The Downside Of The Off-Season

The proverbial “other shoe” has dropped on Oakland basketball. An off-season that began with a series of signings that resulted in the most ballyhooed recruiting class in OU history has been tarnished some by a sequence of less anticipated events.

First, there was Tim Williams’s dismissal. I’ve heard next to nothing on that front, but the bottom line hasn’t changed — Williams remains an ex-Grizzly. Now, comes news that the basketball side will have no home games before December. That’s right, boys and girls, after landing the most-anticipated recruiting class ever, OU will spend the first month of the 2008-09 season on the road. This change of plans comes about as Oakland is hosting the men’s Summit League soccer championships.

I’m slightly confused (admittedly a normal state for me) and more than a bit disappointed by this revision. I wonder why OU can’t host both the soccer event and a basketball game on the same day? If soccer’s post-season is anything like most conference tournament championships, it will go on over several days. The basketball game(s) would only happen once or twice within a week. Soccer, most likely, would occur during the day, hoops at night.

What exactly impedes OU from having a home basketball game during the conference soccer tournament? A lack of funds? A lack of personnel? Do they need some volunteers to pull off the soccer event?

We also have to face the fact that this month away from the O’rena is a public relations boo-boo. OU’s fanbase is pretty excited about all the new faces wearing black and gold. To not have a home game for the first thirty days of the season only provides them with the opportunity to lose interest. The Grizzlies schedule, per usual, is daunting. By the time the lads return, their record might not inspire ticket sales. Oh, they might play their collective guts out and even pull off an upset along the way, but that doesn’t guarantee a winning record.

If the Grizzlies spend a month out of sight and show up in December with more L’s than W’s, how many casual fans are going to run out and buy tickets? Which brings us to our next piece of bad news — ticket prices.

On top of what is now a tepid home schedule, OU’s administration has raised ticket prices for this year. Alums are asked to cough up $55 more than last year and the general public, the ones OU really need to fill the place consistently, are required to shovel out an additional $100. Alumni are now paying $180 for season tickets and non-alumni are at $250. This is nothing short of brilliant.

I realize Oakland County is affluent. Yet, jobs are drying up at all levels of Michigan’s economy. Disposable income is being spent far more cautiously these days. We don’t need to look far for examples, either. The Red Wings, Detroit’s Stanley Cup winning hockey team, have trouble selling tickets. You could argue that hockey is a fringe sport, but what in the world is Grizzlies’ basketball?

The Lions, Detroit’s NFL franchise, have, for the first time in my memory, offered up partial season ticket plans as their waiting list for season’s tickets has completely dried up. If an NFL franchise, even an historically bad one like the Lions, are looking for new ways to lure ticket buyers, I don’t think the Golden Grizzlies should be doing anything to alienate potential ticket buyers.

And, yes, the OU women’s games are included in the season ticket plan. I get that. The problem is, of course, that the majority of folks either: A) Don’t care about women’s basketball or B) Simply aren’t going to spend their entire winter haning out in the O’rena.

Of course, there are the two games at The Palace on OU’s schedule, as well. Both the Michigan and Michigan State contests will be played in Auburn Hills. However, in reality, those are road games for OU. To pay a premium to sit further from the action, in a hostile environment doesn’t give one the warm fuzzies.

I also understand that OU’s basketball program is “the” program on campus. With apologies to soccer and swimming, OU is probably considered a basketball school first and foremost. So, the best chance OU has at creating revenue, and possible profit, must come from the hoops program. Yet, now does not seem to be the most opportune time to launch a price increase.

By the way, where are the marketing gurus from The Palace, anyway? Did they approve of this idea? Is this the price we have to pay to get professional marketing input? Regardless, a quick review of the Oakland message board reveals the rank-and-file aren’t all that pleased with either the ticket price increase or the month-long road trip. It would appear that Oakland basketball has wasted a potential opportunity to increase interest as even OU’s once enthused fanbase is wondering whether their time and money are better invested elsewhere.