One simple question: how much revenue are the 30K open seats costing us? -- OK maybe it only 20K seats? multiply that by the six home games for next year and the expected attendance drop if we continue? If those seats were filled how much does that generate just in ticket sales?
Did a little digging and some math since I have wondered the same thing for awhile:
Let's take a look at season ticket costs (using reduced costs of tickets from 2015)(I know it throws the numbers off bit and will make the numbers smaller than they should):
* Prime -- Discount, $430; full price, $474.
* Sideline -- Discount, $280; full price, $324.
* Touchdown -- Discount, $180; full price, $224.
* North End Zone (below the concourse) -- Discount, $140; full price, $179.
Now, the average attendance numbers:
Last season Purdue averaged a paltry 35,289 fans, down from roughly 45,100 the previous year (a 28% drop).
If the season plays out like most of us believe and the Boilers end up at 1-11 or 2-10, I'll give a generous 15% drop in attendance for 2015 and another 10% for 2016 (bad home slate next year with Eastern Kentucky, Cinncy, Nevada, Iowa, PSU, Northwestern, and Wisconsin).
That leaves roughly 30,000 average attendance for 2015 and roughly 27,000 for 2016.
Now I am going to take the Sideline season ticket sales as the middle of the road cost of ticket (I know numbers of tickets and demand are different, but I'm doing it to give those interested a general idea) of $324 per season ticket. I will then divide that by the number of home games to determine a best guess cost per game ticket. That leaves us at $54 per game.
Season ticket revenue generated (best guess estimate)
2013: $14,612,400
2014: $11,433,636
2015: $9,720000
2016: $8,748,000
Potential Best Guess Estimate for Revenue Lost:
2013 to 2014: $3,178,764
2014 to 2015: $1,713636
2015 to 2016: $972,000
Really, the differences are minuscule when looking at it from just a season ticket standpoint. Now, if you are look at it from the standpoint of 2013 to what I have projected to 2016, that is a bit troublesome ($5,864,400). However, the big revenue that is lost is from all other purchases. Things like concessions, souvenirs, merchandise, and parking are major sources of revenue for the athletic department on a game day.
Now, I know my numbers will be off due to difference of tickets prices and people dropping from expensive to cheaper seats to maintain JPC membership...but I wanted to do this to give a general idea of what it COULD look like in terms of revenue lost and potentially lost. My best guess estimate for the drop from 28% to 15% to 10% is simply that when you are getting down this low, you are talking about the base core of fans that will more than likely purchase no matter what to maintain good standing with JPC and the university.
For me, when taking in to account the money from the BTN, I am sure they are looking at it as covering their losses rather than using it to invest in to the program...essentially a stop-gap between a bag time and hopefully improvement in the future. The smart decision would have been to take the money from the BTN revenue sharing and invest directly back in to the football department on a yearly basis for facilities, staff, and upgrades to Ross-Ade. With that improvement to the program from directly investing the money from BTN to the major revenue source for the AD, you would potentially looking at a trickle down effect for all other sports with the money generated from the cash cow of football.
Hope this helps some people formulate some things in their minds.
