Mark Hollis speaks

...and you better listen. Looks like the students are going to get their lower bowl wish.

"Buying a season ticket at Michigan State is one of the best values in the Big Ten,'' Hollis said. "We're able to drive additional revenue by having those premium games at a little bit higher (single game ticket) price, and Oregon will be an example of that coming into next year.

"Our goal is to have a full stadium from kickoff until the end of the game and create that community environment that Michigan State is valued for.''

Hollis took to his Twitter account last October and made the public vow that "as a program, we are prepared to make changes that will fill Spartan Stadium with Spartan fans that want to be there.''

Hollis' call to action came after mostly disappointing student section turnouts for MSU football games, rain or shine, particularly in the upper deck.

Hollis has been working on that issue, and preliminary plans are leaning toward seating the students exclusively in the lower bowl of the stadium moving forward.

"We're working real hard to create a season ticket for students that will be confined to the lower bowl of the stadium and then get creative with some of the upper sections,'' Hollis said. "We believe we have a system in place that will work. We're going to sit and meet with student groups before we pull the trigger on anything. As we listen to the students and the first couple sessions we've had with them, the differentiation between sitting upstairs and downstairs with any venue is always the challenge.

http://www.mlive.com/spartans/index.ssf/2015/02/michigan_state_ad_mark_hollis_21.html

awesome..!!

I hope people start showing up to watch MSU, and not worry about who the opponent is.

InTenSity wrote:I hope people start showing up to watch MSU, and not worry about who the opponent is.

Yeah. Good luck with that. Let me know how it plays out.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:
Yeah. Good luck with that. Let me know how it plays out.

[lol] this.

Not until you start cutting down media time outs, selling alcohol, and treating fans like customers again and not terrorists, will there even be a chance at that.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

[lol] this.

Not until you start cutting down media time outs, selling alcohol, and treating fans like customers again and not terrorists, will there even be a chance at that.

You really need to drop the selling alcohol thing from your rant. There really aren't many public universities using public facilities that are selling alcohol at college events.
If you need to drink that badly, at the game, then you should go to professional sporting events and enjoy your $12 beers.

I really hope people don't start showing up early - because I really enjoy being able to walk through the empty stands and watch the players warm up, and then it starts to fill up as the band takes the field. It might just ruin my experience if there were more than 20-25,000 in the stadium more than 30 minutes before kickoff.
And those of us who stay after the game and watch the post game band performance have really gotten to the like sitting in the green seats and feeling like we are high rollers. Whatever happens please don't tell the general public about this awesome perk that few are aware of and even fewer stay and enjoy. I'm guessing that like OTPT, they have to rush out to their tailgate to restart drinking to stop the DT's from setting in.

and I concur with the concept that at ticket to EMU or some D-2 opponent would be as highly coveted as a B1G game or that big name opponent.

I know Hollis is awesome.. I mean he's really popular in my house.. but until he can control the fact that games last 4+ hours along with the expense of attending a game.. combined with the weather pretty much any time after early October.. on top of all of the long media timeouts, official reviews, etc.  it'll be very challenging to work his awesomeness.

Robert J Sakimano wrote:I know Hollis is awesome.. I mean he's really popular in my house.. but until he can control the fact that games last 4+ hours along with the expense of attending a game.. combined with the weather pretty much any time after early October.. on top of all of the long media timeouts, official reviews, etc.  it'll be very challenging to work his awesomeness.

All of these things... plus home games against Oregon and, um... Well.... Penn State? And Indiana? Score.

There isn't anything he can do about that either, blame expansion. Unfortunately, when you include the cost of tickets, licenses parking, gas, etc they are getting to the point where it would be cheaper to buy a brand new tv every year to watch the garbage home games on and probably still pick up a ticket to the one good game that they actually want to go to.

Yes, the 15 of us that post on an obscure MSU message board probably want the stadium experience, but we're talking about 76,000 people here.

Wally Fairway wrote:
You really need to drop the selling alcohol thing from your rant. There really aren't many public universities using public facilities that are selling alcohol at college events.
If you need to drink that badly, at the game, then you should go to professional sporting events and enjoy your $12 beers.

I really hope people don't start showing up early - because I really enjoy being able to walk through the empty stands and watch the players warm up, and then it starts to fill up as the band takes the field. It might just ruin my experience if there were more than 20-25,000 in the stadium more than 30 minutes before kickoff.
And those of us who stay after the game and watch the post game band performance have really gotten to the like sitting in the green seats and feeling like we are high rollers. Whatever happens please don't tell the general public about this awesome perk that few are aware of and even fewer stay and enjoy. I'm guessing that like OTPT, they have to rush out to their tailgate to restart drinking to stop the DT's from setting in.

and I concur with the concept that at ticket to EMU or some D-2 opponent would be as highly coveted as a B1G game or that big name opponent.

Just telling you people what you don't want to hear. It's 2015. Wake the fuck up. But you probably know more than I do, being a current student and all, listening to my friends bitch about everything wrong with the current system.

There's not a lot of stadiums in the NCAA doing it, you know what a lot of stadiums are bitching about? Attendance. Adapt. Change. This isn't 1960 anymore.

I didn't even mention the fact that students would have to at least get in line an hour early, probably earlier for bigger games, to get a lower bowl spot.

That's 5-6 hours at a football game, after most normal people are drinking on campus for a few.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

Just telling you people what you don't want to hear. It's 2015. Wake the fuck up. But you probably know more than I do, being a current student and all, listening to my friends bitch about everything wrong with the current system.

There's not a lot of stadiums in the NCAA doing it, you know what a lot of stadiums are bitching about? Attendance. Adapt. Change. This isn't 1960 anymore.

Alcohol won't solve the attendance problem. Maybe temporarily, but it isn't a long term solution. (Since when is the thing that students are complaining about not a short sighted goal?) Ultimately, the only people that care about that are students. It doesn't move the needle for anyone that has to drive home when the game ends. Also, frankly, it's not going to change. You arguing about alcohol is like me arguing that the way to fix attendance is to have super models give blow jobs in the stands for free. Reality is that it isn't going to happen, so maybe stick to arguing about things that have a chance of actually happening.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:
Alcohol won't solve the attendance problem. Maybe temporarily, but it isn't a long term solution. (Since when is the thing that students are complaining about not a short sighted goal?) Ultimately, the only people that care about that are students. It doesn't move the needle for anyone that has to drive home when the game ends. Also, frankly, it's not going to change. You arguing about alcohol is like me arguing that the way to fix attendance is to have super models give blow jobs in the stands for free. Reality is that it isn't going to happen, so maybe stick to arguing about things that have a chance of actually happening.

There's plenty of other reasons also

Give us paper tickets. Stop with this ID bullshit. People have friends that don't go here, you want to turn down the $ they bring?

Fix the lines. It's pretty much a free for all once the gates open and it's a fucking mess.

Stop with the TSA level pat downs. Let girls bring in a fucking purse. Is it "safety" or is it just more control?

I've been down this road before ranting, but it's worthless. You guys are so caught up in this "students suck, MSU rules" agenda it doesn't really do any good. You guys think wins are all that matters, but in this day and age with TV it isn't.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

Just telling you people what you don't want to hear. It's 2015. Wake the fuck up. But you probably know more than I do, being a current student and all, listening to my friends bitch about everything wrong with the current system.

There's not a lot of stadiums in the NCAA doing it, you know what a lot of stadiums are bitching about? Attendance. Adapt. Change. This isn't 1960 anymore.

I think OTPT has a point, why not sell alcohol at a cfb game? More $$$ for the school and would make the game more enjoyable.

You can buy beer at the friggin Lugnuts games but you can't buy a beer at an MSU game?

I bet we could fill up the revenue difference between Spartan Stadium and the Big House just in our ability to party and put them away.

I for one would love to buy a cold one at Spartan Stadium.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:I didn't even mention the fact that students would have to at least get in line an hour early, probably earlier for bigger games, to get a lower bowl spot.

That's 5-6 hours at a football game, after most normal people are drinking on campus for a few.

Now this is a huge point, and one that is totally in the control of the athletic dept.
There is no reason that there is a line at all, go back to printing tickets, let the students sell a ticket if the want to (or even give them to someone who can go to the game) and then let them in the stands.

I think students should be able to use Sparty Bucks (or whatever they are called) at the concession stands; again no reason not to do so. Maybe even have concessions give a price break to students...ah who am I kidding, they will never give up the chase for the almighty buck.

Open the tailgating hours up, especially for later kickoffs. There are people who come in for the whole day, and students who are already there, and yet they can't get into the lots which are just sitting there empty.
Don't close the lots after the game, allow people to make a day or evening of it, again what does it hurt to have people on those empty lots.
And while they are at it, how about opening the buildings around the lots to allow access to bathrooms. Put some student monitors in there if it a problem of people damaging the facilities - but seriously treat paying season ticket holders like customers not criminals


There are schools that allow people to leave the stadium at halftime and re-enter, I'm not sure this is a great idea but it is certainly worth looking into. It allows people to revisit a tailgate & get a beverage or a bite to eat; and likely this is why it won't happen because there could be $$$'s lost.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

There's plenty of other reasons also

Give us paper tickets. Stop with this ID bullshit. People have friends that don't go here, you want to turn down the $ they bring?

Fix the lines. It's pretty much a free for all once the gates open and it's a fucking mess.

Stop with the TSA level pat downs. Let girls bring in a fucking purse. Is it "safety" or is it just more control?

I've been down this road before ranting, but it's worthless. You guys are so caught up in this "students suck, MSU rules" agenda it doesn't really do any good. You guys think wins are all that matters, but in this day and age with TV it isn't.

I used to leave Shaw around 11am (I think, things are hazy from then), walk to the stadium and walk right in. This was back in 95 or 96. I'd say probably 10-15 minutes from my room to being in the stands. I just don't understand the whole mentality about policing as hard as they do. 

What are they looking for in the pat downs? Just trying to make sure that people aren't bringing in liquor and beer? If the TSA can do background checks to make sure you aren't a terrorist, I'm sure the school could do the same.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

There's plenty of other reasons also

Give us paper tickets. Stop with this ID bullshit. People have friends that don't go here, you want to turn down the $ they bring?

Fix the lines. It's pretty much a free for all once the gates open and it's a fucking mess.

Stop with the TSA level pat downs. Let girls bring in a fucking purse. Is it "safety" or is it just more control?

I've been down this road before ranting, but it's worthless. You guys are so caught up in this "students suck, MSU rules" agenda it doesn't really do any good. You guys think wins are all that matters, but in this day and age with TV it isn't.

Agree again, when I went there I got a bunch of tickets in the mail. Sometimes I'd scalp tickets for the $$$ which was great at points because I was always broke. Didn't matter if I was late for a game, I'd just show up with my ticket maybe miss the kickoff and still get a spot. We also used to rush the field and let me tell you when you are loaded that is a shit load of fun.

steveschneider wrote:

I think OTPT has a point, why not sell alcohol at a cfb game? More $$$ for the school and would make the game more enjoyable.

You can buy beer at the friggin Lugnuts games but you can't buy a beer at an MSU game?

I bet we could fill up the revenue difference between Spartan Stadium and the Big House just in our ability to party and put them away.

I for one would love to buy a cold one at Spartan Stadium.

I think the few schools that have tried it have seen very modest revenue benefit. And IMHO, selling $12 won't attract one extra student to the games. If a kid is already on the fence about attending, why not sit at home in the warm with your friends and buy a case for $12 instead of one beer?

I think the solution is pretty simple and one that Hollis seems to be gravitating towards is to just shrink the section. Create some demand for tickets instead of an over-supply. Sell the upper deck corner seats dirt cheap as part of a family package. Problem solved.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

There's plenty of other reasons also

Give us paper tickets. Stop with this ID bullshit. People have friends that don't go here, you want to turn down the $ they bring?

Fix the lines. It's pretty much a free for all once the gates open and it's a fucking mess.

Stop with the TSA level pat downs. Let girls bring in a fucking purse. Is it "safety" or is it just more control?

I've been down this road before ranting, but it's worthless. You guys are so caught up in this "students suck, MSU rules" agenda it doesn't really do any good. You guys think wins are all that matters, but in this day and age with TV it isn't.

I don't think any of those things. As evidenced by my other posts in this very thread.

You're right on the other things. Though, I'm not sure how you fix the lines. They aren't trying to control you with the patdowns, you're just being melodramatic. They do the same thing all across the rest of the stadium without issue. Maybe just get some metal detectors and call it a day. it's not like it's hard to sneak booze in as is or anything.

Ultimlately, I just think that the biggest issue is expecting people to pay $100+ for a 50-0 blowout of Wyoming. Thats assinine and way way over priced.

Bizarro Fletch wrote:

I think the few schools that have tried it have seen very modest revenue benefit. And IMHO, selling $12 won't attract one extra student to the games. If a kid is already on the fence about attending, why not sit at home in the warm with your friends and buy a case for $12 instead of one beer?

I think the solution is pretty simple and one that Hollis seems to be gravitating towards is to just shrink the section. Create some demand for tickets instead of an over-supply. Sell the upper deck corner seats dirt cheap as part of a family package. Problem solved.

$12 for a beer???????????????????????

Dude, I bought a beer at Yankee stadium for $9.00 last summer. No one is going to pay $12.00 for a beer.

I'd start my price points at $9.00. Problem is though the bathrooms and access to concessions is really bad in that stadium. I could see it working well in the breslin though.

steveschneider wrote:

$12 for a beer???????????????????????

Dude, I bought a beer at Yankee stadium for $9.00 last summer. No one is going to pay $12.00 for a beer.

I'd start my price points at $9.00. Problem is though the bathrooms and access to concessions is really bad in that stadium. I could see it working well in the breslin though.

Apparently you haven't been to a professional Miami game, football or bball. I believe when I last went to Dolphin stadium, it was $12, I think that was for a pint. The couple of Bball games I went to they were charging around $8 for a 12 oz. I think it worked itself towards $.50 an ounce.

InTenSity wrote:
Apparently you haven't been to a professional Miami game, football or bball. I believe when I last went to Dolphin stadium, it was $12, I think that was for a pint. The couple of Bball games I went to they were charging around $8 for a 12 oz. I think it worked itself towards $.50 an ounce.

Ooft that is harsh.

steveschneider wrote:

$12 for a beer???????????????????????

Dude, I bought a beer at Yankee stadium for $9.00 last summer. No one is going to pay $12.00 for a beer.

I'd start my price points at $9.00. Problem is though the bathrooms and access to concessions is really bad in that stadium. I could see it working well in the breslin though.

Ok, let's say $9 for a beer. I don't think that changes a thing. The goal here is to keep a few thousand 18-22 year olds in their seats. How many are going to do so because they can buy a $9 beer?

I suspect that the MSU fan base is a rather challenging one to work with anyway, in terms of getting and maintaining their interest in a football game.. in an ideal world, I bet MSU would like to cut about 12,000 seats from the stadium and channel that money toward various structural upgrades.. I realize we're a little late for that, though.

You charge $3 a beer and $9 to use the bathroom.

Robert J Sakimano wrote:I suspect that the MSU fan base is a rather challenging one to work with anyway, in terms of getting and maintaining their interest in a football game.. in an ideal world, I bet MSU would like to cut about 12,000 seats from the stadium and channel that money toward various structural upgrades.. I realize we're a little late for that, though.

Perhaps, but there's a difference between empty seats and unsold tickets. The former may be a little embarrassing on TV, but the latter is what really matters and I think they're doing ok there.

Bizarro Fletch wrote:

Perhaps, but there's a difference between empty seats and unsold tickets. The former may be a little embarrassing on TV, but the latter is what really matters and I think they're doing ok there.

yeah it doesn't look good on TV but you're probably right with that.. money is bottom line. However, the empty seats week after week might impact the "national perception" that some folks seem to be preoccupied with (for some reason).

Robert J Sakimano wrote:I suspect that the MSU fan base is a rather challenging one to work with anyway, in terms of getting and maintaining their interest in a football game.

Well you are part of the fan base...

Robert J Sakimano wrote:
yeah it doesn't look good on TV but you're probably right with that.. money is bottom line. However, the empty seats week after week might impact the "national perception" that some folks seem to be preoccupied with (for some reason).

Most of us want to be bad and nationwide, don't you?

CheesySpartan wrote:

Well you are part of the fan base...

When Hollis creates an alumni student section thats intense, I'll listen until then Shir won't matter and I'm OK with the lack of students giving a fuck

Scribes are now busy across the land............

Maybe this alumni section is about to happen?
I don't think there is demand for those seats. Which is great actually for me because all those seats will be on the market instead of wasted by student no-shows.

Herbie Green wrote:Maybe this alumni section is about to happen?
I don't think there is demand for those seats. Which is great actually for me because all those seats will be on the market instead of wasted by student no-shows.

Fwiw the very top corner of the upper deck is where I'd start with those seats to create a barrier and then let the section grow from there. Ideally you start with the opposite corner from the students section but whatevas

[/quote]
You arguing about alcohol is like me arguing that the way to fix attendance is to have super models give blow jobs in the stands for free. [/quote]

I think you just solved the attendance problem.  Someone please notify Mr. Hollis of this ingenious idea immediately.

Would there be enough of a demand for an young alumni section? Will the cost be good enough?

The general idea is good, but I can see MSU fucking it up as they have before with tickets/seating

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:Would there be enough of a demand for an young alumni section? Will the cost be good enough?

The general idea is good, but I can see MSU fucking it up as they have before with tickets/seating

I don't want young. I want dawg pound spartan style! Woof woof!