Improve Mason home game experience discussion

My parents won free tickets to the Rhody game for filling out a survey about their experiences at Mason games. That's a nice prize and hopefully feedback from these surveys are taken into consideration as much as possible.
I got at least 3 separate people to fill out the survey and get free tickets as well. Hopefully it translates to a good turn out for our conference home opener. Makes sense, if you're not selling the tickets might as well get people in the stadium and then hopefully they buy food, drink, and merch.
 

jkh1978

Specialist
I got at least 3 separate people to fill out the survey and get free tickets as well. Hopefully it translates to a good turn out for our conference home opener. Makes sense, if you're not selling the tickets might as well get people in the stadium and then hopefully they buy food, drink, and merch.
If only the food and drink were worth buying, which I put down in the survey....
 
There should be large posters/flyers in dorms, academic buildings, the JC, library, gyms on campus etc of the schedule for the men's and women's basketball games

Also promote these types of games:
Rival games
Big-name opponents
“Must-win” games
Senior night

I want the ability to customize my own Mason hat/jersey/tshirt/hoodie at the gear trailer. Anyone else?
 
More ideas to get more students at the games:

Pregame tailgates hosted by Greek life organizations

"College game day". Have a series of events, food/drinks, and a tailgate leading up to the game. Make it an all day event. (Like ESPN college gameday)
 

TweederGMU

All-American
⭐️ Donor ⭐️
Starbucks, Chickfila, Chipotle, Raising Canes would get people into EBA.
Guys, a lot of these name brand restaurants require a ton of red tape for "stadiums" to get them in - operating capital/investors, licensing, royalties, revshares, contracting with HQ, etc. Some of these don't even entertain the thought of going into pro or college stadiums. The operating model for these big brands wouldn't make sense to open a location inside a stadium or basketball arena when it is not being used 7 days a week for 365, most of these arenas and stadiums have a small operating window to host events 4-5 months a year. As a franchisee or someone from HQ - why would they open a location in an arena when they can go lease a location around a college campus that's open way more hours during a day and 365/opportunity for year round business.

Hence what you have always seen in college bball arenas - the knock off versions of taco stands, chicken stands, burger stands, etc. in arenas.

Chipotle doesn't even entertain the idea.... they have a consistent look and feel each franchise, or location, has to abide by.


For back up - "Chipotle does not currently operate standard full-service restaurants inside professional or college sports stadiums or arenas.

While they have extensive partnerships with athletic programs—such as fueling all student-athletes at Ohio State, Florida, and Georgia for the 2025-2026 season—their presence is concentrated in areas immediately surrounding stadiums rather than inside the gates."
 
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TweederGMU

All-American
⭐️ Donor ⭐️
Anyone else think they should add a BIGGER selection of beers at EBA? I wish there was more to choose from.
I would offer the boozey seltzers before going hog wild on big selections of beers. I'd offer a lite beer (Coors or Miller), another big national brand beer like Corona or Modelo, an IPA or 2 IPA's - a national and local one. Wouldn't go more than 5 offerings for beer.

The game day drinking culture has shifted over recent years - there is a bigger market for High Noons, Truly's/White Claw's, juice mix cocktails, etc. as I understand the young people (young men and women) prefer drinking them over beer. Then the 30-50 year old female demographic seems to like them as well, along with men who don't want to drink beer or on diets/watching calorie intake, or just want another option...limited carbs, healthier option to beer.

While at the VTech game.... they had beer / alcohol selections at just about every concession area on their concourse.... only saw them sell Coors Light, Bells Two-Hearted, Modelo and another IPA. Then they had white claws and the lucky dog seltzer/lemonade brand - like 2 or 3 flavors of them you could choose from. Everyone in front of me, like 8-9 people, was buying the WC or Lucky dog seltzer option... I was the only one buying beer. I noticed people in my row drinking these seltzers as well.
 
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TweederGMU

All-American
⭐️ Donor ⭐️
I would rather have GMU use Patriot Center to highlight local businesses in regard to their food concessions. Maybe a local brewery or distillery can set up an annex.
Food...yes.

Distillery - no way in hell. Especially a local distillery without national funding and insurance. Wouldn't be a smart take to have a distillery in a college stadium. You serve someone gin, vodka, whiskey, etc. and they get pulled over after the game and get DUI - it goes back to the question of where they obtained the alcohol and were they over served. God forbid if someone who drank the products from the distillery actually killed someone.... the impending lawsuit would probably knock them out of business.

Huge liability for a distillery.

Plus, not even sure a college arena would even entertain the idea due to liability and insurance issues.
 
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