OldORUGuy Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Awhile back we had some banter on this site about the value of the NIT and the CBI (College Basketball Invitational). If you don’t make the NCAA field, then what’s the value of these tournaments? Are they just a place for “losers” to play in front of empty areans? Or, do they have a value that we might have to consider somewhere down the road in a year where we don’t get that automatic NCAA bid? Do we want to play in a tournament with a bunch of mid-major, non-league champs … and Major Conference also-rans? Do we want to be playing games if we don’t have a chance for the “big prize”? I think – YES. And TU’s extended season is a great example of the benefits it can bring to a school, a basketball program, their visibility in the press, their future ticket sales, and to the fans of that school. I just got back from watching the Tulsa-Bradley game in the “Championship Round” of the CBI Tournament. I think this tournament will make TU a much better team next year … more confident … more poised … They’ve learned “how to win” (4 wins so far) … They’ve played under the “tournament pressure” … And hopefully they will have a banner to hang at the Don/Rey, too. Anyway, I was impressed with the enthusiasm of the TU fans … All the seats filled up … Not many empties … Everyone in their Blue and Gold … Very vocal/loud/boisterous … Playing for a “championship” that they care about (a redemption to their season). I think their gamble by putting up the $60K guarantee for each of the games will bring them lots of dividends. (A thought: Once the NIT rejected them, IUPUI could not have been a viable participant in this tourney, since they don’t have the money for a home game, and if they made it to the championship round, they’d have had to fork over the guarantee). Tulsa has a loyal following, that hasn’t been following much these days. But they are now that they are winning. Perhaps our Ticket Promotion staff should be taking some lessons from them on how to fill up an arena … sell 7500 real tickets … get 7500 real people to come out and support their team … get students to the games cheering … have “an event” that is worth getting all the sports press in the area covering them every day for 2+ weeks. When the time comes for ORU to decide on whether to go the a second tier tournament … or just sit at home at watch every one else play … I hope the powers-that-be decide to extend our season and let us have a chance to feel what I say 7,500 people feeling tonight at the Don/Rey. And I hope that ORU Ticket Marketers can fill the seats and the ORU fans can come up to the level of TU's and get out of the house and support the team. Something to think about… PS Am I the only one that thinks the acoustics/sound at the Don/Rey is the worst anywhere? When I had Season Tickets there I thought it was just my crummy seats that were out of the reach of the speakers … but everywhere I sit there, it’s awful. Besides having tight seating and uncomfortable wood seats … having bad sound too is really a bummer! Whatever it is the announcer is saying, it’s probably very interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU Big Brother Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 TU's still playing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 TU's still playing? TU who? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldORUGuy Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share Posted April 1, 2008 I think it is really "UT" that is still playing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 OldGuy, you lost me about halfway through your post. TU and it's fans has been starved for any kind of success, and this little homecourt mid-major invitational has provided them with an outlet for their frustration. I frankly doubt they would have pulled near those attendance numbers if they had been in the NCAA the past three seasons like ORU - TU's fans would have viewed the CBI for what it truly is: a consolation prize. And if ORU garners a home game next year in either the NIT, the CBI, the CSI, the FBI, or whatever, I would not be surprised to see a smallish crowd turn out at the Mabee Center. Kind of hard to get the fans fired up about a double-A game when you've been playing in the majors the past three years... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldORUGuy Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share Posted April 1, 2008 Old Titan Said: "And if ORU garners a home game next year in either the NIT, the CBI, the CSI, the FBI, or whatever, I would not be surprised to see a smallish crowd turn out at the Mabee Center. Kind of hard to get the fans fired up about a double-A game when you've been playing in the majors the past three years..." That's probably true ... That's why they will send us on the road, like they did in the NIT 3 years ago to be the sacrificial lamb for someone like Maryland... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Minyard Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Tulsa has a loyal following, that hasn’t been following much these days. But they are now that they are winning. Perhaps our Ticket Promotion staff should be taking some lessons from them on how to fill up an arena … sell 7500 real tickets … get 7500 real people to come out and support their team … get students to the games cheering … have “an event” that is worth getting all the sports press in the area covering them every day for 2+ weeks. When the time comes for ORU to decide on whether to go the a second tier tournament … or just sit at home at watch every one else play … I hope the powers-that-be decide to extend our season and let us have a chance to feel what I say 7,500 people feeling tonight at the Don/Rey. And I hope that ORU Ticket Marketers can fill the seats and the ORU fans can come up to the level of TU's and get out of the house and support the team. Well since our ticket marketing department consists of one person... I'm open to some suggestions. I'll start working on the marketing plan in May, so let me know what you think could help bring 7,500 out to the Mabee Center on a week night. I just handle external ticket sales, so my marketing plan does not target students. Student attendance is the responsibility of our other Director of Marketing. I'm not trying to sound like I'm offended, because I'm not at all. I'd just like to hear suggestions from our fan base. I'm open minded, and know that we don't do things perfectly. But I know it isn't just one adjustment that is going to magically sell 3,000 more tickets to a Thursday night game against IUPUI. My personal slogan at my job is this... "Look at a complaint as an opportunity". I'm just trying to figure out what TU did differently so I can take some notes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU Big Brother Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Basically, TU has bought itself a "championship" to the tune of (potentially) $300,000. Kind of a waste if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashVID Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 It is a consolation prize and yes a little fool's gold. So what? To us, it is fun even though many of us realize nobody else really cares. $300K is not really that much (by the way, that is a guarantee not a fee so TU still makes money) considering how much we have paid some terrible teams to come lose at home. TU is beating top 100 teams and playing better than they have all year and if anything, it is a great morale booster. ash =o) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Boy Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 It is a consolation prize and yes a little fool's gold. So what? To us, it is fun even though many of us realize nobody else really cares. $300K is not really that much (by the way, that is a guarantee not a fee so TU still makes money) considering how much we have paid some terrible teams to come lose at home. TU is beating top 100 teams and playing better than they have all year and if anything, it is a great morale booster. ash =o) Yeah, the $300K isn't against budgetted monies; it has been generated from real ticket sales revenue that TU wouldn't have had otherwise. As long as they net more than $60K for each home game, it's a no lose proposition; and they've actually made a little money. Perhaps more importantly for them though, they've sold a lot of tickets and won back a lot of fan interest with wins over a few of the better college basketball mid-major names...Miami (OH), Utah, Houston, and Bradley. Something that without the CBI, they would be starting from scratch trying once again to do next season. You can feel the momentum that the once very proud Golden Hurricane program had but lost over the last five seasons beginning to come back. With all due respect, kudos to TU...they're doing a nice job "making chicken salad out of..." Well, you know how that goes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I'm just trying to figure out what TU did differently so I can take some notes. It's a pretty simple formula, MM: suck badly over a five or six year period while raising your ticket prices every season, then once you get halfway decent, schedule a bunch of home games over a 10-day period when no other college or high school in the state is playing, against middle-of-the-pack mid-majors, with $5.00 first-bought, first-seated tickets. When your fan base is starving, even leftovers can start to look pretty appetizing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Boy Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 When your fan base is starving, even leftovers can start to look pretty appetizing... And even chicken salad tastes great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prezalum 05/06 Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 It's true, TU is playing for the right to be the 98th best team in the NCAA, and that obviously doesn't sound too appealing. Having said that, I would say this has been a great thing for TU. They have struggled for a while now, they haven't had crowds, things weren't looking that great. But then they went on that run at the end of the season, made the conference finals, and now they're doing this. Jordan and Uzoh are playing great basketball and the other guys are filling their roles nicely. This has definitely been a good thing for TU, there is no doubt in my mind that they will come in to next season with a boatload of confidence. To be honest, I'm going to be a little nervous when we head over to north Tulsa next year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 It's true, TU is playing for the right to be the 98th best team in the NCAA, When you put it that way..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOLO_Gold Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 haha... could it be? haha top 100 isn't THAT bad...haha is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 PS Am I the only one that thinks the acoustics/sound at the Don/Rey is the worst anywhere? When I had Season Tickets there I thought it was just my crummy seats that were out of the reach of the speakers … but everywhere I sit there, it’s awful. Besides having tight seating and uncomfortable wood seats … having bad sound too is really a bummer! Whatever it is the announcer is saying, it’s probably very interesting! Personally, I think the DonRey is a good facility......but the parking sucks. I'll take ORU's last four years of post season play -----three in the NCAA Tournament and one in the NIT over buying a win in the CBI any day! OLDoruGuy, I am convinced you are really a TU guy.......I'd even bet a chicken salad sandwich on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUBlue Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Well since our ticket marketing department consists of one person... I'm open to some suggestions. I'll start working on the marketing plan in May, so let me know what you think could help bring 7,500 out to the Mabee Center on a week night. I just handle external ticket sales, so my marketing plan does not target students. Student attendance is the responsibility of our other Director of Marketing. I'm not trying to sound like I'm offended, because I'm not at all. I'd just like to hear suggestions from our fan base. I'm open minded, and know that we don't do things perfectly. But I know it isn't just one adjustment that is going to magically sell 3,000 more tickets to a Thursday night game against IUPUI. My personal slogan at my job is this... "Look at a complaint as an opportunity". I'm just trying to figure out what TU did differently so I can take some notes. Pretty simple OldORUGuy. When we do suck bad enough to have to buy our way to play post season, all we have to do is ask you to be the first to buy a ticket. Now, of course your ticket will cost $60,000 per game and the rest will be easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I'm soooo glad that we are having trouble remembering the time when we sucked that bad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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