoned (even as I write this the same discontinuation happened with golfing and fishing outings). So this was the next option. It works…and the team can lay an egg…and it still works for me.
Wow! We are even knocking the band now? Watch out Shoji you might be next.
Nothing is sacred in this critical arena.
Please Bows win some games so that mood and attitude in our state will improve.
Maybe even the weather will get better?
The UNC situation may change the NCAA’s approach to academic fraud which is basically to do nothing– leaving the school to police academics. This is different and the key will be to show involvement of the athletic department in the scheme. If this was done for the entire student body, it goes outside the current scope of the NCAA. This sounds to me like the athletic department was involved.
you can make the stadium family friendly with inflatable bouncy castles, and have high tech state of the art electronics, and a covered air conditioned stadium, or whatever. That’ll attract people who already want to come to the games in the first place and who feel a connection to the program (which, judging by the people posting here, are in the 50-60 year old uncle range, back when UH football was a premiere social event where people came together and built communities).
But unless you spark genuine fan interest and a connection to the university and the football program, nobody will really care. It starts with winning (a big part of it is winning) but it also starts from finding strategies to embed UH into the social fabric of hawaii. Prestige of the school (if you did a survey and just asked ‘is UH a good school?’ academics, environment, socially, whatever, what people would say), attitudes towards the team, and so on. Even just attitudes towards Hawaii itself.
You can see the ad campaigns attempting to do this, such as “support YOUR university of hawaii rainbow warriors!” but lamenting about how it was back in the 60s, with bbqs and the Hula-T won’t necessarily make it happen.
I would rather go to Aloha stadium to watch a good football game. Overcoming all the first world problems (finding my tickets, finding my keys, finding the stadium, finding a parking spot, walking to the security checkpoint, finding my tickets again, finding my seats, finding food that doesn’t make me too gassy, finding the bathroom if it does anyway, …) make me proud to be a modern human. The beer is way overpriced though, so I drink the bottled water.
JV SR,
I know who you were dealing with for the tickets. He is on commission and has a $$ floor for each ticket that is sold.
I tried to get a deal for former players for the UW game was was told the same thing directly out of the ticket office.
I could only suggest a call to one of the Asst. Athletic Directors for some kokua.
It’s half into year 3 and wew’re still seeing the same boring Offense, the same stupid coaching decisions and the same ole excuses during the post game conferences, in the words IT’S MORE OF THE SAME. Anyone who is still saying give Chow more time is completely delusional.
anybody – recruiting news for any sport?????
#152 pretty amazing that we are NOT recruiting a QB for this class…makes me scratch my head.
Nevada 28 UH 21.
Remember there were previous discussions about the back shoulder throw, check the link for one of the best combo in the biz, Rodgers to Nelson. Too much of a stretch to ask for the Woolsey-Kemp combo??? GO BOWS!!!
http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/11735230/how-green-bay-packers-wr-jordy-nelson-runs-back-shoulder-fade
155… Back shoulder throws require a precise throw and correct timing to work….
sorry…though I love the bows…easy money this weekend on Nevada
153… UH will have, correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe IW, Wittek, Reilly, and Zwahlen scheduled for scholarships next year. I believe Prater is a walk-on if my memory is correct.
The issue regarding lack of QB recruiting news for 2015 is a numbers issue. UH is scheduled to have 4 scholarship QBs in 2015. Does is make sense for a football team to spend 5 or more scholarships on a position group that only has one player on the field? I think its crazy for a team to have more than 4 scholarship QBs because you need those scholarships for other position groups. Why do you need 4 scholarships sitting on the bench.
Essentially, Wittek, Zwahlen and Reilly are the 2015 recruiting class. Wittek doesn’t become eligible until 2015, Zwahlen doesn’t arrive until 2015 (and presumably needs time to get readjusted to football life again), and Reilly was originally slated to red-shirt and be ready in 2015.
If somebody transfers or Zwahlen ends up somewhere else (LDS missionaries can be free agents… i.e. Beau Reilly), then it opens up a spot for a new recruit.
Coaches can rescind scholarships but I think that will backfire from a PR standpoint, especially for a coach that hasn’t been winning.
#157. The odds makers seem to think the “good Woolsey” will show up at home.
bc the offense will continue to be terrible until we find a legit QB. obviously Woolsey is not the answer, long-term. Reilly is more of an athlete and many project him at a position besides QB. Wittek has 1 year of eligibility left and maybe he looks good in practice, but he has yet to be good in a game. im not counting on Zwahlen who is returning from mission. who knows how good he’ll be.
but fine, Norm can continue this terrible offensive output and rely on BCS benchwarmers to run our offense.
RE: #149
oneseason — I buy one bottle of water at the stadium. Which reminds me that during the Hurricane Iselle scare, a photo on Facebook showed a local store selling a case of 16-oz bottle water for around $33. Subsequent news is that the store is being investigated for price gouging.
At the stadium, a 16-oz bottle of water is $2.50. Letseee… 24 bottles per case @ $2.50 = $60.
we should be recruiting 2 QBs every season.
The question of the morning is, when will the good ST show up? Still waiting for ST’s “Ding, Ding.”
158.
Well a good example for the need of that many quality scholarship QBs would be this year. Two of our QBs are out with injuries already and another was injured and starting to recover. Had his injury been any worst, they would have been forced to play our 4th stringer. So yeah I think having that many QBs is a good idea. Plus it strengthens the competition for the starting job.
148 4-Prong:
(which, judging by the people posting here, are in the 50-60 year old uncle range, back when UH football was a premiere social event where people came together and built communities).
Nope not me.
I’m not an uncle.
Nor am I 50-60 years old just yet.
And hey, if you are 50-60 years old, you ARE very much indeed lucky! Yahoo!!!
Yep; many in this world never make it there!
Good morning, Tsai-kos!
Um is today’s post up yet?
This old man woke up late, and had to rush off to this morning practice.
Here’s today belated post: http://hawaiiwarriorworld.com/?p=25465