(01-19-2024 06:03 PM)jmu98 Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 02:38 PM)jmu007 Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 02:23 PM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  The real headline here is the waitlist. If you were hoping to buy more tickets because your kid needs a seat now, or you're bringing an old JMU friend or family with your group, etc, you're waitlisted. New buyers are waitlisted. The only way you get a season ticket seat now is through attrition. That's a big milestone for the program.

And sure, another price increase would have been easy to justify.

Yup, bought a seat for our 1 year old last year for this very reason. Always nice to see a plan come together.

I'm a little surprised they aren't opening up additional season ticket sections. Will be interesting to see if any communication comes out this year regarding expansion.

I hate beating the same drum, but I just don't see an expansion any time soon. Yes we are selling out season tickets, but is there really the future demand needed at this time for expansion? The other thing to consider is we are at a crossroads in college football for good or bad and we don't know on which side of the road we will end up on. If it goes the worst way possible for us I am not sure we will need more seats frankly.

Finally, we do not not have the requisite donor base at this time to fully pay for an expansion and therefore need to raise enough money each year to support the further financing costs associated with the project as we will no longer get a free pass from the Cox Bill. We can't continue to put that on the backs of students so the money needs to come from increased revenues and donations. Not saying this won't happen, but until we can show that we can raise over 10-12 million a year I don't see it going forward. Based on our trajectory and the fact that we pay off first expansion I believe in 2029 I would guess that we would see some news on expansion in 3-4 years with completion some time after 2030.

gotta agree with 98 here. while we sold out the season, feels like if we had the stadium expanded to 35k, we will draw 26k. is there that much more demand beyond 25k?

i think we need a few seasons of sell outs and 10-2, 9-3 seasons

(01-19-2024 07:23 PM)PGJMU Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 06:03 PM)jmu98 Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 02:38 PM)jmu007 Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 02:23 PM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  The real headline here is the waitlist. If you were hoping to buy more tickets because your kid needs a seat now, or you're bringing an old JMU friend or family with your group, etc, you're waitlisted. New buyers are waitlisted. The only way you get a season ticket seat now is through attrition. That's a big milestone for the program.

And sure, another price increase would have been easy to justify.

Yup, bought a seat for our 1 year old last year for this very reason. Always nice to see a plan come together.

I'm a little surprised they aren't opening up additional season ticket sections. Will be interesting to see if any communication comes out this year regarding expansion.

I hate beating the same drum, but I just don't see an expansion any time soon. Yes we are selling out season tickets, but is there really the future demand needed at this time for expansion? The other thing to consider is we are at a crossroads in college football for good or bad and we don't know on which side of the road we will end up on. If it goes the worst way possible for us I am not sure we will need more seats frankly.

Finally, we do not not have the requisite donor base at this time to fully pay for an expansion and therefore need to raise enough money each year to support the further financing costs associated with the project as we will no longer get a free pass from the Cox Bill. We can't continue to put that on the backs of students so the money needs to come from increased revenues and donations. Not saying this won't happen, but until we can show that we can raise over 10-12 million a year I don't see it going forward. Based on our trajectory and the fact that we pay off first expansion I believe in 2029 I would guess that we would see some news on expansion in 3-4 years with completion some time after 2030.

gotta agree with 98 here. while we sold out the season, feels like if we had the stadium expanded to 35k, we will draw 26k. is there that much more demand beyond 25k?

i think we need a few seasons of sell outs and 10-2, 9-3 seasons

Nope. Godwin side is outdated and desperately needs modern amenities, ada compliance, more concesssion space, etc.. if for no other reason, that side will come down to modernize it regardless of capacity needs. And, its an eyesore.
its not if, its just when. think of this in the same vane as Convo and UAB, build it and they will come.

(01-19-2024 07:50 PM)jmufbs Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 07:23 PM)PGJMU Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 06:03 PM)jmu98 Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 02:38 PM)jmu007 Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 02:23 PM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  The real headline here is the waitlist. If you were hoping to buy more tickets because your kid needs a seat now, or you're bringing an old JMU friend or family with your group, etc, you're waitlisted. New buyers are waitlisted. The only way you get a season ticket seat now is through attrition. That's a big milestone for the program.

And sure, another price increase would have been easy to justify.

Yup, bought a seat for our 1 year old last year for this very reason. Always nice to see a plan come together.

I'm a little surprised they aren't opening up additional season ticket sections. Will be interesting to see if any communication comes out this year regarding expansion.

I hate beating the same drum, but I just don't see an expansion any time soon. Yes we are selling out season tickets, but is there really the future demand needed at this time for expansion? The other thing to consider is we are at a crossroads in college football for good or bad and we don't know on which side of the road we will end up on. If it goes the worst way possible for us I am not sure we will need more seats frankly.

Finally, we do not not have the requisite donor base at this time to fully pay for an expansion and therefore need to raise enough money each year to support the further financing costs associated with the project as we will no longer get a free pass from the Cox Bill. We can't continue to put that on the backs of students so the money needs to come from increased revenues and donations. Not saying this won't happen, but until we can show that we can raise over 10-12 million a year I don't see it going forward. Based on our trajectory and the fact that we pay off first expansion I believe in 2029 I would guess that we would see some news on expansion in 3-4 years with completion some time after 2030.

gotta agree with 98 here. while we sold out the season, feels like if we had the stadium expanded to 35k, we will draw 26k. is there that much more demand beyond 25k?

i think we need a few seasons of sell outs and 10-2, 9-3 seasons

Nope. Godwin side is outdated and desperately needs modern amenities, ada compliance, more concesssion space, etc.. if for no other reason, that side will come down to modernize it regardless of capacity needs. And, its an eyesore.
its not if, its just when. think of this in the same vane as Convo and UAB, build it and they will come.

What you say above may all be true, but that doesn’t solve the problem of where does the money come from. At this point I have not seen evidence that we can bring in the money to afford the expansion. We couldn’t raise 150k in NIL money so what makes people think we can raise 100 million dollars or at least the money each year to pay the debt financing costs associated with the project. We all want nice things, but until we find more donors who want spend 10k plus a year in donations or make capital donations in the 25-250k range in large numbers it will be tough. We have a great fanbase that supports the team well, but we have a ton of work to do in bringing in larger donation dollars.

Finally I don’t mean to be negative but I am a realist and while I would love expansion it doesn’t happen just based on our wishes or even great demand beyond our capacity today it takes large sums of money we don’t have.

I think it comes down to where does JMU leadership and VA leadership want JMU to be in 5 years.

1) If that is in the top 50 football schools (think P5) - you have to invest in facilities and likely increase enrollment.

2) If that is in the top 70 football schools (also include upper end of G5) - you also likely need to invest in facilities, but you might opt to keep admissions selective.

3) If that is in the next 30 football schools (bowl eligible, but not much else) - you target investment to support recruiting. Football, is neither a driver or detriment to enrollment.

4) Below the first 100, our facilities are more than adequate and we shift investment away from football to other sports or brand improvement options.

We seem on path for option 2, and I would anticipate something like a 40k stadium, with an option to add amenity rich club seating in the Plecker side end-zone. Fewer sellouts, but allows us to stay in the conversation for the upper tier and gives us a better chance to host a top 50 school.

(01-19-2024 08:18 PM)jmu98 Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 07:50 PM)jmufbs Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 07:23 PM)PGJMU Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 06:03 PM)jmu98 Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 02:38 PM)jmu007 Wrote:  Yup, bought a seat for our 1 year old last year for this very reason. Always nice to see a plan come together.

I'm a little surprised they aren't opening up additional season ticket sections. Will be interesting to see if any communication comes out this year regarding expansion.

I hate beating the same drum, but I just don't see an expansion any time soon. Yes we are selling out season tickets, but is there really the future demand needed at this time for expansion? The other thing to consider is we are at a crossroads in college football for good or bad and we don't know on which side of the road we will end up on. If it goes the worst way possible for us I am not sure we will need more seats frankly.

Finally, we do not not have the requisite donor base at this time to fully pay for an expansion and therefore need to raise enough money each year to support the further financing costs associated with the project as we will no longer get a free pass from the Cox Bill. We can't continue to put that on the backs of students so the money needs to come from increased revenues and donations. Not saying this won't happen, but until we can show that we can raise over 10-12 million a year I don't see it going forward. Based on our trajectory and the fact that we pay off first expansion I believe in 2029 I would guess that we would see some news on expansion in 3-4 years with completion some time after 2030.

gotta agree with 98 here. while we sold out the season, feels like if we had the stadium expanded to 35k, we will draw 26k. is there that much more demand beyond 25k?

i think we need a few seasons of sell outs and 10-2, 9-3 seasons

Nope. Godwin side is outdated and desperately needs modern amenities, ada compliance, more concesssion space, etc.. if for no other reason, that side will come down to modernize it regardless of capacity needs. And, its an eyesore.
its not if, its just when. think of this in the same vane as Convo and UAB, build it and they will come.

What you say above may all be true, but that doesn’t solve the problem of where does the money come from. At this point I have not seen evidence that we can bring in the money to afford the expansion. We couldn’t raise 150k in NIL money so what makes people think we can raise 100 million dollars or at least the money each year to pay the debt financing costs associated with the project. We all want nice things, but until we find more donors who want spend 10k plus a year in donations or make capital donations in the 25-250k range in large numbers it will be tough. We have a great fanbase that supports the team well, but we have a ton of work to do in bringing in larger donation dollars.

Finally I don’t mean to be negative but I am a realist and while I would love expansion it doesn’t happen just based on our wishes or even great demand beyond our capacity today it takes large sums of money we don’t have.

I have a feeling some of this waitlist may be trying to gauge that future demand part. It comes from a mix of things while we view it as a chicken/egg. The blend of demand will come from having opponents we want to see, continued program success, continuing to improve gameday/stadium atmosphere, improved amenities and seating options, etc. We also need to take into consideration any student section increases into this equation as well. Do they get bumped from 8500 to 10k?

We are viewing this a bit more one-dimensionally of build it and they will come, or schedule better opponents and they will come, when in reality it is likely a blend. I could see us maybe only filling 27-28k for a team like fcs, UL-Monroe or Georgia St. on a non-HC or Parents Weekend game. However, we should be selling out 33-35k for Marshall, ODU, App if an expanded stadium allows with no problems.

Have ULM, GA St., UConn etc. be the parents weekend and Homecoming games because those are guaranteed sellouts. Stop playing FCS games. By placing the games that would potentially be in demand on the other weekends, attendance would improve.

(01-20-2024 10:57 AM)JMUNation Wrote:  Have ULM, GA St., UConn etc. be the parents weekend and Homecoming games because those are guaranteed sellouts. Stop playing FCS games. By placing the games that would potentially be in demand on the other weekends, attendance would improve.

Unfortunately for conference games we don’t determine when they will be scheduled so would be tough to do in certain years. I’m t would probably work ok in most years but there will be some where it doesn’t.

Seems like we may be on tap to host a Thursday night game this year, if you jack up rates the same year we get one of our marquee games gets flexed to Thursday for the first time, I could see some of our less passionate fans getting pretty upset about it. And before someone says it, obviously our admin doesn't have much control over if/when that happens, but there's a subset of our fan base that are not understanding of that.

I could see our students really picking up some slack on Thursday night though, I'm curious how our first one goes. I know VT has really struggled the last 2 years compared to 5 years ago when Thursday night in Lane Stadium was arguably the toughest ticket on the schedule.

(01-20-2024 11:59 AM)CarRamrod Wrote:  Seems like we may be on tap to host a Thursday night game this year, if you jack up rates the same year we get one of our marquee games gets flexed to Thursday for the first time, I could see some of our less passionate fans getting pretty upset about it. And before someone says it, obviously our admin doesn't have much control over if/when that happens, but there's a subset of our fan base that are not understanding of that.

I could see our students really picking up some slack on Thursday night though, I'm curious how our first one goes. I know VT has really struggled the last 2 years compared to 5 years ago when Thursday night in Lane Stadium was arguably the toughest ticket on the schedule.

That is a good point. High probability that JMU has a home Thursday night Sun Belt game which is prohibitive for many many fans that travel in for games. Great student event, but you aren’t going to sell many tickets for that game and season ticket holders will have a lot of no shows.

(01-20-2024 11:06 AM)jmu98 Wrote:  

(01-20-2024 10:57 AM)JMUNation Wrote:  Have ULM, GA St., UConn etc. be the parents weekend and Homecoming games because those are guaranteed sellouts. Stop playing FCS games. By placing the games that would potentially be in demand on the other weekends, attendance would improve.

Unfortunately for conference games we don’t determine when they will be scheduled so would be tough to do in certain years. I’m t would probably work ok in most years but there will be some where it doesn’t.

We don’t determine the dates conference games are scheduled but we do determine what dates are deemed Homecoming and PW.

(01-19-2024 04:26 PM)Dukester Wrote:  One year of sellouts is fantastic.

Lets see where we are come next Dec. If we can do it two consecutive seasons with two different coaches - that would be a great foundation and time to start make expansion plans.

JMU didn’t sell out the home opener last year.

(01-19-2024 08:18 PM)jmu98 Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 07:50 PM)jmufbs Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 07:23 PM)PGJMU Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 06:03 PM)jmu98 Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 02:38 PM)jmu007 Wrote:  Yup, bought a seat for our 1 year old last year for this very reason. Always nice to see a plan come together.

I'm a little surprised they aren't opening up additional season ticket sections. Will be interesting to see if any communication comes out this year regarding expansion.

I hate beating the same drum, but I just don't see an expansion any time soon. Yes we are selling out season tickets, but is there really the future demand needed at this time for expansion? The other thing to consider is we are at a crossroads in college football for good or bad and we don't know on which side of the road we will end up on. If it goes the worst way possible for us I am not sure we will need more seats frankly.

Finally, we do not not have the requisite donor base at this time to fully pay for an expansion and therefore need to raise enough money each year to support the further financing costs associated with the project as we will no longer get a free pass from the Cox Bill. We can't continue to put that on the backs of students so the money needs to come from increased revenues and donations. Not saying this won't happen, but until we can show that we can raise over 10-12 million a year I don't see it going forward. Based on our trajectory and the fact that we pay off first expansion I believe in 2029 I would guess that we would see some news on expansion in 3-4 years with completion some time after 2030.

gotta agree with 98 here. while we sold out the season, feels like if we had the stadium expanded to 35k, we will draw 26k. is there that much more demand beyond 25k?

i think we need a few seasons of sell outs and 10-2, 9-3 seasons

Nope. Godwin side is outdated and desperately needs modern amenities, ada compliance, more concesssion space, etc.. if for no other reason, that side will come down to modernize it regardless of capacity needs. And, its an eyesore.
its not if, its just when. think of this in the same vane as Convo and UAB, build it and they will come.

What you say above may all be true, but that doesn’t solve the problem of where does the money come from. At this point I have not seen evidence that we can bring in the money to afford the expansion. We couldn’t raise 150k in NIL money so what makes people think we can raise 100 million dollars or at least the money each year to pay the debt financing costs associated with the project. We all want nice things, but until we find more donors who want spend 10k plus a year in donations or make capital donations in the 25-250k range in large numbers it will be tough. We have a great fanbase that supports the team well, but we have a ton of work to do in bringing in larger donation dollars.

Finally I don’t mean to be negative but I am a realist and while I would love expansion it doesn’t happen just based on our wishes or even great demand beyond our capacity today it takes large sums of money we don’t have.

I think people will be more willing to spend on the stadium upgrade then NIL.

Stadium is an investment in the PROGRAM....for now and many years to come. The ROI is high.

NIL is paying a player for a single year, who is likely to leave for more NIL at a higher funded school no matter what we could give them.

Not a great return on investment with that one.

(01-20-2024 09:04 AM)JMUDuke4Ever Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 08:18 PM)jmu98 Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 07:50 PM)jmufbs Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 07:23 PM)PGJMU Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 06:03 PM)jmu98 Wrote:  I hate beating the same drum, but I just don't see an expansion any time soon. Yes we are selling out season tickets, but is there really the future demand needed at this time for expansion? The other thing to consider is we are at a crossroads in college football for good or bad and we don't know on which side of the road we will end up on. If it goes the worst way possible for us I am not sure we will need more seats frankly.

Finally, we do not not have the requisite donor base at this time to fully pay for an expansion and therefore need to raise enough money each year to support the further financing costs associated with the project as we will no longer get a free pass from the Cox Bill. We can't continue to put that on the backs of students so the money needs to come from increased revenues and donations. Not saying this won't happen, but until we can show that we can raise over 10-12 million a year I don't see it going forward. Based on our trajectory and the fact that we pay off first expansion I believe in 2029 I would guess that we would see some news on expansion in 3-4 years with completion some time after 2030.

gotta agree with 98 here. while we sold out the season, feels like if we had the stadium expanded to 35k, we will draw 26k. is there that much more demand beyond 25k?

i think we need a few seasons of sell outs and 10-2, 9-3 seasons

Nope. Godwin side is outdated and desperately needs modern amenities, ada compliance, more concesssion space, etc.. if for no other reason, that side will come down to modernize it regardless of capacity needs. And, its an eyesore.
its not if, its just when. think of this in the same vane as Convo and UAB, build it and they will come.

What you say above may all be true, but that doesn’t solve the problem of where does the money come from. At this point I have not seen evidence that we can bring in the money to afford the expansion. We couldn’t raise 150k in NIL money so what makes people think we can raise 100 million dollars or at least the money each year to pay the debt financing costs associated with the project. We all want nice things, but until we find more donors who want spend 10k plus a year in donations or make capital donations in the 25-250k range in large numbers it will be tough. We have a great fanbase that supports the team well, but we have a ton of work to do in bringing in larger donation dollars.

Finally I don’t mean to be negative but I am a realist and while I would love expansion it doesn’t happen just based on our wishes or even great demand beyond our capacity today it takes large sums of money we don’t have.

I have a feeling some of this waitlist may be trying to gauge that future demand part. It comes from a mix of things while we view it as a chicken/egg. The blend of demand will come from having opponents we want to see, continued program success, continuing to improve gameday/stadium atmosphere, improved amenities and seating options, etc. We also need to take into consideration any student section increases into this equation as well. Do they get bumped from 8500 to 10k?

We are viewing this a bit more one-dimensionally of build it and they will come, or schedule better opponents and they will come, when in reality it is likely a blend. I could see us maybe only filling 27-28k for a team like fcs, UL-Monroe or Georgia St. on a non-HC or Parents Weekend game. However, we should be selling out 33-35k for Marshall, ODU, App if an expanded stadium allows with no problems.

Waitlist is 100% going to partially be done to gauge expansion needs.

(01-21-2024 01:39 AM)BDKJMU Wrote:  

(01-19-2024 04:26 PM)Dukester Wrote:  One year of sellouts is fantastic.

Lets see where we are come next Dec. If we can do it two consecutive seasons with two different coaches - that would be a great foundation and time to start make expansion plans.

JMU didn’t sell out the home opener last year.

Had we not been on the sweet winning streak, the GA Southern and UConn games would not have had the attendance they did.

Count me in the side that thinks expansion is not needed now and probably won’t until another 10 years of success

Really want to see an updated lower bowl to replace Godwin side though. No need to expand seats before that’s done

One item I believe we need to see sooner than later is a Duke Club requirement for the # of season tickets you can purchase. Because what is stopping me from buying extra season tickets on the behalf of my friends instead of them waiting on the waitlist. UVA and VT do this, as do most major schools, so when it happens it will be another sign of program maturity.

Also, will help stop scalpers.

(01-21-2024 01:49 PM)Dukes_Royals Wrote:  One item I believe we need to see sooner than later is a Duke Club requirement for the # of season tickets you can purchase. Because what is stopping me from buying extra season tickets on the behalf of my friends instead of them waiting on the waitlist. UVA and VT do this, as do most major schools, so when it happens it will be another sign of program maturity.

Also, will help stop scalpers.

With a waiting list now how will those STHs get the extra tickets other than by being on that waiting list? Waiting lists usually go by seniority on the list, so priority points won’t help you leapfrog the wait list. BTW, my brother has had season tickets to Penn State for many years as did his circle of friends. Eventually it made most sense to pool them all together and 1 person purchased everyone’s tickets based on their priority level, it’s very hard to police, so if it happens at a program like Penn State it can happen anywhere.

(01-21-2024 02:08 PM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  

(01-21-2024 01:49 PM)Dukes_Royals Wrote:  One item I believe we need to see sooner than later is a Duke Club requirement for the # of season tickets you can purchase. Because what is stopping me from buying extra season tickets on the behalf of my friends instead of them waiting on the waitlist. UVA and VT do this, as do most major schools, so when it happens it will be another sign of program maturity.

Also, will help stop scalpers.

With a waiting list now how will those STHs get the extra tickets other than by being on that waiting list? Waiting lists usually go by seniority on the list, so priority points won’t help you leapfrog the wait list. BTW, my brother has had season tickets to Penn State for many years as did his circle of friends. Eventually it made most sense to pool them all together and 1 person purchased everyone’s tickets based on their priority level, it’s very hard to police, so if it happens at a program like Penn State it can happen anywhere.

If you clicked on the renew or waitlist links in the announcement, it appears current STHs get first dibs on upgrades (location and/or quantity).

And yeah Penn State does the same thing with a maximum # of season tickets based on giving level. It starts at 8 tickets, so clearly you can buy for multiple people unlike VT which starts at 2. Also, most only allow one parking pass per account, so that might help limit sharing accounts.

(01-21-2024 02:16 PM)Dukes_Royals Wrote:  

(01-21-2024 02:08 PM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  

(01-21-2024 01:49 PM)Dukes_Royals Wrote:  One item I believe we need to see sooner than later is a Duke Club requirement for the # of season tickets you can purchase. Because what is stopping me from buying extra season tickets on the behalf of my friends instead of them waiting on the waitlist. UVA and VT do this, as do most major schools, so when it happens it will be another sign of program maturity.

Also, will help stop scalpers.

With a waiting list now how will those STHs get the extra tickets other than by being on that waiting list? Waiting lists usually go by seniority on the list, so priority points won’t help you leapfrog the wait list. BTW, my brother has had season tickets to Penn State for many years as did his circle of friends. Eventually it made most sense to pool them all together and 1 person purchased everyone’s tickets based on their priority level, it’s very hard to police, so if it happens at a program like Penn State it can happen anywhere.

If you clicked on the renew or waitlist links in the announcement, it appears current STHs get first dibs on upgrades (location and/or quantity).

And yeah Penn State does the same thing with a maximum # of season tickets based on giving level. It starts at 8 tickets, so clearly you can buy for multiple people unlike VT which starts at 2. Also, most only allow one parking pass per account, so that might help limit sharing accounts.

So how do they differentiate between a family of 8 and a group of 4 couples?

The issue with pooling tickets is parking. If I go in a pool with 4 of my friends and I, there's only one parking pass.