How to raise attendance at ISU events

TontoK · Feb 16, 2019

Casual said:
This. Lower the ticket price, and people will come!

Also, pick less expensive venues (easy flights, reasonable lodging).

And don't forget to advertise. (I wouldn't even know about 4CC being held in California, if not for this forum, LOL.)

On television, it appears that the weekday (or midday) events have the poorest attendance.

They could try a limited approach.

"If you've never seen figure skating live, now is your chance! Upper deck general admission seating for the short programs is now only $5!"

It could become a thing. You know how, during a curtain call at the theater, the actors throw a special wave to the folks in the "cheap seats"? And they respond with a rousing cheer?

Yeah, it could be like that. Job 1: Get butts in seats.

I wonder how many season subscribers to the theater saw their first show from the cheap seats?

Arriba627 · Feb 16, 2019

At the competitions I have been to, skating of any discipline at 1 or 2 pm on a Thursday afternoon seems to be a tough sell. People have to work, kids are in school, maybe out of towners can only take Fri. off but not Thurs. Several times there have been school groups in attendance, and the organizers have a "shout out" to the groups on the Jumbotron. Weekends are a totally different story. At Nats, I heard a lady telling a friend that her daughter was going in a group of about 20 kids with her skating club. I think that $5 idea is great! We should put you in charge of that TontoK! :rock:

TontoK · Feb 16, 2019

Arriba627 said:
At the competitions I have been to, skating of any discipline at 1 or 2 pm on a Thursday afternoon seems to be a tough sell. People have to work, kids are in school, maybe out of towners can only take Fri. off but not Thurs. Several times there have been school groups in attendance, and the organizers have a "shout out" to the groups on the Jumbotron. Weekends are a totally different story. At Nats, I heard a lady telling a friend that her daughter was going in a group of about 20 kids with her skating club. I think that $5 idea is great! We should put you in charge of that TontoK!

I should be in charge of a lot of things. LOL.

"Listen up, folks. There's gonna be some changes around here! Starting NOW."

sailormoon · Feb 16, 2019

At the competitions I have been to, skating of any discipline at 1 or 2 pm on a Thursday afternoon seems to be a tough sell. People have to work, kids are in school, maybe out of towners can only take Fri. off but not Thurs. Several times there have been school groups in attendance, and the organizers have a "shout out" to the groups on the Jumbotron.

Probably it was a scheduling issue, if weekday events were poorly attended. At least the main event of the day should start at 6 pm or later like baseball games so that students or people who have day jobs can get to the venue. The gala event started around 6 pm on Sunday and it was almost sold out. I have been to a weekday event starting around 1 pm (junior ladies' short) and the arena was almost empty.

lariko · Feb 16, 2019

I just assumed that the empty seats are the ones that the scalpers are keeping empty. My one and only experience with attempting to purchase a ticket this year was that it was sold out 3 months in advance (Vancouver GP). So, I just figured it is impossible to get into an ISU event.

moonvine · Feb 16, 2019

lariko said:
I just assumed that the empty seats are the ones that the scalpers are keeping empty. My one and only experience with attempting to purchase a ticket this year was that it was sold out 3 months in advance (Vancouver GP). So, I just figured it is impossible to get into an ISU event.

My first and only experience with an ISU event was Boston in 2016. Some tickets could be purchased the day of the event. I’d say the only one that was for sure sold out was the men’s free. Probably the ladies free as well.

Rissa · Feb 17, 2019

lariko said:
I just assumed that the empty seats are the ones that the scalpers are keeping empty. My one and only experience with attempting to purchase a ticket this year was that it was sold out 3 months in advance (Vancouver GP). So, I just figured it is impossible to get into an ISU event.

In the future you need to keep an eye on people re-selling or the venue releasing tickets later on. This season there were a lot of offers selling GPF tickets, GP Helsinki, 4CCs, GP France etc (though Milan 2018 had the "pick your tickets up in person" policy so re-selling might have been more difficult). I was able to buy good tickets for 2017 Worlds a few months after the initial release because someone advised me to check the ticket website every day in case something pops up - and it did. I think the only lost causes are the Japanese events.

Mathman · Feb 17, 2019

TontoK said:
I wonder how many season subscribers to the theater saw their first show from the cheap seats?

In Shakespeare's day the "groundlings" could pay a penny to stand in an open air pit in front of the stage and watch the play.

The cost of an actual seat started at sixpence. For an extra penny you could rent a cushion.

The play's the thing!

TontoK · Feb 17, 2019

Mathman said:
In Shakespeare's day the "groundlings" could pay a penny to stand in an open air pit in front of the stage and watch the play.

The cost of an actual seat started at sixpence. For an extra penny you could rent a cushion.

The play's the thing!

Great historical example! Another modern day example...

Years ago, my mother and father were invited to accompany friends to an ice hockey game, because the couple's usual companions were out of town and the tickets were spare. My parents were born Southerners who had never even watched ice hockey on television, but they went just to spend time with their friends.

A week later, they had season tickets to both the local college team an the professional team in town. My sister and her family soon followed suit. They all even took trips to away games that weren't too far away. Their social life revolved around the hockey schedule. They never missed a game.

Sometimes you just have to give people one experience.

noskates · Feb 17, 2019

Come to think of it, every Nationals and Worlds that I've been to in the US have always had a block of seats totally empty during the week. They're usually in a good area, mid-ice, and cover maybe 10-12 rows. I always assumed they were either tickets available to local skating clubs or corporations or scalpers who couldn't get rid of them. What a waste if they're not used. I detest scalpers in any sport or entertainment venue. Not sure why they're allowed outside of the events. It's like calling Ticketmaster or some other ticket selling racket the minute the tickets go on sale and there aren't any left....uhhhhhhhhh, where did they go?

I don't have the answer to this but something needs to be done. I agree that finding venues with less expensive ancillary services (hotel, food, etc.) would help but then venues like that probably can't afford to put on the event unless they get support from those services. It's a quandary.

Arriba627 · Feb 17, 2019

noskates said:
Come to think of it, every Nationals and Worlds that I've been to in the US have always had a block of seats totally empty during the week. They're usually in a good area, mid-ice, and cover maybe 10-12 rows. I always assumed they were either tickets available to local skating clubs or corporations or scalpers who couldn't get rid of them. What a waste if they're not used.

I think those are reserved for officials, judges, credentialed people. Maybe not all of them, but some of them? Maybe someone else knows.

draqq · Feb 17, 2019

Some solutions:

1) Fix "sold out" bugs on ticketing websites
2) Lower the price for tickets for goodness' sake.
3) Change the way ticketing works: Have it be "first come, first serve" for seats. Still have a batch of reserved rows at the front that people can purchase at a premium, but then for the rest of the seats, just let people sit wherever they like. This will get people who are in the higher seats currently to fill in the seats that are covered by the cameras.
4) Push events to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday if you can.
5) Go out on the street and get seat fillers. A desperate option but still viable.

Also, I thought I would mention streaming as one of the main reasons we don't see huge attendance sometimes, particularly in America. Whether you use NBCSportsGold or a free stream, it's just more cost-effective to watch a skating event online with a livestream than attending a live event for a cost than can easily be $2000 or more for an event when you include tickets, transportation, food, and tickets. I would rather spend $60/year watching an event at home where I can rewind, rewatch, and reanalyze skates on the fly.

On a side note, I wish that places like NBCSportsGold would offer something similar to Twitch or YouTube livestreaming where we can see how many people are viewing the stream and can chat with one another. But anyway...

Rissa · Feb 17, 2019

draqq said:
Some solutions:

1) Fix "sold out" bugs on ticketing websites
2) Lower the price for tickets for goodness' sake.
3) Change the way ticketing works: Have it be "first come, first serve" for seats. Still have a batch of reserved rows at the front that people can purchase at a premium, but then for the rest of the seats, just let people sit wherever they like. This will get people who are in the higher seats currently to fill in the seats that are covered by the cameras.
4) Push events to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday if you can.
5) Go out on the street and get seat fillers. A desperate option but still viable.

Also, I thought I would mention streaming as one of the main reasons we don't see huge attendance sometimes, particularly in America. Whether you use NBCSportsGold or a free stream, it's just more cost-effective to watch a skating event online with a livestream than attending a live event for a cost than can easily be $2000 or more for an event when you include tickets, transportation, food, and tickets. I would rather spend $60/year watching an event at home where I can rewind, rewatch, and reanalyze skates on the fly.

On a side note, I wish that places like NBCSportsGold would offer something similar to Twitch or YouTube livestreaming where we can see how many people are viewing the stream and can chat with one another. But anyway...

Without streaming/TV... people would be more willing to fork out $2000 for a live competition? I think the contrary. I've never met an event-attending fan, in any sport, who hadn't gone through the broadcast- watching phase first.

CoyoteChris · Feb 17, 2019

NanaPat said:
I disagree. It's totally different in person, even if you have bad seats. Yes, you don't get the close-ups (except on the big screen), but you get much more of "the big picture": ice coverage, speed, height of jumps, etc. That big picture gets lost when the camera just follow the skater. I had bad seats for the last two comps I attended, and it was still better (for me) than watching on a screen.

Of course, I attend at most one comp per year, so have plenty of time to see programs "close up" as well as to have the live experience.

I am between you and narcissa. I love live comps for many reasons...but bad seats are a major turn off. I could have attended GPF Vancouver but my friends could only get bad seats...not gonna pay those hotel prices for bad seats...Sitting in the first row, even I have to turn to the jumbotron to see a skater at the far end. The jumbotron at Anaheim is enormous and of good quality..but mostly I just wore a hat to block it out and the arena bright lights us old folks like Raf ,Frank C. and I cant take. Bet the Japan Worlds is a sell out!

ladyjane · Feb 17, 2019

I visit one competition every year. It's close by (I could go by bike, but as I'm lazy I drive), the tickets are really cheap, and there's quite some interesting skaters participating. However, the advertising for it is b**l s**t, and so there's just relatively few attendees. Such a shame.

It's the Challenge Cup and this year it's going to be one h**l of a competition...with Rika and Wakaba as well as Mae Berenice, Kevin Amoz and Daniel Grassl, Minerva Hasse and Nolan Seegert and more. Shoma was on the list initially too, but his injury has stopped that. The same applies to Loena. No dancers at all, alas, but still a pretty interesting competition.

Cheap tickets aren't the whole solution I'm afraid, even if I agree that low costs do help. But marketing could be so much better!

moonvine · Feb 17, 2019

Rissa said:
Without streaming/TV... people would be more willing to fork out $2000 for a live competition? I think the contrary. I've never met an event-attending fan, in any sport, who hadn't gone through the broadcast- watching phase first.

Even if it is just one time! I was so happy to meet a couple in Detroit who had started watching figure skating with Peyongchang and was already at a live event. That was about 40 years faster than me.

moonvine · Feb 17, 2019

CoyoteChris said:
I am between you and narcissa. I love live comps for many reasons...but bad seats are a major turn off. I could have attended GPF Vancouver but my friends could only get bad seats...not gonna pay those hotel prices for bad seats...Sitting in the first row, even I have to turn to the jumbotron to see a skater at the far end. The jumbotron at Anaheim is enormous and of good quality..but mostly I just wore a hat to block it out and the arena bright lights us old folks like Raf ,Frank C. and I cant take. Bet the Japan Worlds is a sell out!

My seats are always bad. I would not go to Japan Worlds and pay extra to throw Pooh. I can not throw Pooh at home for free.

draqq · Feb 17, 2019

Rissa said:
Without streaming/TV... people would be more willing to fork out $2000 for a live competition? I think the contrary. I've never met an event-attending fan, in any sport, who hadn't gone through the broadcast- watching phase first.

It's more that the people who were more willing to fork out $2000 now have a more cost-effective solution in streaming. And yes, if streaming just died tomorrow, that would increase the demand for people who would want to see the event in the arena live, though of course ending streaming is not a viable solution and would ultimately hurt the sport and its viewership.

I think that there are many people who stream/watch TV for figure skating who eventually come about to an event or two in the States, but I think there are more people who have gone the other way in the States. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just the way of things with the viewing options nowadays.

That said, I actually don't think the attendance of 4CC was that much of a problem? It's a been overblown by my estimation. By Saturday and Sunday, many of the seats were filled. It was just the short programs which took place during the work hours of the weekday when seats were quite empty and understandably so.

Arriba627 · Feb 17, 2019

draqq said:
That said, I actually don't think the attendance of 4CC was that much of a problem? It's a been overblown by my estimation. By Saturday and Sunday, many of the seats were filled. It was just the short programs which took place during the work hours of the weekday when seats were quite empty and understandably so.

In general, I thought the attendance was very good. Thursday is a tough sell, but the weekend was better. (The ladies short was at 12:30 pm on Thursday) I was pleasantly surprised at how many people were at the gala.

NanaPat · Feb 17, 2019

Almost every seat was full for the GPF gala. Not so much for the programs on Thursday and Friday during the day.

How to raise attendance at ISU events

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