FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[OzJohnnie]

Soon all DIII on Stretch will be charging. With that functionality no school can afford to pass on it. And then Stretch will offer an all-access pass for an extra $25 or so. You've got about three years to wait and then order will be restored.  And the guys out there playing for us will be collecting a few extra bucks for the schools we love.

[57Johnnie]

Soon all DIII on Stretch will be charging. With that functionality no school can afford to pass on it. And then Stretch will offer an all-access pass for an extra $25 or so. You've got about three years to wait and then order will be restored.  And the guys out there playing for us will be collecting a few extra bucks for the schools we love.

Thanks for saying I've got three years.
At my age, I don't even buy green bananas. 

[OzJohnnie]

Ha!  Belly laugh for an oldie but a goodie.

[bennie]

Hey Guys!! I have missed you all!! Maybe not the Tommies quite as much... I just bought my Stretch Pass and am excited about tomorrows game! Go Johnnies!!

[Pat Coleman]

Soon all DIII on Stretch will be charging. With that functionality no school can afford to pass on it. And then Stretch will offer an all-access pass for an extra $25 or so.

This functionality has been available all along. (Linfield uses it, for example.) I don't really see a lot of schools moving to it -- most places don't feel like it's a good policy to charge money to people who are already paying $50,000 a year to the school.

[sjusection105]

Hey Guys!! I have missed you all!! Maybe not the Tommies quite as much... I just bought my Stretch Pass and am excited about tomorrows game! Go Johnnies!!

Good to hear Sasquatch didn't abduct you in the offseason

[sowilson]

This functionality has been available all along. (Linfield uses it, for example.) I don't really see a lot of schools moving to it -- most places don't feel like it's a good policy to charge money to people who are already paying $50,000 a year to the school.

I love getting Gustavus Alumni contribution requests and I'm a parent.  The kid can donate to the alumni cause if he wants after he gets done paying student loans.  Ha Ha

[sju56321]

Pat-exactly my point!

[OzJohnnie]

I'm amazed that the schools don't give away sweatshirts and hats and mugs and pencils for free as well. After all, the students pay to be there.

It's a product like any other, even if it is only made of electrons.  I don't like dishing my money out for no reason, but I reckon the Johnnies put on a money worthy show. I'd watch it if it were free, and I'll still watch it if I have to pay for it.  And if I don't want to pay at all then there's still VOJ for free like in the old days of 2014.

[miac952]

I guess the revenue from the incessant "turn to page 147 in your Johnnie gameday program to see if you have a blue stamp that will get 20% off a new rhino deck", just isn't what it used to be.

When you think of your web audience as family members far from campus, very engaged alumni, and long distant visiting fans from teams gracious enough to fill an empty date on the calendar (think Thomas More), you realize what might net you $20k at the end of the year isn't really appropriate.

[OzJohnnie]

I think the challenge for SJU is that they face a textbook case of channel cannibalization.  It's not so much the money they will collect from streaming that is the motivator, but the impact of a very good but zero-cost service on the other customer channels.  It's a common challenge presented by digital technologies; just ask the newspapers that have struggled with declining subscription rates while simultaneously providing free channels for the same content via the internet.

I've read that season ticket seats are at times going un-sat-upon on gameday as it's often easier to stay home and watch the game for free than go sit in your reserved seat.  And general admission is also declining on game day for a similar reason.  Although the Johnnies still enjoy a near 40% home attendance advantage over it's nearest DIII rival, the high-quality free service has provided a very good alternative to attending the actual event in person.  And the service, you must admit, is very good with the great video and VOJ's call over the top.  It's a very good competitor to the actual event.  Additionally, protecting the overall revenue generated from the football program is key to maintain the resources needed to be competitive (as our analysis over the last few days has demonstrated).

So, I suspect that they discovered the quality of the service was a cause of the customer attendance issues so they had to take some sort of action.  Increasing the value of the service a little with HD video and offering a season discount for the dedicated video consumer is a good compromise that can hopefully put a value on the video service that helps maintaining the value of attending the live event and help ensure that game day attendance rates maintain their exceptional levels.

[sjusection105]

I have to agree with Oz. In the business world there are things we charge for, that to us don't make sense (branded clothing is one example) but, the newspaper example is pretty cut & dried. Offering the discount for the full season package is where the value in this streaming package is.
We have season ticket holders next to us (6 seats) that get used once a year. They paid for them,they are free to use them or not use them,but they paid and I guess that's the point.

Enough on the streaming services. It's Opening Day 2018 for The Point a Minute Offense Part 2, bring on The Blue Devils!

Go Johnnies!

[sju56321]

Oz-season ticket holders have paid for their seat-so no lost revenue there. I just think they can allocate the few thousand dollars they will make from charging and upsetting alumni from somewhere else. What is next, $20 for bread-it is for a good cause and is yummy.
Also, I think you turnoff some potential football recruits because they will not be able to see the games-I mean guys from outside Minnesota-which SJU wouldn't know about, like Illinois. A kid from my high school, Loyola, could see ust play -however we think of their stadium, but that is all they see, can't see the unique SJU setting. I think this this is ill thought out on several levels.

[57Johnnie]

Game Day
GO JOHNNIES!   

[sowilson]

Good luck to all of our sons who are playing today, may they have fun and stay safe.