Where's the party?
Starter
I waited a while before posting my thoughts on the so called "improvements". There is no beer garden - there is a beer stand (with one worker) and a few tables. There is no kids play area - there are Walmart playground pieces for very young kids (even though the majority of kids there are too old for it). The new Courtside Club seems to be nice, but once all the rich folks go back to their front row seats, there is a dead zone behind the basket. From what I've read here, the new "Patriot Lounge" is sparsely attended - while all the Gold Room Diaspora are left to wait in 40 minute lines to get a beer or a popcorn. (true story as the folks in front of us with three little girls got back to their seats over halfway through the first half of game one).
Here are my thoughts: I'm tired of all the excuses folks are making for the Patriot Club. Just because they are "trying new things" doesn't entitle them to any more of our patience, particularly after decades of watching them provide disorganized and amateurish marketing with no focus on fan retainage. Mason needs to stop thinking hiring folks who have worked at other schools (or just worked as an assistant at Mason) is going to get them a quality marketing experience. They need to hire a GM (and staff) who has run a restaurant, bar, nightclub, hotel, radio station, Chik-fil-A, etc.
They made all these changes in a really shameful manner which reeks of an effort to only take care of high rollers. I'm not aware of one Gold Room person who got a call asking why they weren't signing up for the new room. The raising of ticket prices and the running off of the Gold Room folks, has clearly had an impact on attendance. The attendance shown on the box scores must include tickets sold cuz I'm pretty sure there weren't 3301 fans there Friday or 3290 at the first game. I know, it was UMBC, and 4:00pm, but it was the home opener - if your fans don't show up for that, ouch!
Also, not being able to control the vendor who runs concessions is shameful. Any GMU procurement mgr. who hires a concessionaire and can't control them, should be fired. No venue concessionaire is very good, but come on. To only have two stations open on the first game, with folks working the counters who were clueless (the south station ran out of popcorn before the game started). They did a better job at the second game but there were also fewer attendees, and more students (who don't buy concessions). What happened to the self-serve station they had last season? For God's sakes, please make them do something to help out all the people you have dissed. Self serve takes one staff person - do more of it.
I know we'll never see real transparency regarding the metrics on these changes. Like most organizations, they'll probably call them a big success, all evidence to the contrary. Don't know how they are faring financially, but I can tell you that our small group dropped 6 Gold Room passes and 2 season tickets after 20 years and the Patriot Club apparently couldn't care less. So I'm returning the favor. I'll go the games this season, and I'll continue to support the team, but barring them reopening some version of the Gold Room at a similar price point next season, I'll be joining others who have mentioned watching ESPN+ from the couch. Hell, if the concessions continue to suck, I may be on the couch this season.
Happy to sit back an watch all the usual defenders pick apart the above.
Here are my thoughts: I'm tired of all the excuses folks are making for the Patriot Club. Just because they are "trying new things" doesn't entitle them to any more of our patience, particularly after decades of watching them provide disorganized and amateurish marketing with no focus on fan retainage. Mason needs to stop thinking hiring folks who have worked at other schools (or just worked as an assistant at Mason) is going to get them a quality marketing experience. They need to hire a GM (and staff) who has run a restaurant, bar, nightclub, hotel, radio station, Chik-fil-A, etc.
They made all these changes in a really shameful manner which reeks of an effort to only take care of high rollers. I'm not aware of one Gold Room person who got a call asking why they weren't signing up for the new room. The raising of ticket prices and the running off of the Gold Room folks, has clearly had an impact on attendance. The attendance shown on the box scores must include tickets sold cuz I'm pretty sure there weren't 3301 fans there Friday or 3290 at the first game. I know, it was UMBC, and 4:00pm, but it was the home opener - if your fans don't show up for that, ouch!
Also, not being able to control the vendor who runs concessions is shameful. Any GMU procurement mgr. who hires a concessionaire and can't control them, should be fired. No venue concessionaire is very good, but come on. To only have two stations open on the first game, with folks working the counters who were clueless (the south station ran out of popcorn before the game started). They did a better job at the second game but there were also fewer attendees, and more students (who don't buy concessions). What happened to the self-serve station they had last season? For God's sakes, please make them do something to help out all the people you have dissed. Self serve takes one staff person - do more of it.
I know we'll never see real transparency regarding the metrics on these changes. Like most organizations, they'll probably call them a big success, all evidence to the contrary. Don't know how they are faring financially, but I can tell you that our small group dropped 6 Gold Room passes and 2 season tickets after 20 years and the Patriot Club apparently couldn't care less. So I'm returning the favor. I'll go the games this season, and I'll continue to support the team, but barring them reopening some version of the Gold Room at a similar price point next season, I'll be joining others who have mentioned watching ESPN+ from the couch. Hell, if the concessions continue to suck, I may be on the couch this season.
Happy to sit back an watch all the usual defenders pick apart the above.
