We asked Eddie to join us to talk about the issues around the WVU game. If you have (legit) questions for him, please add them here.
We are going to have a good, direct conversation.
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Good guest Ryan.
Question 1:
How many people in the athletic department are dedicated toward fan experience?
Are surveys being done on cost, travel time, in game experience, etc. To understand the time it takes for each fan to get to the stadium, and their overall rating of gameday
Question 2:
For games that are 11am, determined by TV networks, student attendance hasnt been great. What offerings are being discussed to get more students to early games? 11am games arent great for alot of fanbases. But for UH, what are things being discussed for the future
Question 3
UH football is competing with professional sports for peoples entertainment dollar ($)
For those that are season ticket holders, should more perks be offered? Reduced parking costs, reduced food & drink costs?
For fans that do come to a game, the fan takeaway hopefully isnt: “Parking is expensive & its so tough to park”. Concession lines are long & food is expensive."
Question 4:
Some UH fans like myself, debate whether to keep their UH football season tickets. Should i just wait to see if the team is good & buy them off Stubhub, is a real thought im sure UH fans have
What are the current perks to being a season ticket holder? And can more perks be offered. Like a “Fast Pass” at Disney World. You pay more, but get a much better gameday experience.
Is parking easier for a UH season ticket holder? Is concession lines quicker? These are questions we have to ask to grow our season ticket base
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And that’s why I think Eddie is different (in a good way) from any other AD that UH has ever had. Getting in front of the fanbase knowing tensions are high is something others wouldn’t even consider.
He’s going to be asked tough questions and I’m very curious what his answers are.
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Are fans prohibited from bringing sunblock/sunscreen into TDECU? Would that not be considered a “medically necessary” item that the school website suggest is allowed?
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Do you have people tasked with actually talking to students about what draws them to games or make them decide to skip instead? Not crunching survey or other spreadsheet data - TALKING to people.
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Are there any plans to try to get Fritz out there in front of students the way Sampson has attacked it? He’s obviously time-constrained during the season, but you make time for what’s important.
Not targeting students for any reason other than they’re kind of a captive audience, so you don’t have to rely on surveys.
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What are you going to do to improve season ticket sales next year?
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What are you going to do to encourage people to get to their seats before tipoff this season? Considered price adjustments for early arrivals?
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What would you consider “success” for baseball this season?
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Will be watching.
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Why are we not sending anyone from our spirit groups to away games?
It’s a really bad look. Everyone that has visited TDECU brought cheer and mascots and SFA and Tech had full bands.
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Can the conference work with TV partners and the conference to come up with a more equitable schedule? Our schedule this year has been; Thursday, Friday, 2 11AM games, and one 6pm game. Our schedule to date is 4/5 crap times. Good chance we end up with a 3rd 11am game and a 5/6 crap schedule. It is awful for fans.
I’d also be interested in him naming3 or 4 things they did this year that they thought would help attendance and or increase the game day expereince, and then his assesment of how well those things worked. If he mentions the new ticket tech Im gonna lose it. Nobody but them gives a sh!t about that.
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Ticket cost aside, if I stay home from the game, I can sit on a comfortable couch in air conditioning, with my choice of food and drink that are better and cheaper than anything available in the stadium, and keep an eye on other games from around the nation. I can do this with zero commute and no marginal cost to me, assuming that I’m already paying for cable or streaming as I see fit. What does TDECU Stadium (or the Fertitta Center, or any other venue in which we play games) offer that makes it worth not only the price of admission, but also the effort to attend the game? In short, why should I prefer to watch our games in-person?
I think every Athletic Director should be able to answer this question.
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The SoH is privately funded.
Believe me, if I had Larry Ellison money, I would personally pay for the SoH to travel to all away games.
This is a question for Bertman and Kubos, not Nunez.
He knows. He’s the private funder.
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For you and people like you, UH needs to blackout home football games in the Greater Houston area for the time being, until there are sellouts. So you can sit on your comfortable couch and listen to the radio or get updates online on the Cougar games.
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Plans on improving and encouraging tailgating
IMO with as small as our tailgating scene is we need to “pushup bra” it consolidating tailgating into a single lot with dedicated spots
Upper deck concessions! anything please!
Rewards app, Why are there still no rewards and why is getting them from the admin such a PITA
What has the dept done to reach out to the local population instead or double and tripling down on alumni?
Can we get the family plan back?
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Lower the cost of everything. Simple as that.
You don’t have super high prices at a restaurant until you build a customer base and then you raise it gradually.
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Question 5: After the 1st Quarter, can fans in the upper deck to be allowed to move to the lower bowl?
For TV purposes, not having alot of fans in the endzone seating. It looks awful on TV and for social media purposes it can certainly go viral if your lower bowl looks half empty
I dont want people’s seats being taken, but fill in empty seats in the lower bowl. If theres a way to do it
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Students are offered a t shirt at their seat and I think they did a seat upgrade. Offer Five 1k cash giveaways for students each game to be given away at the end of the 3rd quarter.
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We’re going to get cusa’d again because of this attitude. Charmin soft ‘what can you do for me’ fanbase.
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Are there any plans to upgrade the stadium? Restrooms on the 300 level, A/C in the restrooms, more efficient concession lines?
I would love to be part of a roundtable. Some NFL teams invite season ticket holders to an onsite round table to brainstorm and discuss issues.
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The future growth of our athletic fan base is directly dependent on a radical overhaul of the current game day experience. Both the pre-game and in-stadium environments are failing to generate the necessary enthusiasm and attendance, effectively *hindering our ability to expand our core supporters. We must actively cultivate an infectious atmosphere that encourages alumni and community members (Coogs) to gather on campus, fellowship, and ultimately fill the stadium to support our team.
It is a significant missed opportunity that we have not yet engaged with the nationally-recognized Sales program at the Bauer College of Business.We possess an elite, top-tier resource in the Bauer Sales Program. We should initiate a formal, mutually beneficial partnership with this department to develop a data-driven, strategic initiative focused on increasing Saturday campus presence and maximizing ticket sales/stadium occupancy.
What is he doing to create a better atmosphere around the stadium and inside the stadium?
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