small crowd

[indoor fan]

Only 1600 in attendance (and I heard over 1000 tix were given out free). Lots of empty seats in the pics. They need to pick up the marketing a bit or it could be one and done season.

[Indoorfootballguy]

Turfcats have a ton of marketing, I thought they said they had a whole section sold out? The Turfcats do more marketing then any Indoor team I have seen, they just got to win and hopefully fans come otherwise they will be one and done.

[Radio Jack]

Only 1600 in attendance (and I heard over 1000 tix were given out free). Lots of empty seats in the pics. They need to pick up the marketing a bit or it could be one and done season.

NO, NO, NO.......there were not over a 1000 tickets given out free.

We gave out over a 1000 tickets to our season ticket holders, meaning they came to the pick-a-seat event and we gave them their tickets.

The whole lower level is sold out, but due to the weather and the car show going on causing parking issues so of those people were not at the game.

[indoor fan]

NO, NO, NO.......there were not over a 1000 tickets given out free.

We gave out over a 1000 tickets to our season ticket holders, meaning they came to the pick-a-seat event and we gave them their tickets.

The whole lower level is sold out, but due to the weather and the car show going on causing parking issues so of those people were not at the game.

There was not a drop of rain in Austin on Saturday.

[exit322]

1,614 isn't terrible, especially if mostly all paid. You want it to be better, but there's always going to be a large "Okay, show me this is legitimate" crowd.

Will the SIFL's cost structure be such that 1,614 can be feasible?

[trifecta]

Historically the inaugural game of a franchise is it's largest crowd. This is due to the most publicity, the most amount of selling time before an actual game, the level of tire kickers, etc.

The Turfcats should not already be making excuses. The fact of the matter is the rain stopped by noon and people had no idea that there would be any parking challenges....And certainly would not turn back to go home if they got there and parking was a challenge. Every weekend there will be something competing against the Turfcats so please dont start with the excuses in the inaugural game. IT IS WHAT IT IS.

The arena is in a horrible location and is a historically weak venue and it will be the most difficult obstacle to overcome.

If only 1600 showed up that may be as good as it gets.

[indoor fan]

Historically the inaugural game of a franchise is it's largest crowd. This is due to the most publicity, the most amount of selling time before an actual game, the level of tire kickers, etc.

The Turfcats should not already be making excuses. The fact of the matter is the rain stopped by noon and people had no idea that there would be any parking challenges....And certainly would not turn back to go home if they got there and parking was a challenge. Every weekend there will be something competing against the Turfcats so please dont start with the excuses in the inaugural game. IT IS WHAT IT IS.

The arena is in a horrible location and is a historically weak venue and it will be the most difficult obstacle to overcome.

If only 1600 showed up that may be as good as it gets.


True. And I do know by fact that well over half of the crowd were give away tickets. Hopefully the other SIFL teams draw better.

[Caballo Diablo]

The Turfcats should not already be making excuses. The fact of the matter is the rain stopped by noon and people had no idea that there would be any parking challenges....And certainly would not turn back to go home if they got there and parking was a challenge. Every weekend there will be something competing against the Turfcats so please dont start with the excuses in the inaugural game. IT IS WHAT IT IS.

The arena is in a horrible location and is a historically weak venue and it will be the most difficult obstacle to overcome.


Give me a break, discussing things that actually happened is EXCUSES?

When I got to the Arena approx 3 hours before the game every single parking lot on the 128 acre site was full from the car show - check the picture in the link: http://www.co.travis.tx.us/exposition_center/default.asp

No, this picture isn't from game day but that's what it looked like. there was nowhere to park and it definitely had us scrambling to find an area to set up the tailgate. Most I talked to headed to and coming from the the car show had no idea there was a football team or game going on in Austin. Possibly a few of them might come back, we peppered the windshields with postcard schedules.

Plus the Statesman car show was going on at the Austin convention center and it was inaugural opening day for the Austin Aztex as well. I could list other events as well, did these things affect attendance, I don't know. But they are facts, not excuses.

The arena did have tons of empty seats, talking with Tim, the guy that works for the arena and set up the seating and field says it's hold 8,000 for the Turfcats. The picture of the endzone with the broadcast area is a poor place to sit, it's difficult to see the endzone and first 15 yards of the field due to the broadcast area splitting the seating sections.

Yes, seats 8,000 - 1,600 sold tickets does leave a lot of empty seat. There were easily a couple hundred other folks as guests that didn't go through the ticket gate but I agree those shouldn't count.

Trifecta, you claim to have gone to af2 Wranglers games, did you really expect a packed arena?

You say the rain stopped by noon, it rained for the previous 48 hours and I know lots of people that didn't do much of anything over the weekend because of the weather. Does that mean they would have been at the Turfcats game if the weather was nice the previous 48 hours, NO.

But all of these reasons combined that you twist as excuses "COULD" add several hundred fans. I don't know and neither do you. Are you really a fan of the 50 yard game or just a complainer? You said you would at least give them a chance, did you go to the game? If so, do you think the entertainment was worth a $4 dollar ticket. I know, yours would have been at least $10 because you said you had decided to go the single game ticket route instead of season tickets.

I missed you at the tailgate, but if you were really at the game you had to of seen me, I was the flag bearer for the National Anthem. Did I screw that up too? Are you a pessimist or just clueless to the world of Indoor Football
(not Arena) and their attendance? It's difficult to find many teams in any of the Indoor leagues to actually have attendance figures to brag about. And I have seen Arena games with no more than the TurfCats had in attendance. The fans around the differing leagues still ove their sport, can you say the same?

I've tried to lay off your negative attitude for quite some time but it is getting old. Many people on these forums that post negative comments do love the sport, they just find it difficult to talk positive about anything other than their own team. You claim to be an Austin fan and can't find anything good to say about the TurfCats, the SIFL, or Indoor Football in general.
So Riddle me this, why do you even waste your time coming to a forum about a sport you seem to dislike?

There's still an open invitation to anyone wanting to come join us at a tailgate. I admit it was small, I was back and forth from the tailgate and arena several times trying to take care of various duties. I only counted about 30 TurfCats fans at any one time at the tailgate. The there were others, some Acadiana fans, coaches, and staff, several SIFL officials and staff, and even some fans of other teams. Gusher counts doesn't he - lol - him and Dubs were wearing their Beaumont Driller Jerseys.

Mr Hager, the SIFL president and Swashbucklers owner stopped by the tailgate both before and after the game. He spent quite a long time chatting with fans, explaining rules and direction of the league, and answering ALL questions and concerns of the fans. With a man like this at the top of the business plan I expect many good things to come and lots of fan appreciation.

Robert Winfrey (sportznut) also spent time at the tailgate talking with fans and thanking them, along with other League staff. I did have af2 president Jerry Kurz attend a few Wrangler tailgates, but never saw David Baker or any other AFL league staff make an attempt to visit the diehard fans tailgates.

Call it all BS or excuses if you like, but my personal feeling is you've got to actually make an effort to get involved and experience some of these things first hand before we can consider your critism constuctive or any better than an excuse itself. Even though the TurfCats lost the game, ALL of the people in attendance that I spoke with had a great time and are frustrated it'll be 3 weeks before the next home game.

[Caballo Diablo]

I do know by fact that well over half of the crowd were give away tickets. Hopefully the other SIFL teams draw better.
Really?
Please tell us how you came to know this FACT?

Well over Half? Attendance was 1,614, so half would be 807. What would be classified as WELL OVER HALF, two thirds? Instead of 50% would "well over" be around 66%?

66% would be 1,065, are you atcullay trying to tell us over 1,000 of the people in attendance were there with free tickets?

I do find that hard to believe since at least 1,300 season tickets have been sold. My families ticket weren't even counted in the attendance figures as we got there early and never actually went through the ticket gate. When ticket stubs were counted, and yes they were actually counted, many in attendance were not included in the official count. Does it change the figure drastically, no but I don't believe over 1,000 tickets were freebies.

[Radio Jack]

True. And I do know by fact that well over half of the crowd were give away tickets. Hopefully the other SIFL teams draw better.



Allow me to introduce myself.....I am Jack Dixon, the Director of Game Day Operations.

Indoor Fan, I would like to know where you are getting these facts from, because they are way off. Yes, like any sport there were some "free" tickets given out (part of a sponsership package, a thank you to someone who helped us over the last few months, etc.), but the vast majority of the people that were there were paying customers.

My job is to make sure the behind the scenes stuff goes off without any problems. I will be the first to admit that we did have our problems this first game, and not to make excuses, but it was the first ever game in SIFL history. That being said, I think that my staff did one heck of a job.

The issues that arose as little as 2 seconds before kick-off were addressed to the best of my ability.

I do not want in any way start any kind of battle on the message boards about who is right and whether something was an excuse or a fact, but I do want to make sure that the correct information gets out to the public.

One last "excuse" (said with a chuckle and tounge in cheek). The parking issues I was refering to was not the lack of space, but the fact that some fans got turned away at the gate by representatives of the car show. This we did not find out until Sunday morning. If we had know about it at the time it would have been taken care of.

If anyone has any question, concerns, comments or ideas to make things better feel free to ask me. I welcome them all. My job is to make the fans happy and ensure that they have the best time they can while at a Turfcat game.

My personal e-mail is jack@turfcats.com

Go Turfcats!!!

Jack Dixon
Director of Game Day Operations

[trifecta]

Caballo,

I did not mean to put you on tilt.

I have always given you numerous credit for your passion.

All I was saying is quit making excuses as once you go down that road you cant stop. Be happy with who did come.

The old Wranglers would always make the SXSW excuse, the Texas relays excuse, the Spring Break excuse, the Easter weekend excuse, the Pecan Street Festival excuse, the NCAA tourney excuse etc. etc.

We live in Austin "Freakin" Texas and we are fortunate to have MANY entertainment option EVERY weekend.

What I am saying is if you start rationalizing at your FIRST EVER game you have nowhere to go but down.

Caballo, quit reading my posts if you dont like them.

[Caballo Diablo]

I still disagree with you about excuses.
If you continually whine about it and blame all of your negatives or problems on others, then yes you're making excuses. Stating facts about what is going on in the community around you isn't making excuses.

Coming out and saying if these other events, weather, or what have you didn't take place on the same day you would have packed the arena isn't and excuse either. It would be a down right bold faced lie.

I can't stop reading your posts, I've been to rehab several times and they tell me there's no cure for post-a-holics - lol

I didn't get upset or rude, just a little frustration. I even still invited you to come join us. Many are working very hard to build a successful franchise and the constant negativity gets old.

[trifecta]

This majority of the 5-8 posters on the Turfcats are either affilliated with the SIFL or the Turfcats themselves.

I am one of the few NON affilliated posters and if my Glasses are not as rose-colored as everyone elses it comes from over a decade of interesting and disappointing news from the Austin Pro-Sports scene.

Once bitten TWICE shy is the best way to describe it. This is the Fourth or Fifth different go at Indoor/arena/af2 football in the past 8 years. Pardon me for taking a somewhat cautious entry into the pool.

I WILL go to a Turfcat game this year...Tried yesterday but I could not find a parking space....JUST KIDDING!!!

I just think a messageboard should be more of a discussion than just press releases that can be viewed on the teams website.

I call it like I see it. I give compliments and I offer my opinion (not always rosey) I will continue to do so until I no longer have interest in the team at all.

I dont have a problem with free tickets as some may have....More people in the arena makes it better for EVERYONE...>The fan likes to know he is not the only one cheering.....The Sponsors like to see their investment is paying off.....The Team can expose their brand and sell more Merchandise.

Get them in the building and you have a chance for a repeat customer.

The location and history of the Expo Center is the #800 gorilla in the room that MUST be addressed. You have to give people a reason to go back to the place that has seen the folding of so many Austin Sports teams.

[Big Easy]

Just curious....every team does it a little different. Do the Cats report "attendance" as....

a. tickets sold
b. tickets sold + all distributed free or otherwise (most professional teams do this)
c. tickets sold + distrubuted tickets used (I know of a southern NBA team who does this)
d. actual turnstyle or "drop count" (I'm not aware of any team that announces actual turnstyle anymore (NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, AFL, af2, AHL, ECHL, etc. included)

[Caballo Diablo]

I was at two intern training sessions the week of the game and the GM/VP told the ones running the ticket booth to count all ticket stubs collected at the door. After the game the ticket takers told me they had counted them and reported the figures to the front office.

Which ever formula they used seemed pretty accurate, I was trying to look around and guesstimate by how many seats were in a section. they definitely weren't bloated - lol

[exit322]

In a market burnt four times, there will be a group of fans that are going to wait to see if it's legitimate. Those fans weren't there last night.

There will be fans that just couldn't go for whatever reason. This happens. Those fans weren't there last night.

There will be people that went to the game last night that just didn't enjoy it enough to come back. I doubt there will be many of them, as this game was as back and forth as a game can get...despite Austin's New Jersey Revolution imitation in the pass game.

Attendance for all four WIFL teams in '06 rose as the season went on. It's not unprecedented, and I think it'll happen here, too.

[Caballo Diablo]

This majority of the 5-8 posters on the Turfcats are either affilliated with the SIFL or the Turfcats themselves.
Well, I'm here all times of day and night and my only affiliation is being a fan.
You will not see the SIFL and TurfCats front office here much anymore. They'll stop by occasionally and will speak up when they feel like correcting bad info. They feel like you do, the messageboards are more for the fans, but the fans do enjoy talking to the people in charge.

It seems like most posters on this site are officially affilliated with one of the leagues or teams. That's cool as long as they don't get too arrogant and smack the fans the way one owner and front office seem to enjoy doing. But the losses have slienced them for awhile - lol

I am one of the few NON affilliated posters and if my Glasses are not as rose-colored as everyone elses it comes from over a decade of interesting and disappointing news from the Austin Pro-Sports scene.
Well, the Austin media mostly sux, especially the stateman. I love football and hockey, if there's a team here I'll watch. I've been disappointed with my NFL team for a very long time but still follow them. How about you, who do you follow in the NFL?

Probably the Cowboys, yes they've had some great teams, but what, haven't won a playoff game in over 12 years. Should their fans give up on them because of that? They do have a lot of fair weather fans that only follow them when they win and ignore them when they lose.

Once bitten TWICE shy is the best way to describe it. This is the Fourth or Fifth different go at Indoor/arena/af2 football in the past 8 years. Pardon me for taking a somewhat cautious entry into the pool.
Cute cliche, but highly over used. Some people actually get married a second or third time - lol

If you like sports you follow teams that come to your town, if you refuse to follow because previous teams weren't successful I guess it's a casual fan.
Much of it comes down to your entertainment dollar, even with a weak economy people want to be entertained and a place to forget the world. Sports is a great venue for that, and season tickets for $4 per game is about the best dollar for dollar entertainment value you'll find in central Texas, even if they lose every game.

Maybe some are cautious about a poor movie and won't go back. Maybe they
give up on themselves and refuse to attempt to have a good time because something might go wrong. You become successful from failure and keeping at it, failing and giving up will never recoup a positive result.

I WILL go to a Turfcat game this year...Tried yesterday but I could not find a parking space....JUST KIDDING!!![/q]
I secured a spot for the tailgate and had a spce blocked off with construction cones and a big sign: [/b]TRIFECTA[/b]
Some others were mad at the end of the night because it went unused.
[QUOTE=trifecta;114420]
I just think a messageboard should be more of a discussion than just press releases that can be viewed on the teams website.
I completely understand and almost agree with you but............
Yes, many of my posts are team press releases, but I search many sites for info and try to put it all in one thread where fans can find as much as possible quickly.

Most can't use the internet at work or are blocked from many sites. The ones that can access the sites can't spend much time doing it. They know where to go to find me, they can get all their info on a break or at lunch because they don't have to surf the web for it.

I know lots of people that have never posted in their life, but they do frequent many forums to read and peruse the info available. I think of it as a service to the fans. I always hope people will comment and we can actually have discussions between the articles, but my wife laughs at me when I talk to mysel so I need you guys to help me out and respond occasionally - lol

I call it like I see it. I give compliments and I offer my opinion (not always rosey) I will continue to do so until I no longer have interest in the team at all.
I don't expect all comments to be positive, but most here see both sides of the picture. At first you seemed excited, err ok, upbeat a new team was coming to town. Now you seem to have slipped into a hum drum poo poo attitude because other teams have come and gone. I would prefer one team to be successful and here for decades, but if you give me 10 different teams in 10 years I guess I'll just have to build another closet for all of the jerseys and T-Shirts.

I dont have a problem with free tickets as some may have....More people in the arena makes it better for EVERYONE...>The fan likes to know he is not the only one cheering.....The Sponsors like to see their investment is paying off.....The Team can expose their brand and sell more Merchandise.
That's good to hear, there are pros and cons to it. Like you said, the more butts in the seats the more sponsors want to be affilliated with you, and for more. Merchandise, parking, concessions all do better. The fans and team all have more fun and do better when large crowds show up.

On the other hand the ones buying tickets do get pi$$ed. It's not so bad when you only paid $4 to $10, but when the tickerts are pricy (Wranglers) it doesn't go over well. many season ticket holders quit buying them because they said they could scoop up a free or heavily discounted ticket on game day.

Get them in the building and you have a chance for a repeat customer.
Amen, we were talking at the tailgate they should have promoted anyone at the car show could get into the game free just by showing their car show ticket stub. They would have had possibly thousands take a look that had never seen a 50 yard game played and some would have come back.

The location and history of the Expo Center is the #800 gorilla in the room that MUST be addressed. You have to give people a reason to go back to the place that has seen the folding of so many Austin Sports teams.
Once again, I agree. the Expo center isn't my first choice but it is one of the reasons the fans can get cheap tickets. I live in Cedar park and it only takes me 25-30 minutes to get there. I can't go to South Austin that quick.

Yes there are some less than desired aspects but for a sports fan the benefits out number them. You can never satisfy everyone so it's best to concentrate on what you can do or you might reach too far like David Baker and screw up the whole league with delusions of grandeur.

[SA Wrangler fan]

Ok, I have to step in here. I live in San Antonio and drove up to Austin for this not knowing what the product was going to be like. I've been going to Wrangler games for a few years (Diablo can vouch for me) and have even traveled with the team for a couple road games.

The SIFL is good ol indoor football. I was very satisfied as I left the Expo center back to the tailgate. I expected a little bit larger of a crowd but 1600 isnt shabby. I thought both the Turfcats and Mudbugs but on a great show and the SIFL and their staff showcased the professionalism of the league.

Like Diablo has posted numerous times on different message boards....You can spend your entertainment dollars however you want. Wether you go to the movies, theme park, whatever. The choices out there are endless these days. The SIFL and the Turfcats give the people affordable entertainment thats fit for the whole family. Upper level tickets were only 8 bucks. How can you beat that?

Again, I had a great time and will do my best to make the drive up to do my part in making this work.

GO TURFCATS!!!

[CoachSMB05]

When we launched the Swashbucklers we took a 600 person average attendance from the previous team, sold 800 season tickets and our home opener was somewhere around 1300. We now average 3,800 with 6 sell outs in the past two years. Austin started with a good number, if they can sustain the product and win some ball games I believe they will be fine.