Ironton leaving the SEOAL

[teach1coach2]

So many teams are leaving leagues because of travel distances, etc. The MVL has a league where most travel times are under 45 minutes and longest trips of maybe 1 hour 15 minutes. No way it would make sense to do anything to increase travel times.

The TVC Ohio made a pitch to Crooksville last year. Crooksville turned it down mostly because of travel time (and a few other reasons).

It is more difficult to an odd numbered league to exist, but if you look around and make deals with other odd numbered leagues in the area, it makes things a whole lot easier. If 4 of the 7 did a deal with the TVC Ohio, it leaves no one hunting for games weeks 7-10. That is some improvement at least.

[osu 77]

We lost $70,000 a year in gate receipts,” said Vass.

OUCH! $70 K a year loss of revenue!

I agree Ironton lost gates receipts let's talk why.

[BlindWhiteHat]

We lost $70,000 a year in gate receipts,” said Vass.

OUCH! $70 K a year loss of revenue!

I agree Ironton lost gates receipts let's talk why.

If you know why, let's hear it. I thought it was simply because the SEOAL teams didn't travel as well as previous opponents in all sports.

[NYBuckeye96]

I would guess that playing a Canadian team in recent years had a negative effect on revenue as well. I am guessing the visitors stands were mostly empty in those games. Also, I'm guessing the home side might have been a little sparse too since the outcome of the game was already known in advance.

It would be interesting to know the effect on revenue the SEOAL teams had in relation to other teams. With only five home games, playing one Canadian team is going to equate to 20% of revenue opportunity.

[2trap_4ever]

I think this shows it is time to have a true southern ohio league, the SOC, OVC, as well as Ironton and Portsmouth need to get together and form this league, there wouldn't be in really long trips for conference games and you could still keep traditional rivalry games as well as maybe create new ones. Just a thought though.

[biggdowgg]

I wonder if all the fuss oiver coachiung changes,,then changes again, in 3 or 4 year period had anything to do with fan support?

I would bet travel time cost some money, but I would also bet the SEOL, wasnt the entire reason for lost revenue,,,,,,people just are not going out to the games now a days like befor.....not only Ironton, but every where.

good luck with Ironton where ever they end up

[wrestler87]

[quote="NYBuckeye96"]That makes too much sense, so there is no way it would ever happen!

Considering that over half of the TVC Ohio schools (4 out of 7) are former SEOAL schools, this would be very logical. In some cases, new games wouldn't need added, just changing the week the current game is played would be all that is needed. (ex. Wellston vs. Jackson, Belpre vs. Warren moved to later in the season).

Example:

Alexander vs. Portsmouth in week 4
Athens vs. Gallia Academy in week 5
Belpre vs. Warren in week 6
Meigs vs. Marietta in week 7
Nelsonville-York vs. Logan in week 8
Vinton County vs. Chillicothe in week 9
Wellston vs. Jackson in week 10 [/quote

You'd see a lot of blowouts in that scenario.
They would see a lack of interest after a couple of years just like I-town did. It's not fun to watch your team lose.

[osu 77]

I wonder if all the fuss oiver coachiung changes,,then changes again, in 3 or 4 year period had anything to do with fan support?

I would bet travel time cost some money, but I would also bet the SEOL, wasnt the entire reason for lost revenue,,,,,,people just are not going out to the games now a days like befor.....not only Ironton, but every where.

good luck with Ironton where ever they end up

I think a big part of it is over coaching changes. I guess we need to ask the AD how the pre-season ticket sales have been over the last 2 to 3 years. Have we lost some of our fans base etc? So how do we make up for the lost revenue over the last 2 to 3 years we need to have some fund raisers.

I have also noticed turn out for football, basketball and baseball at the lower levels have dropped off. The Coaches at the High School need to get involved. A perfect example of that would be the basketball camp Ironton has yearly. This helps to keep kids and the parents involved which will help your fan base. So many other High School Coaches have football, baseball camps why can’t Ironton?

So I guess what I am trying to say we need to take a look at the entire athletic program from top to bottom and some changes need to be made in how we run our sports programs in Ironton. It is not about the Coaches it is about the kids and I think we have forgotten about that over the years.

[lostcause]

I wonder if all the fuss oiver coachiung changes,,then changes again, in 3 or 4 year period had anything to do with fan support?

I would bet travel time cost some money, but I would also bet the SEOL, wasnt the entire reason for lost revenue,,,,,,people just are not going out to the games now a days like befor.....not only Ironton, but every where.

good luck with Ironton where ever they end up

I think a big part of it is over coaching changes. I guess we need to ask the AD how the pre-season ticket sales have been over the last 2 to 3 years. Have we lost some of our fans base etc? So how do we make up for the lost revenue over the last 2 to 3 years we need to have some fund raisers.

I have also noticed turn out for football, basketball and baseball at the lower levels have dropped off. The Coaches at the High School need to get involved. A perfect example of that would be the basketball camp Ironton has yearly. This helps to keep kids and the parents involved which will help your fan base. So many other High School Coaches have football, baseball camps why can’t Ironton?

So I guess what I am trying to say we need to take a look at the entire athletic program from top to bottom and some changes need to be made in how we run our sports programs in Ironton. It is not about the Coaches it is about the kids and I think we have forgotten about that over the years.

i know the economy is down right now but i just cant see 70,000 a year. i agree that the athletic program needs to be looked at. some need to just take a look at what can be done to fix the problem from the inside.take more effort (fundraisers)
to raise money instead of depending on the tiger clan.

[OZZIEOHIO]

i know the economy is down right now but i just cant see 70,000 a year. i agree that the athletic program needs to be looked at. some need to just take a look at what can be done to fix the problem from the inside.take more effort (fundraisers)
to raise money instead of depending on the tiger clan.

It cost alot of money to keep the gym cool during the hot summer two adays.

[Tigercannon71]

Is that $70,000 just from football or all sports? I can see losing that much in gate reciepts for all sports. People arent going to want to travel from Zanesville to Ironton on a weekday to watch basketball or baseball or softball.

[qualified101]

i would say start with the ad. is he doing his job or just taking the easy way out? it sounds like this was an overreaction but many on here said ironton would find an excuse to leave if football couldnt win. i guess they were right.

[Riverrat Tiger]

I would actually think the AD just tripled his workload since the league does 75-80% of the scheduling and getting officials. So as far as, "taking the easy way out", that can not be the case. I was never a supporter of getting in the SEOAL because of the travel for all sports. I have heard pros and cons of staying in the SEOAL, but the pros have been mostly that Ironton needs to be in a league, not nessesarily the SEOAL.

[ohbuckeye2]

I would actually think the AD just tripled his workload since the league does 75-80% of the scheduling and getting officials. So as far as, "taking the easy way out", that can not be the case. I was never a supporter of getting in the SEOAL because of the travel for all sports. I have heard pros and cons of staying in the SEOAL, but the pros have been mostly that Ironton needs to be in a league, not nessesarily the SEOAL.

I agree.......

[tigermama]

i know the economy is down right now but i just cant see 70,000 a year. i agree that the athletic program needs to be looked at. some need to just take a look at what can be done to fix the problem from the inside.take more effort (fundraisers)
to raise money instead of depending on the tiger clan.

It cost alot of money to keep the gym cool during the hot summer two adays.

Please show some class! As far as the Tiger clan goes, they may raise money to help the school but then again, the football players have to sell 10 of their cards every year at a dollar a peice, so again, the football program helps them too because lets face it, no one buys them, the parents have to donate the $10.00 because it is mandatory that every player sell them. Oh and that's from the seventh grade through the seniors. So, I think the football program helps itself too. It really doesn't matter what anyone on here thinks about us leaving the seoal, it only matters what the school decides and I am sure they will try to do their best for all the sports, not just football. I went to every game this year and at the home games the only visiting teams to bring very many fans were Ashland and Gallipolis. So why don't you guys back off and get a life!

[ItownHosscat]

Are you possitive EACH kid sold that many tickets,or WERE supposed to have sold those?Just curious because I can find out how much money was turned in.Also those tickets are not just for football players to sell nor are they yours to buy.Trust me when I say the Tiger Clan pays for way more than you know.
Those kids selling those tickets amount to a drop in a bucket to what we pay out,and their selling of those is greatly appreciated.As is the golf team who stands out there every home game tearing the tickets apart to be put in the bag.
Again thanks goes out to yours and all those who help us help them.

[biggdowgg]

anyone raising money to help the kids should be appreciated.


I think our football plaers all have to sell discount cards, from area restaraunts, at 10 bucks a pop, so I wouldnt think tickets costing only one dollar should be hard to get rid of, but when you think of how many kids are selling them, then it does get tough,Im sure the same people get ask,over and over again..you know,,the people that are suckers and can't say no to kids

[85inside]

You can ask River rat tiger or anyone else on here that played sports at IHS in the 70's and 80's, the kids met at the stadium and were handed 10 tickets to sell. We canvassed the neighborhood until we sold our 10. Our parents were not buting them. You send them out in packs of 4 and sell 40 tickets. Not that hard, especialy if they have their football jerseys on. Just a little effort is all that is needed.

[biggdowgg]

You can ask River rat tiger or anyone else on here that played sports at IHS in the 70's and 80's, the kids met at the stadium and were handed 10 tickets to sell. We canvassed the neighborhood until we sold our 10. Our parents were not buting them. You send them out in packs of 4 and sell 40 tickets. Not that hard, especialy if they have their football jerseys on. Just a little effort is all that is needed.

thats what I was saying,,,,KIDS,,,,,uniforms of the sport they play,,,people will buy , esp at only one buck a ticket.

[henrysteele]

85insider:

I graduated in 1981 and I never saw such a program at Ironton. I played football through my freshman year and was never asked to sell one item to play football.

The only selling I was asked to do was spring sports tickets. Those tickets were like ten bucks each and we were given five or so to sell. The ticket would get you admission to all spring sports (baseball and track meets). The reason the AD asked us to sell those spring sport tickets was the fact that spring sports were never self-sufficient like football and basketball.

I can tell you that NOBODY in town wanted to buy those spring sports tickets. I hated the whole process. The only real buyers were the families of the athletes.