LORMAN, Miss. – Since the start of the 2019 football season, the Alcorn State University department of athletics has reached out to its fan base with a pair of questionnaires in an effort to improve the game day experience for the future.
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While the second survey results are still being composited, Alcorn wanted to share the outcome of the initial fan survey, conducted the week of Sept. 1-6.
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"We are extremely appreciate of all the input given by the community. The feedback provided greatly assists our continued efforts in improving the game day experience. We will use this valuable information to better ourselves, and will continue to engage with the fans moving forward," said director of athletics
Derek Horne. "Thank you again to everyone who participated and to the entire fan base for its continuous support."
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Of the 754 responses, 81 percent (609 votes) have been attending Alcorn football games for over 10 seasons, and exactly two/thirds live in-state. Submissions were split close to evenly between men and women (a slight edge to women), with a steady age range from 18 to 55+. Most attendees were alums.
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The feedback from ticket purchasing and tailgating were very positive. About 94 percent (704 votes) responded that they were either satisfied or very satisfied with ticket purchasing. Of the 6 percent that were not satisfied, the two causes were slow lines (when purchasing them in-person) or website difficulties (when purchasing them online). Nearly half of the fans bought their tickets online, nearly half bought them in person and a very small percentage bought them over the phone.
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Tailgating had a similar response. Of the 652 fans that stated they do indeed tailgate, about 96 percent said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with their experience. Of the 4 percent that were not satisfied, the main cause was the lack of bathrooms or the cleanliness of the bathrooms.
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The results on parking came back mixed. Only 28 percent said they were very satisfied with their parking experience, while 20 percent responded that they were very unsatisfied. Most results were indifferent. The top complaints included finding a parking spot for the $15 tickets, traffic/congestion, parking too far from the stadium and long waits.
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The largest area for improvement came from concessions. Only 11 percent said they were very satisfied, while 42 percent responded that they were very unsatisfied. The top complaint was the lines were too long and/or too slow. Other complaints stated that the food and drinks were too expensive, there was a lack of variety of choices, and concessions ran out of food or drinks at bigger games.
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In addition to the game day experience, athletics also provided fans the opportunity to respond to how likely they'd be to purchase beer or light wine, if available. About 60 percent (452 votes) said they would be very likely to purchase alcohol, while 24 percent (182) were very unlikely.
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At the end of the survey, fans were given the opportunity to state what they enjoy most about the game day experience. The majority stated the atmosphere, winning, the game itself and the band.
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After the Homecoming football game, a second survey was released on Oct. 13 to include additional questions about apparel, concessions, social media and follow-up questions from the first survey. Over 400 submissions have been made over the last two days.
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Alcorn greatly appreciates the engagement and support from the fans, and will make its best effort to improve the gameday experience based on the feedback.
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#FearTheBrave
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